A Stunning Early Victorian Fruit Dish After Paul De Lamerie
Of scalloped form supported on three cast dolphin feet. The arched over handle formed as a curved scroll with a male head looking upwards above strapwork and descending to a rocaille shell and supported by bifurcated dolphin bodies and tails. The wavy edges to the bowl with unusual border resembling clusters of berries or fruit above pierced reserves of scrolls, each different in every flute.
Date
Maker
1839
Edward Farrell
Weight
Dimensions
45.75 oz (1518gm)
14.25" (36cm) wide
Price
£16,500
Essay
The earliest recorded example of this superb design would appear to be that in the Philadelphia Museum of Art dated 1743 made by Paul De Lamerie. The origins or inspiration for this form has not yet been identified but it proved popular as others are known by Phillips Garden and William Cripps. There is another example by De Lamerie in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, dated 1744 and two in the Farrer Collection at the Ashmolean dated 1746 and 1747. A fine dish or basket by Phillips Garden, dated 1754, was sold by us to the late Benjamin Edwards and appeared as lot 126 in Christie's New York sale of his collection on 26th January 2001 fetching a hammer price of $100,000.
Edward Farrell is an interesting maker in that he worked in radically differing styles ranging from highly elaborate teasets embossed in the style of David Teniers to monumental pieces such as the Hercules Candelabrum made for the Duke of York in 1822. Many of his creations were fashioned in the higher Britannia standard probably for prestige purposes only.
This basket is relatively faithful to the originals showing great technique in casting, chasing and piercing.
