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Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun: EC.4-1937

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Titles

Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun

Maker(s)

Maker: Unidentified
Engraver: Veneziano, Agostino (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Maiolica cover or small plate, painted in polychrome, with Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun.

Yellowish-buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, stone, a little manganese-purple, black, and white. Circular with a narrow, flat rim, shallow curved sides and flat centre, standing on a footring.
Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun. He stands, holding a flaming torch in his left hand, his right arm raised to catch a drapery which swirls around him and over his head. The chariot is drawn through clouds by four spirited, cavorting horses: Pyroïs, Eoüs, Aethon, and Phlegon. The sky is yellow. On the base, a nude warrior (probably David) has just beheaded another (probably Goliath), whose elderly, bearded head lies in the foreground. Outside the footring there is a frieze of struggling male nudes.

Notes

History note: Adrien-Joseph Rattier; Paris, Hôtel Drouot, 21-24 March 1859, Catalogue des objects d'art et de haute curiosité de feu M. Rattier, lot 50. Charles Ricketts, RA (1866-1931), and Charles H. Shannon, RA (1863-1937)

Legal notes

The Ricketts and Shannon Collection. Bequeathed by Charles Shannon, 1937

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 13 cm
Height: 2.5 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1937) by Shannon, Charles Haslewood

Dating

16th Century, Mid
Renaissance
Circa 1545 CE - 1560 CE

Note

The source of the design was the engraving of Phaeton by Agostino Veneziano, perhaps after Raphael.

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of high-temperature colours ( blue, green, yellow, orange, stone, a little manganese-purple, black, and white)

Materials used in production

Tin-glaze
Earthenware

Techniques used in production

Tin-glazing : Yellowish-buff earthenware, tin-glazed overall. Painted in blue, green, yellow, orange, stone, a little manganese-purple, black, and white.
Painting

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: EC.4-1937
Primary reference Number: 76971

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 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) "Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76971 Accessed: 2025-12-07 06:13:07

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/76971 |title=Phaeton in the Chariot of the Sun |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-07 06:13:07|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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