A LONDON DELFT POLYCHROME DISH
Lot 165

A LONDON DELFT POLYCHROME DISH

CIRCA 1660

Closed18 June 2008

Price Realised

GBP 91,250

More Information

How to sell

A LONDON DELFT POLYCHROME DISH
CIRCA 1660
Of shallow form, naively painted with the story of Abraham and Isaac, the Angel of the Lord appearing in the clouds above and preventing Abraham from sacrificing Isaac with his sword who kneels in prayer on a pyre at his feet, flanked by blue-trekked green and yellow-leaved trees, a boiling cauldron to one side, the underside covered in a cream slip with a slightly green lead glaze, restored crack at 8 o'clock towards the centre
13¾ in. (35 cm.) diameter

With D. M. & P. Mannheim, London.
Acquired from Jonathan Horne, 20 November 2001.

Specialist note

Both the palette and drawing of this dish are extremely unusual; the trees appear to have their foliage trekked or pounced in blue, the painter has also had difficulty in placing the subject, as it is possible to discern a 'ghost' outline of an earlier attempt in underglaze blue. The exceptionally glassy lead glaze appears to be laid on top of a white tin-glazed slip with a startlingly vibrant effect. The form of the dish, being exceptionally shallow, is also extremely unusual.

A remarkable Palissy-style tin-glazed oval dish moulded in relief with the same subject was exhibited by Jonathan Horne and illustrated in his catalogue A Collection of Early English Pottery, March, 1994, Part XIV, no. 391.