Lot 259
A SCARCE GEORGE III TABLE CENTREPIECE
WILLIAM & PATRICK CUNNINGHAM, EDINBURGH 1797
Scottish Works of Art & Whisky
Auction: 18 August 2021 at 11:00 BST
Description
the boat shaped main bowl with twin reeded handles and chased pierced scroll border, engraved crest in a cartouche, raised on out swept supports to a beaded rim with four slender legs, acanthus and paw terminals, each support surmounted by a foxes mask suspending cast border of fruiting grape vines
Dimensions
Bowl 35.5cm wide, overall height 45cm, 57.6oz
Footnote
Note: The fox masks and the grape depict the story of the Fox and the Grapes, one of the fables by Aesop.
Originally of oral tradition, the fables were passed down through generations and collated into the Perry Index. The Fox and the Grapes being number 15. The fable tells the story of a fox who cannot reach some delectable grapes, instead of walking away admitting defeat the fox declares the grapes unappetising anyway and so the phrase ‘sour grapes’ was coined.