A rare English Delft, dated, blue-dash royal portrait charger of Charles II smashed house records at Rosebery's on 13 December, with a hammer price of £105,000.
Lot 65 was catalogued as "An English Delft, dated, blue-dash royal charger of Charles II, dated 1660, probably London, painted in colours with the King in his coronation robes, chain and medal, crowned and holding his sceptre and orb, flanked by the initials CR2, within a blue-vaulted room, standing on a chequered blue floor within a yellow line and blue-dash rim, the underside with a brown-stained lead glaze, diameter 30cm".
The plate was consigned to Rosebery's by a private client who thought it was a copy, rather than an original. Even so, it had been in his family for many years and was presented in a handmade wooden and glazed case made by his grandfather.
Only a handful of these plates come onto the market in each generation and this one was an unknown example and, hence, fresh to the market. Part of its rarity derives from its date of 1660, the year of the restoration of the monarchy. Other, later, examples survive but very few from the restoration itself.
Rosebery's managing director, Ian Cadzow, said, "We received interest in the plate from around the world, especially the USA where there is a lot of interest in early English history. The opening bid was of £10,000 in the room and quickly rose to the final hammer price of £105,000, selling to a bidder in the room.
Records at Rosebery's have been tumbling throughout 2011 - a George III mahogany serving table reached £75,000 in June, a Barbara Hepworth sculpture made £62,000 in the same month, a Botero bronze was sold for £70,000 in September and a ruby and diamond jewellery suite achieved £58,000.
