The Age of Oak - 9th April 2025
Lot 331
A RARE EARLY PEWTER SPIRE FLAGON
Estimate £1,500 - £2,000
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
A RARE EARLY PEWTER SPIRE FLAGON
NORTHERN, C.1715-30
unmarked, the domed knopped lid with three-lug and brass pin hinge but no internal ring, bold 'C'-curve hollow handle with fishtail terminal, high 'band' decoration achieved by two pairs of twin incised lines
23.5cm high
Provenance
The Carl Ricketts Collection of Pewter.
Formerly in the collections of R. F. Michaelis (no.#32), sold Sotheby’s 12th November 1973, lot 75 and S. Shemmell, sold Bonhams 26th October 2006, lot 17.
Catalogue Note
This form of handle with fishtail terminal, ramshorn thumbpiece and capacity (27.6 fl.oz.) suggests a North of England regional attribution, possibly York.
Literature
Illustrated and described P. Hornsby ‘Pewter of the Western World’, fig 661, p.202. Illustrated and discussed the ‘Journal of the Pewter Society: An Early Spire Flagon' Autumn 1979, and ‘Early Example of a Northern Spire Flagon’, Autumn 2024.