An important pair of Coalport vases by Thomas Baxter, dated...

An important pair of Coalport vases by Thomas Baxter, dated 1801
From a celebrated garniture known as 'The Nelson Vases', the bucket-shaped bodies with oval panels painted in puce monochrome, both with a dancing lady probably based on an image of Lady Hamilton, both signed 'T Baxter 1801', on a gold and white chequered ground, the necks and stems with coloured floral bands in the typical style of the Baxter workshop, on square feet and later gilt metal bases, 24cm high overall (2)
Provenance
With Geoffrey Godden, International Ceramics Fair 1991

This popular Coalport vase shape was clearly a favourite of the Baxter family workshop, for many examples are known with this distinctive decoration. Vases of this form with monochrome panels signed by Thomas Baxter often include dates, mostly 1801 or 1802. Early in the 20th century a garniture, formed from a bough pot and four of these vases including the present pair, was offered for sale by Albert Amor in London with a provenance that claimed the set had belonged to Nelson and had been given to him by Lady Hamilton. The seller who made this somewhat-optimistic claim, also stated that this particular set (believed at the time to be of Flight Worcester manufacture) was the reason Thomas Baxter was invited to visit Merton and created his famous sketches. The present lot was part of this garniture, which was discussed in 1942 by E Morton Nance where further provenance was given to a Mrs C Smith of Monmouth whose grandfather had bought them 'in a sale at Merton'. The set was subsequently illustrated by W D John, Swansea Porcelain (1958), fig. 69. By this time, the story had entered ceramic folklore and it wasn't until the 1980s, when part of the set was owned by Geoffrey Godden, that the Nelson connection was seriously questioned. Godden referenced the Merton connection when he exhibited the present pair, together with the smaller pair from the same garniture, at the International Ceramics Fair in 1991, handbook p.58.

There is certainly some grain of truth in the story, for the vases do depict Emma Hamilton; but these were not sketched from life as a gift for the admiral. Instead, Thomas Baxter has copied various prints popular at the time, derived from images of Lady Hamilton's 'Attitudes'. Baxter painted the same panels used on this pair, on other porcelain including a Coalport jug and a Paris coffee can. It is perfectly possible that Nelson saw vases like this for sale in London. Emma frequented the same London theatres that Thomas Baxter attended almost every week, and it is highly likely that Baxter knew Sir William Hamilton, as the artist sketched images from Hamilton's ancient vases at the British Museum. In 1802 Baxter made his first visit to Emma's home at Merton, and on a subsequent visit in 1803 he delivered to Merton some Coalport vases that he had painted. These were not, however, of the same shape as the set that had become known as the Nelson Vases.