A rare Chelsea teapot and a cover, circa 1750A rare Chelsea teapot and a cover, circa 1750Of moulded, fluted form, the straight spout, finial and lop handle also finely ribbed, the teapot painted in kakiemon style with the so-called 'Red Tiger' pattern, the front with a celestial dragon, its scales picked out in red and gold, coiled around bamboo beside flowering prunus, the reverse with a long-tailed tiger gazing up at flying insects, below a red and turquoise zig-zag border, the cover with prunus issuing from a purple branch, with a red foliate border, 12.5cm high (2)ProvenanceSelwyn Parkinson Collection, Sotheby's, 11 October 1966, lot 235Bonhams, 7 December 2005, lot 61Crane Collection, Bonhams, 31 March 2010, lot 65Sylvia and Alan Low CollectionIllustrated by Frank Tilley, Teapots and Tea (1957), pl.17, fig.60. For a similar teapot see Simon Spero's 1999 exhibition catalogue, p.6, fig.3. The 1755 Chelsea sale catalogue included teawares of a 'Twisted Dragon' pattern, most likely a reference to the design found on the present lot. A pair of silver-shaped plates of this pattern was sold by Bonhams on 15 November 2017, lot 175. The cover on the present example is painted with another kakiemon pattern found on Chelsea dessert wares and occasionally on teawares.