拍品專文
Recorded in the Earl's manuscript inventory as 'Bason to wash my Mouth', James Lomax and James Rothwell note that the distinct use of these bowls as part of the toilet service appears to be otherwise unexampled. See Lomax and Rothwell, op. cit., p. 113. More often this form would be used for flowers, dessert, as finger bowls or for feeding infants. The 20 April 1921 sale of the Warrington Plate at Christie's, London, lists twelve small silver bowls divided into two lots, lots 156 and lot 157. Lot 156, which included the present lot, comprised 'Six Small Bowls, engraved around the lips with scrollwork, and the monogram, arms and coronet of George Booth- Second Earl of Warrington' by Edward Feline, all dated 1749, and sold to 'Webster' for £365. An entry found in Lord Stamford's Diary records that in the days following the landmark sale of the Warrington plate, he met a Mr. Frank Booth 'distant relation of the Warringtons who walked into Willson's shop to ask whether he had any family plate... We arranged to get the 6 small bowls (really hand basins) engraved around the lip with the Warrington arms & monogram which were bought by Webster, & Mr. Booth took 4 of these while I am taking 2' (Lomax and Rothwell, p. 113). Presently, two of the bowls (engraved with scratch weights 16=11 and 16=15) are now in the collection of Dunham Massey. A third bowl (scratch weight 16=14) is in the collection of the City Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham (M71).
The following lot in the 1921 sale included six slightly smaller bowls of similar form but engraved only with the monogram and coronet of George Booth. Lot 157 included three bowls by David Willaume, 1742, two by James Shruder, 1742, and another by Feline, 1747. Written annotations in the auctioneer's book record the Shruder and Feline attributions and dates. Reproductions of the Warrington 'Mouth Basin' were made by Goldsmith's and Silversmith's Co. in the 1930s. A set of twelve 1932 bowls were sold Christie's, New York, 21 October 1993, lot 378.
A pair of 1738 large salvers engraved with the arms of the 2nd Earl of Warrington, by Peter Archambo, were sold in the landmark sale The Collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller: English and European Furniture, Ceramics and Decorations, Christie's, New York, 9 May 2018, lot 175.