Figure of the Day: A Fool's Head, the Jet Jester, 1550-1700

Spanish Jet Figure, 1550-1700
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Small figures of jet (a particularly dense type of coal which can be carved and polished) like the one pictured above, especially in Spain, were created to seems to signify that a pilgrim had completed his or her journey, and reached the shrine of St James (the patron Saint of Spain) at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. This was a trek which pilgrims made for well over the course of six hundred years, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century.


Many jet figures like this seem to have been drilled with holes to form beads for rosaries. From the earliest times, medicinal and magical qualities were assigned to jet which could be found in different parts of Europe (as well as North America).

This jet piece, which is larger than most, represents a fool's head and its precise function is uncertain. Perhaps it was the pommel of a jester's stick and may have been used during the “Feasts of Fools” when “the holiest offices and orders were made matters of the lightest jesting.”

The grinning portrait head has stylized tightly-curled hair, a large nose, wrinkled forehead and a ruff-like collar set on a bulbous base, on which are carved three shells. A smooth disc is carved on the back. It was made in Spain between 1550 and 1700.

Unusual Artifacts: The Hand and Arm of Victoria, Princess Royal, 1843

The Royal Collection

Queen Victoria had a great desire to capture moments in the lives of her family. She was very much interested in recording the growth of her children so that she could remember them at all stages of their lives. This desire took many forms. She had miniature portraits painted of her children as they grew. She even had jewelry commissioned which used their baby teeth as the principal ornament.


When Victoria died in 1901, a touching (and to modern eyes, quite odd) collection of marble arms, hands and feet was found in her private rooms at Buckingham Palace. The Queen had commissioned sculptor Abraham Kent (who would most likely not be remembered were it not for these objects) to create these marble keep-sakes of her children’s features so that she could remember them when they were small. Kent took a plaster mold of the Princess Royal’s hand and arm in order to capture every detail when he was sculpting the stone. The process of obtaining the casts had to be done while the children were sleeping as they would not stand for it while they were awake.

The Royal Collection

This sculpture, like its brethren, was kept on a crimson velvet cushion under a glass dome to ensure that the marble would stay a pristine white. It really is quite beautiful in its own way. We must remember, when we view artifacts such as this, that this was before everyone had a camera in their pocket. Today, we have so many ways of recording our lives. Victoria, like many other mothers throughout time, simply wanted a way to recall the sweetest years of her children’s lives.

Figure of the Day: The Bronze Jester Candlestick, 15th C.

Bronze Candlestick
Germany
Fifteenth Century
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome Fifteenth Century bronze figure heralds from Germany and takes the form of a fool or jester on a triangular molded pedestal adorned with three apes, of course, and resting on three lions.

But, this isn’t just a sculpture.  He’s a useful fool.  You see, with his extended left hand, he would support a candle which would rest upon his shoulder as he looked up at the flickering light. 

I think this is a very attractive and unusual piece, and exceedingly modern for having been made in the 1400s.  

Sculpture of the Day: The Dacre Ram, 1507-1525

Click Image to Enlarge

The Dacre Beasties
1507-1525
England
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The Dacre Beasts are a group of figures which were made as heraldic ornaments to represent one of the most powerful families of Sixteenth Century Northern England. The group consists of a griffin, a bull, a dolphin (which looks rather like an angry trout) and a ram.

The wealth and power of the Dacre family (of Naworth Castle, Brampton, Cumbria) was expanded in 1317 when a member of the influential and land-rich de Multon family married a Dacre family. The marriage resulted in a union of two enormous plots of land and strengthened the Dacre’s hold on Northern England. The figure of the ram, seen holding a banner, represents the de Multon family ( originally spelled 'Mouton,' the name is French for “sheep,” and, hence the ram). The banner is emblazoned with the family coat of arms.

The Dacre Beasts, commissioned by Lord Thomas Dacre (1467-1525) were crafted by unnamed local craftsmen from, as the story goes, a single, large oak grown on the family estate. The figures were painted and gilded and adorned with mounts of tinned copper. The group was restored in 1844 after being rescued from a major fire at Naworth Castle. Testing of the pigment shows that they’ve been repainted several times over the centuries. It’s likely that these are the only recorded surviving original heraldic beasts of an English Renaissance noble family. 

