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A rare sealed 'Mallet' wine bottle, dated 1736 Of olive-green tint, the wide straight-sided body with a long tapering neck and prominent string rim, applied at the shoulder with a seal inscribed 'Nicho: / Brent / St Dominick / 1736', with a deep circular basal 'kick-up', 20.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance Excavated from a hedge near St Dominick, Cornwall With Neil Willcox, March 2011 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.655 The family to which the seal refers has not been identified, but likely relates to a Nicholas Brent who lived in the parish of St Dominick, Cornwall. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare heavy baluster glass, circa 1715The waisted bell bowl with a solid base containing a tear, on a stem with a wide angular drop knop and teared baluster drop knop, over a folded domed foot, 15.8cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceWith Christine Bridge Antiques, 17 June 1995The unusual combination of drop and ball knops is particularly attractive. A very similar glass is illustrated by L M Bickerton, Eighteenth Century English Drinking Glasses (1986), p.88, no.146. A glass from the Patrick and Mavis Walker Collection with a similar stem formation was sold by Bonhams on21 June 2022, lot 54.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare sealed double magnum 'Onion' wine bottle, circa 1710-15 Of olive-green tint, the generous bulbous body with a short tapering neck and applied string rim, sealed with the remains of the original cork and wax seal, applied just below the shoulder with a seal inscribed with the interlaced monogram 'PDM' within a beaded border, a deep 'kick-up' to the base, 27cm high Footnotes: Provenance Dennis Northmore Collection, BBR Auctions, 7 July 2002, lot 184 With Neil Willcox, 14 July 2002 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.1209-10 The seal on this exceptional bottle has been beautifully executed by a master craftsman, suggesting that the original owner was likely to have been a wealthy individual. Whilst the letters D and M of the monogram are dominant, it is not possible to determine the order in which the initials were intended to be read and the identity of the individual to which they relate has not been identified. This bottle holds the current record for the highest price paid at auction for any undated sealed bottle from the 18th century and no other example with this seal is recorded in the literature. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare sealed 'Onion' wine bottle, dated 1688 Of deep emerald-green tint, the bulbous body with a short tapering neck and applied string rim, the shoulder applied with a seal with a crown flanked by 'OX ON' above the W & A Morell cipher and date '1688', with a deep basal 'kick-up', 16.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 30 May 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.510 This bottle is attributed to Anne Morrell, who was licensee of the Crown tavern on Cornmarket Street in Oxford. Anne is known to have run a Crown tavern in 1659 prior to her second marriage to William Morrell around the same year, after which they ran the tavern together. Following the death of her husband in 1679, Anne Morrell ran the Crown tavern alone until her own death in 1696 when she left the tavern to her daughter from her first marriage, Joan Turton. The earliest sealed bottles relating to the tavern are undated but the later seals incorporate the Morrell monogram, with the earliest examples dated 1674. A number of bottles bearing this seal are recorded with various dates, but this would appear to be the only complete example dated 1688 of full size. Two half size 'Onion' examples with the same seal are recorded by Burton, together with several detached seals. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare blue colour twist firing glass, circa 1770The ovoid bowl set on a double-series stem with an unusual opaque white solid tubular corkscrew edged in translucent blue, encircled by a seven-ply spiral band comprising five fine white threads flanked by a pair of heavier threads, over a heavy conical foot, 9.9cm highFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate London CollectionOnly a small number of firing glasses with colour twist stems are recorded, most with trumpet bowls. An identical glass from the Julius and Ann Kaplan Collection was sold by Bonhams on 15 November 2017, lot 55 with the same unusual tubular corkscrew.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare canary-yellow colour twist goblet, circa 1765The generous round funnel bowl on a stem containing a central six-ply corkscrew in opaque yellow within a pair of heavy opaque white multi-ply spiral bands, over a conical foot, 19.7cm highFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate London CollectionThe canary-yellow thread is the rarest of all colour twist types. Colour twist goblets of this size in any colour are rare, but to find an example in canary-yellow is exceptional. No other would appear to be recorded.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare South Staffordshire 'Queen' bonbonnière, circa 1765-70Modelled as the head of a lady, her cheeks heavily rouged with her hair coiffured with jewels and a blue rosette at the back, a blue beaded necklace around her neck, the hinged cover modelled in shallow relief as a crown with arches picked out in pink, yellow and blue, with four yellow fleurs-de-lis between, 5.5cm highFootnotes:A similar 'Queen' bonbonnière is illustrated by Yvonne Hackenbroch, Chelsea and other English Porcelain, Pottery and Enamel in the Irwin Untermyer Collection (1957), pl.128, fig.326.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

The Dreadnought: a rare engraved Privateer wine glass, circa 1757-58 The bucket bowl engraved with the three-masted ship in sail, inscribed 'Success to the DREADNOUGHT Privateer,' below the rim, on a single-series opaque twist stem containing a multi-ply corkscrew edged with a pair of heavy opaque white threads, over a conical foot, the stem repaired with a silver sleeve, 15.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance Peter Lazarus Collection Terence C Woodfield Collection Chris Crabtree Collection Literature Cleo Witt, Introducing Bristol Glass (1984), p.29 Cleo Witt, Cyril Weeden and Arlene Palmer Schwind, Bristol Glass (1984), p.42 Exhibited The Bristol and West Building, Broad Quay, June-July 1984 The Dreadnought was a Bristol ship of 130 tons with 12 guns, 12 swivels and a crew of 120 men, owned by Bristol merchants John Harbord, Jonah Thomas, Samuel Thomas and William Wasbrough. She was first declared on 22 March 1757 by Captain James Leisman, on 16 March 1758 by Captain Richard Fitzherbert, on 29 August that year by Captain Joseph English, then again on 10 April 1762 by Captain George Burford, see J W Damer Powell, Bristol Privateers and Ships of War (1930), pp.200-1. A diary written by the ship's unnamed surgeon during a four-month cruise in 1757 under the captaincy of Leisman in the Bristol Archives details life on board, including the capture of the Lyon, a French ship travelling from St. Domingo to Bordeaux. The dreadnought captured several foreign vessels. Perhaps her greatest success, as noted in Berrow's Worcester Journal in August 1757, was the capture of 'the Marquis de Conflans, from St. Domingo to Rochelle. She mounts 20 Guns, and engag'd the Dreadnought three Hours. This Prize is reckon'd worth between £20,000 and £30,000'. Lloyd's List describes this ship as being '300 Tons, 12 Guns and 30 Men, loaded with about 160 Hhds of fine, and 160 of brown Sugar, about 170 Hhds of Coffee, 12 Casks of Indigo, 4 Bags of Cotton, & a small Quantity of Tortoiseshell'. An identical glass, presumably from the same original set, is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (inv. no.C.523-1961), illustrated in the catalogue (1978), p.105, no.269a. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare sealed 'Mallet' wine bottle, dated 1752 Of dark olive-green tint, the long wide body with a long tapering neck and prominent string rim, applied to the side with a seal inscribed 'W.R/ 1752', with a deep basal 'kick-up', 23.8cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Howard Phillips Stan Hooper Collection Glass Works Auctions, 8 December 2011, lot 312 (part) A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature Roger Dumbrell, Understanding Antique Wine Bottles (1983), p.96, fig.142 David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.699 One other full size bottle with this seal is recorded in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.C.384-1993) and was made using the same seal die. Burton also records at least one further example of half size. The initials have not been identified. