1742, PROBABLY LAMBETH

Details

AN ENGLISH DELFT POLYCHROME INSCRIBED AND DATED PUZZLE-JUG
1742, PROBABLY LAMBETH
Of globular form with pierced waisted neck, hollow handle and top rim with three spouts, the body painted in a vibrant Kakiemon palette with birds perched among prunus and bamboo issuing from hedges and a fence, with the name Iohn:Keeling. above, the shoulder with elaborate lappets and strapwork with pendant swags of flowers and scrolls, the neck with alternate bands of diaper and pierced ornament, the loop handle with iron-red and blue scrolls, the terminal flanked by the dated 1742, the foot with a band of zig-zag ornament
8 5/8 in. (22 cm.) high

Provenance

F.H. Garner; Sotheby's, London, 6 October 1964, lot 118.
Thomas Burn, Rous Lench Court; Christie's, London, 29 May 1990, lot 23.

Literature

Leslie B. Grigsby, The Longridge Catalogue, Vol. II, D300.
Leslie B. Grigsby, 'Dated English Delftware and Slipware in the Longridge Collection', The Magazine Antiques, 155, June 1999, p. 885, pl. 17.
Louis L. Lipski and Michael Archer, Dated English Delftware, London, 1984, p. 232, No. 1026.
Michael Archer, 'English Delft/Engels Delfs Aardewerk', Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Exhibition Catalogue, 1973, pl. 89.
F.H. Garner and Michael Archer, English Delftware, London, 1972, pl. 64.

Special notice

VAT rate of 5% is payable on hammer price and at 17.5% on the buyer's premium.

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Lot Essay

Frank Britton's research indicates that John Keeling was baptised on 21 March 1742 so this puzzle-jug was a christening present. His parents were John Keeling of St. James Clerkenwell and Ann Preest of Kingston, Surrey, who were married on 3 January 1739 in the private chapel of Lincoln's Inn, one of the Inns of Court, in which people were trained for the legal profession. It is likely that this young John Keeling descended from Sir John Keeling, who was Lord High Justice of the King's Bench 1663-1671.

A similarly decorated mug attributed to London circa 1750, is illustrated by John C. Austin, British Delft at Williamsburg, Williamsburg, 1994, p. 110, no. 101.

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