1883 - An auspicious date

"Gutted" does not begin to describe how I felt this week when i missed out on the above bowl - for the second time! It was listed on Ebay a few weeks ago and crazily, I completely forgot about the auction end date, left it on my Watch List and missed the finally bidding. It went for a paltry £35ish. To my surprise and and delight it was re-listed last week when the original high bidder didn't pay-up. I was determined to make mine a winning bid, so when i found that the auction would be ending midday on Monday, and in the early morning when i had to leave for work it was still below £30, i put on a bid of just over £60 and hoped to goodness it would be enough. I know from bitter experience that I hardly ever win things when i'm not there in to place a bid in the final moments. You tend to find that if you leave an early bid, the price creeps up and creeps up as other bidders add a few more pounds until they've just topped you. Whereas, if you go in for the kill in the final seconds, it leaves little time for other bidders to outstrip you. Well, this was just one of those horrible occasions where i had to make a decision about how much i could afford (and this close to Xmas, unfortunately, not a lot) and place an early bid. I really wished i'd put nearer £100 to secure it, but even that may not have been enough, because the dish is truly stunning. Visitors to my blog who've read early blog postings, will know that i already have an armorial tazza; hand-painted with dolphins, griffins, the date 1883 and with the initials A R F. When I showed it to Fergus Gambon at the Antiques Roadshow, he was bemused and wondered if it was either a trial piece for a private commission (it hasn't had a final glaze, and has tester colours underneath - which don't even relate to those on top!), or perhaps was a blank tazza, painted by a talented amateur at home. Well, the dish that I missed out on, DOH!, has the same armorial ideas, date and initials, so surely comes from the same commission. Indeed, it even has the same letter "J" painted underneath as the painters mark. Both pieces are on Oriental Ivory wares. When i bought my tazza, there was another piece for sale on ebay by the same seller, which i couldn't afford at the time. For the life of me, i can't remember if it was this dish and whether it's now just doing the rounds of being re-sold, or whether this is a "new" one to come to light. I shan't give up hope of attaining it however and hope that the new top bidder doesn't cough up the dough, so i can have another stab at it!