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare George Jones Majolica game pie dish, cover and liner, circa 1875Of oval form, the body moulded with two identical oval colourful panels both depicting an unfortunate boar being mauled by a pack of four bloodthirsty hounds, flanked by fruiting oak branches, all against a turquoise ground, the handles modelled as stag's heads, the cover with a large boar's head within a garland of oak leaves and acorns, a bright mauve ground to the interior, fitted with a liner, 31.5cm wide, impressed GJ & Sons crescent monogram and painted shape number 5255 (3)For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed 'Mallet' wine bottle, dated 1724 Of olive-green tint, the straight-sided body wider at the base, the tapering neck with applied string rim, applied just below the shoulder with a seal inscribed 'W/ Hinton/ 1724' in script, with a deep basal 'kick-up', 17.2cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 16 May 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.606 The individual to which the seal relates has not been identified and no other bottle with this seal would appear to be recorded in the literature. Two bottles are recorded by Burton with seals for an 'M Hinton' dated 1711 and 1717 respectively, which may be related. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare sealed 'Octagonal Cylinder' wine bottle of possible American interest, dated 1739Of dark olive-green tint, the wide straight-sided octagonal body with rounded shoulders, the tall elegant neck with an applied string rim, applied to one side with a seal inscribed '*/.R.S./ 1739', with a basal 'kick-up', 25cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceTom Floyd Collection, Florida, Christie's, 13 February 1990, lot 30With Neil Willcox, 4 October 1999A C Hubbard Jr CollectionLiteratureWard Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.113, pl.171David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.670-71This is the earliest date found on a bottle of 'Octagonal Cylinder' shape. It has been suggested that a number of octagonal sealed bottles dating to the 1730s which bear initials have their origins in Ireland, suggesting that the initials may relate to someone of Irish descent. It has not been possible to identify the individual to whom the initials refer, but at least five other 'Octagonal Cylinder' examples with this seal are recorded by Burton, all of which are in American collections. For this reason, Burton suggests that the initials here may instead relate to someone who was living in America. Another is illustrated by Willy Van den Bossche, Antique Glass Bottles (2001), p.87, pl.32.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare armorial sealed 'Onion' wine bottle of Welsh interest, circa 1700 Of dark olive-green tint, the wide bulbous body with a tapering neck and string rim, applied to the shoulder with a seal moulded with the arms of Williams impaling Cradock, inscribed 'Dyffrin' above, with a deep basal 'kick-up', 14.9cm high Footnotes: Provenance Sotheby's, 6 March 2000, lot 265 With Neil Willcox, 16 May 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.1448-9 The coat of arms depicted on this seal is that of Philip Williams (d.1658) and his second wife, Rose Cradock (d.1630) of Cheriton in the Gower, Wales. The Williams family was prominent in the Neath area of West Glamorgan who lived at Old Dyffryn House, sometimes known as Plas Dyffryn Clydach, which was sold when the family died out in the 1830s and later demolished. This bottle was made for Philip and Rose's son, also called Philip Williams (d.1717), who was a prominent genealogist and steward of the manor of both Cadoxton and the Neath Abbey estate of Elizabeth Hoby. No other bottle with this unique seal would appear to be recorded. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Dutch stipple-engraved light baluster goblet by J Wolff, circa 1760The round funnel bowl with a slightly flared rim, finely decorated with a man seated at one end of a bench playing a lute, an elegantly dressed lady seated at the other with an open book on her lap, between them a jug and two glass flutes before a vase of flowers, a dog seated on a chequered floor at their feet looking up towards her, the slender stem with a central knop between opposing solid balusters, over a domed foot, 22.4cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceLempertz, Cologne, 12 June 1958, lot 827Walter F Smith Collection, Sotheby's, 18 March 1968, lot 416Anthony Waugh Collection, Sotheby's, 28 April 1980, lot 210Sotheby's, 24 November 1986, lot 56Sotheby's, 30 November 1999, lot 201Chris Crabtree CollectionLiteratureF G A M Smit, 'Punktierbilder auf Glas: Holländische Meister des Gestippten Glases im 18. Jahrhundert', Weltkunst 52(19) (1982), pp.2620-4F G A M Smit, Uniquely Dutch Eighteenth-Century Stipple-Engravings on Glass (1993), p.147, no.Eb.26Exhibited300 Years of British Glass 1675-1975, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Museum, 14 June 1975, no.210The present glass is one of just twenty glasses by this unknown engraver recorded by Smit. Two more can be added to this oeuvre, including a goblet sold by Bonhams on 21 June 2022, lot 132 and lot 101 in this sale. For an overview of J Wolff's identity and technique, see the footnotes to these lots.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare half size 'Shaft and Globe / Onion' transitional wine bottle, circa 1675-80 Of dark olive-green tint, the bulbous body narrowing towards the base, the long tapering neck applied with a prominent string rim with two tooled notches, the base with a 'kick-up', 16.2cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 9 October 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare and important sealed 'Shaft and Globe' wine bottle, circa 1660-65Of olive-green tint, the rounded bulbous body tapering inwards towards the base, the slender tapering neck with a prominent string rim, the shoulder applied with a large seal inscribed with the initials 'G.O' within a beaded border, a shallow 'kick-up' to the base, 23.5cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceBBR Auctions, 8 July 2012, lot 208A C Hubbard Jr CollectionLiteratureDavid Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.987 and 1575Although the initials on this significant bottle have not been identified, Burton suggests that a tavern motif or family crest may have sat above the initials which was lost during the seal impression.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Four rare Spode pearlware tulip cups, circa 1820Each modelled as a single flower with variegated petals, green stalk handles and green octagonal bases, the interiors with naturalistically painted stamens, 7cm high, three with impressed Spode marks, one impressed SPODE 20 (4)Footnotes:It is rare to find tulip cups such as this in pearlware, with porcelain being more usual. See lots 219 and 220 in this sale. A set of ten Spode cups with a pearlware stand was sold by Bonhams on 1 December 2010, lot 215.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

The Sloane Square Mug: A rare, inscribed Chelsea-Derby mug, dated 1781Of cylindrical shape with bands of finely turned grooves, the initials 'HIS' finely enamelled in purple and green within a gilt oval wreath, inscribed in red under the base 'H.I.Street, Sloane Square, Chelsea. 1781', 8.6cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceBonhams, 18 April 2012, lot 250For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A fine and rare Dutch stipple-engraved light baluster wine glass by J Wolff, circa 1760 The round funnel bowl delicately engraved with an almost continuous landscape scene depicting falconry, an moustached gentleman standing before a seated lady, he with a sword by his side and she holding an open book in her lap, a boy holding a crossbow standing before them, an elaborately dressed gentleman standing to his left with a falcon perched on his left arm, holding his dog by a lead behind him, a man on horseback releasing another falcon in the distance, all before a clifftop castle and beneath a flock of birds in flight, the stem with angular and cushion knops above a beaded inverted baluster terminating in a basal knop, over a conical foot, 17.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance S J Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 27 February 1968, lot 1578 The identity of J Wolff is unknown, but if he was a relative of the renowned master engraver David Wolff it can only be his brother Jacob, born in 1742, see Frans Smit, Dutch Eighteenth-Century Dutch Stipple-Engravings on Glass (1993), p.17. A total of just twenty glasses by this engraver are recorded by Smit, including two bearing the signature 'J Wolff', one of which is dated 1780. J Wolff stippled in a very distinctive style with backgrounds often sparsely dotted and darker objects frequently left almost devoid of stippling, instead delineated by outlines. The style of the engraving on the present lot is therefore characteristic of this engraver. He specialised in depictions of country folk and rural life, particularly tavern scenes. The present lot is unrecorded by Smit and therefore represents an important addition to this artist's oeuvre. Two examples with related outdoor scenes depicting various spectators watching the ascent of a hot air balloon are recorded by Smit (1993), p.156, nos.Ec.3 and Ec.4. For a goblet with a tavern scene by J Wolff, see that sold by Bonhams on 21 June 2022, lot 132. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed 'Mallet' wine bottle, circa 1735-40 Of dark olive-amber tint, the wide body with straight sides and a long tapering neck with applied string rim, applied just below the shoulder with a seal inscribed 'EARLE . OF/ LITCHFIELD/ STOLE/ IF SOLD' beneath an Earl's coronet, all within a lined border, with a deep basal 'kick-up', 23.2cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 23 November 1998 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature Ward Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Gasses (2000), p.110, pl.164 David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.1184 There have been three creations of the earldom of Litchfield, the first lasting for less than a year in 1672, the second lasting from 1674 until 1772, and the current title created on 15 September 1831. The seal on this bottle relates to the second creation of the title, when Sir Edward Lee, 5th baronet Quarendon (1663-1716), was created Earl of Litchfield and Viscount Quarendon. He married Charlotte Fitzroy in 1667, the illegitimate and favourite daughter of King Charles II. Upon his death the title passed to their eldest son, George Henry Lee II (1690-1742), who was the probable owner of this important bottle. The title became extinct once more when George Henry died without issue in 1742. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

