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Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin
Production: Unidentified Staffordshire Pottery
Earthenware figure of Venus accompanied by Cupid and a dolphin, covered with blue-tinted lead-glaze and painted in polychrome enamels
Cream earthenware, press-moulded, covered with blue-tinted lead-glaze, and painted in greyish-blue, turquoise, green, yellow, flesh pink, brownish-red, brown, and black enamels. The group is supported on a low square base decorated round the top of the side edges with a black line, and inscribed 'Venus' across the front. It is concave underneath and has a central ventilation hole. Venus stands on a green and brown rocky mound with a tall brown tree trunk at the back. She rests her left hand on the tail of a dolphin with a stream of water issuing from its mouth. In her right hand she holds brownish-red object, perhaps a fish. Cupid, nude and winged, stands on her right, resting his left hand on her drapery and holding a small bow or arrow in his right hand. Venus has brown hair with a black band at the front. She is barefooted, and the upper part of her body is naked. The lower part is covered by a patterned drape with a yellow lining which is held up by a black strap across the front of her body, which raises the drape to reveal her left leg. The dolphin is turquoise with a brownish-red tail fin. and black eyes.
History note: A.G. Smith,193 Wardour Street, London, from whom purchased for £1.15s.0d. on 15 February 1905, by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest
Height: 22 cm
Width: 10.5 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
18th Century, Late-19th Century, Early#
George III
Circa
1790
-
1810
According to the Greek poet, Hesiod, the goddess Venus was born fully grown from the sea and came ashore at Paphos on a scallop shell. In sculpture of the classical and later periods she was frequently shown standing on a shell, accompanied by Cupid and a dolphin. This pearlware model is similar to one on a high base decorated with coloured glazes (C.770-1928) attributed to Ralph Wood II (d. 1795), and could have been made at his factory towards the end of his life, or during the short proprietorship of his son Ralph II (d. 1801). But as copying of models was rife, may have been made by an unidentified Staffordshire factory in the early years of the 19th century.
Surface
composed of
lead-glaze
( blue tinted)
Decoration
composed of
enamel
( greyish-blue, turquoise, green, yellow, flesh pink, brownish-red, brown, and black)
Base
Depth 7.7 cm
Width 7.6 cm
cream Earthenware
Accession number: C.898-1928
Primary reference Number: 76307
Old object number: 2349
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) "Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76307 Accessed: 2024-04-26 04:24:55
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76307
|title=Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-04-26 04:24:55|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-76307
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_898_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Venus and Cupid with a Dolphin</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Accession Number: C.870-1928
Accession Number: C.10 & A-1986
Accession Number: 2899
Accession Number: M.13 & A-1948
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