An important and rare Staffordshire enamelled salt-glazed stoneware punch pot circa 1760

set with a crabstock handle and shell and scroll-molded spout, the ovoid body finely painted on the front with Bacchus seated astride a barrel in a landscape, the reverse with three gentlemen seated around a table playing cards, smoking and drinking, the rim of the pot painted with alternating pink- or green-ground scroll-edged diaperwork panels.

D. M. & P. Manheim, New York
Sotheby's London, December 15, 1964, lot 66

Original cover lacking and with a replacement wooden cover. Much of the exterior is covered by a network of fine discolored crazing. There is a minor fine haircrack curving beneath the spout where it joins the body and a pinhead chip to the tip of the spout. Otherwise, generally good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Punch pots of any size are extremely rare in salt-glazed stoneware. Four other punch pots painted with Bacchus appear to be recorded. The largest, a three-gallon pot ten inches high in the Potteries Museum (formerly the City Musuem and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent) is illustrated and discussed by Arnold R. Mountford in The Illustrated Guide to Staffordshire Salt-Glazed Stoneware, pp. 58-9 and color frontispiece. The same pot is also illustrated by Charles F. C. Luxmoore, English Saltglazed Earthenware, pl. 13. A second pot, seven and a half inches high, was in the Price Glover Collection, sold at Christie's, London, June 14, 1988, lot 69. A third punch pot somewhat differently painted with Bacchus astride a barrel flanked by flower sprays is in the Burnap Collection, Kansas City, Missouri, and is illustrated by Ross E. Taggart, The Frank P. and Harriet C. Burnap Collection of English Pottery in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery, p. 83, no. 275; and the fourth larger example from the Collection of Bernard and Judith Newman was sold in these rooms, January 20, 2005, lot 148.