Sculpture of the Day: A French Plaque Depicting Polichinelle, c. 1850

Polichinelle Plaque
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This late Nineteenth Century, French, cast-iron plaque is molded in relief with a depiction of a Polichinelle or Punch show taking place in a traditional "fit-up."

Polichinelle is seen in the proscenium opening going about his typical business of smacking an adversary with a stick.  An unusual portrayal, Polichinelle is shown as a rod puppet hanging in front of the booth suspended by a rod from his head.  By this point in puppet history, Punch, Polichinelle and Guignol were usually glove puppets, not marionettes or rod puppets.  

His hump is hollowed out, likely as a receptacle for wax tapers or spills.

Sculpture of the Day: Falstaff in the Laundry, 1850

Parian Group
"The Merry Wives of Windsor"
Worcester, 1850
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Parian ware, as we know, is the unglazed development of biscuit porcelain. The medium became very popular after the Staffordshire firm of Copeland and Garrett introduced it in 1842 as a medium for busts, statuettes and reliefs.

Several different British pottery concerns marketed the medium under a different name but “Parian” remained the generic term after Minton used “Parian” to suggest Paros, the Greek island which supplied a lot the marble used for Classical statuary. Now, to be sure, Parian ware was not inexpensive, however, it was more cost effective than marble, and it gave households the appearance of owning a marble bust or figurine, previously only afforded by the very wealthy.

The Worcester firm, makers of the example we see pictured above, started their production of Parian relatively late in the game. After Worcester launched a range of Parian objects at the Dublin Exhibition in 1853, James Hadley (1837-1903), their chief modeler, created a host of new Parian objects, including the Shakespeare subjects of Lady Macbeth and King Lear. Meanwhile another Worcester modeler, William Boynton Kirk, produced a dozen figural groups based on characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

This Worcester piece, dating to about 1850, was most likely modeled by James Hadley (1837-1903) and shows the scene from The Merry Wives of Windsorwhen “Mistresses Page” and Ford humiliate Falstaff in retaliation for his amorous advances by hiding him in a laundry basket which Mrs. Ford's servants, naturally, leave in the river—as one does. The front of the base incised THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: The Boxwood Bust, 1380-1400

Bust
The Victoria & Albert Museum

From the Victoria & Albert Museum, we see a boxwood bust of a female figure with elaborate coiffure. She wears a gilt copper crown set with three red garnets (two of them faceted and one cabochon, the faceted stones are not original) and topped with five naturalistic leaf crests. The bust is displayed on a base which is also of gilt copper, supported by three seated lions . The base is set with two amethysts (originally three), which are also faceted, and therefore, are also replacements. The base contains a small cavity for a relic which would have been associated with the martyred virgin saint—whoever she was—who is depicted here. 

Boxwood figures like this one were popular from the 1350s onwards and have a sculptor to showcase his talents in a rare material which would have appealed to his wealthy patrons.

Sculpture of the Day: Hush-a-bye, Baby, 1874

Study for "The Rocking Chair"
Dalou, 1874
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Hush a bye baby on the tree top,
When the bough bends the cradle will rock. 


The above nursery rhyme is inscribed into the base of this terracotta sculpture. The piece was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 1874. The work of Aimé-Jules Dalou (1838-1902), the figure group is a study for a large marble group which was commissioned by the Duke of Westminster.

The marble group, called “The Rocking Chair,” was finished based on this terracotta study. The final piece was shown in 1875 at the Royal Academy and remains in the collection of the Dukes of Westminster.

Sculpture of the Day: A Relief of Queen Victoria, 1899

Relief of Queen Victoria
Terracotta,, 1899
Robert Wallace Martin
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923) was commissioned by the V&A to create this relief in commemoration of the laying of the foundation stone of the Victoria & Albert Museum on May 17, 1899. This event—the launch of the V&A from the South Kensington Museum—would be the last public state ceremony which the Queen attended.

Though specific to the V&A, the relief, however, didn’t come directly into possession of the then-new museum. The relief was completed and fired in 1899 and it was, then, submitted to the museum’s governors for their approval. The governors liked the likeness, but were bothered that it lacked pigment. They wanted a colored relief.

