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171. Flora & Pomona |
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Enamel-painted Figures
171.14a-b. Figures related to Flora in fig. 171.14
171.14a. This is the title Flora mentioned in the caption to 171.14. It is attributed to Swansea by the Fitzwilliam Museum, where it resides. I am not sure if there was perhaps once a floral garland in her hands, rather than a cup. Courtesy the FItzwilliam Museum Cambridge.
171.14b. Flora, pearlware. Courtesy Pocelainbiz.
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171.14b-d. Above is a pearlware Flora, almost identical to the porcelain model below. Courtesy Porcelainbiz.
Soft-paste porcelain figure in the same style and perhaps form the same molds. Courtesy the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
171.14e. A pearlware version, very like the porcelain one immediately above. Courtesy Martyn Edgell.
171.16a-c. Figure related to Flora in 171.16.
The very fine figure below is like Pomona in 171.16 but she has grown wings. Note the blue line bands only three sides of the base. The body is slightly more porcelaneous than most, as I have noted on other figures in this style. Ralph Wood worked in various materials, and it is possible that he made this lovely figure. Images are courtesy of Andrew Dando.
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171.33-34. Farnese Flora
171.33. Farnese Flora. Made by Ralph Wedgwood and impressed "WEDGWOOD & CO." H:19.5"
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171.34. Base of figure showing impressed WEDGWOOD mark.
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Figures marked WEDGWOOD are thought to have been made by Ralph Wedgwood, a nephew of Josiah Wedgwood who operated his own manufactory. But rather than being marked WEDGWOOD in the manner of most of his other marked figures, this figure is marked WEDGWOOD & CO. Ralph Wedgwood used this very mark for the brief period that he worked at a pottery in Knottingley, West Yorkshire. The Knottingley Pottery commenced in 1793 under the name Tomlinson, Foster and Co. In June 1798, Ralph Wedgwood joined that Knottingley partnership, which was promptly renamed Tomlinson, Foster, Wedgwood and Co.–any smart businessman would have wanted to add the famed Wedgwood name to the firm’s letterhead. Ralph had lots of new ideas, but alas the partnership did not have the capital to support them, so it was dissolved a mere eighteen months later. This figure dates from that eighteen month period spanning 1798 and 1799. Being able to be able to date a figure with such precision is most gratifying. This is the only known pottery figure of Farnese Flora.
This beautiful figure portrays the marble figure known as Farnese Flora. Farnese Flora entered modern history in 1540, when she was found in Rome--or at least her body was, for her head, arms, feet, and plinth are relatively modern additions. She was placed in an unrestored condition in the Palazzo Faranese in Rome, alongside a statue of a female figure holding fruit and flowers. The two ladies were thought to be muses, but the figure with the fruit and flowers was renamed Flora. Then, some time between 1550 and 1561, the damaged figure was restored to be Flora too--the pair of Floras was probably intended as companions for a pair of Hercules figures in the palace’s courtyard. Either at that time or at a somewhat later date, restorers retooled one side of the chiton to expose the right breast, creating a sensual affects that enhanced the statue’s erotic appeal. Eighteenth-century critics later suggested the restoration as Flora had been incorrect and speculated that the figure should have been one of the Muses or Hours, or perhaps Hope, or Victory, but faced with no convincing evidence, Flora she remained. Today she can be seen in Naples’s Museo Nazionale, still known as Farnese Flora but described as a Roman copy of a Greek marble of Aphrodite.
Over the centuries, Farnese Flora has been much admired for her proverbial beauty, and in particular the exquisite drapery. At around eleven feet tall, her grace and delicacy contrast sharply with her enormity. She has been drawn and copied at reduced scales in materials as varied as ivory, terracotta, marble, lead, and bronze. Most famous is John Michael Rysbrack’s life-size marble copy created in the eighteenth century for the Pantheon at Stourhead. Of interest to ceramics collectors are the soft-paste porcelain figures of Farnese Flora that the Bow factory made in the 1760-65 period, after a reduced plaster that may have derived from the terracotta model Rysbrack’ created for his Stourhead statue. Perhaps the Bow figure or a plaster guided and inspired Ralph Wedgwood’s work.
Today, Farnes Flora looks quite different. That’s because in around 1796, her restored body parts were replaced, and she acquired a new and different head. Also, her left arm and hand holding a garland were replaced; the new hand, positioned differently, now holds a posy, which to my eye looks quite awkward.
171.35. Pearlware Farnese Flora. No information as to whether it is marked.
Soft-paste porcelain Farnese Flora, made by Bow c.1760-65. Courtesey Woolley & Wallis
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Reduced-scale copy of Farnese Flora at Stourhead, showing the statue as it looked prior to re-restoration c.1796.
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Farnese Flora as she looks today.
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