The present ewer and basin are based on the 'Temperance Basin', originally cast in pewter circa 1585 in a mold by French model carver François Briot. The basin is decorated with a central scene of Temperance holding a wine cup surrounded with four plaques depicting air, water, earth, and fire, and further panels around the rim depicting arts and sciences, Grammar, Reason, Rhetoric, Music, Arithmetic, Geometry and Astrology, as well as the Goddess Minerva. 16th century examples cast from Briot's mold are in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (Acc. Nos. 4289-1857 and 2063-1855), the Louvre, Paris (Acc. Nos. OA 691 and 690), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Acc. Nos. 1975.1.1473 and 1975.1.1472).
From its inception, the designs created by Briot were meant to be copied, with multiple casts made in Briot's lifetime, as well as imitations made in pewter and silver, as well as ceramic such as by Bernard Palissy. By the 17th century, new molds, which were slightly larger, were created by Nuremberg artist Caspar Enderlein, who introduced some slight changes to the design before his basins were ask cast in pewter. Further copies were made in the 18th and 19th century, including the present lot, as well as a version by Benjamin Schlick which was turned into a table and presented by Prince Albert to Queen Victoria for her birthday in 1850. The most famous 19th century copy was created by Elkington and Co. in 1864. Known as the 'Venus Rosewater Basin', this version has been used as the Wimbledon Ladies Singles Championship trophy since 1886.