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John Milton (1608-74)


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Title/s

John Milton (1608-74)

Maker/s

Derby Porcelain Factory (factory)

Robert Bloor & Co. (proprietor)

Scheemakers, Peter possibly after (sculptor) [ULAN info: 1691-1781]

Cheere, John probably after (sculptor) [ULAN info: British sculptor, 1709-1787]

Collection

Ralph Griffin

Category

bone china

Name

figure

School/Style

Rococo

Description

Bone china figure of John Milton standing beside a pedestal painted in enamels and gilded

Bone china (?) figure of John Milton, slip-cast, lead-glazed, and painted in green, yellow, pink, flesh, red, purple, brown, enamels and gilt. The unglazed underside has a large central ventialation hole through the glazed interior can be seen. The rectangular base has cut corners and fluted sides, with gold lines on the upper and lower edges. Milton stands on the left, with his left leg forward, leaning on his left elbow on a pile of three books resting on a semi-circular pedestal decorated in relief with the Expulsion from Paradise. He holds his cloak around him with his right hand, and in his left holds a scroll. He has long wavy brown hair, brown eyebrows, ruddy cheeks and a red mouth. He wears a close-fitting jacket with gold decoration down the front, and gold buttons; breeches with gold buttons and a band at the knee, and shoes with gold bows. His long cloak has a pink lining and gold edges. The pedestal has three gold lines round the top and one round the bottom. The books are red and yellow, purple, and dark green and gold. The scroll is inscribed indistinctly in gold capital letters:

Production Notes

This is a late example of a figure which was made on a low scrolled base in the late 1750s,and later on a rectangular base with cut corners and fluted sides. The model for Milton may have been derived from a terracotta by Peter Scheemakers, now lost, but known from his sale catalogue of 8 May 1756, in which it was lot 23. Alternatively it may be an original composition by John Cheere, by whom there is a 20" high bronzed plaster dated 1749, at York City Art Gallery. See Documentation, Friedman (1974) and Lippert (1987) Bone china replaced soft-paste porcelain at Derby at an unknown date between 1810-15, initially for useful wares.

Production Place

Derby (factory) (place)

Derbyshire (factory) (county)

England (factory) (country)

English (factory) (nationality)

Technique Description

bone china (?), slip-cast, lead-glazed, and painted in green, yellow, pink, flesh, red, purple, brown, enamels and gilt. The unglazed underside has a large central ventialation hole through the glazed interior can be seen.

Dimensions

height: (whole): 25.5 cm
width: (whole): 14 cm
width: (base): 11 cm
depth: (base): 7.6 cm

Period

19th century
George IV

Date

circa 1825 to 1828

Provenance

given: Griffin, Ralph, MA, FSA 1918 (Filtered for: Applied Arts collection)

Uncertain before donor, Ralph Griffin, MA, FSA, St John's College, Cambridge

Given by Ralph Griffin, MA, FSA

Inscriptions/Marks

  1. mark
    Position: on underside of base
    Method: stamped in red
    Content: BLOOR/DERBY
    Description: a circular medallion with a crown in the centre and 'BLOOR/ DERBY' around it between concentric circles
    Interpretation: factory mark thought to have been adopted around 1825
  2. mark
    Position: on underside of base
    Method: incised
    Content: No 297 and 1
    Description: Large script N in No. The 1 some distance away
    Interpretation: model number

Documentation

  1. Haslem, John (1876) The Old Derby China Factory, London: George Bell & Sons [page: 176]
    [comments: Ref. p. 176, this model was included in Haslem's 'Price List of Groups and Single Figures', no. 297.]
  2. Nightingale, J.E. (1881) Contributions towards the History of Early English Porcelain from Contemporary Sources, Salisbury [page: p. 45]
    [comments: Ref. The Derby and Chelsea sale Catalogue of 29 March - 1 April 1773 mentioned 'A pair of figures, Shakespeare and Milton, enamelled and ornamented with gold 3l. 2s.', see Appendix, p. 45.]
  3. Barrett, Franklin Allen (1971) Derby Porcelain 1750-1848, London: Faber [page: p. 114]
    [comments: Ref. For a reproduction of the mark, which according to Bradshaw, 1990, was introduced in 1825, see p. 114, no. 23]
  4. Bradshaw, Peter (1990) Derby Porcelain Figures 1750-1848, London: Faber & Faber [page: pp. 67, 408]
    [comments: Cf. For the first model, see p. 67, D 13. For an earlier enamelled example on rectangular base, accompanied by Shakespeare, see pp. 345-6, no. 297, and pl. 288 (Sotheby's). According to Bradshaw, p. 408 although Robert Bloor had owned the factory since 1815, it was until 1825, according to that the printed mark on this figure was introduced.]
  5. Godden, Geoffrey A. (1964) Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain Marks, London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd [page: p. 202]
    [comments: Ref. p. 202, no. 1259, a reproduction of the mark]
  6. Lane, Arthur (1961) English Porcelain Figures of the Eighteenth Century, London: Faber & Faber
    [comments: Cf. For the model on a low scrolled base, made in the late 1750s and 60s, see, pl. 64]
  7. Friedman, Terry (1974) The Man at Hyde Park Corner, Sculpture by John Cheere 1709-1787, Temple Newsam House
    [comments: Ref. See no. 54, a bronzed plaster of Milton dated 1749, by John Cheere.]
  8. Poole, Julia (1986) Plagiarism Personified? European Pottery and Porcelain Figures, Cambridge (Cambs.): The Fitzwilliam Museum [page: p. 26]
    [comments: Cf. A large earthenware model of Milton (C.44-1928), attributed to Enoch Wood or Wood and Caldwell, see p. 26, C9.]
  9. Lippert, Catherine Beth (1987) Eighteenth-Century English Porcelain in the Collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indiana [page: pp. 136-8]
    [comments: Cf. pp. 136-8, no. 27, an earlier example dated c. 1765-1770. Lippert discusses the probably prototype for the model.]

Other Notes

Accession Number

C.49B-1918 (Applied Arts)
(Reference Number: 42723; Input Date: 2002-02-28 / Last Edit: 2011-07-22)

Related Object

C.49A-1918 - William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
C.44-1928 - Milton