Lot 672
  • 672

AN ENGLISH DELFTWARE POLYCHROME 'DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH' CHARGER CIRCA 1705-10 |

Estimate
6,000 - 8,000 USD
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Description

  • diameter 11 5/8 in.
  • 29.5 cm
Bristol or London, painted in the center with a full-length portrait of the duke wearing a suit of armor, flanked by the initials D M within a yellow line and blue dash border on the rim.

Provenance

Beaumont Collection, bearing label
Bernard and S. Dean Levy, New York, September, 1977
Vogel Collection no. 286

Condition

The front has been over-painted and is starting to flake partially showing decoration underneath. The reverse similarly treated. When viewed under a UV light a crack is visible. It is possible the piece has been horizontally segmented in two and re-stuck.
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.

Catalogue Note

The same figure features on several dishes which differ only in the painted initials flanking the figure. A dish initialled ‘GR’ is identified as King George I and illustrated by F. H. Garner and Michael Archer, English Delftware, London, 1972, pl. 25, where the authors note on p. 10 that this same figure has been used to represent a number of different figures, “alternatively labelled ‘GR’ (for George I)…, ‘DM’ (for the Duke of Marlborough), ‘PG’ (for Prince George of Denmark, Anne’s consort), ‘PE’ (for Prince Eugene), and ‘DO’ (for the Duke of Ormond)." Another figure dressed in armor and initialled ‘GR2’, for George II, is illustrated with Duke of Marlborough and Duke of Ormond examples, by Anthony Ray, English Delftware Pottery, in the Robert Hall Warren Collection, London, 1968 pl. 2, nos. 4, 5 and 7. A Marlborough charger, together with a Prince George charger, was in the John Philip Kassebaum Collection, sold Sotheby's London, October 1st 1991, lots 61-62.

Michael Archer, Delftware in the Fitzwilliam Museum, London, 2013, pp. 13-14, suggests a production site of Norfolk House, London for chargers of this type on the basis of a sherd painted with an armoured figure excavated in Lambeth.