Martin threw a fit. He never took criticism well, but especially when he found it to be coming from people he thought unworthy of judging his art (which was pretty much everyone, in his estimation). He stormed out of the room with the plaque tucked under his arm and, when he returned to his studio, instructed that the relief be destroyed. Thankfully, no one listened to him and the plaque was put away. It remained at the Firm of R.W. Martin and Brothers of Southall until the dispersal of the Martin Collection at Sotheby's in October of 1924. Upon that auction, it ended up in a private collection until it was returned to the V&A by Maurice Isaacs in 1943. 

Unusual Artifacts: A Polychrome Wax Model, c. 1791

Click image to wax poetic.

Wax Model
Samuel Percy
The Victoria & Albert Museum

The work of Samuel Percy (1750-1820), this wax model was made around 1791 and was displayed in the famous Racksrow’s Museum in Fleet Street, London. At the museum, it was one of only a few models of daily life amongst a collection of mostly anatomical figures.

The scene depicts a woman with three children who are engaged in playing under an apple tree. One of the children is seated in the tree. Another catches applies in his hat and the third screams and cries because she wants an apple. A landscape of a river has been set against a painted background.

The polychrome wax scene is set into a wooden frame. 

Sculpture of the Day: A German Ivory Bust, circa 1700

Ivory Bust
German, 1700-1725
Carl August van Lücke
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This unusual sculpture as well as its plinth are both carved from ivory. The plinth has been stained to create contrast between it and the bust. Carved from a single piece of ivory, this miniature sculpture is the work of German artist Carl August van Lücke, the Younger.

The figure is tenderly sculpted with a great attention to detail. The folds, bows and ruffs of her tight corsage have the look of fabric while her skin and hair mimic the textural appearance of the real thing.

Figure of the Day: The Kändler Shepherd, 1750-55

Meissen Figure
Germany, 1750-55
The Victoria & Albert Museum

I have a special fondness for the work of the Meissen Porcelain Factory’s modeler Johann Joachim Kändler (1706-1775) who was responsible for several figures of Commedia dell’Arte characters including Pulcinella. Kändler was the genius behind many a set of figures which were designed to be brought out with the dessert course of a lavish meal.

Here’s one of his figures. This shepherd was meant to be part of a pair with a shepherdess. Idealized figures of shepherds were quite fashionable in Germany, France, Italy and Britain when this was made about 1750. The figures were never realistic, but rather showed the shepherd or shepherdess in elegant costumes.

This shepherd of hard-paste porcelain is shown playing bagpipes for his lounging sheep dog and grazing sheep. The high rococo-scrolled base is typical of Kändler’s work. Like it’s brothers, the figure is painted with enamel colors and gilt. 

Figure of the Day: A Fool's Head, the Jet Jester, 1550-1700

Spanish Jet Figure, 1550-1700
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Small figures of jet (a particularly dense type of coal which can be carved and polished) like the one pictured above, especially in Spain, were created to seems to signify that a pilgrim had completed his or her journey, and reached the shrine of St James (the patron Saint of Spain) at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. This was a trek which pilgrims made for well over the course of six hundred years, from the twelfth to the eighteenth century.


Many jet figures like this seem to have been drilled with holes to form beads for rosaries. From the earliest times, medicinal and magical qualities were assigned to jet which could be found in different parts of Europe (as well as North America).

This jet piece, which is larger than most, represents a fool's head and its precise function is uncertain. Perhaps it was the pommel of a jester's stick and may have been used during the “Feasts of Fools” when “the holiest offices and orders were made matters of the lightest jesting.”

The grinning portrait head has stylized tightly-curled hair, a large nose, wrinkled forehead and a ruff-like collar set on a bulbous base, on which are carved three shells. A smooth disc is carved on the back. It was made in Spain between 1550 and 1700.

