Lot 492
A SCARCE GEORGE III CENTREPIECE
WILLIAM & PATRICK CUNNINGHAM, EDINBURGH 1797
Scottish Silver & Applied Arts | 530
Auction: 15 August 2018 at 11:00 BST
Estimate: £4,000 - £6,000
Description
the boat shaped bowl with twin reeded handles and chased pierced scroll border, engraved crest in a cartouche, raised on out swept supports to beaded rim with four slender legs, acanthus and paw terminals, each support surmounted by a foxes mask suspending cast border for fruiting grape vines
Dimensions
bowl 35.5cm wide, overall height 45cm, 57.6oz
Footnote
Note: The fox masks and the grapes depict the story of the Fox and the Grapes, one of the fables by Aesop.
Originally oral in tradition, the fables were passed down through generations and collated into the Perry Index. The fox and the grapes is number fifteen.
The fable tells the story of a fox who cannot reach some delectable grapes, instead of walking away admitted defeat, the fox declares the grapes unappetising anyway and so the phrase 'sour grapes' was coined.
Originally oral in tradition, the fables were passed down through generations and collated into the Perry Index. The fox and the grapes is number fifteen.
The fable tells the story of a fox who cannot reach some delectable grapes, instead of walking away admitted defeat, the fox declares the grapes unappetising anyway and so the phrase 'sour grapes' was coined.
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