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Panther (originally carrying Cupid)
Production: Wood, Ralph, II (Probably)
Earthenware figure of a standing panther decorated with coloured lead glazes.
White earthenware moulded in several parts, and decorated with translucent blue tinted, green, and brown lead-glazes. A panther (or lioness) stands with its head turned to the left to look up at a (now missing) figure of Cupid astride its back. The panther is golden brown and its teeth are bared. It stands on a mound which is decorated green-tinged leaves, and is supported on a pearlware (blue-tinged) rectangular plinth with mouldings round the upper and lower edges. The underside is open and un-glazed.
History note: Bought from Madame L’Hote-Saintoin (?), 62 Grande rue, Boulogne-sur-Mer for 15 francs on 4 October 1913 by Dr. J.W.G. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge.
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest, 1928
Height: 18 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
18th Century, Late#
Circa
1780
CE
-
Circa
1795
CE
The figures are exceptionally well modelled and other examples have been found with gilding. They were probably made by Ralph Wood II (1748-95) of Burslem, whose father was also a modeller and mould-maker (Ralph Wood, d. 1772). Ralph jnr. learned his trade through apprenticeship at Wedgwood, while his brother John trained at Wedgwood’s London warehouse/salerooms. Ralph was briefly in partnership with his cousin Enoch before establishing his Burslem business, which was continued after his death by his son (another Ralph). John Wood is known to have bought figures from his brother and his account book of 9 December 1785 notes the sale of ‘1 pair Lyon & Panther with cupids coloured & Gilt 4.6d’ to a Mr John Edwards.
This panther was originally ridden by Cupid, turned to the left and holding a telescope up to the stars in its left hand. One of a pair, its companion has Cupid on a lion holding a globe (C.866-1928). The winged Cupid represents love, and riding or subduing a ferocious lion symbolises ‘love conquers all’, while the globe and link to the heavens suggest that love knows no boundaries. Glaisher in his MS Catalogue of his collection, and Rackham in his Catalogue of the Glaisher Collection, 1935, described this figure as a lioness. On the evidence of John Wood's account book, which mentions a pair of figures comprising a lion and a panther with cupids, it has been reidentified as a panther (see below).
Decoration
composed of
lead-glaze
Base
Length 15.3 cm
Width 9 cm
Parts
Accession number: C.867-1928
Primary reference Number: 76247
Old object number: 3690
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) "Panther (originally carrying Cupid)" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76247 Accessed: 2024-12-22 15:47:33
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76247
|title=Panther (originally carrying Cupid)
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 15:47:33|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-76247
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_867_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="Panther (originally carrying Cupid)"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Panther (originally carrying Cupid)</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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