Six reference books on early English glass Including: Albert Hartshorne, Old English Glasses (1897); Joseph Bles, Rare English Glasses of the 17th and 18th Centuries (1924); Grant Francis, Old English Drinking Glasses (1926), signed by the author (edition 6/100), together with the original purchase invoice from W H Smith & Son for £6 6d and a signed letter of thanks from the author to the purchaser, both dated 1926; W A Thorpe, A History of English and Irish Glass, Volumes One and Two (1929); James Rush, The Ingenious Beilbys (1973), specially bound in calf and goldfoil tooled, signed by the author (limited edition no.42) (6) This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: • • Zero rated for VAT, no VAT will be added to the Hammer Price or the Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare blue mixed colour twist wine glass, circa 1765the generous bell bowl on a stem with an airtwist gauze corkscrew entwined with a heavy translucent cobalt-blue spiral thread, over a conical foot, 17.8cm highFootnotes:ProvenancePrivate London CollectionA virtually identical glass to the present lot was sold by Bonhams as part of the James Hall Collection on 4 June 2008, lot 168 and again on 2 May 2018, lot 127. They belong to a series of glasses with bell bowls, most of which are distinctively engraved with single animals or botanical flowers and are discussed by Delomosne and Son, The Seton Veitch Collection (2006), no.43, who suggest a Low Countries origin for the engraving. The stems all combine an airtwist corkscrew with a single coloured thread typically in blue or green.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Belgian armorial sealed mineral water flask, circa 1724-43 Of light amber tint, the flattened ovoid body with a long slender neck with a crimped string rim, applied just below with a small seal inscribed 'POUHON IN SPA' around the coat of arms of Georges-Louis de Berghes or the town of Spa surmounted by a coronet, with a shallow basal 'kick-up', 23.4cm high Footnotes: Provenance Sheelah Ruggles-Brise Collection and thence by family descent Literature Sheelah Ruggles-Brise, Sealed Bottles (1949), pp.77-8 These extremely rare bottles were produced in three different sizes, with the present lot being the full-sized version, see Willy van den Bossche, Antique Glass Bottles (2001), pp.186-7, pls.136A-B and David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.1628-9. Georges-Louis de Berghes was Prince-Bishop of the Principality of Liège (1724-1743) and his arms were also used by the nearby town of Spa in the Ardennes. Pouhon was the name of the spring in the town, mineral water from which was exported worldwide from the late 16th century for its medicinal properties, rendering the name of the town synonymous with mineral waters elsewhere. Flasks with glass seals were produced between 1724 and 1743 only, replacing the earlier examples sealed with green wax, in order to prevent nearby competitors from selling their water in imitation bottles. The bottles would originally have been encased in straw wicker, some of which were imported into England by Henry Eyre in the 1730s. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An English delftware Popish Plot tile, circa 1680-1700Painted in manganese with 'The body of Sir E.B.G carry'd to Prim rose hill on a Horse', the supposed murderers Robert Green, Lawrence Hill and Henry Berry taking the slumped body of magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey to the foot of Primrose Hill, his corpse depicted a second time lying run through with his own sword, 12.8cm squareFootnotes:ProvenanceFelton House, North SomersetThe Five of Spades playing card is the source for this tile.On 28 September 1678 Titus Oates and Israel Tonge, a fanatic protestant minister implicit in the fabrication of the Popish Plot, presented their testimony to magistrate Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey. The disappearance of Godfrey on 12 October and the subsequent discovery of his dead body at Primrose Hill five days later caused uproar and those seeking to benefit from the exposure of a Catholic Plot stoked the fire. It was assumed that Godfrey was murdered by the Jesuits in connection with his taking Oates' and Tonge's deposition.Other playing cards from the same series depict Godfrey's supposed murder by Green, Berry and Hill. The perjured evidence given by Oates, William Bedloe and Miles Prance was enough to condemn the three men. Lord Chief Justice, Sir William Scroggs presided over the trial and did very little to supress his anti-Catholic bias. The three of spades depicts the 'murderers' hanging from the gallows. The true circumstances of Godfrey's death remain unsolved, but suicide has been presented as more than likely.The Felton House Tiles: Important English delftware tiles depicting the Popish Plot, circa 1680-1700The 'discovery' of the Popish Plot in the autumn of 1678 and the subsequent trials, political upheaval and mass hysteria that erupted in England, reads like a modern-day soap opera. The supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II, replace him with his papist brother James, Duke of York, and overthrow the Protestant establishment turned out to be the invention of a disreputable priest named Titus Oates, whose many lies and inventions appealed to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time. Oates was eventually convicted of perjury, but not before over a dozen innocent men were executed and others imprisoned, as the flames of anti-Catholic hatred and suspicion were fanned throughout the country.A set of playing cards depicting various scenes from the plot, printed from engravings by Francis Barlow, was first advertised in the newspaper True Domestick Intelligence in December 1679. A complete set of these Popish Plot playing cards is in the British Museum (inv. no.1896,0501.915.1-52). These designs were subsequently copied onto some of the earliest delftware tiles produced in England. The timing of the plot coincides with a warrant granted to the Dutch potter, Jan Ariens van Hamme, who had come to London'to exercise his trade and calling of making Tiles...after the way practised in Holland...whichhath not been practised in this our kingdome'.Several distinct versions of Popish Plot tiles were produced. One of these is painted in blue and the scenes are reserved in circular panels. These blue and white tiles have corner motifs and include inscriptions copied directly from the playing cards. See Frank Britton, London Delftware (1987), p.176 where three such tiles are illustrated. Anthony Ray suggests that these blue painted tiles were probably made at Vauxhall by van Hamme, who died in 1680, see English Delftware Tiles (1973), p.35. When found in manganese, each scene fills the available space save for a rectangular reserve at the bottom of each tile. An extremely rare set of twenty-one manganese Popish Plot tiles, matching the Felton House Tiles, was sold by Sotheby's on 15 March 1971, lot 21. A single tile depicting 'The Consult at Somerset House' was sold by Bonhams on 21 May 2014, lot 21. It has been suggested that the manganese examples were made a few years after their blue counterparts. However, the discovery of the Felton House Tiles adds weight to the argument that these were produced much closer to 1680, whilst the satirical playing cards were still topical. Indeed, close examination of the tiles show that they were copied from a deck of the Popish Plot playing cards and not from the blue and white versions.Felton House in North Somerset is a late 17th century house, confirmed by a date stone for 1684. Recent restoration of the building involved the removal of a mid-18th century fireplace which revealed an earlier fireplace behind, retaining the remains of other Popish Plot tiles from this set. The seven tiles included in this sale were removed from the fireplace in the 1950s and were recently discovered tucked away in a box. Presumably they were installed around 1684 - the date inscribed on the datestone - when the furore of the plot was still fresh in the country's consciousness. King Charles II died just a year later and the fear upon which the fictitious plot was based came to be realised; Charles II was succeeded by his brother who became king James II of England and James VI of Scotland, a Catholic monarch.