Delft Purple and White Sauceboat With Flowers, Circa 1760

Description

Purple and white sauceboat with flowers
Delft, circa 1760
Mark: an axe
The Porcelain Axe pottery

The sauceboat stands on … more Purple and white sauceboat with flowers
Delft, circa 1760
Mark: an axe
The Porcelain Axe pottery

The sauceboat stands on a waisted foot, has a profiled body and upper rim, a protruding pouring lip and an angled, ear-shaped handle. The sauceboat is painted in purple with floral motifs. The raised volutes on both sides are highlighted in purple and inside are painted with a tied bouquet including tulips and carnations. A third carnation is painted on the front under the pouring lip. Smaller flowers and leafy branches are applied around the foot, near the ear and on the outside of the volutes. The handle is accented in purple.

Dimensions: length 22,7 cm / 8.93 in., width 10 cm / 3.93 in., height 14,7 cm / 5.78

A purple and white sauceboat with the same shape was auctioned at Christie's in London in 2005 (lot 256).

The sauceboat will have been part of a dinner service that became scattered over time.
How large that original service was cannot be ascertained. We know that in the second and third quarters of the eighteenth century there was considerable and varied production of terrines, which were also sold separately. This applies presumably also to sauceboats, which were undoubtedly sold in sets.

Good condition dish with usual glaze damage to the edges, the largest glaze chip to the spout. less