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

Figure

ca. 1770 (made)
Artist/Maker
Doccia Porcelain Factory (manufacturer)
Place of origin
Doccia (made)

In 1735 Carlo Ginori founded the Doccia factory in Italy. It was one of the earliest of the European porcelain factories. The porcelain figures made there towards the end of the 18th century represent a highpoint in its output. Meticulous enamel painting complemented the lively modelling perfectly.


Object details

Categories
Ceramics
Porcelain
Images Online
Figures & Decorative Ceramics
SCRAN
Object type
Figure
Materials and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain painted with enamels and gilded
Hard Paste Porcelain
Enamels
Painted
Gilded
Brief description
Figure in hard-paste porcelain of a Circassian woman, painted with enamels and gilded, Doccia porcelain factory, Doccia, ca. 1770.
Physical description
Figure in hard-paste porcelain of a Circassian woman, painted with enamels and gilded. A woman in oriental costume consisting of a pink hood, a blue striped gown over a yellow under-garment, and yellow shoes. Square base painted to imitate marble.
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.2cm
Marks and inscriptions
'6' (In red)
Gallery label
Persian Woman Porcelain Mark: "6", in crimson After a Meissen model derived from an illustration in C. de Ferriol's Differentes Nations du Levant. Paris, 1714 ITALY (DOCCIA); about 1770 Gift of Colonel F.R. Waldo-Sibthorp 378-1902 (Label draft attributed to John V. G. Mallet, ca. 1995)(ca. 1995)
Credit line
Given by Col. Waldo-Sibthorp
Object history
After a Meissen model derived from an illustration in C. de Ferriol's Differentes Nations du Levant. Paris, 1714.
Subject depicted
Woman
Summary
In 1735 Carlo Ginori founded the Doccia factory in Italy. It was one of the earliest of the European porcelain factories. The porcelain figures made there towards the end of the 18th century represent a highpoint in its output. Meticulous enamel painting complemented the lively modelling perfectly.
Bibliographic references
  • Hildyard, Robin. European Ceramics. London : V&A Publications, 1999. 144 p., ill. ISBN 185177260X
  • Frescobaldi Malenchini, Livia ed. With Balleri, Rita and Rucellai, Oliva, ‘Amici di Doccia Quaderni, Numero VII, 2013, The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection’, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze, 2014 pp. 63- 64, Cat. 39 39. Figure of a Turkish woman circa 1770 hard-paste porcelain painted in colours h 16,2 cm under the base “6” in red over glaze inv. 378-1902 gift: Col. Waldo-Sibthorp This figure of a young Persian woman is a faithful reproduction based on an engraving of a Femme Persienne, made by Gerard Scotin from a painting by Jean Baptiste Vanmour, based on the Recueil de Cent Estampes Representant Differents Nations du Levant by Charles de Ferriol (DE FERRIOL 1714, vol. XX, plate 91 reproduced in CEFARIELLO GROSSO 1988, p. 63, fig. 81). This important series of 24 “oriental” figures is composed of both isolated pieces and ones made as bases for candlesticks. It represents one of the most important sets of small-sized sculptures produced at the Doccia factory under the direction of Marquis Lorenzo Ginori. The various subjects belonging to the series are described in detail in the Inventory of Moulds in “Room6”: “No. 35 at this number there are 24 oriental figures for which the moulds are all marked with the number 35 and they are: Turkish soldier. Turkish woman. Turkish girl. Seated Turk. Soldier. Turkish woman. Bassà. Turkish servant. Janissary. Turk. Moorish woman. Eunuch. Greek priest. Seated Turk. Turk. Turkish woman. Armenian. Armenian woman. Officer. Girl. Greek priest. Turkish woman. Sultana. Turkish girl” (AGL, I, 2, f. 37, Fabbrica delle Porcellane di Doccia. Scritture edocumenti, fasc. 22). When purchased the figure was described as a Circassian woman made at Capodimonte (concerning the mistaken attributions of objects from Doccia to Capodimonte in English collections, see MARITANO 2012, p. 14-17). For another Persian figure, see LIVERANI 1967, plate LV. For a 19th-century version of the same model, see cat. 40. A.B. Bibliography: LANE 1954, plate 61B; LANE 1963, fig. 133; HILDYARD 1999, fig. 67
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
378-1902

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Record createdNovember 26, 2002
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O70826/figure-doccia-porcelain-factory/
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