Catalog (971)

A fine miniature of a handsome gent with strawberry blond hair, painted by Henry Jacob Burch. Adding to the desirability of this example is the Burch trade card that was fitted to the back of the painting, rarely seen in his works.

Excellent condition, with an overall size of 2 3/4" by 2 1/4".

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Henry Jacob Burch was born in London in 1763. He entered the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 16, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1787 to 1834. Examples of his wor...

This fine work, done in watercolor and bodycolor on organic material, was most probably done in Naples. The sitter is an attractive child looking directly at the viewer and holding a jumping jack toy of Pulcinella, a classical character that originated in commedia dell'arte of the 17th century and became a stock character in Neapolitan puppetry. The reverse of the portrait is also quite special, with its plaited hair, ivory plaque, golden hair work initials, metallic threads, and pearls.

The ...

A nicely executed watercolor, on natural material, of a gent in a black coat with white stock and ruffled shirt. Presented in the original gilt metal case with hair work under glazing on the reverse.

The overall condition is fine, with some tiny dust motes under the glass. The white areas circling the top half are reflections from the chamfered cover glass. Overall frame size is 2 1/4" by 2".

A rare Worcester coffee cup with a slightly flaring rim, a grooved loop handle, and incurving toward the base. Painted in the famille verte palette and displaying chrysanthemums growing from a large triangular rock in a landscape which also features other flowers. This wonderful piece has a panelled green diaper border and a red flower sprig on the inside base.

An identical cup sold as lot 586, Watney II, Bonham's 5/10/2000 for 4500 pounds ($6893) including premium. As far as has been de...

A c1790 fine miniature done by John Barry. This portrait of a gentleman in a gray coat, with his powdered hair en queue, is an extremely well painted example, and in excellent condition. Presented in a 1 7/8" by 1 1/2" period gilt metal case.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: John Barry, who lived in London and was active from 1784 to 1827, exhibited at the Royal Academy during this period. Among his sitters was Rev. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Barry's works are in various museums, including ...

A striking c1790 miniature by Richard Cosway. The subject, a blue-eyed infantry officer with his hair en queue, is wearing a red jacket with a white epaulet, white trim, and cravat.

This portrait is a good study example as many of Cosway's techniques and style characteristics are present: use of floating transparent paints to allow the luminosity of the substrate to show through, enlargement of the pupils, massed hair as opposed to finer individual strands, a sky background using a stro...

From Lancaster, PA.; each with the birth date and age of the sitter; strong attribution to Jacob Eichholtz based on style and area found; sight size 14" by 10"

Nicely executed miniature, on natural organic material, of a woman in bonnet and lace; enamelled frame; sight size 2 1/4" by 1 3/4"; slight paint rubbing at 5 o'clock

Gilt Chinoserie decoration on a deep blue ground; 2 5/8" tall by 2 5/8" diameter; very, very minimal gilt rubbing in a few spots at the bottom, of much less import than the photos indicate

A large (15 1/4" by 12") blue and white Staffordshire platter in the "Lakes of Killarney" pattern, maker unknown; beautifully bright and crisp (what appears to be a darkness on the platter in the photo is due to a lighting problem)

A stunning pair of elaborately metal-worked brass candlesticks in superb condition with removable bobeches. 9 3/4" tall

In referring to certain types of pottery, "Leeds" and "featheredge" are both common misnomers. People think of certain types of Staffordshire pottery as being Leeds while in actuality only a small portion was made by that factory.

Further, to be completely accurate, this platter is really what is known as "shell-edge", as opposed to featheredge. It is pearlware, made around 1810, and is an extremely large 17 3/4" by 13 1/4" in size. Wares of this type were often made in blue, and, much ...

Wine rinsers or wine washers were used to cool or rinse wine glasses between courses of meals. At formal meals of this type, beer or ale would not be served. Therefore, the engraving of hops and barley on this rinser is very unusual and a bit inexplicable, as this type engraving was specifically used on ale glasses. The rinser is 3 1/2" tall and 4' in diameter.

A fine oil on canvas portrait of a young woman in a brown dress and blue lace trimmed hat, with a column and red drape behind her. Stylistically, this would be from the Philadelphia School. Sight size is 30" by 24 1/2" and the overall size is 35 1/4" by 30". The portrait is in its original gilded frame, which is in very fine shape, with the normal minor nicks. The stretcher also appears to be original. Overall, the painting is in excellent condition, but has has been relined, and has a small ...

A beautiful Bohemian wine glass with panelled sides, a bowl wonderfully engraved with a woman seated in a garden, a facet cut stem, and elongated rondels cut into the folded foot; 5 7/8" tall, 2 1/2" diameter bowl, 2 7/8" diameter foot

A beautiful pair of old Sheffield candlesticks with original removable bobeches. What makes these so rare and superb are the period old Sheffield silver peg lamps with their original burners.

Peg lamps themselves are not uncommon, but they are inevitably in pewter, glass, or brass. The only other Sheffield pair I have seen was is a book on early lighting, described as highly unusual and rare; 12" tall

This is an extremely fine early 19th century balustroid wine glass made in the 18th century style. It is lead glass, and has a large funnel bowl which sits atop a triple ring collar, below which is a center section of an unusual and uncommon cylinder knop, followed by two angular knops. It has a conical folded foot with a rough, snapped pontil.

The glass is in perfect condition, with no restoration, and displays good tooling marks and striations throughout. The height is 6 1/8", the bowl ...

A fine little dish in what is often called Leeds feather edge. Accurately speaking, this is not a true Leeds feather edge piece, but is an English pearlware pickle leaf dish with blue edge decoration. The terms Leeds and feather edge are, unfortunately, generally misused to describe any piece of pottery with a decorated edge. What can be said about this piece is that it is of a beautiful form, with a delicate tracery of veins in its naturalistic modeling, and, contrary to virtually all dish...