STAFFORDSHIRE WHITE SALT-GLAZED STONEWARE ARBOR GROUP CIRCA 1760

M.F. Phillips, Milford, 1964;
Christie's, New York, Collection of Jean and Kenneth Chorley, January 25, 1993, lot 137.

Jean Travers Chorley, “The Rewards of Collecting,” The Magazine Antiques, October 1964, p. 432, fig. 1.

The arbor has been broken of the group and reattached with a museum-type restoration. The break starts on one side behind the female figure at a point just above her waist and is visible in the catalogue illustration. it then runs diagonally downwards and ends behind the male figure at a point just below where his coat rests on the seat. There are some minor losses to the applied flowers and leaves on the back of the arbor and some minor small chips along the edge of the base. Thee is a minor, very fine haircrack across his right wrist and a firing crack to the corner of the base and a portion of her skirt.
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.

Similar arbor groups with foliage are illustrated in Bernard Rackham, The Glaisher Collection, Volume II, pl. 54 B, no. 803; Bernard Rackham and Herbert Read, English Pottery, pl. XCIII, fig. 167 and George Savage, English Pottery and Porcelain, p. 104, no. 42. Another arbor group with lovers sitting beneath a leaf-molded tree, from the collection of Stanley J. Seeger, was sold at Sotheby’s New York, October 20, 1993, lot 76. Another was in the collection of Mrs. Russell S. Carter, sold at Christie’s New York, June 17, 1980, lot 51; another similar from the collection of Richard A. Butler, J. P., was sold at Sotheby’s London, May 17, 1976, lot 101.