A rare Charles Gouyn Seal Fob, circa 1750-59
This Charles Gouyn (St James’s, Girl-in-a-Swing) seal fob is modelled as a Watteauesque musician seated on a stump playing the hurdy gurdy. He wears a black hat, cloak and boots, and a white frill round his throat. Mounted with a polished agate.
Tiny seal fobs such as this, often richly decorated and mounted in gold, were made for wealthy aristocrats to give as gifts and love tokens.
A similar example with slight differences is illustrated in Bryant, Plate 36, Fig.24.
Condition: There is a minute fault beside the mount, and minor rubbing to the enamel decoration. No restoration.
Dimensions: Height (to top of ring attachment) 3.4 cm
The Chelsea Porcelain Toys: Scent-bottles, Bonbonnieres, Etuis, Seals and Statuettes, made at the Chelsea Factory, 1745-1769 & Derby Chelsea, 1770-1784, G.E. Bryant (The Medici Society, 1925).
Chelsea Porcelain, Elizabeth Adams (The British Museum Press, 2001).