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The Bride

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Title/s	The Bride
Maker/s	Copeland (factory) Monti, Raffaelle after (sculptor) [ULAN info: Italian sculptor 1818-81]
Category	porcelain Parian (porcelain)
Name	bust
School/Style	Victorian
Description	Parian porcelain, slip cast bust of 'The Bride'. Parian porcelain, slip cast bust of 'The Bride'. The circular socle is made separately and is held to the bust by a brass screw, nut, and washer. The bride faces front and looks downwards. She has a veil over her head which falls down over her face and breast at the front, and over her shoulders at the back. It is held in place by a wreath of orange-blossom flowers tied at centre back with a bow.
Production Notes	Raffaele Monti (1818-81) specialized in carving marbles with illusionistic veils. The Bride was derived from the head of a full-length marble of a kneeling Veiled Vestal of 1847, which was exhibited at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and was acquired by the Duke of Devonshire. The parian version was first issued as a 2 guinea prize to Ceramic and Crystal Palace Art-Union subscribers in 1861
Production Place	Stoke (factory) (place) Staffordshire (factory) (county) England (factory) (country) English (factory) (nationality) London (sculptor) (place) () England (sculptor) (country) English (sculptor) (nationality)
Technique Description	Parian porcelain, slip cast.The circular socle is made separately and is held to the bust by a brass screw, nut, and washer.
Dimensions	height: (whole): 38 cm width: (across shoulders): 23.3 cm diameter: (socle): 13.3 cm
Period	19th century Victoria
Date	1873
Provenance	given: The Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum 1969-10-16 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection) Given by the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Museum
Inscriptions/Marks	signature Position: on back of shoulders Method: incised in model Content: R. Monti' in an oval line/'1861 Description: Interpretation: the sculptor of the original bust, Raffaelle Monti (1818-81) mark Position: on back under shoulders Method: incised faintly into model and impressed Content: CERAMIC/AND/ CRYSTAL PALACE ART UNION' and below 'COPYRIGHT RESERVED/ COPELAND/o/ 73' impressed. Description: CERAMIC/AND/ CRYSTAL PALACE ART UNION' incised faintly, and 'COPYRIGHT RESERVED/ COPELAND/o/ 73' impressed. Interpretation: name of commissioner of the bust and the factory and date of manufacture
Documentation	(1969) Fitzwilliam. The Annual Reports of the Fitzwilliam Museum Syndicate and the Friends of the Fitzwilliam Cambridge for the Year ending 31 December 1968, Cambridge (Cambs.) [comments: Publ. pl. V] Poole, Julia (1986) Plagiarism Personified? European Pottery and Porcelain Figures, Cambridge (Cambs.): The Fitzwilliam Museum [page: 73] [comments: Publ. p. 73, K 6.] (2005) Treasures of the Fitzwilliam Museum, London: Scala [page: 166] [comments: Publ. p. 166, illustrated in colour with brief text] Gunnis, Rupert (1953) The Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851, London: Odhams Press Ltd [page: 262] [comments: Ref. p. 262 for biography of Monti] Shinn, Charles (1971) The Illustrated Guide to Victorian Parian China, London: Barrie & Jenkins [page: 57,73] [comments: Ref. pp. 57 and 73, and see pl. 29, an example in the Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston] Atterbury, Paul The Parian Phenomenon, A Survey of Victorian Parian Porcelain Statuary and Busts, Shepton Beauchamp: Richard Dennis [page: 38, 53, 262] [comments: Ref. For a reproduction of the illustration of the Veiled Vestal in the Art Journal in 1853, see p. 53, fig. 72.. For Monti, see p. 262. The Bride later had a companion titled The Mother, see p. 180, fig. 586, right. For a list of the Parian figures offered by the Ceramic and Crystal Palace Art Union, see p. 38.] Sotheby's (1985) English Enamels and British and Irish Ceramics, London: Sotheby's 22 October 1985) [comments: Cf. Lot 284. Estimate £300-500.] Sotheby's (1985) British and Irish Ceramics, London: Sotheby's 23 July 1985) [comments: Cf. Lot 259. Estimate £600-800.] Sotheby's (1999) European Ceramics, London: Sotheby's [page: 56] 13 September 1999) [comments: Cf. Lot 187. Estimate £1,200-1,800] Copeland, Robert (2007) Parian, Copeland's Statuary Porcelain, Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club [page: 201-02] [comments: Ref. pp. 201-2, B11]
Other Notes	Crystal Palace Art Union was founded in 1858 by Thomas Battam jnr, who had formerly been director of Art Work for Copeland and Garrett. Unlike the other Art Unions it was a private company rather than a philanthropic scheme to promote art. Until 1864 it was based at Sydenham, in the Ceramic Court of the Crystal Palace. It was approved by the Board of Trade in 1858 but commenced its activities a year later. For a subscription of 1 guinea (or more), the subscribers could choose a piece of Parian from a list. The Bride, one of the most popular busts ever produced in Parian, was issued in 1861. In 1865 Battam died and the union changed its name to the Ceramic and Crystal Palace Art Union, and its offices moved from the Polytechnic Institute in Regent Street, to Castle Street, off Regent Street. Little is known of its activities after that time, although it appears to have continued until at least 1883.
Accession Number	C.7-1969 (Applied Arts) (Reference Number: 93981; Input Date: 2003-07-25 / Last Edit: 2011-07-22)

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The Bride