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Not currently on display at the V&A

Sea Monster

Statuette
ca.1520-1540 (made)
Artist/Maker
Severo Da Ravenna (sculptor)
Place of origin
Padua (city) (made)
Ravenna (city) (made)

Bronze statuette of a sea monster as an inkstand. A fish-tailed monster with human head, holding a cockle shell between its paws; the face, shoulders and paws bordered with leaf like fringes


Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Myths & Legends
Object type
Statuette
TitleSea Monster (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Bronze
Brief description
Inkstand in the form of a Sea Monster, bronze, Workshop of Severo Calzetta (Severo da Ravenna (active 1496-c.1538), Italy (Padua or Ravenna), ca. 1520-1540
Physical description
Bronze statuette of a sea monster as an inkstand. A fish-tailed monster with human head, holding a cockle shell between its paws; the face, shoulders and paws bordered with leaf like fringes
Dimensions
  • Width: 21cm
  • Depth: 16cm
  • Height: 9cm
  • Weight: 1.36kg
Dimensions were taken by SCP on 27.10.14 for Bronze Zoo: A Sculptural Menagerie Weighed on 18 April 2024
Credit line
Salting Bequest
Object history
Bequeathed by George Salting.
Subjects depicted
Sea Monsters
Shell
Bibliographic references
  • 'Salting Bequest (A. 70 to A. 1029-1910) / Murray Bequest (A. 1030 to A. 1096-1910)'. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum (Department of Architecture and Sculpture). London: Printed under the Authority of his Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Limited, East Harding Street, EC, p. 5
  • A guide to the Salting Collection London, 1926, p. 17
  • Avery, Charles. Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in the Frick Art Museum, Pittsburgh, 1993, cat. nos. 3 & 4, pp. 38-41
  • Binnebeke, Emile von. Bronze Sculpture: Sculpture from 1500-1800 in the Collection of the Boymans-van-Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, 1994, pp. 50-51, cat. no. 4
  • Davidson, F. Bernice. Severo and the Sea-Monsters, New York, 1997
  • The Abbott Guggenheim Collection, Christie’s New York, Jan 27 2015, no. 12
  • Pope Hennessy, John. The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue, Vol. III, New York, 1970, pp. 126-134
  • Meyer, Charles E. 'Nepture on a Dragon by Severo da Ravenna, The "Master of the Dragons"', Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts, Vol. 38, No. 2 (1958-1959), pp.24-5
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.95-1910

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Record createdOctober 21, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O106651/sea-monster-statuette-severo-da-ravenna/
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