Rare Royal Swans Sowerby posy vase for auction

Lot 32A.

A rare Sowerby marigold carnival glass Royal Swans posy vase, W 13cm

Estimate £80-£120
For Auction 4th September

The Sowerby Glassworks was established at Gateshead on Tyne here in the north east of England in the early 1800s.  Internationally famed for their pressed glass output of the late 1800s, Sowerby also produced some remarkable Carnival Glass during the 1920s and early 1930s.  Some of the most sought after examples are seen in moulds from the 1880s such as Diving Dolphins and Royal Swans

 

The design of the Royal Swans posy vase was inspired by Walter Crane's art work. The distinctive curving necks of the swans are very similar to those depicted in his illustration for "Three Ships" in Crane's nursery rhyme book “The Baby's Opera". In this, the prows of the ships are stylised swans, their heads curving almost exactly like those in the Sowerby Royal Swans piece.