A Chelsea Porcelain Scolopendrium Bowl and Stand, circa 1753-55

Michele Beiny, Inc., New York;

From whom acquired by the present collector on 15 December, 2021.

While the Meissen factory exerted a profound influence on English porcelain during the second half of the eighteenth century, the Chelsea factory in its earliest years looked more often to France for inspiration. It is therefore highly likely that the appearance of this pattern at Chelsea was derived from the French factory at Chantilly. T. H. Clarke, in his article ‘French Influences at Chelsea’, in English Ceramic Circle Transactions, 1959, vol. 4, part 5, pp. 45-57, discusses the impact of French factories on Chelsea figures and groups, and illustrates a Chelsea 'scolopendrium' teabowl alongside its Chantilly prototype.

Chelsea bowls in this pattern appear to be rare. A second example sold at Christie's New York, 22 October 2010, lot 77.