Skip to main content

Taurus the Bull: C.12-2000

An image of Animal figure

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: In storage

Titles

Taurus the Bull

Maker(s)

Factory: Josiah Wedgwood & Sons
Modeller: Machin, Arnold

Entities

Categories

Description

Creamware (Queen's ware), slip-cast in two halves, glazed, and decorated with lithograph prints in pink, yellow, dark brown, and grey, and painted in dark brown enamel. The stylised bull stands on all four feet with its head lowered and its tail waving against its left hind quarter. The body is scattered with vignettes of the zodiac signs and symbols in pink and brown or yellow and brown with grey backgrounds, interspersed with brown and yellow stars. The details of the bull's head and tail are painted in dark brown enamel, and round each foot is a band with a row of groups of three short strokes above it.

Notes

History note: Purchased from Gabor Cossa (Mr Martyn Edgell), Trumpington Street, Cambridge

Legal notes

Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Measurements and weight

Height: 16.2 cm
Length: 40.2 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Barlaston ⪼ Staffordshire ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2000-05-08) by The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum

Dating

20th Century, Mid#
Elizabeth II
Production date: circa AD 1955

Note

Designed and modelled by Arnold Machin, OBE, ARCA (1911-99 ) c. 1945-6. Wedgwood exhibited a Taurus the Bull Figure at the 'Britain Can Make It' exhibition in 1946. An example was displayed in the ‘Homes and Gardens’ pavilion at the Festival of Britain in 1951, in a modern sitting room for a farmer and his wife.

Multicoloured lithograph or 'Decal' (from decalomania) decoration was first used by Wedgwood in 1940 on a mug designed by Ravilious to commemorate the move of the earthenware section to Barlaston, and in 1944 for 'Charnwood' design on bone china tableware, see Documentation, Reilly, 1989. It had been used since the end of the nineteenth century elsewhere in the Potteries.

School or Style

'Contemporary'

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamel ( dark brown)

Materials used in production

leadless ? Clear glaze
Cream-coloured earthenware

Techniques used in production

Slip casting : Creamware (Queensware), slip-cast in two halves, glazed, and decorated with lithograph prints in pink, yellow, dark brown, and grey, and painted in dark brown enamel

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: I C 55
  • Location: Under the left front shoulder
  • Method of creation: Impressed
  • Type: Mark
  • Text: WEDGWOOD/BARLASTON/ENGLAND
  • Location: On the back of the front leg
  • Method of creation: Printed in dark green
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.12-2000
Primary reference Number: 12091
Entry form number: 127
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 18 December 2023 Last processed: Monday 18 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Taurus the Bull" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12091 Accessed: 2024-11-22 03:21:47

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/12091 |title=Taurus the Bull |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 03:21:47|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-12091

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa6/C_12_2000_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Taurus the Bull"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Taurus the Bull</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...