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 imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
Venus holding a dove
Production: Unidentified Staffordshire factory
Lead-glazed earthenware painted in polychrome enamels
White earthenware, press-moulded, covered with slightly blue-tinted lead-glaze, and painted in blue, yellowish-green, yellow, pale lilac, flesh pink, red, reddish-brown, brown, and black enamels. Venus stands on a low circular mound supported by an almost square straight-sided base, which is closed underneath and has canted inner sides and a central ventilation hole. She is barefooted and stands on her left foot with her right foot a little behind it and her right knee relaxed. Her head is turned slightly to her right, and she holds a dove on her right hand at chest level. Her left arm is by her side, and she holds up her tunic to reveal the lower part of her left leg. Her brown hair is swept up onto the top of her head behind a small frontlet studded with red, blue and dark lilac 'jewels', and two tresses hang down over her shoulders. She wears a long bluish-white tunic is scattered with groups of four dots and red floral sprays. It has yellow edgings round the right armhole, neckline, right sleeve and hemline, and round the waist has a lilac sash tied at centre front. The mound is coloured yellowish-green and brown, and there is a reddish-brown line running round the four sides of the base.
History note: A. G. Smith, 193 Wardour Street, London, from whom bought for £2.10s.0d. on 15 February 1905 by Dr J.W.L. Glaisher, FRS, Trinity College, Cambridge
Dr J. W. L. Glaisher Bequest
Height: 25.8 cm
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928-12-07) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr
19th Century, Early#
George III
Circa
1800
-
1820
In Greek mythology doves were sacred to the goddess Aphrodite, and this association was passed on to the Roman goddess Venus, who is sometimes depicted in a chariot drawn by doves.
Decoration
composed of
enamels
( blue, yellowish-green, yellow, pale lilac, flesh pink, red, reddish-brown, brown, and a very little black)
Surface
composed of
lead-glaze
( slightly tinted blue)
Base
Depth 8.8 cm
Width 8.9 cm
white Earthenware
Press-moulding : White earthenware, press-moulded, covered with slightly blue tinted lead-glaze, and painted in blue, yellowish-green, yellow, pale lilac, flesh pink, red, reddish-brown, brown, and black enamels
Inscription present: rectangular white paper stick-on label with a narrow blue line edge on three sides with a plant motif in the two upper corners
Accession number: C.890-1928
Primary reference Number: 76293
Old object number: 2340
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) "Venus holding a dove" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76293 Accessed: 2024-05-10 10:13:30
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/76293
|title=Venus holding a dove
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-05-10 10:13:30|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-76293
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/aa2/C_890_1928_281_29.jpg"
alt="Venus holding a dove"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Venus holding a dove</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...
