
Fergus Gambon
Director
Sold for £5,737.50 inc. premium
Our British Ceramics specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistDirector
Head of Sale
Provenance
Bute Collection, Christie's sale, 8 July 1996, lot 51
James and Timmey Challenger Collection, Chicago
A similar jug with the shield resting at the figure's side from the Mackintosh Collection was sold by Sotheby's on 2 May 1967, lot 26. For another version see Captain R K Price, Astbury, Whieldon, and Ralph Wood Figures, and Toby Jugs (1922), pl.XLII, no.1. The identity of the figure has been much debated, with suggestions of Prince Hal or Falstaff from Shakespeare's Henry IV and V, or possibly King George IV when Prince of Wales, masquerading at a Brighton ball as King Hal (Henry VIII). Lord Mackintosh believed the model to be Sir Toby Belch from Twelfth Night.