Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Matrimony
c. 1775
Derby Porcelain Factory
Derby Porcelain Factory (Chelsea-Derby Period, 1770–84)
Decorative Art and Design
Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Matrimony, c. 1775. Derby Porcelain Factory (Chelsea-Derby Period, 1770–84). Soft-paste porcelain; overall: 31.1 x 25.7 x 15.6 cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.627.1 This allegorical figure depicts a shepherdess dressed in richly patterned garments. Here the figure (Matrimony) holds a birdcage in one hand and subtly directs the viewer’s gaze toward the sheep resting nearby with the other. An accompanying figure, a shepherd (Liberty) is joined by a dog and a bird that perches on his outstretched arm. The canopy of foliage surrounding these figures was inspired by the arbors popular in theatrical stage designs during the mid-1700s.
- Maker/Artist
- Derby Porcelain Factory
- Classification
- Ceramic
- Formatted Medium
- soft-paste porcelain
- Medium
- soft-paste, porcelain
- Dimensions
- Overall: 31.1 x 25.7 x 15.6 cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.)
- Departments
- Decorative Art and Design
- Accession Number
- 1917.627.1
- Credit Line
- Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness
- Exhibitions
- Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries, British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020), No legacy exhibitions.
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 203A British Painting and Decorative Arts
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