Cache pot
possibly Sarah Jodrell (c.1740 - 1793)
Category
Household and miscellaneous
Date
circa 1770 - 1780
Materials
Deal, paper, paint, ink, gilding, varnish, tin, wire
Measurements
10 x 20.2 x 9.5 cm
Order this imageCollection
Osterley Park and House, London
NT 772177.2
Summary
A cache pot, one of a pair, circa 1770-80, possibly painted by Sarah Child née Jodrell (d. 1793) and possibly supplied by John Linnell (1729-96). Semi-circular and of wood, applied with paper and painted, and with penwork and gilt decoration. Varnished. With tin liner fitted with a gilt wire 'cage'. The front painted with columns headed by flowers and filled with an undulating line, between bands of dots. The ground painted with flowers. The reverse painted with a green drapery swag and the initials SC within a circlet. The tin liner painted pale green.
Full description
This pair of cache pots is part of a small group of objects decorated in painted paper at Osterley. See, for instance, NT 772176.1 & .2. Because this pair of pots bears the initials 'SC' they are thought to have been painted by Sarah Child (d. 1793) who was an accomplished artist and the wife of Robert Child, owner of Osterley from 1763. Old condition reports record that one of this pair of cache pots was inscribed 'Mrs Child' in pencil but, by 1997, this was no longer visible. They have also been attributed to the cabinet-maker John Linnell (1729-96) who is thought (no bills survive) to have supplied much of the furniture in the neo-Classical rooms designed by Robert Adam (1728-92) at Osterley. However, very few cache pots of this type survive, and even fewer which can be attributed to any particular cabinet-maker.
Provenance
Osterley Park Heirloom. Presumably made by the workshop of J Linnell and decorated by Sarah Anne Child
Marks and inscriptions
Reverse: SC
Makers and roles
possibly Sarah Jodrell (c.1740 - 1793), painter