The Sir Bruno Welby Collection of Porcelain - 6th February 2025
Lot 1805
A rare Caughley polychrome mug, c.1790, painted possibly by Joshua Cristall with a Classical maiden
Estimate £200 - £300 | Hammer £819
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Description
A rare Caughley polychrome mug, c.1790, painted possibly by Joshua Cristall with a Classical maiden seated before pine trees and resting her arm on a shield inscribed with gilt initials 'JW', the sides with flower sprays in gilt and dry blue, 8cm high.
The watercolour painter, Joshua Cristall, worked for Thomas Turner around 1790. Cf. Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, Vol. 21, for a paper by Chris Brown on Joshua Cristall. In it, Brown illustrates a mug from the National Trust collection, bearing very similar decoration which, Brown argues, is unlike that being produced by the Chamberlain decorators. Another similar mug is in the collection of the British Museum, no.1939,0104.1.