ENGLISH PRATTWARE 'DUKE OF YORK AND ROYAL SUFFERERS' SPIRIT FLASK CIRCA 1794

Molded on one side with a portrait medallion of the Duke of York and on the other with a portrait of the French Royal Family depicting the profile portraits of Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and the Dauphin.

The Zeitlin Collection, Merion, Pennsylvania;
Sotheby's, New York, Collection of M. Austin and Jill R. Fine, January 30, 1987, lot 722.

A similar flask is illustrated in John and Griselda Lewis, Prattware, English and Scottish relief decorated and underglaze colored earthenware, 1780-1840, p. 130, where the authors suggest that the source for the portrait of the Duke of York is a contemporary engraving by I. Pass, about whom very little is known. A copy of the engraving is in the National Portrait Gallery in London. The authors also suggest that the possible design source for the ill-fated French royal family's portrait is a medal designed by Benjamin Duvivier issued by the State Legislature of Burgundy and struck in 1781 to commemorate the birth of the Dauphin.