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Not currently on display at the V&A

Cleopatra

Plaque
ca. 1847 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an ivory medallion plaque made by Richard Cockle Lucas in ca. 1847 in Britain. The plaque is carved in high relief and represents bust of Cleopatra with the Asp.

Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883) is mainly known as a sculptor in wax and ivory, but he also worked in glass, marble and bronze, as well as being a painter. Lucas began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott. Lucas made two models of the Parthenon, in its original state and after the explosion of 1687, which were acquired by the British Museum. He is best known for his small scale works including wax sculptures and ivory carvings. Lucas was at the centre of a controversy about the bust of Flora in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. The bust was thought to be an authentic work by Leonardo da Vinci but the sculptor's son Albert Dürer Lucas claimed in the Burlington Magazine that the bust was modelled by his father. It is now generally thought that the bust is probably by Leonardo or his circle but was repaired by Lucas. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1859 and showed ivory carvings and imitation bronzes at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

This oval ivory relief, depicting a classical subject, is typical of Richard Cockle Lucas’s works, and to some extent typifies the taste of mid-nineteenth century Britain in a number of ways: the employment of ivory, an exotic and organic material, as well as an experimental use of colour; the attempt to convey monumentality in a cameo form, and above all the subject, recalling the mythology and history of the ancient world. Here the classical form has been re-interpreted and transmogrified by the style and taste of mid-nineteenth-century Britain.
The technique of carving ivory clearly appealed to the sculptor, who began his training as an apprentice to his uncle, a cutler in Winchester, where he must have learnt how to work on a small scale, perhaps carving ivory knife handles. Ivory, always a precious and unusual material in Europe, was used for innumerable virtuoso reliefs and figure groups during the medieval and baroque periods. The ivory tusks were generally imported to Europe from Africa. They could be purchased and shipped to London relatively easily, due to the flourishing trade [in manifold items shipped to] between Europe and [from] the African continent, and thanks in part to Britain’s extensive imperial power. The ivory thus transported to Britain was employed to make a variety of luxury, decorative and artistic objects, including sculpture.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleCleopatra (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Ivory
Brief description
Medallion plaque, ivory in relief, bust of Cleopatra, by Richard Cockle Lucas, British, ca. 1847
Physical description
Ivory medallion plaque carved in high relief of Cleopatra with the Asp. She faces three-quarters left, with an anguished expression and half-open mouth, no doubt at the point of death. Her head is half veiled, and with pearls braided into her hair. Blue pigment has been applied to the background; traces of blue pigment are to be seen in Cleopatra's eyes, and some red pigment is visible in the snake's eyes. Traces of gilding are evident on the outer rim of the relief.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10.5cm
  • Width: 8.25cm
Object history
Given by Richard Cockle Lucas in 1865, through Lord Palmerston, one of 33 works by Lucas received by Richard Redgrave on behalf of the Museum on 17 June 1865.
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is an ivory medallion plaque made by Richard Cockle Lucas in ca. 1847 in Britain. The plaque is carved in high relief and represents bust of Cleopatra with the Asp.

Richard Cockle Lucas (1800-1883) is mainly known as a sculptor in wax and ivory, but he also worked in glass, marble and bronze, as well as being a painter. Lucas began his career as a sculptor as an apprentice to his uncle, who worked as a cutler in Winchester, carving knife handles. He joined the Royal Academy Schools in 1828 and studied under Richard Westmacott. Lucas made two models of the Parthenon, in its original state and after the explosion of 1687, which were acquired by the British Museum. He is best known for his small scale works including wax sculptures and ivory carvings. Lucas was at the centre of a controversy about the bust of Flora in the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Berlin. The bust was thought to be an authentic work by Leonardo da Vinci but the sculptor's son Albert Dürer Lucas claimed in the Burlington Magazine that the bust was modelled by his father. It is now generally thought that the bust is probably by Leonardo or his circle but was repaired by Lucas. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1829 and 1859 and showed ivory carvings and imitation bronzes at the Great Exhibition in 1851.

This oval ivory relief, depicting a classical subject, is typical of Richard Cockle Lucas’s works, and to some extent typifies the taste of mid-nineteenth century Britain in a number of ways: the employment of ivory, an exotic and organic material, as well as an experimental use of colour; the attempt to convey monumentality in a cameo form, and above all the subject, recalling the mythology and history of the ancient world. Here the classical form has been re-interpreted and transmogrified by the style and taste of mid-nineteenth-century Britain.
The technique of carving ivory clearly appealed to the sculptor, who began his training as an apprentice to his uncle, a cutler in Winchester, where he must have learnt how to work on a small scale, perhaps carving ivory knife handles. Ivory, always a precious and unusual material in Europe, was used for innumerable virtuoso reliefs and figure groups during the medieval and baroque periods. The ivory tusks were generally imported to Europe from Africa. They could be purchased and shipped to London relatively easily, due to the flourishing trade [in manifold items shipped to] between Europe and [from] the African continent, and thanks in part to Britain’s extensive imperial power. The ivory thus transported to Britain was employed to make a variety of luxury, decorative and artistic objects, including sculpture.
Bibliographic references
  • Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1927-1929, Part II, p. 124 M. Trusted, 'The Pyke Bequest of Waxes at the Victoria and Albert Museum', Apollo, CXLV, pp. 42 and fig. 8 on p. 44.
  • Inventory of Art Objects acquired in the Year 1865. Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol. 1. London : Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 32
  • Roscoe, I., with Sullivan, M.G. and Hardy, E., A Biographical Dictionary of Sculptors in Britain, 1660 to 1851, New Haven, 2009, p. 765
  • Trusted, Marjorie, Baroque & Later Ivories, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 2013, cat. no. 175
Collection
Accession number
189-1865

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Record createdApril 8, 2008
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