STAFFORDSHIRE RED STONEWARE TEAPOT AND COVER CIRCA 1770

With Chinoiserie figures at various pursuits, impressed pseudo-Chinese seal mark.

Mottahedeh Collection, bearing paper label with accession number M 229940;
R. M. Worth Antiques, Inc., Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.

There is some occasional chipping or a few losses to the applied decoration. There are two small chips to the flange of the teapot and a small chip to the outer rim edge. The tip of the spout has few very small chips. Otherwise in 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.

Design sources and attributions for Staffordshire red stoneware teapots and coffeepots are thoroughly discussed by David Barker in his article "A Group of Staffordshire Red Stonewares", English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Volume 14, Part 2, 1991, pp. 177-198. A cylindrical teapot and cover from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, and a globular example from the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, with the same Chinoiserie decoration but with varying borders, are illustrated ibid, p. 180, figs. 9 and 10. The seal mark on the present example is also illustrated ibid, p. 178, fig. 1, where the author notes that eleven wares bearing this impressed mark are classified by Robin Price as Group III in his paper, "Some Groups of English Redware of Mid-Eighteenth Century, Part II", English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Volume 5, Part 3, 1962. Barker, in his article published twenty-eight years later, mentions that seventeen more wares with this mark have been identified since then, enlarging the number of "Group III" wares and therefore enabling more linking features between these vessels. One of the characteristics of this group is the molded decoration, as opposed to sprigged, such as the ones seen on the present example. Some of these mold-applied decorations are illustrated in the appendix of the article; many of the elements on the present example's applied decoration are illustrated in Barker's article, p. 197.