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Lot Essay
The arms are those of Johnson of Ayscoughfee Hall quartering fifteen others and with those of Moore in pretence, as borne by Theophilus Fairfax Johnson.
This tazza and a matching covered cup were likely commissioned by Maurice Johnson in 1712, the year he founded The Spalding Gentleman’s Club, the earliest provincial learned society in England. Maurice, a barrister, was known as “The Antiquary” and made many improvements to the town of Spalding and the gardens at Ayscoughfee Hall. The magnificent matching cup, also engraved with the arms of Theophilus Fairfax Johnson, is now in the collection of the Ayscoughfee Hall Museum (sold Christie’s, New York, 16 April 1999, lot 220).
This tazza and a matching covered cup were likely commissioned by Maurice Johnson in 1712, the year he founded The Spalding Gentleman’s Club, the earliest provincial learned society in England. Maurice, a barrister, was known as “The Antiquary” and made many improvements to the town of Spalding and the gardens at Ayscoughfee Hall. The magnificent matching cup, also engraved with the arms of Theophilus Fairfax Johnson, is now in the collection of the Ayscoughfee Hall Museum (sold Christie’s, New York, 16 April 1999, lot 220).