A Berlin blue-ground tête-à-tête with depictions of Lady Hamilton, Admiral Lord Nelson's mistress, circa 1800
Reserved with pale yellow-ground panels depicting Lady Hamilton in various attitudes after the Antique edged with gilt husk bands and surrounded by foliate scrollwork pedestals, the blue-ground feet, shoulders and covers with gilt and pale pink bands, comprising: an oval tray, a teapot and cover, a coffee pot and cover, a milk jug and cover, a sugar bowl and cover, a tea canister with metal and cork stopper and cover and two covered cups and saucers, the tray: 35.4cm long; the coffee pot: 16.5cm high, sceptre marks in underglaze-blue, various impressed numerals and incised triangles, incised IIII to tray (17)
Footnotes:
The depictions of Lady Hamilton's attitudes are after prints by engraver Tommaso Piroli after drawings by Friedrich Rehberg. Another Berlin tête-à-tête depicting the same prints was sold at Christie's London, 9 July 2001, lot 267.

Emma Hart (1765-1815), born Amy Lyon, was the daughter of a blacksmith who was raised by her mother and grandmother. She became the mistress of the Honourable Charles Francis Greville (1749–1809), second son of the Earl of Warwick, who introduced her to his friend, the painter George Romney, who made her his lifelong muse and started painting her in a variety of guises. Through the popularity of Romney's works of art and her striking beauty, she became well-known in society circles.

Eventually Greville decided to marry young heiress, Henrietta Middleton, and in due course persuaded his uncle, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803), the British Envoy at the court of Naples, to take on his mistress. Sir William had met Emma in London during his last trip to the UK. Without telling Emma his plans Greville sent her and her mother to Naples in 1786, where Sir William put them up in an apartment at the Palazzo Sessa. After a while Emma realised Greville had cast her off and accepted her new status as Sir William's mistress. They eventually got married on 6 September 1791. During her time as his mistress, she started performing her attitudes, a type of tableau vivant, posing in a gold-edged black box in various costumes and poses imitating the Antique. This new type of performance quickly caught on and charmed the upper classes of Europe.

In 1787 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe visited Sir William and wrote:'Der Ritter Hamilton, [...] hat nun, [...] den Gipfel aller Natur- und Kunstfreude in einem schönen Mädchen gefunden. [...] Er hat ihr ein griechisch Gewand machen lassen, das sie trefflich kleidet, dazu löst sie ihre Haare auf, nimmt ein paar Schals und macht eine Abwechslung von Stellungen, Gebärden, Mienen etc., daß man zuletzt wirklich meint man träume. [...] Stehend, knieend, sitzend, liegend, ernst, traurig, neckisch, ausschweifend, bußfertig, lockend, drohend, ängstlich etc. eins folgt aufs andere und aus dem andern. [...] Er findet in ihr alle Antiken, alle schönen Profile der sizilianischen Münzen, ja den Belvederschen Apoll selbst. [...]' [The Knight Hamilton has now found the peak of the joy of nature and art in a pretty girl. He has had a Greek gown made for her which clothes her perfectly, to which she lets her hair fall freely, takes a couple of shawls and does a mixture of poses, gestures, expressions etc., so that one thinks one is dreaming. Standing, kneeling, lying, serious, sad, coy, rakish, penitent, beckoning, threatening, fearful etc., one follows the other. He finds in her all the Antique, all the pretty profiles of Sicilian coins, even that of the Belvedere Apollo] (quoted from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Italienische Reise - Ausgabe beider Bände (reprint 2016), pp. 165f.).

In 1798 Lady Hamilton famously began an affair with Lord Nelson, which would last through her husband's death in 1803 until his death in 1805. She fell deeply into debt trying to keep up her position in society, eventually moved to France and died not long after in 1815.
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