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Mansion House Dwarf
Factory:
Derby Porcelain Factory
Proprietor:
Robert Bloor & Co.
Soft-paste porcelain figure of a dwarf wearing a tall hat, painted in polychrome enamels and gilt.
Soft-paste porcelain figure of a dwarf, slip-cast, and painted overglaze in dark blue, turquoise-blue, shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, pale and dark mauve, brown, and black enamels, and gilt. The dwarf stands on a roughly circular low mound base with two groups of applied flowers and leaves. He has his right hand on his hip and his left holds a staff. He wears a tall funnel-shaped hat with a sheet of advertisements on the front, encircled below by a draped ribbon with a bow on one side and a group of leaves on the other, beside which two quill pens are passed under the ribbon. His jacket has playing cards on the sides and sleeves, multi-colour triangles down the front and on the back, three small beakers and a large beaker, a sword crossed with a pistol, two dice, two, rings, and a ? key. Attached to the shoulders are short blue ribbons. His trunk hose are striped in green and red, and there are dark mauve bows on the front of his black shoes. He has a handle-bar mustaches and wears earrings.
History note: Unknown before donor
Given by Philip McClean
Height: 17.7 cm
Width: 9.8 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1996-07-15) by McClean, Philip
19th Century, Early#
George III
George IV
Bloor Period
Circa
1811
-
1820
The dwarves were derived from etchings by Jacques Callot in the series entitled 'Varie figure gobbi di Jacopo Callot', executed in Florence in 1616, and published in 1622. This model, was derived from L'homme au ventre tombant, et a chapeau très élèvé, see See Lieure, 1927, An example is in the Fitzwilliam Museum Print Room (24.I.9.762). The model had been produced earlier at Meissen, Mennecy, and Chelsea. The prints do not feature the notices pinned to the dwarves' hats, which appear on some of the later Derby models.
This is a late example of this model, indicated by the garish colouring
This model and its companion were described as 'Pair of Grotesque Punches' in Haslem's 'Price List of Groups and Single Figures' made at Derby, see Documentation 1876.
Decoration
composed of
enamels
( dark blue, turquoise-blue, shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, pale and dark mauve, brown, and balck)
Deocration
composed of
gold
might be bone china if after c. 1825
Soft-paste porcelain
presumed lead
Lead-glaze
Slip-casting
: Soft-paste porcelain, slip-cast, and painted overglaze in dark blue, turquoise-blue, shades of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, pale and dark mauve, brown, and balck enamels, and gilded
Glazing (coating)
Inscription present: script N followed by small raised o
Accession number: C.24-1996
Primary reference Number: 73489
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) "Mansion House Dwarf" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73489 Accessed: 2024-12-18 14:09:01
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/73489
|title=Mansion House Dwarf
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 14:09:01|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-73489
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/aa2/C_24_1996_281_29.jpg"
alt="Mansion House Dwarf"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Mansion House Dwarf</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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