A Chelsea Coloured Crayfish Salt, Circa 1745-49

An extremely rare and early Chelsea Crayfish Salt of the Incised Triangle Period, beautifully modelled after the original Silver model by Nicholas Sprimont, with a crayfish cast from life, crawling across a rock before a naturalistic up turned clam shell, applied with cast natural English shells and sieved clay simulated seaweeds and corals, coloured in tones of iron red, yellow, green and other naturalistic marine colours probably in London workshop of William Duesbury.

A Silver-gilt crayfish salt from a set of four all hallmarked by Nicholas Sprimont (NS*) for 1743 made to augment a service for Frederick Prince of Wales. See Elizabeth Adams, Chelsea Porcelain, p. 18 and pls. 5 and 6. The design was probably suggested by a print in a series published in France in 1734 based on vegetables and game, after originals by J.A.Meissonnier. See also F.S. Mackenna, Chelsea Porcelain, The Triangle and Raised Anchor Wares, pl. 55, fig. 109.