Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 138, The Harry and Carol Djanogly Gallery

Demosthenes

Figure
ca.1790-1810 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The figure represents the Athenian orator Demosthenes (324-322 BC). The relief on the side of the plinth shows Hermes, messenger of the gods, who was associated with eloquence and reasoning, and this feature therefore also alludes to Demosthenes' oratorial skill.
The attribution to Enoch Wood's factory is based on similar figure with the mark 'E WOOD' in the Fitzwilliam Museum (inventory number C.900-1928). The V&A figure differs from the Fitwilliam example in that scroll does not overhang the plinth. The figure derives from a full-size plaster statue made in the 1750s in the London workshop of John Cheere, who later sold reduced sized casts of it. Wood could have obtained his cast from Charles Harris (died 1795), the owner of another London plaster shop. Harris's catalogue of about 1790 lists a model of Demosthenes, as well as several other subjects manufactured by Wood.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Demosthenes (popular title)
  • Eloquence (popular title)
  • St. Paul preaching at Athens (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Earthenware painted with enamels
Brief description
Figure of 'Demosthenes', earthenware painted with enamels, probably by Enoch Wood, ca.1790-1810.
Physical description
Male figure in earthenware painted with enamels, in robes, standing beside a plinth decorated with the God Hermes in relief and on which lies a manuscript, painted to imitate writing but only 'PART VII' can be read.
Dimensions
  • Height: 48.2cm
converted from register
Production typeMass produced
Credit line
Bought from the Haliburton Collection
Object history
Purchased, Haliburton Collection
Subjects depicted
Summary
The figure represents the Athenian orator Demosthenes (324-322 BC). The relief on the side of the plinth shows Hermes, messenger of the gods, who was associated with eloquence and reasoning, and this feature therefore also alludes to Demosthenes' oratorial skill.
The attribution to Enoch Wood's factory is based on similar figure with the mark 'E WOOD' in the Fitzwilliam Museum (inventory number C.900-1928). The V&A figure differs from the Fitwilliam example in that scroll does not overhang the plinth. The figure derives from a full-size plaster statue made in the 1750s in the London workshop of John Cheere, who later sold reduced sized casts of it. Wood could have obtained his cast from Charles Harris (died 1795), the owner of another London plaster shop. Harris's catalogue of about 1790 lists a model of Demosthenes, as well as several other subjects manufactured by Wood.
Bibliographic references
  • Halfpenny, Pat, English Earthenware Figures: 1740-1840 (Antique Collectors' Club: 1995), pp.159-162. ill.
  • Poole, Julia E., English Earthenware Pottery (Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks) (Cambridge University Press: 1995), cat. 37, p. 84
Collection
Accession number
53-1874

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Record createdMay 7, 2009
Record URL
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