A rare Capodimonte or Buen Retiro soup tureen, circa 1755-65. Photo Sotheby's

applied with vine root handles and trailing fruiting vine terminals, painted in Kakiemon style with colourful flowering plants outlined in black. Quantity: 1; indistinct fleur de lys mark in blue, Wilfrid Evill Collection Label; 16cm., 6½in. high, 24cm., 9½in. wide excluding handles. Estimate 2,000 — 3,000 GBP. Lot Sold: 2,750 GBP

PROVENANCE: Purchased from Spero, July 1946, for £40

NOTE: For a pair of Capodimonte soup tureens with similar handles and decoration, complete with their domed covers, dated to 1750-55, see Le Porcellane Dei Borbone di Napoli, Museo Archeologico Nazionale exhibition catalogue, 1986, curated by Angela Caròla-Perrotti, pp. 68-69, no. 11. For a discussion of the evolution of flower painting at the Neapolitain factory of Capodimonte and the Spanish factory of Buen Retiro, see Angela Caròla-Perrotti, Capodimonte or Buen Retiro? Old Problems, New Conclusions, International Ceramics Fair Handbook, 2001, pp 28-35.

Sotheby's. The Evill/Frost Collection III. London | 16 Jun 2011 www.sotheys.com