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare London delftware fuddling cup, circa 1630-50Probably Southwark or Rotherhithe, formed by four small conjoined vessels linked by intertwined handles, left in the white, 8.2cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceMoor Wood Collection, Sotheby's, 15 May 1979, lot 6Bonhams, 2 November 2015, lot 64A four-vessel fuddling cup dated 1649 is illustrated by Michael Archer, Delftware in the Fitzwilliam Museum (2013), p.190, no.D.5. An example left in the white in the Museum of London is attributed to Southwark, see Frank Britton, London Delftware (1986), p.117 and Mary White's paper, A Bovey Tracey Fuddling Cup, ECC Trans, Vol.19, Pt.3 (2007), p.503, fig.4.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare Venetian or façon de Venise latticinio goblet, late 16th centuryDecorated in vetro a fili and vetro a retorti, the bowl of generous thistle shape with an everted rim, a pair of horizontal latticinio bands to the centre with opaque white twists distinctively sandwiched between white threads, the base with fifteen vertical latticinio ribs in high relief, on a collar above a hollow stem moulded with two lion masks flanked by florets all between gadrooned borders, traces of gilding remaining, terminating in a bulbous basal merese, over a small conical foot neatly folded at the footrim, 15.5cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceF Bodenheim Collection, AmsterdamKrug Collection, Sotheby's, 7 July 1981, lot 50LiteratureBrigitte Klesse, Glassammlung Helfried Krug (1965), pp.138-9, no.91This goblet belongs to a distinct group of glasses all characterised by the use of thick latticinio threads applied as ribs in high relief. They are discussed in detail by Robert Charleston in his article, Types of glass imported into the Near East, and some fresh examples: 15th-16th century, in Festschrift für Peter Wilhelm Meister (1975), pp.245-51. The form of the bowl relates closely to a series of albarelli discussed by Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Venezianisches Glas der Veste Coburg (1994), pp.369-74, nos.382-98. See in particular no.397, which shares the feature of two vetro a fili ribs alternating with a single vetro a retorti rib. Unlike the albarelli, goblets from this group always have twin horizontal latticinio bands. Theuerkauff-Liederwald states that the use of these distinctive horizontal bands in combination with the vertical ribs may have been particularly valued in the Middle East. She suggests a possible Spanish (Catalan) influence, with production in either Spain or Italy.A goblet with a bowl of very similar form and almost identical decoration is in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.5243-1901), but set instead on a latticinio stem and foot. Another fragmentary example on a stem with a hollow ribbed knop applied with gilding is in the Museum Rotterdam (inv. no.15393). The lion mask stem on the present lot is a feature from the second half of the 16th century. An example of related manufacture with a lion mask stem, but without latticinio ribs to the bowl, is illustrated by Theuerkauff-Liederwald (1994), p.248, no.225. Compare also to the goblet sold by Bonhams on 29 September 2020, lot 36.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An English delftware Popish Plot tile, circa 1680-1700Painted in manganese with an interior scene, 'Capt Berry and Alderman Brookes are offer'd 500l to cast the Plot on the Protestants', two papists, possibly Netterville and Russell, approaching Bury and Brooks, and holding a money bag, 12.8cm squareFootnotes:ProvenanceFelton House, North SomersetThe Six of Clubs playing card is the source for this tile.In early 1679, the Secretary of State, Sir Joseph Williamson heard two depositions later published as 'A True narrative of the late design of the papists to charge their horrid plot upon the protestants by endeavouring to corrupt Captain Bury and Alderman Brooks of Dublin, and to take off the evidence of Mr Oats and Mr Bedlow'.Captain John Bury spoke of a Mr Netterville and an Irishman, Mr Russell, who encouraged him to take a bribe of £500 to assassinate the King and turn the focus of the plot away from the Catholics. Alderman William Brooks told Williamson that when speaking to the same Mr Netterville on 16 January that year'...he told me, if I would but joyn and assist to villify the Evidence of Oats and Bedlow, those two Rogues',then he too would be rewarded. Bury and Brooks were presented as upstanding royalists, defending the Protestant faith by coming forward with this information. Their implication that the £500 offered to kill the King ultimately came from 'the Lords', namely the Catholic peer William Howard, Lord Stafford, contributed to the trial and eventual execution of Stafford on 29 December 1680. Titus Oates corroborated this 'evidence', stating he had seen a letter from the Pope naming Stafford as a conspirator to kill the King. Lord Stafford was beatified as a Catholic martyr in 1929.The Felton House Tiles: Important English delftware tiles depicting the Popish Plot, circa 1680-1700The 'discovery' of the Popish Plot in the autumn of 1678 and the subsequent trials, political upheaval and mass hysteria that erupted in England, reads like a modern-day soap opera. The supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II, replace him with his papist brother James, Duke of York, and overthrow the Protestant establishment turned out to be the invention of a disreputable priest named Titus Oates, whose many lies and inventions appealed to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time. Oates was eventually convicted of perjury, but not before over a dozen innocent men were executed and others imprisoned, as the flames of anti-Catholic hatred and suspicion were fanned throughout the country.A set of playing cards depicting various scenes from the plot, printed from engravings by Francis Barlow, was first advertised in the newspaper True Domestick Intelligence in December 1679. A complete set of these Popish Plot playing cards is in the British Museum (inv. no.1896,0501.915.1-52). These designs were subsequently copied onto some of the earliest delftware tiles produced in England. The timing of the plot coincides with a warrant granted to the Dutch potter, Jan Ariens van Hamme, who had come to London'to exercise his trade and calling of making Tiles...after the way practised in Holland...whichhath not been practised in this our kingdome'.Several distinct versions of Popish Plot tiles were produced. One of these is painted in blue and the scenes are reserved in circular panels. These blue and white tiles have corner motifs and include inscriptions copied directly from the playing cards. See Frank Britton, London Delftware (1987), p.176 where three such tiles are illustrated. Anthony Ray suggests that these blue painted tiles were probably made at Vauxhall by van Hamme, who died in 1680, see English Delftware Tiles (1973), p.35. When found in manganese, each scene fills the available space save for a rectangular reserve at the bottom of each tile. An extremely rare set of twenty-one manganese Popish Plot tiles, matching the Felton House Tiles, was sold by Sotheby's on 15 March 1971, lot 21. A single tile depicting 'The Consult at Somerset House' was sold by Bonhams on 21 May 2014, lot 21. It has been suggested that the manganese examples were made a few years after their blue counterparts. However, the discovery of the Felton House Tiles adds weight to the argument that these were produced much closer to 1680, whilst the satirical playing cards were still topical. Indeed, close examination of the tiles show that they were copied from a deck of the Popish Plot playing cards and not from the blue and white versions.Felton House in North Somerset is a late 17th century house, confirmed by a date stone for 1684. Recent restoration of the building involved the removal of a mid-18th century fireplace which revealed an earlier fireplace behind, retaining the remains of other Popish Plot tiles from this set. The seven tiles included in this sale were removed from the fireplace in the 1950s and were recently discovered tucked away in a box. Presumably they were installed around 1684 - the date inscribed on the datestone - when the furore of the plot was still fresh in the country's consciousness. King Charles II died just a year later and the fear upon which the fictitious plot was based came to be realised; Charles II was succeeded by his brother who became king James II of England and James VI of Scotland, a Catholic monarch.