λ A large carved ivory figure of James Quin as Sir John Falstaff

λ A large carved ivory figure of James Quin as Sir John Falstaff, the corpulent knight holding a sword and a shield, with a paper sticking out of a pocket in his doublet, inscribed 'Sack, Capon, Bread', standing in front of a tree stump on a leaf carved oval base, late 18th / early 19th century, 50.1cm high.

Provenance: From a distinguished naval family.

The famous comic character Sir John Falstaff featured in four of Shakespeare's plays, Henry IV part I and part II, Henry V and the Merry Wives of Windsor. The cowardly, corpulent, vain and drunk knight, was played by James Quin (1693-1766) in the middle of the 18th century and porcelain figures were famously produced by the Derby factory c.1760-70. Their model was based on a mezzotint by James McArdell after Francis Hayman.