A rare Derby dry-edge chinoiserie white group of 'Smell' from the series of the five Senses, circa 1752-55. Estimate 5,000 — 7,000 GBP. Photo Sotheby's.

probably modelled by Agostino Carlini, as a figure in a long, flowing skirt and exotic hat holding aloft a flower, a child seated on a bench surrounded by pots of flowers at her side on the pad base, 22.3cm., 8 3/4 in. high

Provenance: The Property of Norman C. Ashton, Esq., sold at Christie's London, 6th June 1988, lot 254

Exhibition: Albert Amor London, 18th Century English Chinoiserie Porcelain, 1990, no. 8 (paper label to base)

Bibliography: Peter Bradshaw, 18th Century English Porcelain Figures, 1745-1795, 1981, pl. 101

Note: Examples of this group, some coloured, are to be found in the Lady Ludlow collection, formerly at Luton Hoo, in the Metropolitan Museum New York, in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

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