Limoges tazza – £8500 at Chorley’s.
Artisans in the Haute-Vienne French town first produced copper champlevé enamel religious icons from the 12th- 14th centuries, then more secular, often mythical subjects during the French Renaissance, followed by revivalist pastiches in the 19th century.
Offered at the Prinknash Abbey rooms on September 18, the 7½in (19cm) diameter piece decorated with a mythological scene was estimated at £300-500 and catalogued as Renaissance style. However, there was much about the piece to suggest a late 16th century date. Despite some condition issues, it took £8500.
