A large and early English delftware posset pot c.1695-1700

A large and early English delftware posset pot c.1695-1700, probably Brislington or Bristol, painted in bright polychrome enamels with birds perched among flowering branches, applied with two double roll handles topped with green snakes reaching for the flared rim, the whole raised on three bun feet, some damages and restorations, the cover lacking, 21cm high.

Provenance: acquired from Christie's, 27th July 1982, lot 305, formerly in the Moreton Collection, no. 4.

Cf. Michael Archer, Delftware, no. D.15 for a similar pot dated 1697. Archer discusses the use of serpents on the handles, fragments of which have been excavated at Brislington. Moreton's label attributes the pot to Lambeth, and it is possible that the London factories were producing similar pots around this time.