An Armorial Worcester Sugar Bowl, decorated in the Giles studio, circa 1772-74
This handsome sugar bowl, decorated in the London studio of James Giles, bears the arms of Calmady (Azure, a chevron between three pears or). Three gold pears and a gold chevron are depicted on a Dry Blue shield. This elaborate shield is surrounded with garlands of flowers and sprays of leaves and berries. The ribbon below is inscribed WC, the reverse with the crest of a winged horse and two convolvulus sprigs. The interior is painted with a border of undulating leaves and berries twined around a gilt line, beneath a gilt dentil rim. The base is encircled with a gilt line.
The Calmady service was most probably manufactured for the wedding of Warwick Calmady junior to his cousin Miss Pollexfen. Warwick Calmady junior, son of Captain Warwick Calmady (1711-88), pre-deceased his father at the age of twenty-seven in 1780.
Provenance: The Calmady service descended through Warwick Calmady junior widow’s family until it was sold in 1985 at Bearne’s, Torquay, on behalf of this lineage; an English Private Collection.
Condition: No damage or restoration, just some wear to the gilt decoration at the rim only. The enamel decoration is in exquisite order.
Dimensions: Height 7.4 cm
In Search of James Giles, Gerald Coke (Micawber Publications, 1983).
James Giles, China and Glass Painter, Stephen Hanscombe (Stockspring Antiques Publications, 2005).
The Stephen Hanscombe Collection: James Giles and his Contemporary Decorators, (Stockspring Antiques Publications, 2014).
Worcester Porcelain 1751-1790: The Zorensky Collection, Simon Spero & John Sandon (Antique Collectors’ Club, 1996).