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Chimney Piece

19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is an alabaster chimney piece made in the 19th century, in England. The chimney piece is ornamented with Wedgwood ware plaques of the Dancers, modelled by John Flaxman after the frescoes from Herculaneum, those of dancers are modelled by John Flaxman after Herculaneum frescoes, those depicting the history of Achilles are modelled by Camillo Pacetti, and other plaques depict the Judgment of Paris.

John Flaxman (1755-1826) was an English sculptor, designer and teacher. He was the most famous English Neo-classical sculptor of the late 18th century and the early 19th. He focused on monumental sculpture and church monuments and portrait busts. A large collection of his plaster models is held in the Strang Print Room, University College, London. He also made outline illustrations of Homer, Aeschylus and Dante. Many of those in his sketchbooks (now in the V&A) were drawn from the antique while he was in Italy. Furthermore he produced models for pottery and silver supplying the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood among others. He thus can be considered as an important pioneer in the development of Industrial Design.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 14 parts.
(Some alternative part names are also shown below)
  • Mantelpiece
  • Chimneypiece
  • Mantelpiece
  • Frieze
  • Frieze
  • Frieze
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
  • Moulding
Materials and techniques
Alabaster set with Wedgwood jasperware plaques
Brief description
Chimney piece, alabaster, ornamented with Wedgwood ware, those of dancers modelled by John Flaxman after Herculaneum frescoes, those depicting the history of Achilles modelled by Camillo Pacetti, English, 19th century
Physical description
Alabaster mantelpiece section set with Wedgwood jasperware plaques - those of dancers modelled by Flaxman after Herculaneum frescoes, those depicting the history of Achilles modelled by Pacetti, and other plaques depict the Judgment of Paris.
Dimensions
  • Height: 208.28cm
  • Length: 241.3cm
Object history
Bought in 1968.
Production
modern English;
those of dancers modelled by Flaxman after Herculaneum frescoes, those depicting the history of Achilles modelled by Pacetti
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is an alabaster chimney piece made in the 19th century, in England. The chimney piece is ornamented with Wedgwood ware plaques of the Dancers, modelled by John Flaxman after the frescoes from Herculaneum, those of dancers are modelled by John Flaxman after Herculaneum frescoes, those depicting the history of Achilles are modelled by Camillo Pacetti, and other plaques depict the Judgment of Paris.

John Flaxman (1755-1826) was an English sculptor, designer and teacher. He was the most famous English Neo-classical sculptor of the late 18th century and the early 19th. He focused on monumental sculpture and church monuments and portrait busts. A large collection of his plaster models is held in the Strang Print Room, University College, London. He also made outline illustrations of Homer, Aeschylus and Dante. Many of those in his sketchbooks (now in the V&A) were drawn from the antique while he was in Italy. Furthermore he produced models for pottery and silver supplying the pottery manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood among others. He thus can be considered as an important pioneer in the development of Industrial Design.
Bibliographic reference
List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum, Acquired during the Year 1968, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition. In: Inventory of Art Objects, South Kensington Museum 1868-1870, London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode, for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1968, p. 57
Collection
Accession number
545 to :14-1868

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
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