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Lot Essay
Ship model display-cabinets of this general form are recorded in England as early as the 1660s with Samuel Pepys, with further late 17th Century walnut examples executed for both Charles Sergison, Commissioner of the Royal Navy under William III and the Earl of Pembroke (now at Wilton House, Wiltshire). These were all presumably perks of office.
Although Export ship models are extremely rare, the banker Robert Child of Osterley had introduced 'Two India Sandpans of Ivory with Plate Glass Cases in brass frames' to the Gallery at Osterley by 1782. It is certainly possible, therefore, that this example was also imported with a now lost ship-model, perhaps alongside the rolls of Chinese Export wallpaper on the George in 1803 (see lots 82-84).
Although Export ship models are extremely rare, the banker Robert Child of Osterley had introduced 'Two India Sandpans of Ivory with Plate Glass Cases in brass frames' to the Gallery at Osterley by 1782. It is certainly possible, therefore, that this example was also imported with a now lost ship-model, perhaps alongside the rolls of Chinese Export wallpaper on the George in 1803 (see lots 82-84).