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Statuette - America

America

  • Object:

    Statuette

  • Place of origin:

    Vauxhall, England (made)

  • Date:

    1760-1763 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Vauxhall porcelain factory (manufacturer)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded

  • Credit Line:

    Given by Lady Charlotte Schreiber

  • Museum number:

    414:8-1885

  • Gallery location:

    British Galleries, room 53a, case 1

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Object Type
This figure, emblematic of America, is a purely decorative piece from a set representing the Four Continents. Each of the figures is frontally posed, and the backs are poorly finished, so they were probably intended to be seen against a wall. They may have been displayed set out on a chimneypiece or other domestic furnishing. This figure has previously been attributed to both the Bow and the Longton Hall porcelain factories.

People
The Vauxhall porcelain factory was run by Nicholas Crisp (born about 1704; died 1774), a merchant and owner of a jewellery shop in the City of London, in partnership with John Saunders, a delftware potter. Crisp was also a founder and very active member of the Society of Arts. The modeller of these pieces has not been identified. However, the Neo-classical sculptor John Bacon (1740-1799) was apprenticed to Crisp and is said to have modelled for the factory. On the other hand, it is known that the Vauxhall factory employed a modeller and mould-maker named Hammersley, who later worked at Plymouth, where these figures of the Continents were also manufactured.

Physical description

Figure, in soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, of a Red Indian woman representing America, standing and wearing flowered and gilded drapery and a head-dress of feathers, and she is taking an arrow with her right hand from a quiver on her back, and in her left hand she holds a bow, and she is supported by the stump of a flowering tree, at the base of which is a prairie-dog, on a round rococo scrolled base.

Place of Origin

Vauxhall, England (made)

Date

1760-1763 (made)

Artist/maker

Vauxhall porcelain factory (manufacturer)

Materials and Techniques

Soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded

Dimensions

Height: 33.5 cm, Width: 16 cm, Depth: 13 cm

Object history note

America, as one of a set of Four Continents, is inspired by the antique Greek statue of Artemis, known as 'Diane Chasseresse', in the Louvre Museum, Paris.

Descriptive line

Figure, in soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded, of a Red Indian woman representing America, made by Vauxhall porcelain factory, Vauxhall, 1760-1763.

Labels and date

British Galleries:
TWO VERSIONS OF A FIGURE OF AMERICA

The repetition of the design here was probably the result of moulds being taken from Vauxhall to Plymouth, where men from Vauxhall were employed after the factory closed down. Workers had to be mobile because of bankruptcies and fluctuations in demand, but their mobility helped spread styles throughout the industry. [27/03/2003]

Subjects depicted

Woman; Dog; America

Categories

Porcelain; Ceramics; British Galleries

Collection code

CER

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Qr_O10639
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