MARK OF PHILIP RUNDELL, LONDON, 1822, AFTER A DESIGN BY JOHN FLAXMAN

Details

A GEORGE IV SILVER-GILT WINE COOLER
MARK OF PHILIP RUNDELL, LONDON, 1822, AFTER A DESIGN BY JOHN FLAXMAN
In the form of the Theocritus cup, the body chased with a scene in relief depicting a fisherman hauling in a net on one side, and a young woman and two youths on the other, marked under base, the base stamped RUNDELL BRIDGE ET RUNDELL AURIFICES REGIS LONDINI
9 ¾ in. (24.7 cm.) high; 85 oz. 14 dwt. (2,668 gr.)

Lot Essay

The present cup was designed by John Flaxman, the virtuoso neoclassical sculptor, engraver and designer for Wedgwood and Rundell's. Flaxman's design is based on the description of a pottery cup in the first Idyll of Theocritus (c.300-260 BC), the Alexandrian pastoral poet. The pen and ink design drawing by Flaxman is preserved at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A 2410). A Theocritus Cup by Storr for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, 1812, was presented to King George IV, when Prince Regent by his mother Queen Charlotte and remains in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen (RCIN 51538).

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