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                          | BLACK BASALT, STIRRUP CUP .  c.1820-35. | £750 |  
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                                  | A BASALT BEAR STIRRUP CUP Early 19th century. A rare and I believe unrecorded Basalt Stirrup cup in the form of a muzzled bears head.
 Bear-Baiting a popular sport from the 16th century till the end of the 18th although continued until it was banned in 1835 with the Cruelty to Animals Act.
 Both Wedgwood & Turner produced a number of Stirrup cup forms including Fox, Dog, Stag, Hares with Fish by other makers but I know of no other reference to a Bear.
 This is not in the Quality of Wedgwood and is in a smear glazed basalt so probably dates from the first quarter of the 19th century possibly 1835 commemorating the demise of the sport,
 Length 14 cm.
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