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Worcester large jug, circa 1753Of 'Scratch Cross' type, the globular body with a tapering cylindrical neck, the strap handle applied with an unusual leaf thumbrest, finely painted in blue with a full version of the 'Plantation' pattern (I.D.11) of bamboo within a fenced enclosure, a rocky island with a pagoda to the reverse, a bird in flight to the neck, 20.9cm high, incised line on base below handleFootnotes:ProvenanceSotheby's New York, 19 November 1996, lot 255No other Worcester jug of this shape would appear to be recorded, but it is likely to be a precursor of the 'Dutch' jugs popular from circa 1754-55.Saleroom notices:Please note this lot is not subject to import VAT.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Chelsea teapot and a cover, circa 1750Of moulded, fluted form, the straight spout, finial and lop handle also finely ribbed, the teapot painted in kakiemon style with the so-called 'Red Tiger' pattern, the front with a celestial dragon, its scales picked out in red and gold, coiled around bamboo beside flowering prunus, the reverse with a long-tailed tiger gazing up at flying insects, below a red and turquoise zig-zag border, the cover with prunus issuing from a purple branch, with a red foliate border, 12.5cm high (2)Footnotes:ProvenanceSelwyn Parkinson Collection, Sotheby's, 11 October 1966, lot 235Bonhams, 7 December 2005, lot 61Crane Collection, Bonhams, 31 March 2010, lot 65Sylvia and Alan Low CollectionIllustrated by Frank Tilley, Teapots and Tea (1957), pl.17, fig.60. For a similar teapot see Simon Spero's 1999 exhibition catalogue, p.6, fig.3. The 1755 Chelsea sale catalogue included teawares of a 'Twisted Dragon' pattern, most likely a reference to the design found on the present lot. A pair of silver-shaped plates of this pattern was sold by Bonhams on 15 November 2017, lot 175. The cover on the present example is painted with another kakiemon pattern found on Chelsea dessert wares and occasionally on teawares.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare 'Shaft and Globe' serving bottle, circa 1670 Of dark olive-green tint, the bulbous body narrowing inwards towards the base, the long tapering neck with a prominent string rim, the loop handle with a pronounced thumbrest and scrolled terminal, with a 'kick-up' base, 21.8cm high Footnotes: Provenance Bonhams, 13 December 2006, lot 92 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature Andy McConnell, The Decanter: Ancient to Modern (2018), p.47, fig.5 This extremely rare bottle was probably used at a table as a serving bottle. A sealed half size 'Shaft and Globe' serving bottle with a handle of similar shape is illustrated by Burton (2015), pp.1315-6. This bottle holds the current record for the highest price achieved at auction by any vernacular bottle, sealed or unsealed, when it sold at Bonhams in 2006. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Vauxhall creamboat, circa 1754 Of hexagonal form with a lobed rim, the angular handle with a pronounced thumbrest, painted in Delft style in blue with a Chinese fisherman beside a panelled zig-zag fence, a small hut among trees to the right and a hut on an island in the distance, a small vignette within the interior and a diaper border inside the rim, 13.5cm long Footnotes: This rare and early shape is reminiscent of Worcester creamboats of the same period, see Simon Spero, Vauxhall Porcelain - A Tentative Chronology, ECC Trans, Vol.18, Pt.2 (2003), pp.359-60, fig.30. A creamboat of the same shape from the Sutherland Collection was sold by Bonhams on 3 October 2007, lot 209. The pattern is recorded on a fluted Vauxhall sauceboat from the Geoffrey Godden Collection sold by Bonhams on 30 June 2010, lot 32. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Derby entomological dish, circa 1810 Of heart shape, painted in the centre with a group of insects on a grey marbled ground, possibly by Robert Brewer, the wide border gilded with a parade of fantastic beasts, 25.7cm wide, crown, crossed batons and D mark in red, '14' and '40' inside footrim Footnotes: Entomological decoration is only rarely found on Derby and may be by Robert Brewer who is known to have exhibited watercolours of butterflies and insects. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare quarter size 'Shaft and Globe' wine bottle or apothecary vial, circa 1660-70Of translucent pale aqua tint and attractive small size, the bulbous body with a long slightly tapering neck and prominent string rim, with a shallow basal 'kick-up', 11.9cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceChristie's, 7 October 1996, lot 1A C Hubbard Jr CollectionLiteratureWard Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.109, pl.159It is exceptionally rare to find a 'Shaft and Globe' bottle in such a small size. Only two sealed quarter size examples are recorded by David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.940-1 and 943. Another example in translucent aqua glass is illustrated alongside the present lot by Ward Lloyd (2000), p.109, pl.159. It is possible that this bottle served as an apothecary vial considering that most early wine bottles were manufactured from dark green vernacular glass to protect the contents from light and hide visible impurities in wine.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Venetian or façon de Venise latticinio goblet, circa 1700Decorated with sixteen alternating opaque white bands in vetro a retorti formed from one layer of glass, eight a rete containing two pairs of four-ply spiral bands, the other eight formed of two pairs of multi-ply spiral bands, including one with additional central wavering bands, the generous bell-shaped bowl with a flared rim merging into a hollow stem, applied with a high domed foot formed from the same gather as the bowl, 13.5cm highFootnotes:ProvenancePaul Gresswell-Wilkins CollectionNo other latticinio goblet of this exact form would appear to be recorded in the literature, but the use of latticinio with one layer of glass together with the use of complex double-series a retorti canes is seen in latticinio glass of circa 1700 in the Danish Royal collection at Rosenborg Castle, see Kitty Laméris, Differences Between early Filigrana Glass and Rosenborg Castle Type Filigrana Glass, in Study Days on Venetian Glass (2015), pp.147-54. The use of the same gather of glass for both the bowl and the foot as seen here is a feature of some earlier glass. A goblet with a domed foot similarly applied to the bowl without a dividing merese was sold by Bonhams on 20 May 2015, lot 14.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Chelsea gold-mounted combined needle case and scent bottle, circa 1760Finely modelled as a bouquet of flowers with tightly bound stems, the tiny petals picked out in dark pink within a frame of applied leaves, the stems and further leaves to the body moulded in relief and picked out in shades of green, the stopper modelled as a single bloom attached by a gold chain, 11.3cm highFootnotes:A similar case with a porcelain flower stopper in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.120-1864) is illustrated by G E Bryant, The Chelsea Porcelain Toys (1925), pl.54, no.2 and another from the Irwin Untermyer Collection by Yvonne Hackenbroch, Chelsea and other English Porcelain, Pottery and Enamel (1957), pl.70, fig.234. Two other examples are in the Royal Collection (inv. nos.RCIN 4483 and 4510), including one with a chased gilt bronze stopper.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare engraved Nailsea style 'Onion' serving bottle, probably circa 1700-1710, later dated 1808 and 1812 Of dark olive-amber tint, most attractively flecked with opaque white and pale blue, the large bulbous body with a short tapering neck and string rim, applied with a striped scroll handle with a pronounced thumbrest, later scratch-engraved in diamond-point script with the inscription 'Omer Stokes Born Novr 6. 1808/ Susan Stokes born March 3. 1812', with a shallow basal 'kick-up', 16cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Howard Phillips, June 1976 Stan Hooper Collection Cary Adelman Collection, American Glass Gallery, 16 November 2009, lot 145 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.480-1 Andy McConnell, The Decanter: Ancient to Modern (2018), p.174, fig.2 The inscription on this remarkable bottle would appear to relate to a Staffordshire family. Homer (Omer) Stokes (1808-1851) was born in Walsall and married Susan Dixon (1812-1865) at St Bartholomew's Church in Wednesbury on 5 September 1830. As Susan is referred to by her married name, the bottle must have been engraved after 1830, or perhaps to celebrate the occasion of their marriage. The couple lived just 20 miles from Wrockwardine Wood in Shropshire, where an important glassworks operated between 1792 and 1841 producing vernacular bottle glass with distinctive splashed decoration in the style of Nailsea and Alloa. Similarly splashed glass was also produced at Stourbridge, some 11 miles southwest of Wednesbury. The distinctive 'Onion' form of this bottle and scrolled handle places its production firmly in the first quarter of the 18th century. However, Burton notes that the earliest bottles with splashed decoration of this type date from the 1740s and were produced until the 1820s, with the vast majority of examples dating to the 19th century. The attribution of this piece is therefore problematic, but Burton cautiously upholds an early date. It therefore occupies a significant position in the history of glassmaking in England, potentially representing by far the earliest recorded bottle decorated in Nailsea style. