Cupid at Vulcan's Forge representing Fire
Factory:
Longton Hall Porcelain Manufactory
Production:
Littler, William
Cupid at Vulcan's Forge, representing Fire from a Set of Elements, of 'Snowman' type. Glassy soft-paste porcelain, appearing creamy-white, moulded, and covered with thick clear lead-glaze with black speckles here and there, particularly on the top of the base, which has a 'dry' edge. The flat underside is unglazed and has a small circular ventialation hole under the forge, and a large rectangular one on the right under the figure. The base is rectangular and is decorated round the side and front edges with applied leaves and daisies. The infant Cupid sits on a low rock on the right, leaning forward towards the forge to warm his hands. He has short hair and is nude apart from a drape. The forge is square with incurved sides and has a flaming chimney with scrolls on the corners. A shovel and tongues rest against the front.
History note: Sir Hercules Read; sold Sotheby's, 6 November 1928, Catalogue of the varied and extensive collection of works of art, the property of Sir Hercules Read, 2nd day, part of lot 192; purchased by Hunt (or Hant) for £18 for both parts for Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest
Depth: 9.9 cm
Height: 12.4 cm
Width: 16.1 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
18th Century, Mid
Circa
1750
CE
-
1752
CE
Longton Hall is situated near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire
The glassy soft-paste porcelain of Longton Hall contained flint glass, ground flint, gypsum, limestone, and ball clay. The lead in the glass permitted it to fuse at a lower temperature, but also made it prone to warp or collapse during firing. This is shown by many warped waster fragments excavated on the site.
except for the base
Lead-glaze
Glassy soft-paste porcelain
Moulding
: Glassy soft-paste porcelain, appearing creamy-white, moulded, and covered with thick clear lead-glaze with black speckles here and there, particularly on the top of the base, which has a 'dry' edge. The flat underside is unglazed and has a small circular ventialation hole under the forge, and a large rectangular one on the right under the figure
Lead-glazing
Inscription present: rectangular with cut corners and a black line border, inscribed in black ink in Dr J.W.L. Glaisher's hand
Accession number: C.3084-1928
Primary reference Number: 38874
Old object number: 5118
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025) "Cupid at Vulcan's Forge representing Fire" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/38874 Accessed: 2025-05-14 04:22:46
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/38874
|title=Cupid at Vulcan's Forge representing Fire
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-05-14 04:22:46|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-38874
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