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Figure of Nobody
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Title/s
Figure of Nobody
Maker/s
Unknown (pottery)
Collection
Category
tin-glazed earthenware
English delftware (sub-category)
Name
anthropomorphic vessel
Description
Earthenware, moulded, pierced, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, pale turquoise-green, yellow, and orange. Nobody stands with his feet together, his left hand resting on his hip, and his right hand outstretched and holding a pipe which he is puffing. The pipe was made separately and attached. The roughly circular mound base has a pierced border of single holes alternating with pairs of smaller holes, some of which are filled with glaze. The underside is initialled and dated 'M/RM/1675'
Production Place
Southwark (pottery) (place) ()
London (pottery) (place)
England (pottery) (country)
English (pottery) (nationality)
Technique Description
Tin-glazed earthenware, moulded, painted in blue, pale turquoise-green, yellow, and orange.
Dimensions
height: (whole): 23.3
cm
width:
Period
late 17th Century
Charles II
Date
1675
Provenance
bequeathed: Glaisher, J.W.L., Dr 1928 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)
Cyril Andrade, London from whom purchased on 13 October 1926 for £21 by Dr Glaisher.Dr. J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest
Inscriptions/Marks
-
inscription
Position: on underside of base
Method: painted in blue
Content: M/RM/1675
Interpretation: initials of owner and wife, and date, probably of manufacture
Documentation
- Rackham, Bernard (1935 (reprinted Antique Collectors' Club, Woodbridge, 1987)) Catalogue of the Glaisher Collection of Pottery and Porcelain in the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge, Cambridge (Cambs.): Cambridge University Press [page: 182]
[comments: Publ., Vol. I, p. 182, no. 1433, vol. II, pl. 101 B] - (2005) Treasures of the Fitzwilliam Museum, London: Scala [page: 154]
- (1982) Treasures of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge (Cambs.): Pevensey Press [page: 69]
[comments: Publ. p 69, no. 67] - Poole, Julia E. (1995) Fitzwilliam Museum Handbooks, English Pottery, Cambridge (Cambs.): Cambridge University Press [page: 28-9]
[comments: Publ., pp. 28-9, no. 9] - Treasures of the Fitzwilliam Museum. An illustrated souvenir of the collections, [page: 154]
[comments: Publ. Colour illustration with brief text] - Calmann, Gerta (1960) The Picture of Nobody, London? [page: 60-104]
[comments: Ref. For information about Nobody] - Jörg, Christiaan J.A. To the Highest Bidder: the Auction of a Porcelain Shop in Amsterdam in 1778, London? [page: 71]
[comments: Cf. p. 71, fig. 16, A Chinese porcelain figure of Nobody, painted underglaze in blue, with a removable hat enamelled in black, 24.5 cm. high, dated early 18th century. Groningen Museum, Groningen.]
Other Notes
Two more delftware Nobodies have survived: one, dated 1682 at Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, the other in the Victoria and Albert Museum, where there is also a Chinese porcelain version. The last two have hat-shaped covers which suggests that the Fitzwilliam's probably had one too.
Accession Number
C.1433-1928 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 71996; Input Date: 2002-11-20 / Last Edit: 2009-02-03)
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