A selection of ‘toys’ from the Chelsea porcelain or ‘Girl in a Swing’ factory from the Hugh Marsham Townshend collection that will be offered at Sworders.
The name ‘Girl in a Swing’ was used for decades until evidence emerged of a porcelain works that operated in the St James’s area of London between 1748-59. It was run by Charles Gouyn (d.1785), a jeweller and former associate of Nicholas Sprimont at Chelsea.
A dozen ‘toys’ from Townsend’s collection – some by Chelsea, others from the St James’s factory – have been consigned by a descendant to Sworders’ Country House sale in Stansted Mountfitchet on September 13.
The collection comes with a list, compiled in 1961, documenting purchases from two of the major English porcelain dealers of the 1940s and ’50s – DM & P Manheim and I Staal, both of London.
