A good and rare political firing glass c.1768

A good and rare political firing glass c.1768, the flared wrythen bowl engraved 'Wilkes & Liberty No.45', raised on a thick plain stem, 10cm.

In issue 45 of his publication, The North Briton, John Wilkes' attack on George III's 1763 speech endorsing the Paris Peace Treaty earned him a warrant for his arrest for libel. With strong public support, Wilkes was cleared by the Lord Chief Justice and returned from exile in France to stand for Parliament at the general election of 1768, using 'Wilkes & Liberty' as his slogan.

Provenance: Special Auction Services, 1999, lot 505C.