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare medieval Mill Green ware jug, Essex, late 13th or early 14th centuryOf distinctive baluster form with a slightly flared cylindrical neck, bulbous body and flared base, applied with a strap handle 'eared' with two distinct thumb impressions at the top, the red body wiped over in a white slip terminating just above the footrim, sgraffito decorated with combed vertical lines, with a mottled copper-green glaze, 35.5cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceWith Jellinek and Sampson, 1974Dr Anne-Carole Chamier CollectionThis distinctive type of medieval pottery is discussed in depth by J E Pearce et al., A dated type series of London medieval pottery part one: Mill Green Ware, Transactions of the London Middlesex Archaeological Society, Vol.33 (1982), pp.214-65. Manufacture of pottery at Mill Green in Ingatestone, Essex, flourished in the late 13th and 14th centuries, with jugs, cooking pots and some large bowls being the main products at this time. At the height of its popularity, Mill Green ware is thought to have supplied up to a fifth of all pottery in London, mostly jugs. Excavations of medieval waterfronts at Trig Lane and Seal House suggest that the ware was first introduced in London between circa 1240 and 1270, but that its popularity had declined in the City by the mid-14th century.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Lund's Bristol scallop shell pickle dish, circa 1749-51Of large size, painted in blue with two mandarin ducks swimming before an island planted with trees, the border with scroll motifs, a shell flanked by two leaves at the base, the underside with two stylised leafy branches, 12.2cm wideFootnotes:Chemical analysis of a distinctive class of 'Limehouse' pickle dishes has shown these to be primarily of the Mg-P-Pb type and therefore made from a formula containing soaprock. While some examples appear to be more highly vitrified or glassy than others, it seems likely that all were manufactured at Bristol. See Ray Jones, The Origins of Worcester Porcelain (2018), pp.248-51, where a similar dish from the Sutherland Collection, sold by Bonhams on 3 October 2007, lot 102, is illustrated on p.256, no.i. Another from the Watney Collection was sold by Phillips on 10 May 2000, lot 528. The present lot is unusual in that it lacks the small hut on the island.Saleroom notices:Please note this lot is not subject to import VAT.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed 'Rectangular Octagonal Cylinder' wine bottle, dated 1731 Of amber-green tint, the tall octagonal body with a long straight neck, tooled lip and string rim, applied to the broad side with a seal inscribed 'Foote/ Harwood/ 1731', a shallow 'kick-up' to the smooth underside, 27.2cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 4 October 1999 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature Ward Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.113, pls.171 and 172 David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.634-5 This bottle was discovered in Cornwall and can be attributed to John Pearson Foote of Harwood Manor near Calstock, the construction of which was completed in 1731. The shape of this bottle and the style of the string rim, together with the proportions of the neck and body, indicate that this bottle is of the 1770-80 period and so the earlier date on the seal is commemorative. It is possible that John Foote wished to commemorate a family event such as a birth or marriage, or perhaps the completion of Calstock Manor. Whilst no other bottle with this seal would appear to be recorded, an opalescent 'Onion' bottle inscribed 'J Foote/ Harwood' in diamond-point script was sold by Bonhams on 30 November 2022, lot 5, which may be related to the family. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An English delftware Popish Plot tile, circa 1680-1700Painted in manganese with a courtroom scene at the Old Bailey, 'The Tryall of Sir G Wakeman & 3 Benedictine Monks', Justice Scroggs flanked by two other judges, possibly North and Jeffreys, in full regalia, the accused standing in the dock and a rather abstract jury just visible above, 12.8cm squareFootnotes:ProvenanceFelton House, North SomersetThe Four of Clubs playing card is the source for this tile.The trial of Wakeman and three Benedictine monks on 18 July 1679 marked a turning point in the narrative of the plot. Only four days earlier the last of the five Jesuits, Richard Langhorn, had been executed. Sir George Wakeman was royal physician to Queen Catherine of Braganza. Oates said he had witnessed him at a Jesuit meeting accepting a bribe to poison the King. The Queen herself was subsequently implicated. At this time, persons on trial for treason were not entitled to counsel and it was with admirable vigour and gall that Wakeman and his co-accused, William Marshal, William Rumley and James Corker, defended themselves. It became apparent that Oates could not identify Wakeman's handwriting, even though he swore to have seen incriminating letters written by him. Weak evidence was also given by Dugdale, Prance and Bedloe. Justice Scroggs, whose anti-Catholic rhetoric was well-recorded, was unimpressed. The jury pronounced all four men not guilty. There was widespread outrage at the verdict and the next day Scroggs had a dead dog thrown into his carriage. However, the credibility of the plot was irreparably damaged. Wakeman left London but returned to give evidence against Titus Oates in May 1685, when Oates himself was on trial for perjury.The Felton House Tiles: Important English delftware tiles depicting the Popish Plot, circa 1680-1700The 'discovery' of the Popish Plot in the autumn of 1678 and the subsequent trials, political upheaval and mass hysteria that erupted in England, reads like a modern-day soap opera. The supposed Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II, replace him with his papist brother James, Duke of York, and overthrow the Protestant establishment turned out to be the invention of a disreputable priest named Titus Oates, whose many lies and inventions appealed to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the time. Oates was eventually convicted of perjury, but not before over a dozen innocent men were executed and others imprisoned, as the flames of anti-Catholic hatred and suspicion were fanned throughout the country.A set of playing cards depicting various scenes from the plot, printed from engravings by Francis Barlow, was first advertised in the newspaper True Domestick Intelligence in December 1679. A complete set of these Popish Plot playing cards is in the British Museum (inv. no.1896,0501.915.1-52). These designs were subsequently copied onto some of the earliest delftware tiles produced in England. The timing of the plot coincides with a warrant granted to the Dutch potter, Jan Ariens van Hamme, who had come to London'to exercise his trade and calling of making Tiles...after the way practised in Holland...whichhath not been practised in this our kingdome'.Several distinct versions of Popish Plot tiles were produced. One of these is painted in blue and the scenes are reserved in circular panels. These blue and white tiles have corner motifs and include inscriptions copied directly from the playing cards. See Frank Britton, London Delftware (1987), p.176 where three such tiles are illustrated. Anthony Ray suggests that these blue painted tiles were probably made at Vauxhall by van Hamme, who died in 1680, see English Delftware Tiles (1973), p.35. When found in manganese, each scene fills the available space save for a rectangular reserve at the bottom of each tile. An extremely rare set of twenty-one manganese Popish Plot tiles, matching the Felton House Tiles, was sold by Sotheby's on 15 March 1971, lot 21. A single tile depicting 'The Consult at Somerset House' was sold by Bonhams on 21 May 2014, lot 21. It has been suggested that the manganese examples were made a few years after their blue counterparts. However, the discovery of the Felton House Tiles adds weight to the argument that these were produced much closer to 1680, whilst the satirical playing cards were still topical. Indeed, close examination of the tiles show that they were copied from a deck of the Popish Plot playing cards and not from the blue and white versions.Felton House in North Somerset is a late 17th century house, confirmed by a date stone for 1684. Recent restoration of the building involved the removal of a mid-18th century fireplace which revealed an earlier fireplace behind, retaining the remains of other Popish Plot tiles from this set. The seven tiles included in this sale were removed from the fireplace in the 1950s and were recently discovered tucked away in a box. Presumably they were installed around 1684 - the date inscribed on the datestone - when the furore of the plot was still fresh in the country's consciousness. King Charles II died just a year later and the fear upon which the fictitious plot was based came to be realised; Charles II was succeeded by his brother who became king James II of England and James VI of Scotland, a Catholic monarch.