{"admin":{"added":1592996549000,"created":1312637261000,"flag":"Standard Record","id":"object-47455","indexed":1764007366697,"modified":1763974476000,"processed":1764007361730,"source":"adlib","stream":"fitz-online","uid":"adlib-object-47455","uri":"https:\/\/data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/id\/object\/47455","uuid":"02247637-5659-35ef-8ed8-ba3fb5ce63cb","version":16},"agents":[{"@link":{"relation":"person","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"agent-780","uid":"adlib-agent-780","uuid":"7f9655e9-c813-39f8-b4f6-686add3d167d"},"summary_title":"Aesop"}],"categories":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-37637","uid":"adlib-term-37637","uuid":"89b09133-dc0a-3a88-bd40-5aef1ad30ecb"},"summary_title":"soft-paste porcelain"}],"component":[{"materials":[{"note":[{"value":"blue, green, yellow, pink, dark pink, flesh, orange, and black"}],"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-107563","uid":"adlib-term-107563","uuid":"38dcd825-1de1-3222-82c6-15a95729b5ff"},"summary_title":"enamels"}},{"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-39593","uid":"adlib-term-39593","uuid":"e3e2a3f8-2433-3f63-9bcf-e776644d312d"},"summary_title":"gold"}}],"name":"Decoration","techniques":[{"note":[{"value":"in blue, green, yellow, pink, dark pink, flesh, orange, and black enamels"}],"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-120086","uid":"adlib-term-120086","uuid":"cdecca31-5ec3-3fe3-9e5d-455d9771fda5"},"summary_title":"painting overglaze"}},{"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-28681","uid":"adlib-term-28681","uuid":"c1f659e2-1209-31cf-8ff4-154e11452559"},"summary_title":"gilding"}}]},{"materials":[{"note":[{"value":"probably containing some tin oxide"}],"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-107733","uid":"adlib-term-107733","uuid":"00160189-e3ce-3796-a88b-5aa8d6c808c4"},"summary_title":"lead-glaze"}}],"name":"Visible Surfaces","techniques":[{"note":[{"value":"probably containing some tin oxide"}],"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-120062","uid":"adlib-term-120062","uuid":"d05176fb-17b8-3888-bba1-6c5e6c77d206"},"summary_title":"lead-glazing"}}]},{"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"Width","units":"cm","value":"10.2"}]},"name":"Base"}],"department":{"value":"Applied Arts"},"description":[{"value":"Soft-paste porcelain painted in polychrome enamels, and gilt"},{"value":"Soft-paste porcelain figure of Aesop, slip-cast (?), with semi-opaque lead glaze (presumably containing some tin-oxide), painted in blue, green, yellow, pink, dark pink, flesh, orange, and black enamels, and gilt. The flat, unglazed underside has a circular ventilation hole at the back. The base is approximately rectangular with a broad tree-stump and rock rising up at the back. Aesop, shown as a black man with jet black hair and skin, a hump back and pot-belly. He stands on his right foot with his left knee bent, and the foot behind him, resting his posterior on the top of the tree stump. His head is turned slightly to his left, his right arm is raised, and his left arm is bent at the elbow so that the hand at chest level. He wears a pink jacket with a white collar and yellow lining, sixteen gold buttons, and a gold belt. His matching breeches have blue bows at the knees and he has yellow shoes with orange heels and brown soles. Across his body he wears a gold chain with a watch or medallion suspended over his right side. The tree stump is decorated with a few streaks of yellow and green. The top of the base is strewn with applied flowers and leaves: on the viewer's right, a pink flower with three leaves, three orange flowers with five leaves, and on the viewer's left,  two blue flowers with five leaves, and another pink flower with three leaves."