A "WILKES AND LIBERTY" BOWL

CIRCA 1775

Details

A "WILKES AND LIBERTY" BOWL
Circa 1775
Each side with portraits in the manner of coats-of-arms of John Wilkes and Lord Mansfield above the inscription ALWAYS READY IN A GOOD CAUSE/JUSTICE SANS PITIE, a clump of flowers in the center
10in. (26cm.) diam.

Lot Essay

The cause of political radical John Wilkes (1727-97), arrested in 1763, was popular on both sides of the Atlantic. A Hogarth engraving followed his arrest in May 1763; a London broadside of 1768 inspired the decoration of this example.