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Figure
Sprimont, Nicholas - Enlarge image
Figure
- Place of origin:
London, England (made)
- Date:
ca. 1749 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Sprimont, Nicholas (possibly, modeller)
Chelsea Porcelain factory (maker) - Materials and Techniques:
Soft-paste porcelain
- Museum number:
C.246A-1976
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 53a, case 1
Object Type
This small sculpture of a retrieving setter with two dead partridges matches one of a greyhound with a dead hare. The pair were purely ornamental, and would probably have been displayed on a mantelpiece, in a glazed cabinet, or on another domestic furnishing. Their backs are comparatively uninteresting, so they were probably not intended to be seen from all sides.
People
The dogs were probably modelled by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), the manager of the Chelsea porcelain factory. Sprimont is a rare instance of an English porcelain entrepreneur with design skills. A visitor to England around 1750 commented that 'an able French artist' supplied 'or directs the models' of everything made at Chelsea (Sprimont wasn't actually French, but was from a French-speaking part of Flanders). According to his widow, Sprimont had 'by his superior skill and taste in the arts of drawing and modelling and painting instructed and perfected several apprentices, workmen and servants'. He was also a gifted designer of silver, in which craft he had worked before setting up the Chelsea factory.