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare sealed 'Cylinder' wine bottle of American interest, dated 1750 Of olive-green tint, the wide, slightly waisted body with a long tapering neck and prominent string rim, applied to the side with a seal inscribed 'Iohn/ Pole/ 1750' within a lined border, with a deep circular basal 'kick-up', 23.9cm high Footnotes: Provenance Excavated from an old privy in Society Hill, Philadelphia, PA, 1970s Glass Works Auctions, 25 February 2008, lot 228 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.694-5 This bottle was excavated during the construction of the Interstate 95 highway in Philadelphia in the 1970s, together with four further complete examples with the same seal and several associated fragments. They were discovered in an old privy to the north of Pine Street and a few doors west of Front Street on a site formerly occupied by the home of John Pole (1705-1755), a prominent Philadelphia Quaker and alms house benefactor. A further fragment with this seal was recovered in 2006 from an old privy on the former site of the Philadelphia City Almshouse on Cypress Street. John Pole was born at Buttlehay (later Battlehay) near Wiveliscombe, Somerset. He emigrated from England to Burlington, New Jersey, around 1727 following the failure of his tailoring business and mounting debts, for which he ultimately spent time in jail. Upon his release and the repayment of his debts he moved to Philadelphia and became a successful merchant, allowing him to purchase a small estate on the banks of the River Schuykill. He returned to England on business for about a year in 1748, during which time he may have ordered these bottles. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Vauxhall small vase, circa 1754-55 Of attractive size, the plain baluster shape on a spreading foot, painted in vibrant blue with a continuous Chinese river landscape depicting two islands, one in the foreground with a willow tree issuing from rockwork, one in the distance with a pagoda, a sailing boat traversing the channel between them, a panelled diaper and flowerhead border below the rim, 10cm high Footnotes: Provenance Collins-Barnes Collection The Delft-style painting is typical of Vauxhall decoration from the mid-1750s. A larger vase and cover painted with an almost identical scene is illustrated by Geoffrey Godden, English Blue and White Porcelain (2004), p.175, col. pl.48 and p.188, pl.232 and also by Massey, Marno and Spero, Ceramics of Vauxhall (2007), p.61, no.70. This was sold by Bonhams on 30 June 2010, lot 29. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Worcester large inkwell, circa 1754 Of slightly waisted cylindrical form, pierced with a large central well surrounded by six smaller holes to the rim, painted in blue with the 'Plantation' pattern (I.D.11) of bamboo growing within a fenced enclosure, a pagoda on a rocky island to the reverse, the rim with insects and floral sprigs, 12.7cm diam Footnotes: Provenance Zorensky Collection, Bonhams, 22 February 2006, lot 272 Illustrated by Spero and Sandon, The Zorensky Collection (1996), p.400, no.522. All the large early inkwells known made at Worcester are painted with this pattern in blue and white. A similar example from the Watney Collection was sold by Phillips on 22 September 1999, lot 163 and an example from the R David Butti Collection by Bonhams on 10 May 2006, lot 114. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed half size 'Onion' wine bottle, dated 1725 Of olive-green tint, the bulbous body with a medium tapering neck and applied string rim, applied to the shoulder with a seal inscribed 'T/ Tipper/ 1725', with a deep basal 'kick-up', 14.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 16 May 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), p.616 The family to which the seal relates has not been identified, but no other bottles with this seal would appear to be recorded in the literature. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed half size 'Cylinder' apothecary bottle, circa 1780-90 Of dark olive-green tint, the narrow body with a tapering neck with a tooled lip and string rim, applied to the side with a seal inscribed 'House/ of/ Industry', with a basal 'kick-up', 16.7cm high Footnotes: Provenance With Neil Willcox, 15 March 2001 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature David Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.1148-9 This seal may relate to a workhouse in Parkhurst near Newport on the Isle of Wight, built between 1771 and 1774. The workhouse is believed to have included a school and hospital, with an apothecary shop added by the 1780s. It is likely that this bottle was used by the apothecary shop to hold medicine. The imposing House of Industry building is largely still standing and today forms the dominant portion of the southern section of St. Mary's Hospital. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An exceptionally rare sealed vernacular mug or tankard, dated 1710 Of olive-green tint, the bulbous pear-shaped body with a slightly flared cylindrical neck trailed with a continuous glass thread, the scrolled handle with a pronounced thumbrest, applied to the shoulder with two seals both inscribed 'IOHN . PERCY . 1770' encircling a portcullis, all within a beaded border, the base with a pronounced footring and 'kick-up' underneath, 13.5cm high Footnotes: Provenance Sotheby's, 15 November 1994, lot 504 With Neil Willcox, July 1998 A C Hubbard Jr Collection Literature Ward Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.110, pls.162-3 David Burton, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2015), p.556 It is exceptionally rare to find a tankard such as this in vernacular bottle glass. Historically known as 'gorges', tankards of this form are found in contemporary stoneware, silver and glass in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Whilst it has not been possible to associate the portcullis with the Percy family or to trace the John Percy to whom the seals relate, this important tankard is one of only a handful of related sealed examples known to survive. Just two other dated sealed tankards are recorded by Burton (2015), pp.532 and 590, both of which are in the Victoria and Albert Museum and of different form to the present lot. They include one applied with three seals dated 1700 (inv. no.C.10-1948) and one applied with four seals dated 1720 (inv. no.C.581-1925). A remarkable decanter jug of circa 1705-15 applied with six undated armorial seals, also in the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no.134-1908), would appear to be the only other sealed example comparable form to the present lot, see Burton (2015), p.1466. The similarities in shape of the body, handle and the trailed decoration around the neck are of particular note. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Chelsea bowl, circa 1760-65 Of generous size and straight-sided, flared form, decorated in green camaieu with a continuous detailed European landscape, featuring trees, ruinous towers within a town and mountains in the distance, birds in flight above, between gilt dentil borders, 18.2cm diam, gold anchor mark Footnotes: For an almost identical bowl see the ECC 1927-1948 Commemorative Exhibition (1948), pl.52, fig.240. A conical teapot and cover with related decoration from the Zorka Hodgson Collection was sold by Bonhams on 10 September 2008, lot 15. Similar decoration in green monochrome is found on Worcester and Chinese porcelain decorated in London. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Liverpool (Samuel Gilbody) plate, circa 1758-60Of plain circular shape, painted in dark blue with a peony spray and two flying insects, an elaborate panelled diaper border around the cavetto, a simple dentil and loop border to the rim, 23.5cm diamFootnotes:ProvenancePinewood Collection, Phillips, 31 October 2001, lot 81With Simon SperoThis extraordinary piece of porcelain has an experimental feel and there is clearly the influence of delftware in the design. Many of the plates once attributed to Gilbody were reattributed to William Reid following excavations at Brownlow Hill, but this plate differs significantly to the finds from the site. Just two Gilbody plates are recorded by Maurice Hillis, Liverpool Porcelain 1756-1804 (2011), pp.301-2, fig.7.60, and like the present lot these both have sunken turned footrims and lack the stilt marks characteristic of Reid plates.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An extremely rare Lowestoft rice spoon, circa 1775After a Chinese shape, a crisp rosette applied at the terminal, painted in blue with a peony spray below a cell border and foliate tendrils and sprigs to the exterior of the bowl, 12.5cm longFootnotes:Presumably copied from Worcester rather than directly from a Chinese original, only a very small number of Lowestoft rice spoons are known. A similar example from the Watney Collection was sold by Phillips on 7 June 1995, lot 286 and is illustrated by Dr Bernard Watney, English Blue and White Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century (1973), pl.82B.