An extremely rare and very fine early pearlware inkstand depicting a putto sitting astride a highly stylised dolphin.
The putto carries a shell to serve as an ink receptacle and wears a quiver on his left shoulder to serve as a quill holder. The white and gilt dolphin’s tail curves up to the putto’s back. They are modelled on a vibrant green platform atop a purple, white and gilt base.
This is a delightful and sought after figure.
It displays excellently and appears to be in good condition. There is some discolouration to the putto’s left leg and the left side of the dolphin’s tail, and a flake to the green platform has been retouched on the front corner of the putto’s right side. There is some wear to the gilt and some very small nibbles to the rim of the base.
I am not confident in declaring that this figure is free from restoration as I have not handled any other examples of this inkstand and am not aware of this figure’s history or provenance, save that it is one of only very few early / pre-Victorian figures which were once part of a large and rather fine collection of Staffordshire figures. The head is taken from a different mould to other examples I have seen photographed, but this does not in itself mean the head is not original. I cannot personally detect any restoration but this should not be taken as a promise, and I leave the matter to the buyer’s discretion, reflecting my lack of certainty in the price.
Whatever its history, this is a fabulous and highly decorative inkstand.
Reference: Possibly unrecorded, though a similar example is recorded in the Earle Collection, item 664
Height: 5.5”
Date: c. 1820
An extremely rare and very fine early pearlware inkstand depicting a putto sitting astride a highly stylised dolphin.
The putto carries a shell to serve as an ink receptacle and wears a quiver on his left shoulder to serve as a quill holder. The white and gilt dolphin’s tail curves up to the putto’s back. They are modelled on a vibrant green platform atop a purple, white and gilt base.
This is a delightful and sought after figure.
It displays excellently and appears to be in good condition. There is some discolouration to the putto’s left leg and the left side of the dolphin’s tail, and a flake to the green platform has been retouched on the front corner of the putto’s right side. There is some wear to the gilt and some very small nibbles to the rim of the base.
I am not confident in declaring that this figure is free from restoration as I have not handled any other examples of this inkstand and am not aware of this figure’s history or provenance, save that it is one of only very few early / pre-Victorian figures which were once part of a large and rather fine collection of Staffordshire figures. The head is taken from a different mould to other examples I have seen photographed, but this does not in itself mean the head is not original. I cannot personally detect any restoration but this should not be taken as a promise, and I leave the matter to the buyer’s discretion, reflecting my lack of certainty in the price.
Whatever its history, this is a fabulous and highly decorative inkstand.
Reference: Possibly unrecorded, though a similar example is recorded in the Earle Collection, item 664
Height: 5.5”
Date: c. 1820
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