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 imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778)
Factory: Member of the Wood family
Lead-glazed earthenware painted in enamels\par
White earthenware with slightly blue tinted glaze, painted in turquoise, flesh-pink, pink, red, dark maroon, and black enamels. The bust is supported on a rectangular socle with a dark maroon line running round its upper and lower edges. The sitter faces front with his head turned a quarter to his right. He wears a long curling wig, a turquoise blue coat over a red waistcoat and a pale lilac, ermine-lined cloak over his left shoulder, draping across his body at front and back; the socle has a red-brown line round its upper and lower edges \par
History note: Unknown before donor
Given by L.C.G. Clarke, MA
Height: 16.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1947-11) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray
18th Century, Late
George III
Circa
1785
CE
-
1790
CE
Voltaire was a French writer, historian and philosopher, who was a leading figure in the intellectual movement known as The Enlightenment. This model does not conform to well-known busts of Voltaire by sculptors such as Lemoyne, Houdon and Rosset. It was probably derived from a bust modelled by Paul-Louis Cyfflé (1724-1806) and made in terre de Lorraine by the Luneville factory in France (an example is in the V. & A., London, inv. no. C.685-1909). It was probably produced by a member of the Wood family, possibly Enoch Wood.
Decoration composed of enamel ( turquoise, flesh-pink, pink, dark maroon, and black)
slightly blue tinted
Lead-glaze
white
Earthenware
Moulding
: White earthenware, moulded, lead-glazed very slightly blue, and painted in turquoise, flesh-pink, pink, dark maroon and black enamels
Lead-glazing
Accession number: C.14-1947
Primary reference Number: 71963
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71963 Accessed: 2024-11-25 00:10:14
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/71963
|title=François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-25 00:10:14|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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-71963
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/aa8/C_14_1947_281_29.jpg" alt="François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778)" class="img-fluid" /> <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">François-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire (1694-1778)</figcaption> </figure> </div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...