punch-bowl BM-Franks.625

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1768-1775
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,

Dimensions:Diameter: 26.10 centimetres Height: 11.30 centimetres

Description:
‘Famille rose’ punchbowl with English political figures. The two pseudo-armorial shields which appear both on the front and reverse of this small punchbowl contain on the left a portrait bust of a gentleman with cross-eyed look in a red jacket, flanked by flower garlands and supported by a man in black robes with a long wig and another in a blue frock coat, pink waistcoat and knee breeches. The crest is a lion above an acorn and the English motto below reads ‘ALWAYS READY IN A GOOD CAUSE’. On the right is a portrait bust of a gentleman in black judicial robes, bands and full-bottom wig, flanked by chains and supported by a man in a red frock coat, green waistcoat and knee breeches, and a black devil with wings and cloven hooves. The crest is a viper above a thistle, and the French motto below is ‘JUSTICE SANS PITIE’ (‘justice without mercy’). Above these designs is the caption ‘Wilkes & Liberty’. The rim of the bowl has been mounted in metal.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The two portrait busts are satirical depictions of John Wilkes (1727-97) in red jacket, a popular English political campaigner, and Lord Chief Justice Mansfield (1705-93) in judicial robes. As head of the judiciary, Mansfield was unsympathetic to Wilkes and his campaigns against the establishment and once tried him for libel. Wilkes’ supporters are likely to be Serjeant Glynn (1722-79), his legal adviser, and Lord Temple (1739-1802), his friend and patron. Conversely by Mansfield’s side are probably the prime minister, Lord Bute (1713-92), and the devil. Wilkes’ crest is the heraldic emblem of England, and Mansfield’s that of Scotland. The latter may refer to the Scottish regiment that, while guarding the prison in which Wilkes awaited trial, opened fire on a crowd of his supporters outside, or simply to a general anti-Scottish feeling prevailing in England at that time. The pseudo-armorial shields of Wilkes and Mansfield on this punchbowl appear under the title ‘Arms of Liberty and Slavery’ on the heading of an address by Wilkes ‘To the Gentlemen, Clergy and Freeholders of the County of Middlesex’ (his constituents), written in King’s Bench Prison on 18th June 1768 (Franks, 1879, p. 103). This bowl is in contrast with BM 1988.0421.1, which was obviously commissioned by Wilkes’ supporters and probably made soon after the publication of this address, as the outbreak of war between England and America in 1775 caused loyalty to King George III and the establishment to increase and support for Wilkes to decline. Other pieces with the same decoration include a teapot (Godden, 1979, no. 149), a coffee cup (Conner, 1986, no. 119 m), and another punchbowl (Hervouet and Bruneau, 1986, no. 9.51), all in private collections; other punchbowls are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and in the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, U.S.A. (Palmer, 1976, fig. 49 b). An American silver punchbowl in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, U.S.A., dated 1768, bears the same inscription ‘Wilkes & Liberty’ (Newman, 1987, p. 292).