English & European Ceramics & Glass - 24th November 2015
Lot 110
A rare Privateer glass c.1765
Estimate £8,000 - £10,000
+ Buyers Premium
Description
A rare Privateer glass c.1765, the rounded bowl engraved with a ship at sea beneath the inscription 'Success to ye Good Intent, Jas. Brooks Com.r', raised on a double series opaque twist stem, 14cm.
Shipping lists record several English ships christened Good Intent during the period 1740-1800, many of which suffered an ignominious fate at the hands of French, Spanish and American privateers. However, none of the recorded losses (in 1760, 1767, 1793, 1794, 1799 and two in 1800) record a James Brooks as captain of the vessel at the time. The National Archives hold a copy of a will for James Brooks, Mariner of London, dated 1770, which may relate.
Cf. John Shuckburgh-Risley, Sea Power under George III, Illustrated on Contemporary Glass, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 35, No. 200, November 1919, which illustrated a decanter bearing the same inscription.