An impressive 8in (20cm) high ice pail, cover and liner made what is thought to be a record auction result for Swansea porcelain when it sold for £38,000 hammer at Bonhams in Knightsbridge on June 5.

Extracted from Antiques Trade Gazette | Anne Crane

Made at the Swansea factory c.1815-17, it had been finely decorated in a London workshop with botanical specimens that include a passion flower and an anemone, and has gilt borders of scrolls and classical motifs.

The estimate was £20,000-30,000.

Two services with this pattern are recorded: the Gosford Castle and the Marquis of Exeter service. This pail comes from the former and has a Gosford Castle collection paper label. It was also in the Leslie Joseph collection and last sold at auction back in 1980.

Late spring or early summer is a traditional slot in the London auction schedule for Bonhams’ ceramics and glass sales. A feature of these is a section devoted to Welsh ceramics: porcelain from the factories of Swansea and Nantgarw and a range of pottery.