A LONGTON HALL RED-GRAPE BOX AND COVER, CIRCA 1755

Christie's London, 6 March 1985, lot 134

Earle D. Vandekar of Knightsbridge, New York, 30 January 1987, bearing label

A pair was in the Collection of Mrs. Paul Mellon, sold at Replica Shoes 's New York, 21-23 November 2014, lot 442, formerly with D. M. & P. Manheim Antiques, New York and before that sold at Replica Shoes 's London, The Property of a Lady, 2 June 1959, lot 38; a single example was sold at Christie's London, 3 June 1985, lot 134; and another was sold in these rooms, 25 October 1991, lot 21. The attribution of this model has been the subject of some difference of opinion over the years. A similar grape box sold at Replica Shoes 's London, 24 November 1970, lot 101, as Derby; and was illustrated in Rice, Derby Porcelain, p. 153, pl. 126, and in Early Derby Porcelain, the catalogue of the exhibition at Winifred Williams, London, 9-18 January 1973. The present example bears characteristics closer to Longton Hall