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@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 9, 2026, 10:16 AM

Figure of a Sami sorceress by J-J Kändler (Meissen, c1750), recently sold by E&H Manners to the Victoria & Albert Museum #c18 #c18th #18thc

Figure of an ugly old woman with bad teeth, hooked nose, heavy eyebrows and eyes facing in different directions. She wears a long white robe and long black coat, a scarf on her head. She holds a white oval drum inscribed with figures of animals and hunters.
Dealer's description: In this unique and unusually large figure Kaendler has modelled a grotesque and haggard sorceress holding a drum which is a precise copy of the Sámi shaman’s drum that was presented to the Elector of Saxony, Johann Georg II, on 28th March 1668 by Kristian Albrekt, Duke of Holstein (1641-1695). The drum survives and is now held in the Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden. The drawing on the reindeer skin and the pierced structure of the wooden bowl are copied almost exactly indicating that both Kaendler and the painter of the figure had access to the original drum. The reason for this model being made is not recorded, it was clearly not for commercial production but for some purpose within the court of Dresden. The Dresden drum was most likely one of those confiscated by missionaries seeking to covert the Sámi to Christianity in the early 17th century. A number were brought to Copenhagen for the royal Kunstkammer and the missionary college. It was presented to the Elector along with a two-part painting titled “Dis sint de sitten von Laplant” [These are the customs of Lapland]. The drum (and painting) are recorded in the inventories of the “Indianische Cammer” in 1684, 1710, 1716, 1783 (by which time the bone clapper had been lost) and 1821. In 1838, it was recorded (without the painting) in the inventory of the “Türkenzelt” [Turkish Tent]; in 1838 it became part of the Historical Museum of the royal collections, and in 1979 it was transferred to the Zoologische und Anthropologisch-Ethnographische Museum in Dresden, now known as the Museum für Völkerkunde.
37.0 cm high
See https://www.rare-ceramics.com/past-sales/a-meissen-figure-of-an-sorceress/

@defoesociety.bsky.social Sep 8, 2026, 10:42 AM

New Publication Alert

Yingst, Carlisle, and Shruti Jain. "Chapter XI. The Eighteenth Century: 1. The Novel." The Year’s Work in English Studies (2026): maag035.

#danieldefoe #defoe #18thCentury #C18th #18thC #defoesociety

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 8, 2026, 10:32 AM

Pair of small carafes (Irish, c1820). (Long) #c18 #c18th #18thc

Bulbous decanters with ridged necks, band around the middle with cut lattice-work pattern, no stoppers. Greyish colour, which is characteristic of Irish glass

@asls.org.uk Sep 7, 2026, 1:58 PM

“Nothing could be so delightful as the style of living in Scotland; the people were so frank & gay, & the manners so easy & engaging…”

Ferrier’s 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘨𝘦 (1818) looks at what happens when #romantic notions of the Highlands meet cold, damp reality…
#C18th #C19th 💙📚
asls.org.uk/publications...

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 7, 2026, 10:23 AM

19C Prattware pot lid depicting Uncle Toby and the Widow Wadman from Sterne’s Tristram Shandy #c18 #c18th #18thc

Brightly coloured transfer print on a pottery lid (probably for a jar of potted meat) depicting Tristram Shandy’s Uncle Toby examining the eye of the concupiscent Widow Wadman. Toby’s model of the siege of Namur on his bowling green is seen in the background

@defoesociety.bsky.social Sep 7, 2026, 7:42 AM

New Publication Alert

Mukherjee, Sujaan. "Reading Robinson Crusoe in Bengal: Textual Transmission, Translation and Authorship." Travelling Texts. Routledge 245-261.

#danieldefoe #defoe #18thCentury #C18th #18thC #defoesociety

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 6, 2026, 11:07 AM

Silver coffee and tea set by Paul Storr (London, 1809-10) with Nelson & Nelson, NYC. (Long) #c18 #c18th #18thc

Dealer's description
Round and wide-bodied. Double snake handles with slithering and squiggling heads. Coffeepot and teapot handles are leaf-capped and flanked by phoenix wings. All handles high-looping except sugar handles which are side bracket. Covers hinged with acorn finials. Coffeepot cover raised and teapot cover flush. Coffeepot set in tripod base with patera-mounted loose rings and leaf-capped paw supports mounted to rectilinear tripod base on bracket supports; vasiform oil lamp. Acanthus leaves, paterae, and egg and dart. Gadrooning and ribbing. Engraved armorials.
Coffeepot: H 11 3/4 x W 6 1/2 x D 6 1/2 in. Teapot: H 6 x W 10 x D 7 in. Creamer: H 4 x W 7 3/4 x D 5 1/4 in. Sugar: H 4 1/4 x W 8 x D 6 5/8 in. Heavy total weight: 126 troy ounces.

@asls.org.uk Sep 5, 2026, 1:04 PM

On stair wi tub, or pat in hand,
The barefoot housemaids loo to stand,
That antrin fock may ken how snell
Auld Reikie will at morning smell…

—from “Auld Reikie”, by Robert Fergusson – a panoramic poetical survey of the sights, sounds, & odours of #C18th Edinburgh…
#poem #poetry

from Auld Reikie
by Robert Fergusson (1750–1774)

. . . Now morn, with bonny purpie-smiles,
Kisses the air-cock o’ St Giles;
Rakin their een, the servant lasses
Early begin their lies and clashes;
Ilk tells her friend o’ saddest distress,
That still she brooks frae scouling mistress;
And wi her joe in turnpike stair
She’d rather snuff the stinking air,
As be subjected to her tongue,
When justly censur’d in the wrong.

On stair wi tub, or pat in hand,
The barefoot housemaids loo to stand,
That antrin fock may ken how snell
Auld Reikie will at morning smell:
Then, with an inundation big as
The burn that ’neath the Nore Loch Brig is,
They kindly shower Edina’s roses,
To quicken and regale our noses.
Now some for this, wi satire’s leesh,
Hae gien auld Edinburgh a creesh:
But without souring nocht is sweet;
The morning smells that hail our street
Prepare, and gently lead the way
To simmer canty, braw and gay;
Edina’s sons mair eithly share
Her spices and her dainties rare,
Than he that’s never yet been call’d
Aff frae his plaidie or his fauld.

Now stairhead critics, senseless fools,
Censure their aim, and pride their rules,
In Luckenbooths, wi glowring eye,
Their neighbour’s sma’est faults descry:
If ony loun should dander there,
Of aukward gate and foreign air,
They trace his steps, till they can tell
His pedigree as weel’s himsel . . .

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 5, 2026, 11:26 AM

'A Genuine and True Journal of the Most Miraculous Escape of the Young Chevalier ...' by John Burton, one of the publications that capitalised on the continuing threat of Prince Charles Edward & a #Jacobite restoration, at Taylors Auctions Rooms, Montrose (est.£150-200) #c18 #c18th #18thc

@nguthrie.bsky.social Sep 3, 2026, 10:22 AM

Famille rose 'bats and peaches' bowl (China, 1723-35), being sold for the benefit of the Art Institute of Chicago at Christie's, NY (est. US$400,000-600,000) #c18 #c18th #18thc