Modelled as a seated greyhound with a hare beneath its front paws, the other as a setter with two partridges beneath its front paws, each on rocky rectangular base
7¹⁄₄ in. (18.5 cm.) long

The Property of a Private Collector, sale Sotheby's, London, 19 November 1991, lot 209.

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Lot Essay

This rare pair of hunting hounds may have been modelled by the proprietor of the Chelsea porcelain manufactory, Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), in the manner of the painter and engraver Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755). Only one other pair of hunting hounds of this type are recorded, these are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, see accession no. C.246-1976 (for the greyhound) and C.246A-1976 (for the setter). Interestingly, another model of the greyhound but with the rare blue crown and trident mark is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see accession no. C.13-1972. This example is illustrated by Arthur Lane and R.J. Charleston, Girl in a Swing Porcelain and Chelsea, English Ceramic Circle Transactions, Vol. 5, No. 3, 1962, pl. 134a (loaned by Mr Leonard Acton). For further discussion of the sources of inspiration for Chelsea animal models of this period see J.V.G. Mallet, ‘Hogarth’s pug in porcelain’, Victoria and Albert Museum Bulletin, Vol. III, no. 2, London, April 1967, pp. 45-54.