A Nevers faience 'bleu persan' water fountain, circa 1670-1680. Estimate 4,000 — 6,000 GBP. Photo: Sotheby's

of baroque architectural form with twin bearded-mask handles and lion-mask spout, the dark blue-glazed ground painted in white enamel and yellow and ochre highlights with Venus and Cupid beneath a baldacchino within a bower of flowering plants on which perch exotic birds, enamel monogram mark - 44cm. 17 ½in. long

Bibliography: This design is shared with a celebrated dish in the Musée de la Faience at Nevers, where the presence of another figure outside the bower shows that the scene is the presentation of Cupid to Mercury; see F. Morin,Les Faiences de Nevers, 1982, pp. 30-31, and L'Objet d'Art, hors serie no.70, 2013, pp. 20-21.

This form of faience is discussed by Camille Leprince in the recent publication, Le Faïence Baroque Française et les Jardins de le Notre, 2014.  Marks are only rarely found on bleu persan pieces, or indeed on seventeenth century Nevers faience. The monogram here may possibly be MA; it is accompanied by an emblem in white and green enamels.

Sotheby's. Collections, Londres, 27 oct. 2015, 10:30 AM