Skip to main content

Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe: EC.3-1938

An image of Figure

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe

Maker(s)

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

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, figure of Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe, press-moulded, and lead-glazed.

Soft-paste porcelain containing bone ash, figure of Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe, press-moulded and lead-glazed, including the inside walls of the pedestal. The figure is supported on a high square pedestal with cut corners and incurved sides, decorated on the front with a musical trophy in relief, and on the sides with frilling. '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, ruffled sleeves, and small bobbles on the cuffs and front edges, and a wide hooped skirt. She rests her left arm over the skirt and holds a lapdog under her right arm. The date '1750' is incised on the inside of one side of the pedestal.

Notes

History note: Mr Mansell, Bournemouth; Mrs W.D. Dickson

Legal notes

Given by Mrs W.D. Dickson

Measurements and weight

Height: 31.3 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Stratford-le-Bow ⪼ Essex ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1938) by Dickson, W. D. (Frances Louisa), Mrs

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
George II
Production date: dated AD 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-clour drawing by Thomas Worlidge. For an illustration of the mezzotint, see Documentation, Yarborough, 1996.

School or Style

Rococo

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Base Depth 13.7 cm Width 15.0 cm
Skirt Width 17.3 cm

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
Glazing (coating)

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: circular inscribed in blue biro

  • Text: 40
  • Method of creation: Inscribed in blue biro
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: circular

  • Text: FITZ/MUS
  • Method of creation: Printed in black
  • Type: Label
  • Text: 1750
  • Location: Inside one side of the pedestal
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Date

References and bibliographic entries

Related exhibitions

Identification numbers

Accession number: EC.3-1938
Primary reference Number: 41984
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Monday 18 December 2023 Last processed: Friday 24 May 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 (2024) "Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/41984 Accessed: 2024-12-22 13:36:19

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/41984 |title=Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 13:36:19|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-41984

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

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/aa20/EC_3_1938.jpg"
        alt="Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Kitty Clive as 'The Fine Lady' in Lethe</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

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