A James II silver mug (London 1685) sold at $26,000 (£20,000) was one of a number of pieces of Stuart silver in the Vogel collection sold at Sotheby's New York carrying chinoiserie decoration.
The form is known from a handful of other silver vessels (a similar mug was in the Jaime Ortiz-Patiño collection sold for $20,000 at the Sotheby’s New York in 1992) but is much more common in pottery.
Most familiar are the mugs of this shape known as ‘gorges’, produced in ‘fine white’ salt-glazed stoneware by John Dwight of Fulham. An excellent example was offered in the sale with contemporary silver mount c.1685 that improved on hopes of $4000-6000 at $17,000 (£13,100).
An English delft bleu Persan mug – $16,000 (£12,300) at the Vogel collection auction at Sotheby's New York.
The same form is also seen in English delftware. The bleu Persan example pictured above with splashed white decoration to a deep blue-glazed ground is similar to a mug in the collection at Williamsburg and to sherds excavated in Jamestown, Virginia. Estimated at $6000-8000, it took $16,000 (£12,300).
