The date and the sophisticated decoration place this 12in (30cm) dish in the elite category of delft portrait chargers. Probably made in London, it is painted in colours with the crowned monarch dressed in his coronation robes and holding his sceptre and orb. His head is flanked by the initials CR2 and the date 1660.
It was entered for sale by a local private client who thought it was a copy, rather than an original. Nevertheless, it had been in his family for many years and had been preserved in good condition in a wooden and glazed case made by his grandfather.
Only a handful of these dishes come onto the market each generation and this one was previously unrecorded. Part of its rarity derives from its date of 1660, the year of the Restoration. Other, later examples survive but very few from the Restoration itself. The similar example dated 1666 in the Longridge collection sold by Christie's King Street in June 2010 sold at £90,000 (£109,250 including buyer's premium).
The opening bid for this example was £10,000 in the room and quickly rose to the final bid of £105,000 (£123,375 including 17.5% buyer's premium), selling in the room to London dealer Garry Atkins.
Rosebery's have broken their house record on several occasions this year: a George mahogany serving table reached £75,000 in June and a Botero bronze was sold for £70,000 in September.
