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Albert, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra (Prince & Princess)
Production: Unidentified factory
White earthenware figure group moulded in three parts and pearlware glazed. Painted in underglaze blue and in black, brown, grey, blue, green, orange, yellow and flesh-pink enamels, and gilt.
The Princess stands on the Prince’s left, holding his arm. The oval base is inscribed ‘PRINCE & PRINCESS’ in raised, black painted, capitals. The figures are well coloured. He wears a long blue jacket; white trousers; a white waistcoat edged in pink; a brown spotted cravat; a gold watch-chain and black shoes. He carries a grey top hat in his right hand. She wears a white blouse and jacket, the latter edged in moulded feathers and a thin green line; and a full length skirt which is finely decorated with blue and green flowers, orange and gilt motifs, and a pink ribbon above the hem. On her left arm she carries a yellow hat with a moulded floral decoration and an orange band. Both have mid-brown hair. The underside is concave and glazed, with a vent hole towards the centre front. The back is moulded, but only partly decorated.
History note: Bought from 'a newly opened curiosity shop at the corner of Queen Street and Gresham Street, London, EC, on 1 June 1908, for 6/- (six shillings), by Dr Glaisher, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J.W.L.Glaisher Bequest
Depth: 8.25 cm
Depth: 3.25 in
Height: 25.5 cm
Height: 10 in
Width: 16.5 cm
Width: 6.25 in
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century, Mid#
Victorian
Production date:
circa
AD 1863
Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (1841-1910) was the second child and the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This figure group was probably made to celebrate his betrothal to Princess Alexandra of Denmark in September 1862, or the couple’s marriage on 10th March 1863. The Fitzwilliam collection also includes a single figure of the Prince, made at around the same time, for which there exists a Princess pair. Here, however, he is holding his hat in the other hand.
Rackham (1935) lists this figure as of a type made chiefly by Sampson Smith at Longton, a factory listed in contemporary directories as a ‘manufacturer of figures in great variety’, which began around 1851 and continued to make figures in quantity into the early part of the twentieth century. Sampson Smith figures typically have a plain oval base, often with the title in raised capitals; they are made with a simple three part moulding; and sometimes have finely painted floral skirts. So this figure group could have been made there. However, there were many other, often smaller, manufacturers of figures working in Staffordshire at this time.
Decoration composed of enamels ( black, brown, grey, blue, green, orange, yellow and flesh-pink) underglaze cobalt-blue gold
Press moulding
: White earthenware moulded in three parts and pearlware glazed. Painted in underglaze blue and in black, brown, grey, blue, green, orange, yellow and flesh-pink enamels, and gilt. The underside is concave and glazed, with a vent hole towards the centre front. The back is moulded, but only partly decorated.
Painting
Lead-glazing
Gilding
Inscription present: raised capitals, painted in black enamel
Accession number: C.1013-1928
Primary reference Number: 71140
Old object number: 2797
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) "Albert, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71140 Accessed: 2024-11-05 16:30:55
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71140
|title=Albert, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 16:30:55|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-71140
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
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<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa2/C_1013_1928_281_29.jpg"
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class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Albert, Prince of Wales, and Princess Alexandra</figcaption>
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