The Sir Bruno Welby Collection of Porcelain - 6th February 2025
Lot 1846
Two London-decorated Chinese porcelain coffee cups and a teabowl, c.1760-65, painted with fable
Estimate £200 - £300 | Hammer £1890
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
Two London-decorated Chinese porcelain coffee cups and a teabowl, c.1760-65, painted with fable subjects by Jefferyes Hamett O'Neale in the workshop of James Giles, one cup with a fox in a river, regarded by a wolf, the other with two dogs in a landscape (The Two Dogs), with a red numeral 44 mark, the teabowl with a dog and emaciated wolf (The Wolf and the House Dog), all with gilded borders, minor faults, some gilt wear, 6.2cm max. (3)
The fable on the first cup appears to be that of the Fox and the Hedgehog. Chelsea pieces of the raised anchor period also demonstrate the substitution for the wolf. The red numeral on the second cup appears to relate to a known service, other pieces of which were sold at Sotheby's on 13th September 1999. The numbers correlate to the plates found in The Fables of Aesop and Others published by Croxall in 1722.