A delftware figural polychrome salt, circa 1680, attributed to Southwark

The modelling, palette and decoration of this salt are all indicative English delftware production of the late 17th century, and more specifically of Southwark, London. This putto and dolphin model, of which there appears to be no other extant examples, shares many characteristics with a salt formed as a seated boy, attributed to London and dated 1657. This dated seated boy salt is one of seven known of this type, some with dates, ranging from 1657 to 1676. The 1657 example is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (C.102-1950), and is illustrated by Michael Archer, Delftware, The Tin-Glazed Earthenware of the British Isles, London, 1997, pl. 211, G.2, and discussed pp. 325-326. It is based on a late 16th or early 17th century example made in the Netherlands, illustrated by Archer, ibid., p. 326, fig. 42. Here the differences between Dutch and English production of the period are clearly evident. Both the present lot and the museum's salt are more softly modelled, less crisp and naturalistic, and are painted in a less emphatic and detailed manner than the Dutch boy salt. The English versions are defined by more fluid, softer colours and a more naive painting style, lending them a simple charm. Furthermore, our example and the museum's salt have other characteristics in common, in particular a bluish tone to the green glaze with streaks of yellow, and a geometric motif to the interior of the bowl. Both are also similarly recessed and glazed underneath, with a central firing hole to the underside of the base going into the interior of the object.

It is also interesting to note the manner in which the cross around the putto's neck is painted – boldly drawn with a dotted chain. Its rendering is of very similar style to that on 17th century London-made 'Fecundity' dishes, including the Southwark 'Fecundity' dish of 1633, illustrated by Leslie B. Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, London, 2000, vol. II, pp. 30-31, cat. no. D1, further pointing to London manufacture.