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(Thomas) Samuel Haile (1909-48) original pen and ink wash study for 1938 'Then lie there, precious white psychiatrist' - 33cm x 31cm

A fine and rare Charles II turned lignum vitae wassail bowl and cover late 17th century with a ring turned lid incorporating a smaller goblet shaped vessel which has a baluster turned stem the conforming bowl with ring turned decoration the squat baluster turned stem on a raised and stepped base the interior features an old repair where a brass rivet has been used bowl; h.27.5cm. diam.25cm.; with lid; h.44cm. The goblet shaped vessel on the top may well have had a lid and was possibly a spice box see Owen Evan-Thomas Domestic Utensils of Wood Stobart Davies 1973 p.20 pl.7 for a similar example incorporating a spice box on baluster turned stem. Evan-Thomas also illustrates a very similar bowl and cover (pl.10) which lacks the bowl of the spice container and features stumps from former finials. The example offered here features three filled holes to the lid which probably held finials which would have been used as stands to support tumblers. The words 'waes-haile' 'was-haile' or wass-heil' have all passed into our language as 'Wassail'. Wassailing is a term used to describe community drinking usually associated with festive occassions. It is sometimes translated as 'be whole/be well'. Recipies vary according to local customs. Good ale or in some cases wine were the bases to which sugar cloves and cardamons were added together with a small roasted apple for each drinker. Egg white was added to produce a froth giving rise to the name 'lamb's wool'. There is an entry in Samuel Pepys diary on the 21st of November 1660 in which he writes 'lay long in bed this morning my cozen Thomas Pepys the turner sent me a cupp of lignum vitae'. This reference is interesting for two reasons through the fact that wood turners were working with this prized wood and that it was a worthy gift exchanged within fashionable society. This suggests that worth was attached and that this exported material would have been costly. Pepys certainly felt it worth mentioning it in his diary. à W