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Mars and Venus: C.3062-1928

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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Mars and Venus

Maker(s)

Factory: Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain, slip-cast, and painted overglaze in blue, turquoise, green, yellow, flesh, pink, puce, red, pale purple, brown, grey, and black enamels, and gilt. The underside is glazed except for the edge, and has a circular ventilation hole in the centre which is blocked by the top of the base. The base is oval and flat on top with a scrolled edge, and rocaille ornament at the back and front. The figures sit on a high seat with five scrolled supports, a pair of doves on the front, and a shield with Cupid beside it on the back. Mars sits behind Venus facing to the viewer's right, resting his right elbow on the back of the seat, and having his left arm round Venus's shoulder. His feet rest on one of the supports of the seat. He is bearded and wears a helmet with a brown leopard crest, a blue and yellow cloak, a cuirass with gold scales, a red kilt with pink tabs, pink breeches, and turquoise, yellow and gold boots with open toes. Venus semi-reclines in front of Mars, facing towards him. She has brown hair, and is nude apart from a white drape decorated with red and puce floral sprays. The base is picked out in puce, pink, turquoise, green and greyish-blue, and gilt. The shield is pale grey.

Notes

History note: Mr Stoner, London, from whom bought on 24 March 1919 for £26 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS. Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 22.8 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

Gold anchor period (1759-69)
18th Century, Mid
Circa 1759 CE - 1769 CE

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( blue, truquoise, green, yellow, flesh, pink, puce, red, pale purple, brown, grey, and black) gold

Materials used in production

presumed lead Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Slip-casting : Soft-paste porcelain, slip-cast, and painted overglaze in blue, turquoise, green, yellow, flesh, pink, puce, red, pale purple, brown, grey, and black enamels, and gilt
Lead-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.3062-1928
Primary reference Number: 42599
Old object catalogue: 4487

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 29 October 2024

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 (2025) "Mars and Venus" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/42599 Accessed: 2025-12-05 06:38:31

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/42599 |title=Mars and Venus |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 06:38:31|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-42599

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        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa3/C_3062_1928_281_29.jpg"
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        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Mars and Venus</figcaption>
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