}],"exhibitions":[{"@link":{"catalogue":"G8","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"exhibition-1070","uid":"adlib-exhibition-1070","uuid":"2cb713dc-899f-35df-9c15-515a05f38d48"},"summary_title":"Plagiarism Personified? European Pottery and Porcelain Figures"}],"identifier":[{"accession_number":"C.21-1932","primary":true,"type":"accession number","value":"C.21-1932"},{"priref":"47455","type":"priref","value":"47455"},{"type":"uri","uri":"https:\/\/data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/id\/object\/47455","value":"https:\/\/data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk\/id\/object\/47455"}],"inscription":[{"description":[{"value":"a red anchor"}],"location":"on proper right of the top of the base","method":"painted in red enamel","transcription":[{"value":"an anchor"}],"type":"mark"}],"institutions":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"agent-149638","uid":"adlib-agent-149638","uuid":"7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8"},"summary_title":"The Fitzwilliam Museum"}],"legal":{"credit_line":"Given by Mrs W.D. Dickson"},"lifecycle":{"acquisition":[{"agents":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"agent-180712","uid":"adlib-agent-180712","uuid":"855e3948-593a-3b3c-9d66-028df74284fe"},"summary_title":"Dickson, W. D. (Frances Louisa), Mrs"}],"date":[{"earliest":1932,"latest":1932,"value":"1932"}],"method":{"value":"given"},"note":[{"value":"Entry date: 1932-05-10"}]}],"creation":[{"date":[{"earliest":1755,"era":["CE"],"latest":1755,"precision":"circa","value":"1755"}],"maker":[{"@link":{"role":[{"value":"factory"}],"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"agent-157802","uid":"adlib-agent-157802","uuid":"e51ed5e2-3605-39a0-b953-487f1f622a3a"},"summary_title":"Chelsea Porcelain Manufactory"}],"note":[{"value":"This porcelain figure is thought to depict Aesop, a figure from ancient Greek history. Aesop was said to have been born into slavery, and this, coupled with a later presumption that he had come from Ethiopia, resulted in Aesop being depicted throughout the 18th century as a black man, often with crudely exaggerated features that today we may find racist and offensive. \n\nAlthough Aesop is mentioned by several ancient Greek authors, almost nothing is known of his history. Aesop was probably an enslaved man who lived from c. 620-564 BCE in Phrygia (in modern Turkey) and later on the Greek island of Samos, where he was granted his freedom. It is unlikely that he was the actual author of many of the Fables now attributed to him.\n\nMost of the story of his life comes from a much-later publication (first century CE), 'The Aesop Romance', which describes Aesop as, \u2018\u2026of loathsome aspect... potbellied, misshapen of head, snub-nosed, swarthy, dwarfish, bandy-legged, short-armed, squint-eyed, liver-lipped\u2014a portentous monstrosity.\u2019 This idea of Aesop as \u2018ugly\u2019 or \u2018misshapen\u2019 is a feature of all subsequent descriptions of him. Later (in the thirteenth century), a philosopher conjectured that Aesop\u2019s name was based on his country of origin \u2013 Ethiopia, and that he had therefore been a black man. These ideas were combined and solidified in Francis Barlow\u2019s hugely popular 'Aesop's Fables With his Life' (1687, re-published 1703). In it, Aesop is described in (what is by modern standards) a highly racist way, as,  \n\n'...of a Sharp Head, flat nos'd, his back roll'd up in a Bunch or Excrescence, his lips tumerous and pendant, his Complexion black, from which dark Tincture he contracted his name - Aesopus being the same with Aethiops [Ethiopians]...'\n\nAlthough this porcelain figure was made a few decades after the publication of Barlow's book, the modeller of this figure was clearly familiar with this it, as the figure closely resembles this description and some of the illustrations (especially plates 3 and 27). However, although Aesop\u2019s features here are crudely exaggerated, he is portrayed as elegantly and expensively dressed, with gold buttons and a watch hanging from a gold chain. To the eighteenth-century eye, these would have been clear symbols of success. \n\nHis open mouth and expansive gesture suggest that he has been caught mid-speech, and this tallies with a story from his history. According to some early biographies, Aesop was born with a speech impediment so severe that no one could understand what he said. He was cured by the goddess Isis after he showed kindness to one of her priestesses. With his tongue unknotted, he revealed himself to be supremely wise and cunning, winning fame and eventually his freedom. Do we here see an Aesop at the height of his powers, no longer enslaved, words and wit flowing from his open mouth?