A CHELSEA MODEL OF A BANTAM COCK

A CHELSEA MODEL OF A BANTAM COCK

Circa 1755
17.8 cm high, 14.2 cm across
Red Anchor mark

The alert cockerel naturalistically coloured and looking slightly to the right with tail raised.

This rare figure is exceptionally lively and well modelled and clearly the work of an accomplished sculptor. Josef Willems was responsible for the best figure modelling at Chelsea at this period but it is not known if he also sculpted birds and animals.

A Bantam cock and hen were listed in The Chelsea Catalogue of 1756 sold at Auction by Mr. Ford, St. James’s

Thirteenth Day’s Sale, Monday, April 12,
Lot 22 A Bantam cock and hen

The only other example that seems to be recorded is the pair of a Bantam cock and hen in the Lady Charlotte Schreiber Collection, The Victoria and Albert Museum, illustrated by Bernard Rackham, ‘Catalogue of The Schreiber Collection Of English Porcelain Earthenware Enamels Etc.’ Volume I – Porcelain, 1928, plate 14, no. 147.

Condition:
Broken through the base, restoration to the base near the left foot, the front edge of the tail, the tip of the beak, comb and end of tail. Firing cracks irradiating from the belly.

Provenance:
Winifred Williams, 3 July 1992
Private Collection

This item has been sold