A rare and early Chelsea hexagonal teapot and cover c.1750-52

A rare and early Chelsea hexagonal teapot and cover c.1750-52, painted to one side with the Flaming Tortoise pattern, the eponymous creature beneath gnarled pine branches, a stork in flight above the spout, the reverse with a large stork beside flowering branches, the cover broken and restuck, 17cm across. (2)

Provenance: from the collection of Lady Kate Davson, née Kate Foster (1938-2020). Bernard Watney, Puttick and Simpson, 11th December 1962.

The 1755 sale catalogue for Chelsea records this pattern as 'Flaming Tortoise', although the creature is actually a Japanese minogame - a mythical water creature. Cf. Ayres, Impey and Mallet, Porcelain for Palaces, p.281.