CHAPTER 21: ENAMEL

Figure 21.1: Enamel tea and sugar canisters in a matching enamel chest, probably Birmingham, c. 1765-70. Chest with panels painted in coloured enamel with Italianate landscapes and river scenes surrounded by fine gilded decoration, all surrounded by scrolling gilt-metal mounts; gilt-metal drop-loop handle on lid; interior lined with pink silk edged with gold braid; later baize on base; canisters similarly decorated and also with gilt-metal mounts. Chest: height 11.4 cm (4 ½ in); width 21.5 cm (8 ½ in); depth 11.1 cm (4 3/8 in). Tea canisters: height 8.9 cm (3 ½ in); width 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in); depth 5.7 cm (2 ¼ in). Sugar canister: height 8.9 cm (3 ½ in); width 9.2 cm (3 5/8 in); depth 5.4 cm (2 1/8 in). (Formerly in the collection of the Hon. Mrs Nellie Ionides) Private collection 

Figure 21.2: Enamel caddy, Birmingham or South Staffordshire, c. 1770. Painted in coloured enamel with birds adapted from engravings by Robert Hancock after designs by Charles Fenn, artist and textile designer; lid also painted with flowers, taken from designs by Pillement (supplied with the Ladies Amusement); gilt-metal handle, mounts and escutcheon; interior with knopped enamel inner lid painted with a bird on a branch; silvered metal lining. An almost identical caddy is in the Schreiber collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Height 15 cm (5 7/8 in) (Formerly in the collection of Mrs Nellie Ionides) Private collection, photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s  

Figure 21.3: Ebony chest with enamel panels attributed to Sadler & Green, Liverpool, c. 1760-65. Ebony veneer on oak carcass; panels on all four sides transfer-printed in black, that on left of escutcheon taken from ‘The Tea Party’, an engraving attributed to Robert Hancock; other panels depict figures playing backgammon, as well as bucolic and landscape subjects; panel on lid decorated with diaper and rosette pattern; silvered brass handle; ivory stringing and base mouldings; ogee bracket feet; underside of lid lined with green velvet; three ebonised wood canisters with sliding lids with ivory knobs. Chest: height 16.5 cm (6 ½ in); width 24 cm (9 ½ in); depth 15 cm (5 ¾ in). Tea canisters: height 10.2 cm (4 in); width 6.3 cm (2 ½ in); depth 11.1 cm (4 3/8 in). Sugar canister: height 10.2 cm (4 in); width 7 cm (2 ¾ in); depth 11.1 cm (4 3/8 in). Private collection 

Figure 21.4: Enamel canister, probably Bilston, c. 1765. Portrait of an unidentified gentleman on front, painted in the manner of Thomas Frye in coloured enamel within raised gilded scrolling (note scarring caused by firing flaws); ‘Finch on fruit’ design from The Ladies’ Amusement on rear; top and sides decorated with reserved flowers; engine-turned gilt-metal mounts; screw cap lid inscribed GREEN. Height 10.5 cm (4 ⅛ in). (Formerly in the Duveen and McLarty Collections) Private collection, photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s  

Figures 21.5: Enamel canister, South Staffordshire or Birmingham, c. 1760-65. Transfer-printed and over-painted in coloured enamel with framed profile portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, that of the King taken from an engraving after a painting by Jeremiah Meyer; canted corners decorated with raised white-dotted diaper pattern; reeded metal mounts; screw cap lid inscribed GREEN. Height 11cm (4 ⅜ in). Bonhams, London 

Figure 21.6: Enamel chest containing matching enamel tea and sugar canisters, probably Bilston, c. 1765-75. Panels painted in coloured enamel with Italianate landscapes and pastoral scenes, all bordered by elaborately scrolled, rococo, gilt-metal mounts; gilt-metal drop loop handle at each end; interior lined with dark green velvet; two tea canisters and central sugar canister, all similarly decorated to the chest and with gilt-metal mounts. Chest: height 12.7 cm (5 in); width 21 cm (8 ¼ in); depth 12 cm (4 ¾ in). © Victoria and Albert Museum, London  

Figure 21.7: Enamel chest, probably Birmingham, c. 1760-65. Panels painted in coloured enamel with landscapes and pastoral scenes within red chain and scattered flower borders, all surrounded by gilt-metal mounts; gilt-metal drop loop handle on lid.; interior lined with red velvet edged with gold braid; two tea canisters and central sugar canister, all similarly decorated to the chest and with gilt-metal mounts. Chest: width 21 cm (8 ¼ in). (Formerly in the Hamilton Palace Collection and exhibited at the Special Loan Exhibition of Enamels on Metal at the South Kensington Museum, 1874) Private collection, photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s  

Figure 21.8: Enamel tea and sugar canisters from an aventurine glass chest, the chest probably Birmingham, the canisters South Staffordshire, c. 1770-75. Canisters transfer-printed with rural scenes and over-painted in purple on a white ground; gilt-metal mounts. Tea canisters: height 7 cm (2¾ in); width 7.9 cm (3 1/8 in); depth 3.6 (1 3/8 in) cm. Sugar canister: height 6.5 cm (2 ½ in); width 8.2 cm (3 ¼ in); depth 4.6 cm (1 ¾ in). Wolverhampton Arts & Museum Services 

Figure 21.9: Aventurine glass chest containing enamel tea and sugar canisters, the chest probably Birmingham, the canisters South Staffordshire, c. 1770-75. Chest with panels of bronze aventurine glass set within a gilt-metal framework; gilt-metal drop loop handle on lid; canisters painted in coloured enamel with pastoral subjects reserved on a green ground that is further decorated with raised gilt scrolls and white-dotted diaper pattern; gilt-metal mounts. Chest: 21.5 cm (8 ½ in). Canisters: height 9.7 cm (3 ¾ in). (Formerly in the collection of the Hon. Mrs Nellie Ionides) Sotheby’s Picture Library 

Figure 21.10: Enamel tea and sugar canisters from a set of three in a papier mȃché chest, the chest and canisters probably Birmingham, c. 1760-65. Painted in coloured enamel with bouquets and sprays of flowers; gilt-metal mounts. Height 12.5 cm (4 7/8 in). Halcyon Days, London 

Figure 21.11: Enamel caddy (one of a pair), South Staffordshire, c. 1775-85. Each decorated overall with snowflake pattern in white and red with flat gilt ornament on a blue ground; gilt-metal mounts, escutcheon and drop loop handle; matching knopped inner lid; silvered interior. Height 14 cm (5½ in). (Formerly in the Rothman Collection). Courtesy Bonhams Auctioneers 

Figure 21.12: Enamel caddy, probably by Samson, Paris, c. 1900. Painted in coloured enamel with birds and flower festoons in imitation of the caddy in Figure 21.2; metal mounts and drop loop handle. Height 12cm (4 ¾ in); width 12.5 cm (4 ⅞ in). (Formerly in the Halcyon Days Collection) Private collection, photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s  

Figure 21.13: Enamel canister, Paris, c. 1900. Painted in imitation of eighteenth-century South Staffordshire enamel with birds, flowers and a riverscape reserved on a blue ground with raised gilt and white ornament; metal mounts; screw cap lid. Height 10.5 cm (4 ⅛ in). (Formerly in the Halcyon Days Collection) Private collection, photograph courtesy of Sotheby’s