Skip to main content

Mermaid supporting a Shell Dish: C.78-1950

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Mermaid supporting a Shell Dish

Maker(s)

Factory: Doccia Porcelain Factory

Entities

Categories

Description

Hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels

Hard-paste porcelain, moulded, tin-glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, puce, reddish-brown, brown, and a little dark brown enamels; the underside has a small circular ventilation hole. The mermaid is supported on a rectangular base with rounded corners and a scrolled edge painted blue and puce. Her front half is sphinx like, and she has long brown hair, dark brown eyes and pale red lips, two green fins on her back, and a green-edged tail which curves upwards to support a shell dish,which is also supported by her backward tilting head. The shell is outlined in puce and blue and has a green leaf at the hinge end. The interior is striped horizontally in puce, yellow and reddish-brown.

Notes

History note: Uncertain before Mrs W.D. (Frances Louisa Dickson)

Legal notes

Given by Mrs W.D. Dickson

Measurements and weight

Height: 7.6 cm
Height: 3 in
Width: 8.5 cm
Width: 3 5/16 in

Place(s) associated

  • Doccia ⪼ Tuscany ⪼ Italy

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1950-09) by Dickson, W. D. (Frances Louisa), Mrs

Dating

18th Century, third quarter#
Circa 1760 CE - 1770 CE

Note

Shell dishes supported by marine monsters may have been used as salts, and were associated with centrepieces. There are two comparable examples in the Victoria and Albert Museum (C.31-1910 and C.32-1910). This type of ornamental tableware was attributed to Capodimonte in the 19th and early 20th century.

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( blue, green, yellow, puce, reddish-brown, and dark brown)

Materials used in production

Hard-paste porcelain
Tin-glaze

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : Hard-paste porcelain, moulded in parts, glazed, and painted in blue, green, yellow, puce, reddish-brown, and dark brown enamels
Tin-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 6.
  • Location: On base
  • Method of creation: Painted in pale purple enamel
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.78-1950
Primary reference Number: 140364
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 19 October 2016 Last processed: Thursday 7 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Mermaid supporting a Shell Dish" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/140364 Accessed: 2024-11-21 16:47:12

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/140364 |title=Mermaid supporting a Shell Dish |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-21 16:47:12|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-140364

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...