Figure
ca. 1747 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
This sphinx is one of a pair (C.108-1977) that is purely decorative, and was probably intended to be viewed and valued as a small-scale work of art. They are only 12 centimetres high, and may therefore have been made for display in a glazed 'china cabinet'. Such cabinets begin to appear in furniture pattern-books during the 1750s. Alternatively, they may have been intended for a woman's dressing table, or for display on wall brackets or a chimneypiece.
Design & Designing
The sphinxes may have been modelled by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), the manager of the Chelsea factory, and were possibly inspired by French bronze firedogs. Sprimont was one of the few British porcelain entrepreneurs with design skills: writing before 1752, a contemporary noted that Sprimont 'supplies or directs the models of everything' made at the Chelsea factory, and surviving drawings show that he was a skilful draughtsman and designer. He was born in Liège and trained on the Continent. As a consequence, he was much more familiar with European Rococo design than his competitors in the British porcelain trade.
This sphinx is one of a pair (C.108-1977) that is purely decorative, and was probably intended to be viewed and valued as a small-scale work of art. They are only 12 centimetres high, and may therefore have been made for display in a glazed 'china cabinet'. Such cabinets begin to appear in furniture pattern-books during the 1750s. Alternatively, they may have been intended for a woman's dressing table, or for display on wall brackets or a chimneypiece.
Design & Designing
The sphinxes may have been modelled by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), the manager of the Chelsea factory, and were possibly inspired by French bronze firedogs. Sprimont was one of the few British porcelain entrepreneurs with design skills: writing before 1752, a contemporary noted that Sprimont 'supplies or directs the models of everything' made at the Chelsea factory, and surviving drawings show that he was a skilful draughtsman and designer. He was born in Liège and trained on the Continent. As a consequence, he was much more familiar with European Rococo design than his competitors in the British porcelain trade.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Soft-paste porcelain |
| Brief description | One of a pair of sphinxes, soft-paste porcelain, possibly modelled by Nicholas Sprimont, made at the Chelsea Porcelain factory, London, ca. 1747 |
| Physical description | The sphinx reclines on a scrollwork base with paws folded in front of her above a grotesque mask, a pique saddle-cloth covers her back while the human torso is dressed in loose-sleeved garments. She has frills round her neck and wears a cap on her head, the neck has been broken through and parts of the cap is missing. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed with an incised triangle |
| Gallery label | British Galleries:
The figures are not symmetrical but are carefully designed to balance each other. They may have been modelled by Nicholas Sprimont, the manager of the Chelsea porcelain factory. Sprimont had earlier worked as a goldsmith and was a skilled modeller and draughtsman.(27/03/2003) |
| Object history | This unique Chelsea Rococo sphinx appears from early-looking paste to pre-date the arrival of the modeller Joseph Willems at the Chelsea factory. It was probably modelled by Nicholas Sprimont himself (baptised in Liège, Belgium, 1716, died in London, 1771), since pieces of his silver show a similar use of rococ scroll work and the same nervous sensibility of spirit. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type This sphinx is one of a pair (C.108-1977) that is purely decorative, and was probably intended to be viewed and valued as a small-scale work of art. They are only 12 centimetres high, and may therefore have been made for display in a glazed 'china cabinet'. Such cabinets begin to appear in furniture pattern-books during the 1750s. Alternatively, they may have been intended for a woman's dressing table, or for display on wall brackets or a chimneypiece. Design & Designing The sphinxes may have been modelled by Nicholas Sprimont (1716-1771), the manager of the Chelsea factory, and were possibly inspired by French bronze firedogs. Sprimont was one of the few British porcelain entrepreneurs with design skills: writing before 1752, a contemporary noted that Sprimont 'supplies or directs the models of everything' made at the Chelsea factory, and surviving drawings show that he was a skilful draughtsman and designer. He was born in Liège and trained on the Continent. As a consequence, he was much more familiar with European Rococo design than his competitors in the British porcelain trade. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.108A-1977 |
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| Record created | May 9, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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