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

Astronomy and Geometry

Figure Group
ca. 1773 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Group in soft-paste porcelain, painted with enamels and gilded, of two cupids symbolising Astronomy and Geometry, and one of them is seated on a rock looking through a telescope, and the other is standing and measuring with compasses on a sheet of paper which he holds spread out on a terrestrial globe, and they are supported on an oblong pedestal with incurved sides and decorated with masks and gilt wreaths.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Astronomy and Geometry (manufacturer's title)
  • The Arts and Sciences (series title)
Materials and techniques
Soft-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded
Brief description
Figure group in soft-paste porcelain, painted with enamels and gilded, of two cupids symbolising Astronomy and Geometry from The Seven Sciences, made by William Duesbury & Co., Derby, ca. 1773.
Physical description
Group in soft-paste porcelain, painted with enamels and gilded, of two cupids symbolising Astronomy and Geometry, and one of them is seated on a rock looking through a telescope, and the other is standing and measuring with compasses on a sheet of paper which he holds spread out on a terrestrial globe, and they are supported on an oblong pedestal with incurved sides and decorated with masks and gilt wreaths.
Dimensions
  • Height: 17.8cm
  • Pedestal length: 10.8cm
Credit line
Given by Lady Charlotte Schreiber
Object history
One of a set with 414:427-1885 and 414:427/A-1885. The group is copied from a Meissen group and modelled ca. 1770 by Michel Victor Acier.
Subjects depicted
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Bradshaw, Peter. Derby Porcelain Figures 1750-1848. London: Faber & Faber, 1990. p197 p., pl. 151.
  • Barrett, Franklin A. & Arthur L. Thorpe. Derby Porcelain, 1750-1848. London: Faber & Faber, 1971.
Other number
Sch. I 345A - Schreiber number
Collection
Accession number
414:411-1885

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Record createdAugust 14, 2008
Record URL
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