English and European Ceramics and Glass - 13th September 2016
Lot 22
A Temperance subject wine bottle 19th century
Estimate £100 - £200 | Hammer £280
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Description
A Temperance subject wine bottle 19th century, the slender form engraved to one side with a figure holding a banner titled 'Father Matthew For Ever', seated astride a large barrel being pulled along by further figures while others dance behind, the reverse with a large spray of fruiting grapevine, 33,4cm.
Theobold Mathew (1790-1856) was an Irish Catholic temperance reformer credited with the establishment of the Cork Total Abstinence Society, from whence The Pledge originated. In 1849 he was welcomed in New York and spent two years spreading his message of teetotalism.
Provenance: from a private collection in Sussex.