A WROTHAM SLIPWARE FOUR-HANDLED DATED TYG 1652 |

by Nicholas Hubble, the dark brown body set with four double-loop handles and applied with cream slip panels in relief with the initials NH and the date 1652, alongside panels with flowerheads and fleur-de-lis.

D.M.& P. Manheim Inc., New York, July, 1976
Vogel Collection no. 246

San Francisco, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, "Uncommon Clay", 1972, no. 2

The piece is in overall good appearance and in generally good condition. There is minor chipping and glaze nibbling to the rim and extremities of the handles and applied decoration. Minor footrim chip. Each of the three handles is lacking an applied decorative element at the top edge of the uppermost terminals. There is a typical fine mesh of glaze crazing throughout.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Nicholas Hubble was the son-in-law of the prominent potter George Richardson. He had a son named Nicholas who also worked as a potter, and the initials 'N H' are recorded on a variety of objects dating between 1631 and 1687. Hubble the elder was the apprentice of the potter John Livermore (d. 1658). Livermore's initials appear on at least eleven objects bearing dates between 1612 and 1649, ten of which are tygs. The earliest recorded piece to bear Hubble's initials is a tyg also bearing 'I L' for Livermore, dated 1631 at Colonial Williamsburg, illustrated by Leslie B. Grigsby, English Slip-Decorated Earthenware at Williamsburg, Williamsburg, 1993, p. 24, fig. 19-21. Nicholas the elder died in 1689.

Dated tygs bearing the initials 'N H' include two examples dated 1654 and 1659 respectively, and a third with a date partially lost '164', all in Glaisher Collection at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, published by Bernard Rackham, Catalogue of the Glaisher Collection of Pottery and Porcelain in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Cambridge, 1935, Vol. I, nos. 117, 127 and 133. A tyg dated 1656, from the Longridge Collection, is illustrated by Leslie B. Grigsby, The Longridge Collection of English Slipware and Delftware, London, 2000, Vol. 1, p. 115, S51. Further pieces bearing the initials 'N H' are listed by A. J. B. Kiddell, 'Wrotham Slipware and the Wrotham Brickyard', English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Vol. 3, Part 2, 1954, pp. 114-117.

A notable piece by Hubble is the large cistern dated and inscribed 'W /THE RIT GENNRAL/ CORNAL/ OFER THE DRoVNK KEN REGMENT N H 1678 W E', in the British Museum, London, reg. no. 1887,0210.36, which Grigsby, ibid, p. 115, suggests may be read as "The Right General Colonel of the Drunken Regiment."

A similar tyg dated 1649 with initials G R, probably those of George Richardson, in the Collection of Harriet Carlton Goldweitz, was sold in these rooms, January 20, 2006, lot 10.