Good luck to the Privateers
18th February 2023
A bowl documenting a family of privateers from Folkestone is expected to fetch thousands of pounds when it comes up at auction on 21st February.
The 260 year old porcelain bowl (lot 775) was made at Lowestoft on the Suffolk coast as a costly commission for the Major family in east Kent.
“Named pieces of 18th century porcelain are relatively rare, but it is even more unusual to be able to identify the family for whom the object was made,” said Clare Durham, who has been tasked with finding a buyer for the bowl. “This piece was actually the subject of an article back in 1994 when the whole history of the Major family and their seafaring activities was uncovered.”
The bowl is painted in underglaze blue with a single-masted sailing vessel above the inscription ‘Success to the Cruizer Cutter, Henry Major, Master’. A vessel called the Cruizer is mentioned in customs records of 1761, operating as a privateer three miles off the coast of Folkestone.
“Privateers were effectively legalised pirates,” explained Durham. “The government issued something called letters of marque to ship owners, allowing them to attack and plunder the ships of Britain’s enemies. In 1761 that would have included France and Spain.”
The bowl, one of the earliest recorded pieces of documentary porcelain made at the Lowestoft factory, dates from around 1761 and may have been a gift to the young Henry Major, who turned 18 in 1760. A punch bowl enabling him to toast his future success.
“Important Lowestoft porcelains such as this remain highly sought after by collectors and we hope that the bowl will fetch a high price, despite a significant crack,” Durham continued. “Last year we sold a documentary Lowestoft mug from 1768 for £21,250 even though it had been broken and restuck. The chance to buy objects of this rarity doesn’t come up that often so damage becomes less of an issue.”
The bowl is part of a small collection of Lowestoft porcelain in the Fine Pottery and Porcelain auction on 21st February, which also includes the John Buckingham Collection of figures and Part One of the David Stopher Collection.
