An important Vauxhall armorial ale jug, circa 1755An important Vauxhall armorial ale jug, circa 1755Of baluster shape, the wishbone handle with scrolled terminals and a high thumbrest, painted in English delftware style in tones of blue with a lady and gentleman walking in a romantic landscape, apparently engaged in conversation, a ruinous building behind them, the reverse with a full coat of arms for Axtell, inscribed 'ALE' to the right of the handle, 16.7cm highProvenanceBonhams, 1 December 2010, lot 122Sylvia and Alan Low CollectionThis important jug is one of a small number of Vauxhall pieces painted in European style, the figure group taken from The Ladies Amusement, p.32. It is recorded by Bernard Watney, The Vauxhall China Works, 1751-1764, ECC Trans, Vol.13, Pt.3 (1989), p.220. The decoration is very similar to that on a mug in the Schreiber Collection, illustrated by Roger Massey, A Curious Odyssey: a Vauxhall Workman and some Dated Pieces, ECC Trans, Vol.16, Pt.3 (1998), p.302 and is probably by the same hand. A rather more naïve version of this European style is seen on a group of teawares illustrated by Massey, Marno and Spero, Ceramics of Vauxhall (2007), p.74.