A very rare set of three orangist butter tubs and covers circa 1747

representing Stadholder William IV (1711-1751) and Princess Anne of Hanover (1709-1759) flanking the lion of Holland, the prince seated on a low stool and holding a baton, his wife in an elaborate gold buttoned floral hooped skirt, the lion reclining at the base of a fruit tree, one paw holding a sword and the other resting on seven arrows, the bases painted in low temperature enamels and gilding with exotic birds perched on colourful trailing flowers

For the example in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague see M. van Aken-Fehmers, L. Schledorn, Delfts aardewerk, Geschiedenis van een nationaal produkt, deel II, Zwolle, 2001, cat. no. 122.

For an example of the lion alone see: J. Boyazoglu, L de Neuville, Les faiences de Delft, Paris, 1980, p. 258, fig. 86.

For an identical cover representing Princess Anne see The Lavino Collection p. 92 where a differently painted example of the model is described as a lady in a hoop skirt and dated 1760.

These important models are rarely found separately let alone remaining together as a set. The Gemeentemuseum in the Hague keeps a tureen and cover that also represent a lion. There it is accomponied by a figure representing the Dutch Virgin and dated 1765. A lion on a cover, lacking the tub, is kept in a private collection in Paris and is illustrated in J. Boyazoglu et. al. p. 258. In the Lavino collection there is a cover, lacking the tub, also representing Princess Anne. Although differently painted, one can assume that this cover originates from a set similar as the one we have here.