Page 28 - Sunday 21 March Auction

REFORM FLASKS
A COLLECTORS GUIDE TO REFORM FLASKS. References here (in brackets) in this catalogue refer to the firsy ever book on the subject of reforms (by A Blakeman 1997) now out of print and difficult to get hold
of copies!
140. BROUGHAM REFORM FLASK.
(Reform flasks, AB p13) 6ins tall, t.t., salt glaze flask formed as Lord Brougham, scroll in hand, impressed THE TRUE/ SPIRIT OF/ REFORM, rear impressed MANUFACTURED/ BY/ OLDFIELD & CO/ CHESTERFIELD. Base flakes. Believed the smallest reform flask in the world? (9.5/10) NR £300-400+
Online bidders must register with easylive for prior approval
before sale begins. Best to do a day or so before if possible. For important lots it’s also wise to book telephone lines soon as possible - we call you just before the lot comes up.
141. GREY REFORM FLASK. (Reform flasks, AB p22) 9ins tall, t.t., salt glaze flask formed as Lord Grey, scroll in hand, impressed THE/ TRUE SPIRIT OF/ REFORM, rear impressed W. SPICER/ LITTLE ST ANDREW ST/ NR SEVEN DIALS.
Doulton Lambeth p.m. Base chip. (9.5/10) NR £300-400+
Seven DialsReform
It’s not every day we record a previously unseen reform flask - this splendid five lines to rear impressed Lord Grey Doulton made flask reveals ‘W SPICER/ Wholesale & Retail/ Wine & Brandy Merchants/ Little St Andrew St/ Nr SEVEN DIALS’. This came into BBR recently destined for the first LIVE video auction of 2021 scheduled for February.
The flask may seem a product of the lofty Reform
period but the Seven Dials area certainly was far
from being such - trade there being described as “glass bottles, rags, old iron, left-off clothing, and second-hand toothbrushes” and “the abode of bird-fanciers”. To walk through the Dials after dark was described as “an act
none but a lunatic would have attempted” such was its extremely bad reputation.
In 1835, William Spicer, formerly the proprietor of the Tower at Tower street in the Seven Dials became the pub keeper of the Sheep’s Head Tavern at 6 Little Andrews Street in London’s Covent Garden. The street later became renamed Monmouth Street and the pub renamed The Two Brewers, where William Filler was the licenced victualler until he died in 1842. James Spicer was landlord at the Kings Head in Little White Lion Street nearby in 1843.
Almost as exciting was the sudden appearance of what
may be the smallest ever recorded reform flask in the guise
of a 5.6 inch tall Lord Brougham with an unusual four lined Oldfield & Co pottery attribution to the rear. He joins the reform flask grouping in February.
Its discovery was equally unexpected when a lady
collector spotted it for sale. It was priced so cheaply she presumed it must be a reproduction and was somewhat flabbergasted when she came in to BBR to ask if it “was right!” I think gobsmacked is the best way to describe her reaction.
Above: The unusual mid size, Grey, reform flask from the ‘infamous’ Seven Dials area.
Left: The five lines impressed to the rear.
The infamous Seven Dials area where to walk through after dark was described as “an act none but a lunatic would have attempted”. Images taken from Thomas Miller’s ‘Picturesque Sketches of London, 1852.
AThbeovmeidLstizoeR: Grey, small Peg Leg & a large Oldfield William IVth.
check out: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-charles-dickens-saw-london-13198155/
Left &
below R:
The ‘tiny’
5.6 ins tall Brougham reform flask showing the unusual
4 impressed rear lines. Aofbroevfoer:mAsgroup included in
BBR’s February
live video streamed sale.