
An important early Chelsea white 'teaplant' knife haft, circa 1745-49 Of generous size with a silver ferrule and steel blade, attractively moulded with spiralling arrangements of flowering tea plant branches issuing from a border of acanthus-like leaves around the base, 11.5cm long excluding fittings, the blade marked 'GR' flanking a crown and 'TIERCELIN' Footnotes: Provenance Watney Collection, Phillips, 22 September 1999, lot 10 Anton Gabszewicz Collection Literature Tony Stevenson, 'A Review of Chelsea, Chelsea-Derby and Derby Knife and Fork Hafts', ECC Trans, Vol.14, Pt.1 (1990), p.51, fig.2 Tony Stevenson states that the present lot was the only Chelsea haft confidently attributable to the Triangle Period. The moulded decoration closely follows that on other 'teaplant' wares from the period, see for example the coffee pot and cover from the Peter and Mary White Collection sold by Bonhams on 1 December 2025, lot 174. The decoration is probably inspired by two silver tea canisters and a sugar vase of similar date, now in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (inv. nos.1988.1075 to 1077), illustrated by Sally Kevill-Davies, 'Some new connections between Nicholas Sprimont's silver and early Chelsea porcelain', ECC Trans, Vol.31 (2020), p.121, fig.32. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing
































