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Juno with an Eagle representing Air from a Set of Elements: C.3049-1928

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Juno with an Eagle representing Air from a Set of Elements

Maker(s)

Factory: Bow Porcelain Manufactory
Modeller: 'The Muses Modeller'
Sculptor: Le Hongre, Étienne (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain figure of Juno with an Eagle, representing Air, and decorated in polychrome enamels.

Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, moulded, and painted overglaze in green, yellow, flesh-pink, red, mauve, pale greyish-purple, pinkish-brown, brown, and black enamels. The underside is unglazed and has a small ventilation hole near the back. The figure stands on a wavy-edged low mound with a rock rising up at the back which is pierced by a square hole for an attachment. The front is decorated with two applied red flowers with yellow centres and three leaves, one large red and pink flower with four leaves, and one red pink and yellow flower with a red centre and three leaves. Air stands with her feet slightly apart holding a drape behind her in her left raised hand and her lowered right hand. She wears a loose-fitting yellow dress with a greyish-purple lining, and a white flowered petticoat. Her long brown hair flows out behind her and her features are boldly delineated.
The eagle stands on her left on one leg with its wings slightly outstretched and its head turned towards her.

Notes

History note: Purchased in London from Mr Stoner (Frank?) on 25 November 1918 for £20 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher.

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 21.2 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Stratford-le-Bow ⪼ Essex ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
George II
George III
Production date: circa AD 1760

Note

The Bow Elements were derived ultimately from the statues of the Elements forming part of Le Brun's Grande Commande of 1774 in the garden at Versailles. Air was after the statue by Etienne Le Hongre (1628-90) at the Fontaine du Soir or Cabinet des Combat d'Animaux. The intermediate source may have been pls. 95-8 in Thomassin's Receuil (see Documentation) or reduced size bronzes, such as those of Water and Air in the Green Vaults in Dresden which belonged to Augustus the Strong, and of which other examples are known. The bronzes seem more likely because both the bronze and porcelain figures of Water are Neptune's, whereas Le Brun's design, the statue and the engraving after it are female. The statue of Fire, also female, has been transformed into a youth, perhaps Vulcan. Air conforms to the pose of the original and the bronze, rather than to pl. 95 in the Receuil which is in reverse. This suggests that like so many other English figures of this period, Meissen models were their direct prototypes.

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( green, yellow, flesh-pink, red, mauve, pale greyish-purple, pinkish-brown, brown, and black)

Materials used in production

presumed lead Lead-glaze
presumed phosphatic Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, moulded, and painted overglaze in green, yellow, flesh-pink, red, mauve, pale greyish-purple, pinkish-brown, brown, and black enamels
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: T
  • Location: Lower part of the rock at the back
  • Method of creation: Impressed
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.3049-1928
Primary reference Number: 41593
Glaisher MS Catalogue: 4226, vol. 24
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) "Juno with an Eagle representing Air from a Set of Elements" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/41593 Accessed: 2024-12-22 06:20:57

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/41593 |title=Juno with an Eagle representing Air from a Set of Elements |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 06:20:57|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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