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A Seated Nun Reading
Production:
Bolton, John
(Possibly)
Factory:
Richard Chaffers & Co.
(Possibly)
Decorator:
Bolton, John
(Possibly)
Soft-paste porcelain figure of a Seated Nun Reading, slip-cast, but heavy, and painted overglaze in polychrome enamels.
Soft-paste porcelain figure of a Seated Nun Reading, slip-cast, but heavy, and painted overglaze in a little blue, pale and dark green, bluish-green, yellow, flsh-pink, puce-pink, red, brown, and black enamels. The unglazed underside has a central circular ventilation hole. The oval mound base is is slightly pointed at the front. The nun is seated holding an open book in her hands. Her left leg is crossed over her right, and the foot (missing) projects over the edge. She wears a puce veil, a white habit decorated with sprays of roses and other flowers in 'Type A' style; a petticoat with a red frilled edge. Her book has a red binding and yellow-edged pages. The pages are inscribed in black. The page on her left is headed by a Crucifix, and the first line begins with a W in a rectangular frame; the rest of the inscription is incomprehensible. The front edge of the base is yellowish-green.
History note: Uncertain before donor
Given by Ralph Griffin, MA, FSA
Depth: 9.5 cm
Height: 12 cm
Width: 10 cm
Method of acquisition: Given (1918) by Griffin, Ralph, MA, FSA
18th Century, Mid#
George II
Circa
1755
CE
-
1760
CE
The place of production of this figure is uncertain. It was attributed to Chaffers' Liverpool factory, by the late Dr Bernard Watney, who considered that the flower painting, typical of a style known as 'Type A', was probably executed in a decorating establishment in the London area, possibly at Kentish Town. At the time it was not known that steatitic porcelain made by Chaffers in Liverpool was also made at Vauxhall. This figure is not among those which have since been attributed to Vauxhall. In 2018 Errol Manners suggested that the Seated Nun and a few other figures may have been made at Kentish town where there was a short-lived factory set up by John Bolton in 1755. Bolton had previously been employed at the Vauxhall factory, so it is likely that the porcelain made briefly at Kentish Town would be of similar type. But there is no firm evidence for what was produced there before it probably closed when its backer, William Kempson, and his partner Michael Alcock, button manufacturers in Birmingham, were declared bankrupt on 23 January 1756.
Decoration
composed of
enamels
( blue, pale and dark green, bluish-green, yellow, flsh-pink, puce-pink, red, brown, and black)
Visible Areas
composed of
lead-glaze
( presumed lead)
probably steatitic Soft-paste porcelain
Slip-casting
: Soft-paste porcelain, probably steatitic, slip-cast, but heavy, and painted overglaze in a little blue, pale and dark green, bluish-green, yellow, flsh-pink, puce-pink, red, brown, and black enamels. The unglazed underside has a central circular ventilation hole
Glazing (coating)
Accession number: C.189-1918
Primary reference Number: 39315
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 (2024) "A Seated Nun Reading" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/39315 Accessed: 2024-11-24 21:11:19
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/39315
|title=A Seated Nun Reading
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-24 21:11:19|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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-39315
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa3/C_189_1918_281_29.jpg"
alt="A Seated Nun Reading"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">A Seated Nun Reading</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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