A FINE CHARLES II LIGNUM VITAE WASSAIL BOWL AND COVER

A FINE CHARLES II LIGNUM VITAE WASSAIL BOWL AND COVER

C.1660-70

the lid with a turned cup and baluster finial, the underside inset with a brass and Surrey enamel type circular 'print' depicting the Royal Coat of Arms of Charles II, the ring turned body with an upper quadruple reeded band above two moulded bands, supported by a slightly flaring stem on a conforming foot

43.6cm high, 22.5cm diameter

Provenance

Peter Mactaggart (1931 - 2020). Peter's family ran an antiques shop in Welwyn, Hertfordshire, UK, from the late 1940's to the early 1970's.

Literature

See Apollo, December 1936, vol. XXIV, no.144, pp.348-352, fig.VII, for an article by Owen Evan Thomas, 'The Wassail Bowl and the Custom of Wassailing at Christmas Time' in which the present lot features. Evan-Thomas writes 'This is the only Wassail Bowl I have ever seen containing under the lid its original 'print' '.

Catalogue Note

The word Wassail means 'Good health' and is an expression of well-wishing equivalent to the word 'cheers', offered in the context of convivial drinking. Recent examples of wassail bowls sold in these rooms include a very large example, Furniture & Works of Art, 4th October 2017, lot 14 with an applied plaque and dated '1694', which fetched £14,000 hammer and also lot 43, 3rd April 2019 for a dated example '1681' with inscription, which made £6,500 hammer.