A Regency Period Hand-Painted Toleware Chestnut Urn & Cover c.1810-20

SOLD
Origin: British
Period: Regency
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1810-20
Height: 15”
Width: 7.5” (at handles)
Base Diameter: 4.75”

The well-proportioned chestnut toleware urn and cover, of classical form, showing the original amber painted decoration, and of particularly good colour and texture, now with a superb patination, and with an acorn finial, lion mask ring handles and green wreath and flower painted decoration with trumpets and lyre to one side and flaming torches to the other, the base hand signed, surviving from the first quarter of the nineteenth century.

There are minor faults apparent from the illustrations, paint scratches and wear with some paint fleck losses commensurate with use. There is some mis-shapening to the acorn finial as photographed, and the inner aluminium liner is twentieth century, though could be removed altogether. There is some looseness to the point where the basin meets the pedestal base so it has a slight lean. The urn is essentially complete and un-meddled with, which is very appealing, with paint having taken on a wonderful crusty patina.

Toleware refers to kitchen-related objects created from metal, typically tin or thin steel, and are often in decorative styles such as Arts and Crafts and Regency as we see here. Decorative painting on these items is common but is not always the case. This style of decorative art spread from Europe, where it was referred to as Japanning, to the United States in the 18th century.

In the 19th Century, the towns of Usk and Pontypool in South Wales were well known for producing toleware goods, particularly using the Japanning process. This urn would have been one of a pair. We haven’t been able to decipher the signature.

Unrivalled texture here, and beautifully reminiscent of this golden period.
image/svg+xml