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: Statuette of Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, 1625

Equestrian Statuette of
Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden,
Daniel Lang, 1625-1635
Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

King George III seemed to enjoy collecting things.  He amassed a rather substantial collection of unusual and attractive artifacts during his lifetime.  This equestrian statuette is a lovely example of King George’s love of fine art.  Constructed of twenty-nine individual pieces of silver which have been chased, cut or wrought depending on the texture it’s trying to duplicate, this partially gilt sculpture was made in Augsburg between 1625 and 1635 by Daniel Lang and depicts Hapsburg leader Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden. 

What’s most intriguing about this piece is that the horse’s head is removable. Without its head, an interior cask serves as a drinking vessel, albeit an awkward one. Though no one’s drinking out of it these days, this sculpture is certainly an attractive piece of art and an interesting glimpse into the kinds of things that King George III liked to have around him.

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Crown Copyright
The Royal Collection
via The Royal Collection Trust
Image Courtesy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

Object of the Day, Museum Edition: A Bust of Thomas Jefferson, 1789

Thomas Jefferson
Jean-Antoine Houdon
1789

In the U.S., it's been a celebratory weekend beginning with Valentine's Day and concluding with Presidents' Day which is something of a Bank Holiday.  

Since it is Presidents' Day, let's look at objects related to some U.S. presidents, beginning with this exceptional marble bust of Thomas Jefferson by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon.

Houdon was considered the “Sculptor of the Enlightenment” and espoused Neoclassical ideals in his crisp, attractive work. This bust of Jefferson was created in 1789 while Jefferson was still Minister to France. Today, the bust is housed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.  

The terra-cotta prototype for the bust lives at Monticello. 

While we're doing Presidents' Day things today, tomorrow, we'll revisit Valentine's Day and, especially, take a look at this year's annual Valentine's Tea as this week's Treat of the Week.  You won't want to miss that!  I think Mr. Jefferson would have enjoyed it, too.

This and all related images from
The Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Sculpture of the Day: A Parian Bust of Llewellynn Jewitt, 1879

Bust of Llewellynn Jewitt
W.H. Goss
Circa 1879
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Llewellynn Jewitt was a celebrated Nineteenth Century pioneer of ceramic history. So, fittingly, this portrait bust of Jewitt is crafted of parian. The bust rests on a turned pedestal and depicts Jewitt at the end of his life, in 1879, with his trademark long, forked beard.

Designs for the bust date to 1878. It was made by W.H. Goss in Stoke-on-Trent, England, known for its parian ware. The base is inscribed:

This bust of Llewellynn Jewitt F.S.A. etc. etc. was made expressly for presentation to his son, - Mr Edwin Augustus George Jewitt - on the occasion of his 21st birthday, the 13th October 1879, as a mark of the highest esteem for both, by their devoted friend 

--William Henry Goss

Sculpture of the Day: The Meissen Three Graces, c. 1785

The Three Graces
Meissen, 1784-1785
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This handsome figure group depicts the “Three Graces” as known from classical Greek mythology. They are called: Aglaea, Euphrosne and Thalia and they personify charm, beauty and joy (among other interpretations). These young ladies were the companions of Aphrodite, Apollo and Athena.

Made in Meissen, Germany around 1784-17855, the group of hard-paste porcelain is modeled after classical sculptures and murals depicting the subject—specifically one particular sculpture in the collection of Cardinal Borghese in Rome. The cardinal’s sculpture had been restored in the early Seventeenth Century. During this restoration, carved flowers were added to the hands. The sculpture was sketched and painted numerous times.

It is believed that the Meissen Factory’s J.E. Schenau, who ran the Meissen drawing school, sketched the design which was modeled by Christian Gotfried Jüchtzer. The group was so popular and produced in such numbers that, by 1789, the moulds had worn out and needed to be repaired by Jüchtzer. 

Sculpture of the Day: The Bronze Captive, 1660



The Victoria & Albert Museum



We see here, a captive man with manacled wrists held in front. He kneels on his left knee above a shield, quiver and arrow (symbols of his then-unattainable freedom). Regal in his feathered head-dress and skirt, he looks toward the freedom which has long been denied him.

The work of an unknown sculptor, this powerful figure of patinated bronze dates to 1660-1700 and hails from France. During this period, France colonized islands in the West Indies hoping to transform them into profitable sugar-producing centers fueled by the labor of enslaved Africans.