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare pearlware tulip cup and two Coalport tulip cups, circa 1820The first formed of a variegated bloom in pink and yellow, the rim edged in black, on a green octagonal base also edged in black, the others modelled as variegated flowers raised on circular bases picked out in gilding, one with a green stalk handle and gilt dentil rim, the other with a white stalk handle picked out in gold, tallest 7cm high (3)For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare green-tinted opaque twist wine glass, circa 1760-70The pale green cup-shaped bowl of 'roemer' type, on a hollow cylinder knop applied with three raspberry prunts, above an opaque twist stem in clear glass set with an opaque white multi-ply corkscrew, over a domed foot also in pale green, 15.3cm highFootnotes:These unusual pale green glass roemers were English products imitating earlier Roemers from the Low Countries and probably intended for the export market, principally to Holland. Similar examples are illustrated by W A Thorpe, A History of English and Irish Glass (1929), pl.C(4) and by Ward Lloyd, A Wine Lover's Glasses (2000), p.99, pl.146(c), the latter sold by Bonhams as part of the A C Hubbard Jr Collection on 30 November 2011, lot 120. Compare also to that from the Ron and Mary Thomas Collection sold by Bonhams on 4 June 2008, lot 138.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Venetian or façon de Venise lattimo flask, late 17th century or circa 1800In characteristic opaque creamy-white glass, of globular form with a very tall slender neck, flared at the rim and with a trailed vermicular collar, applied to the neck and body with two pair of highly distinctive opposing pincered 'handles' with traces of gilding, with a shallow basal 'kick-up', 24.2cm highFootnotes:This flask would appear to be unique. It belongs to a group of Venetian vessels all made from lattimo glass of this distinctive creamy tint, some of which are also applied with very similar pincered handles perhaps representing seahorses or rampant lions. They include several small footed bowls or salts, two of which are illustrated and discussed by Anna-Elisabeth Theuerkauff-Liederwald, Venezianisches Glas der Veste Coburg (1994), p.118, nos.66 and 67. For two long-necked flasks attributed to the same workshop, see pp.454-5, nos.533-4. A group of translucent blue vases with identical pincered handles of related production are discussed on pp.507-9, no.642.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

An impressive Longton Hall tankard, circa 1755-58 The ovoid body with a turned foot and double scrolled handle, painted in blue with a Chinese figure under a parasol, seated on cross-hatched rocks and 'volcano' rocks nearby, an island with pylon trees in the distance, below an unusual border of fruiting vines and tendrils, 16cm high Footnotes: Provenance Pinewood Collection, Phillips, 31 October 2001, lot 17 Sylvia and Alan Low Collection Although the handle and particular style of Chinoiserie painting are distinctive of Longton Hall, the large scale and rare border set it apart. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare London delftware fuddling cup, circa 1630-50Probably Rotherhithe or Southwark, formed as three small conjoined vessels with neat spreading feet, linked by twisted handles, left in the white, 8.3cm highFootnotes:Louis Lipski and Michael Archer suggest that the earliest fuddling cups have a cordon around the neck, revealing a likely metal prototype for the shape. The present lot retains a groove at the junctions of the necks and bodies, which may indicate an early date. Fragments of glazed fuddling cups have been found at Southwark and biscuit examples have been excavated at Rotherhithe. A fuddling cup of similar proportions, attributed to Southwark based on its decoration was sold by Bonhams on 18 May 2011, lot 5.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Liverpool (William Reid) coffee cup, circa 1756-58Of bell shape, the scrolled handle with a pointed thumbrest, painted with a naturalistic goldfinch perched on a leafy branch, the reverse with a brightly coloured bird in flight, a border of delicate puce scrollwork below the interior rim, 6cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceMarianne Laird Collection, Bonhams, 7 December 2005, lot 139Crane Collection, Bonhams, 31 March 2010, lot 151Sylvia and Alan Low CollectionIllustrated by Hillis and Jellicoe, The Liverpool Porcelain of William Reid (2000), p.8, no.3. A handle of the same distinctive shape was found on the William Reid site at Brownlow Hill. Hillis also illustrates the reverse of this cup in Liverpool Porcelain (2011), p.44, fig.3.61. This very rare decoration is probably inspired by Worcester of similar date, especially the so-called 'I Rogers' type of bird painting.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare 'Onion' serving bottle, circa 1700In clear glass, the large bulbous body with a tapering neck with a string rim, applied with a heavy flattened loop handle with a pronounced thumbrest and scrolled terminal, with a deep basal 'kick-up', 18.5cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceWith Neil Willcox, 8 November 2000A C Hubbard Jr CollectionRelated bottle decanters in green glass are illustrated by Andy McConnell, The Decanter (2018), p.47, figs.2, 3 and 7 but it is exceptionally rare to find an example in clear glass. A very similar example is in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge (inv. no.C.124.1975), illustrated in the catalogue (1978), p.92, no.221.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Lund's Bristol coffee can or small mug, circa 1749-51Of squat cylindrical shape modelled with a fine ridge around the base, the angular handle with a curled thumbrest, painted in blue with distinctive motifs including the 'Summer House amidst Foliage' and 'Dotted Mountains', with so-called comma motifs flanking the handle terminals, below a diaper and foliate panelled border, 6cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceWatney Collection, Phillips, 10 May 2000, lot 549Simon Spero exhibition, 2016, no.5.Sylvia and Alan Low CollectionIllustrated and discussed by Ray Jones, The Origins of Worcester Porcelain (2018), p.408, fig.(iii) alongside related examples with two distinctive handle forms.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A rare Worcester small mug or can, circa 1753-54 Of 'Scratch Cross' type, the cylindrical form with a spreading base and a grooved loop handle, painted in underglaze blue and picked out in red with the 'Question Mark Island' pattern (I.B.3), a Chinese figure crossing a bridge between two rocky islands, 6.6cm high, incised line to footrim, workman's mark Footnotes: Provenance Zorka Hodgson Collection, Bonhams, 10 September 2008, lot 49 Most surviving examples of this pattern are overpainted in red. Shards found on the factory site prove that this enamelling was added at the time of manufacture although this is the only pattern decorated in this way. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare sealed half size 'Octagonal Cylinder' wine bottle of possible American interest, circa 1740-45Of dark olive-green tint, the straight-sided rectangular body with a long slender neck and applied string rim, the broad side applied with a seal inscribed 'E.C' beneath a diamond, all within a lined border, with a shallow basal 'kick-up', 20.1cm highFootnotes:ProvenanceGlass Works Auctions, September 2006A C Hubbard Jr CollectionLiteratureDavid Burton, Antique Sealed Bottles (2015), pp.1088-9The initials on this rare bottle have not been identified, but are believed to relate to an individual based in the United States. Another example bearing the same seal was excavated at Williamsburg, Virginia, and is in the collection of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation together with another detached seal. Edwin Conway (1682-1763) of Lancaster County has been suggested as a possible owner, or perhaps the prominent tavern keeper Edward Charlton.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: ** VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com

A very rare Flight, Barr and Barr Worcester jug from the Prince Regent Service, circa 1815Of large size, the shouldered ovoid form with a scrolled gilt handle, finely painted and gilded with the Prince of Wales feathers surmounted by a crown and inscribed 'hony soyt quy mal y pense' [sic], the rich blue borders with anthemion bands in raised gold, 15.5cm high, script mark referring to Coventry St addressFootnotes:ProvenanceBonhams, 2 May 2018, lot 423 (part)Charles Dawson CollectionIllustrated by Charles Dawson, Worcester Flight & Barr Porcelain (2023), p.172, fig.17.6 (right). This jug is from a breakfast service made for the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, in 1815. Several pieces from the service are in the Royal Collection, including oval plates, slop bowls, sucriers, coffee cups, cans and breakfast cups and saucers (inv. nos.RCIN 35543-6), together with a butter tub, cover and stand (inv. no.RCIN 35541). A coffee cup and saucer is in the Royal Worcester Museum (inv. no.5315) and a breakfast cup and saucer comprises lot 470 in this sale.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com