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

Vase

1846-1851 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Vase of 'Parian ware,' moulded in relief. Amphora-shaped, the imbricated handles springing form bearded masks. A copy of an antique glass vase, probably of the first century after Christ, known as the "Portland vase," now in the British Museum, which was found in a marble sarcophagus in the Monte del Grano, near Rome. The figures have been interpreted as, on one side, Peleus led to Thetis by Cupid in the presence of Poseidon, on the other, Peleus and Aphrodite watching the sleeping Thetis. On the bottom is a bust with a Phrygian cap, probably Paris.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Parian ware, moulded in relief
Brief description
Vase of 'Parian ware', moulded in relief, Copeland & Co., Stoke-on-Trent, 1846-1851
Physical description
Vase of 'Parian ware,' moulded in relief. Amphora-shaped, the imbricated handles springing form bearded masks. A copy of an antique glass vase, probably of the first century after Christ, known as the "Portland vase," now in the British Museum, which was found in a marble sarcophagus in the Monte del Grano, near Rome. The figures have been interpreted as, on one side, Peleus led to Thetis by Cupid in the presence of Poseidon, on the other, Peleus and Aphrodite watching the sleeping Thetis. On the bottom is a bust with a Phrygian cap, probably Paris.
Dimensions
  • Height: 21cm
  • Diameter: 14.6cm
Credit line
Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street
Object history
Obtained from the Great Exhibition of 1851. Transferred from the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street.
Association
Collection
Accession number
2787-1901

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
Record URL
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