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Lot 111

A good pair of Birmingham enamel plaques, circa 1755

23 June 2021, 10:30 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £19,000 inc. premium

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A good pair of Birmingham enamel plaques, circa 1755

Of rectangular form, printed in puce and delicately coloured, one with a 'Macaw and Fruit', the long-tailed parrot perched on a stone ledge reaching to peck at fruit below, including peaches, currants and apples, the other with two long-tailed 'Pheasants' standing on a mound beside a river, with a Chinese pagoda in the distance, in original gilt metal frames, plaques 7.7cm x 9.5cm (2)

Footnotes

The 'Macaw and Fruit' appears on a very similar plaque illustrated by Egan Mew, Battersea Enamels (1926), fig.54. Similar 'pheasants' in slightly different poses appear in The Ladies Amusement on pages 68 and 69, the prints signed 'R Hancock'. The pheasants group shown on page 68 of The Ladies Amusement also appears on Worcester porcelain, along with several versions of 'Parrot and Fruit'. It is therefore likely that Robert Hancock was responsible for engraving the present lot, and he is known to have provided engraved plates for early Birmingham enamellers.

Additional information

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