General Wolfe thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

General Wolfe

Figure
ca. 1760 (made)
Artist/Maker
Bow Porcelain Factory (manufacturer)
Place of origin
London (made)

Figure, in soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels and slightly gilded, of General Wolfe standing as if directing operations beside a tree stump on a rococo-scrolled base, and he has a musket slung across his shoulder and a crêpe band on his left arm, and at his feet are cannon, cannon-balls, grenades, a spontoon, a standard, and sprays of laurel, and on the base is a partly rolled plan of a fortress inscribed 'Beck'.


Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Porcelain
Object type
Figure
TitleGeneral Wolfe (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels and slightly gilded
Porcelain
Painted
Brief description
Figure, in soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels and slightly gilded, of General Wolfe standing as if directing operations beside a tree stump on a rococo-scrolled base, made by Bow Porcelain Factory, London, ca. 1760.
Physical description
Figure, in soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels and slightly gilded, of General Wolfe standing as if directing operations beside a tree stump on a rococo-scrolled base, and he has a musket slung across his shoulder and a crêpe band on his left arm, and at his feet are cannon, cannon-balls, grenades, a spontoon, a standard, and sprays of laurel, and on the base is a partly rolled plan of a fortress inscribed 'Beck'.
Dimensions
  • Height: 35.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'T°' [impressed] (The mark of the 'repairer', traditionally identified as 'Tebo' but possibly John Toulouse or another)
  • 'Beck' (Inscribed on the base, for Quebec.)
Credit line
Given by Lady Charlotte Schreiber
Object history
Copied from an engraving by Richard Houston after a sketch by Captain Hervey Smyth, and probably made to commemorate the victory over the French at the Battle of Quebec 1759. Its companion piece is General John Manners 414:6-1885 (Sch. I 54A).
Purchased by Lady Charlotte Schreiber from Owles's (?) Sale, Yarmouth, for £25 10 shillings in November 1872
Subjects depicted
Man
Muskets
Cannons
Flags
Wolfe, James (General,)
Associated object
414:6-1885
Bibliographic references
  • McNamara, Carole, ed. Benjamin West: General Wolfe and the Art of Empire. Michigan, University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2012. 50p. ill. ISBN978-1-930561-16-8
  • Redstone, Dr. David. <u>Finds and Excavations on the Bow Factory Site 1867-1968, Part 1</u>. English Ceramics Circle Transactions, Volume 18, part 3, 2004, pp 381-397, illustrated fig. 35, p. 396, the companion figure of the Marquis of Granby is fig. 36. The figures are used to link to fragments found on the Bow site by Aubrey Toppin in 1921.
  • Bradshaw, Peter. Bow Porcelain Figures, circa 1748-1774. 1992, fig. 168
Other number
Sch. I 54 - Schreiber number
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
414:5-1885

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdDecember 5, 2008
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O176789/general-wolfe-figure-bow-porcelain-factory/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest