This is a very rare James Giles gilded half-size decanter and stopper dating from the second half of the 18th century, c1770. This celebrated pattern is described in the 1774 catalogue of Giles'' stock as ''stags heads and pateras, with festoons, husks, etc...'' and a similar design was used by the Giles workshop on Worcester porcelain. A very similar decanter and stopper in opaque white glass is illustrated alongside a Worcester cup and saucer with comparable decoration by Stephen Hanscombe, James Giles China and Glass Painter (2005), no.127. Another is illustrated by Andy McConnell, The Decanter: Ancient to Modern (2018), p.116, no.7. This decanter is also illustrated alongside two white glass cruet bottles of similar form and a white glass tumbler, all in the same pattern, by Delomosne and Son, Gilding the Lily (1978), pp.34-5, nos.47-49. No other example in clear glass would appear to be recorded in the literature.The decanter is in excellent condition for its age. It sh...