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Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe: C.3026A-1928

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Current Location: In storage

Titles

Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe

Maker(s)

Factory: Bow Porcelain Manufactory
Engraver: Mosely, Charles (After)
Painter: Worlidge, Thomas (After)

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain figure of Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe.

Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, press-moulded, and lead-glazed on the exterior, and on a small area of the interior of the skirt. The porcelain appears slightly greyish-white and the glaze is speckly. The figure is open underneath and has, at the front, half of a square base cut diagonally. 'The Fine Lady' stands facing the front, with her head back. She wears a pinner, a ruffle round her neck, a pet-en-lair jacket with a sack back and small bobbles on the cuffs and front edges, double ruffles below the cuffs, and a wide hooped skirt. She rests her left arm over the skirt and holds a lapdog under her right arm.

Notes

History note: Mr Stoner (probably Mr George Stoner), Stoner & Evans, London, from whom purchased on 21 March 1917 for £125 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Measurements and weight

Height: 25.3 cm
Width: 17.5 cm

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

18th Century, Mid
George II
Production date: circa AD 1755 : The greyish-white paste suggests that this Kitty was made later than the example dated 1750.

Note

The Dublin-born actress, Catherine Clive (née Rafter, 1711-85), known as Kitty, joined the cast of Garrick's farce, Lethe as Mrs Riot or 'The Fine Lady' in 1749.The Bow model of Kitty was derived from a mezzotint of 1750 by Charles Mosely, traditionally said to be after a water-colour drawing by Thomas Worlidge,. A model on a high base, inscribed with the date 1750, is in the Fitzwilliam (EC.3-1938).

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Details

Materials used in production

presumed lead Lead-glaze
presumed phosphatic Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Press-moulding : Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, press-moulded, and lead-glazed on the exterior, and on a small area of the interior of the skirt
Lead-glazing

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.3026A-1928
Primary reference Number: 41539
Old object number: 4491B

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 30 April 2024

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 (2025) "Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/41539 Accessed: 2025-12-05 03:56:06

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/41539 |title=Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-05 03:56:06|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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