\n\nThis porcelain figure would have been incredibly expensive when new and therefore only available to very wealthy consumers, who purchased these \u2018ornaments for dessert\u2019 to decorate their dining table, a table that, in some cases, may have been served by a liveried black servant. Although the mid-eighteenth century witnessed the beginnings of the abolitionist movement, this figure is unlikely to be connected to it, except for the fact that \u2018slaves\u2019 in the parlance of the mid-eighteenth century were usually thought of as people of colour. Instead, this figure was intended as a talking point."}],"periods":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-110762","uid":"adlib-term-110762","uuid":"92b555c4-d666-3846-a471-77585013d6c6"},"summary_title":"Red anchor period (1752-1756)"},{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-106451","uid":"adlib-term-106451","uuid":"9cdfd62c-ee07-3884-ae08-c797aad08631"},"summary_title":"18th Century, Mid"},{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-107736","uid":"adlib-term-107736","uuid":"e93a8dd1-d76d-320b-be9b-afa352e322a1"},"summary_title":"George II"}],"places":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-106998","uid":"adlib-term-106998","uuid":"e3be6de7-1089-333e-a2e9-d7165b18816d"},"hierarchies":[[{"@link":{"type":"literal"},"name":[{"value":"England"}],"summary_title":"England","type":"country"}]],"summary_title":"Chelsea"}]}]},"materials":[{"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-37637","uid":"adlib-term-37637","uuid":"89b09133-dc0a-3a88-bd40-5aef1ad30ecb"},"summary_title":"soft-paste porcelain"}}],"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"Depth","units":"cm","value":"13.3"},{"dimension":"Height","units":"cm","value":"24.7"}]},"multimedia":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"media-17755","uid":"adlib-media-17755","uuid":"143e15df-8c31-3929-9ed3-b8228c09cafa"},"processed":{"large":{"format":"jpeg","location":"aa\/aa19\/C_21_1932.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":760},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":483}]},"modified":1742581249227,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"mid":{"format":"jpeg","location":"aa\/aa19\/C_21_1932.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":760},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":483}]},"modified":1742581249227,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"original":{"format":"jpeg","location":"aa\/aa19\/C_21_1932.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":760},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":483}]},"modified":1742581249227,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"preview":{"format":"jpeg","location":"aa\/aa19\/preview_C_21_1932.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":393},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":250}]},"modified":1742581249227,"resizable":true,"type":"image"}},"sort":"0","type":{"base":"media","type":"image"}},{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"media-3096223351","source":"portfolio","uid":"portfolio-media-3096223351","uuid":"273f070d-9822-3462-8b62-685c9f7ef993"},"processed":{"large":{"format":"jpeg","location":"portfolio\/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C\/689\/609\/large_C_21_1932_mas.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":1329},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":1024}]},"modified":1580992608000,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"mid":{"format":"jpeg","location":"portfolio\/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C\/689\/609\/mid_C_21_1932_mas.