Rare Lowestoft porcelain in Norfolk saleroom
Four rare pieces of Lowestoft porcelain are to be sold in Norfolk later this month, with one lot estimated to fetch up to £9,000.
The star lot of the items is a very rare blue and white birth tablet inscribed ‘Mary Rushmer 1796’ in excellent condition, which has not been seen publicly for 30 years. The 2.5 inch diameter tablet is one of a small number commissioned at the Lowestoft factory, and has a pre-sale estimate of £7,000-£9,000.
- An inscribed polychrome sparrowbeak jug dating from 1794, inscribed ‘Catherine Sneath 1794 Weston’. The piece was featured in Connoisseur magazine in 1928 and exhibited in the Lowestoft porcelain bicentennial exhibition at Ipswich Museum in 1957. It was bought by the present owner in 1946. It has a pre-sale estimate of £3,000-£5,000.
- A polychrome inkwell dating from the 1780s, inscribed ‘A trifle from Lowestoft’. ‘Trifles’ were pieces made as souvenirs, and few have survived. The pre-sale estimate is £3,000-£5,000
- An unusual paperweight in blue and white, dating from around 1760. The piece was last sold 30 years ago from the renowned Warrell collection, and has a pre-sale estimate of £2,000-33,000.