A rare Liverpool porcelain ship bowl circa 1778

probably John Pennington's factory, finely painted on the interior in polychrome enamels with the ship 'Hyena' above an arrangement of trophies incorporating the ship's name within a cartouche of laurel leaves, all within a brown line border and gilt-edged rim, the exterior painted in soft tones with a continuous view of ships in a river estuary. Extensively repaired.

Lord Derby of Knowsley Hall;
Christie's, London (sale date unknown);
D. M. & P. Manheim

Bernard Watney, 'William Jackson of Liverpool', English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Vol. 15, part 1, 1993, pp. 123-124 and pls. 5 and 6

The HMS Hyaena (also styled 'Hyena' as on the present bowl), a 24-gun frigate, was launched at Liverpool on March 2, 1778. Her captain was Edward Thompson and she first saw action off Grenada in 1779. She sailed for the relief of Gibraltar in 1780, was in Charleston in late 1780, and Guyana in 1781. In May 1787 she accompanied the First Fleet on the first seven days of its journey to Botany Bay. In 1793, under the command of Captain William Hargood, she was taken by the French in the West Indies and renamed L'Hyene, before her subsequent recapture in 1797. She was sold out of the Royal Navy in 1802.

According to Watney, op. cit. (in Literature above), the present bowl is one of only two known polychrome Liverpool ship bowls, the other being the example depicting 'The Swallow', attributed to Philip Christian's factory, circa 1770, now in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, illustrated by Watney, ibid., p. 124, pl. 4. Ten blue and white Liverpool ship bowls are also known, and are the subject of an article by Bernard Watney and Caroline Roberts, 'Liverpool Porcelain Ship Bowls in Blue and White', also included in the Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle, Vol. 15, part 1.

Watney identifies the continuous scene on the exterior of the bowl as that of the Mersey off Bidston Hill with a view of the Observatory built in 1768. He also notes the known provenance of the piece (reproduced above). He makes an argument for attributing the painting of the Liverpool ship bowls to William Jackson, a painter of oils and miniatures working in Liverpool in the 1770s and 80s. The attribution of Liverpool ship-decorated ceramics to Jackson is further discussed by David Atherton and Maurice Hillis, 'William Jackson of Liverpool: A Reappraisal', The Northern Ceramic Society Journal, Vol. 20, 2003-2004, pp. 55-58.