Sauce Boat, pearlware, Davenport, c.1805

This pearlware sauce boat is printed with the English country scene Bisham Abbey, formerly titled Tudor Mansion. It shows two men in front of a Tudor-type manor house with a central tower. Built in 1537, Bisham Abbey is seven miles east of Henley-on-Thames. The abbey was dissolved in 1540 and granted to Sir Philip Hoby.

The base bears the early impressed lowercase curved 'Davenport' mark above an anchor.

Condition: Excellent - no chips, cracks or restoration. The copper plate engraved decoration is neatly printed, and there is some wonderful pooling of pearl glaze on the base. This is certainly a most attractive piece and would enhance any collection of early nineteenth-century English earthenware.

Dimensions: Height 3" (7.6cm); Length 6 1/2" (16.5cm); Width 2 7/8" (7.3cm)

Davenport - China, Earthenware and Glass 1794-1887, Terence A. Lockett & Geoffrey A. Godden (Barrie & Jenkins, 1989)

John Davenport and his Wares, English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Volume 9, Part 1, 1973.