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":649},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":500}]},"modified":1580992608000,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"original":{"format":"jpeg","location":"portfolio\/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C\/689\/609\/C_21_1932_mas.JPG","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":6758},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":5207}]},"modified":1580992608000,"resizable":true,"type":"image"},"preview":{"format":"jpeg","location":"portfolio\/F25982D9_7CB9_CFFF_028E_8BBFC531887C\/689\/609\/preview_C_21_1932_mas.jpg","location_is_relative":true,"measurements":{"dimensions":[{"dimension":"height","units":"pixels","value":324},{"dimension":"width","units":"pixels","value":250}]},"modified":1580992608000,"resizable":true,"type":"image"}},"sort":"1","source":{"title":[{"primary":true,"type":"main title","value":"Aesop, Chelsea porccelain factory"}]},"type":{"base":"media","type":"image"}}],"name":[{"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-107454","uid":"adlib-term-107454","uuid":"6ca0f2ab-c1f8-329d-8a45-8f1322f53a20"},"summary_title":"figure"}}],"note":[{"type":"history note","value":"Unknown before donor; Mrs W.D. (Frances Louisa) Dickson, Bournemouth"}],"owners":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"agent-149638","uid":"adlib-agent-149638","uuid":"7376d833-d0a7-3be0-916e-9c892b7a24d8"},"summary_title":"The Fitzwilliam Museum"}],"publications":[{"@link":{"notes":"Publ. Illustrated on pl. VI, left. with the engraving from Barlow's Aesop's Fables.(Paper given in 1930).","page":"17-19","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-200001027","uid":"adlib-publication-200001027","uuid":"bb9dbc04-5902-3840-bee7-db0665d74b6b"},"summary_title":"A Chelsea Figure of Aesop"},{"@link":{"notes":"Publ. p. 34, Figure 4, coloured illustration, beside Figure 5 Plate 27 of the 1687 edition of Barlow's Aesop's Fables, which has on the right a figure of Aesop, likely to have been the source for the figure.","page":"pp. 32-45","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-200003337","uid":"adlib-publication-200003337","uuid":"f1e55076-1328-3dd9-b9a4-c1fc672d23a4"},"summary_title":"Francis Barlow's Farmer's Wife, Fox and Goose: a Cautionary Ceramics Tale"},{"@link":{"notes":"Publ. G 8, illustrated pl. 32.","page":"47","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-992","uid":"adlib-publication-992","uuid":"e26b9de8-5607-3d6e-82c1-bba7d8cb57c4"},"summary_title":"Plagiarism Personified? European Pottery and Porcelain Figures"},{"@link":{"notes":"Ref. Aesop is no. C.107 in Bradshaw's list of Chelsea Red Anchor period figures","page":"293","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-2713","uid":"adlib-publication-2713","uuid":"ec8d1453-f0d0-3e42-bdb8-d2abd630e136"},"summary_title":"18th Century English Porcelain Figures 1745-1795"},{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-2576","uid":"adlib-publication-2576","uuid":"870654a9-2aff-3144-bcc3-8758472e4399"},"summary_title":"Contributions towards the History of Early English Porcelain from Contemporary Sources"},{"@link":{"notes":"Ref. Mackenna mentions the probably sources of the design of Aesop","page":"36","type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-2822","uid":"adlib-publication-2822","uuid":"750a4133-b327-314d-94bf-961455399c64"},"summary_title":"Chelsea Porcelain, the Red Anchor Wares"},{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"publication-2583","uid":"adlib-publication-2583","uuid":"a03a57f2-ff44-35e5-a713-47a246c085b3"},"summary_title":"18th-Century English Porcelain"}],"school_or_style":[{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-9010","uid":"adlib-term-9010","uuid":"ecd03def-5d2a-3b43-bb92-76be16fbabf6"},"summary_title":"Rococo"}],"summary":{"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-107454","uid":"adlib-term-107454","uuid":"6ca0f2ab-c1f8-329d-8a45-8f1322f53a20"},"summary_title":"figure"}},"summary_title":"figure","techniques":[{"description":[{"value":"Soft-paste porcelain, slip-cast (?), with semi-opaque lead glaze (presumably containing some tin-oxide), painted in blue, green, yellow, pink, dark pink, flesh, orange, and black enamels, and gilt. The flat, unglazed underside has a circular ventilation hole at the back"}],"reference":{"@link":{"type":"reference"},"admin":{"id":"term-120096","uid":"adlib-term-120096","uuid":"7cc05306-f07e-3189-849f-52addb9e2ca7"},"summary_title":"slip-casting"}}],"title":[{"value":"Aesop"}],"type":{"base":"object","type":"OBJECT"}}