Ewer depicting the Triumph of Galatea
Ewer
1721 (made)
1721 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This is one of a pair (the other being V&A mus. no. A.18-1959) of highly ornamented and purely ornamental ewers made for Senator Giovanni Battista Scarlatti by Massimiliano Soldani, re Soldani's post in the Medici court, the most renowned worker in bronze in Florence in the late baroque period.
Hugh Honour noted that Sir Horace Mann (1701-86), the British consul in Florence, was negotiating for the purchase of some Soldani bronzes for George Bubb Doddington in 1759, and suggested that these could be the ones currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Charles Avery has recently discovered references to the ewers in Soldani's correspondence, some of which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In 1722 Soldani evidently offered to cast further bronze versions for Senator Scarlatti, and in 1732 made the same suggestion to an Italian merchant resident in London, Giovanni Giacomo Zamboni (1683-1753). However it seems unlikely these were ever made (I am grateful to Charles Avery for this information).
The ewers were cast from wax models, and the moulds used in this process were later employed to create ceramic examples in coloured Doccia porcelain. Examples of these Doccia porcelain versions are now in the Museo Civico, Turin.
Hugh Honour noted that Sir Horace Mann (1701-86), the British consul in Florence, was negotiating for the purchase of some Soldani bronzes for George Bubb Doddington in 1759, and suggested that these could be the ones currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Charles Avery has recently discovered references to the ewers in Soldani's correspondence, some of which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In 1722 Soldani evidently offered to cast further bronze versions for Senator Scarlatti, and in 1732 made the same suggestion to an Italian merchant resident in London, Giovanni Giacomo Zamboni (1683-1753). However it seems unlikely these were ever made (I am grateful to Charles Avery for this information).
The ewers were cast from wax models, and the moulds used in this process were later employed to create ceramic examples in coloured Doccia porcelain. Examples of these Doccia porcelain versions are now in the Museo Civico, Turin.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Ewer depicting the Triumph of Galatea (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cast bronze |
| Brief description | Ewer, bronze, with Amphitrite a Nereid and dolphins, by Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, Italy (Florence), 1721 |
| Physical description | The upper surface of the ewer is decorated with four dolphins. One of the two main faces shows Galatea seated on a pair of dolphins saddled with a shell, with a long piece of drapery held aloft above her head. Her left hand rests on a cornucopia held up by a child triton, and her right arm is raised. There are two child tritons at each side of her, those on the right blowing a conch and a horn. Beneath is a male sea deity. The opposite face shows a Nereid riding a sea monster. At the front of the ewer beneath the lip is a child with a double fish tail holding a shell. At the back the handle assumes the form of an aged sea-god, whose arms are bent back towards the neck of the vessel. One of his double fish tails is clasped by a child triton with a horn beneath. The neck of the ewer is not figurated. The lid, which is cast separately from the remainder of the work, is screwed into the place with a simple circular knob. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Gallery label | EWER
Italian (Florence); probably about 1695
Bronze
By Massimiliano Soldani (1656-1740)
The figures depict Galatea or Amphitrite, the wife of Neptune, and a Nereid riding a sea-monster. . This ewer and its pair, shown nearby, are purely decorative. They may once have belonged to the Scarlatti family in Florence, from whom the British Consul, Sir Horace Mann, attempted to acquire a pair of similar description for Bubb Doddington in 1759. Examples are known in coloured Doccia porcelain. Massimiliano Soldani received his training as a sculptor and medallist in Rome and Paris before being recalled to Florence where he worked for over forty years as the master of Coins and Custodian of the Mint for the Medici Grand-Dukes of Tuscany.
(1993 - 2011) |
| Object history | Commissioned by the Florentine Senator Pietro Neri Scarlatti (1658-1723), Florence; then Giovanni Battista Scarlatti, Florence; possibly in the collection in England of Baron George Bubb Dodington Melcombe (1691-1762); purchased by the V&A from Rosenborg and Stiebel Inc., New York, with its pendant (A.18-1959) for $4,500, 1959. In 1741, Giovanni Battista Scarlatti presented the ewers to the members of the Accademia della Colombaria while, in 1759, Horace Mann tried to buy the bronze from the Scarlatti family for Bubb Dodington. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This is one of a pair (the other being V&A mus. no. A.18-1959) of highly ornamented and purely ornamental ewers made for Senator Giovanni Battista Scarlatti by Massimiliano Soldani, re Soldani's post in the Medici court, the most renowned worker in bronze in Florence in the late baroque period. Hugh Honour noted that Sir Horace Mann (1701-86), the British consul in Florence, was negotiating for the purchase of some Soldani bronzes for George Bubb Doddington in 1759, and suggested that these could be the ones currently in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Charles Avery has recently discovered references to the ewers in Soldani's correspondence, some of which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. In 1722 Soldani evidently offered to cast further bronze versions for Senator Scarlatti, and in 1732 made the same suggestion to an Italian merchant resident in London, Giovanni Giacomo Zamboni (1683-1753). However it seems unlikely these were ever made (I am grateful to Charles Avery for this information). The ewers were cast from wax models, and the moulds used in this process were later employed to create ceramic examples in coloured Doccia porcelain. Examples of these Doccia porcelain versions are now in the Museo Civico, Turin. |
| Associated object | A.18-1959 (Ensemble) |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.19-1959 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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