A very rare and early Lowestoft blue and white...

A very rare and early Lowestoft blue and white spoon tray, c.1757-60, of a deep elongated shape with fluted sides and undulating rim, painted to the well with a willow tree over a three-storeyed pagoda on an island, with small sailing boats beside further islands, the sides with flower sprigs, numeral 3 mark, some damages, 18.3cm.

Provenance: the David Stopher Collection.

Cf. Geoffrey Godden, Lowestoft Porcelains, col.pl.5; and Christopher Spencer, Early Lowestoft, p.114, fig.146 for the only other known example of the same shape. Spoon trays at Lowestoft evolved in shape over a number of years, with this shape the earliest recorded.