Collection Online as of June 1, 2023

Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Matrimony

c. 1775

Part of a set. See all set records

maker

Derby Porcelain Factory

(Chelsea-Derby Period, 1770–84)

England, London, Chelsea

Soft-paste porcelain

Overall: 31.1 x 25.7 x 15.6 cm (12 1/4 x 10 1/8 x 6 1/8 in.)

Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness 1917.627.1

Location

203A British Painting and Decorative Arts

Fun Fact

The canopy of foliage surrounding these figures was inspired by the arbors popular in theatrical stage designs during the mid-1700s.

Description

This allegorical figure depicts a shepherdess dressed in richly patterned garments. Here the figure (Matrimony) holds a birdcage in one hand and subtly directs the viewer’s gaze toward the sheep resting nearby with the other. An accompanying figure, a shepherd (Liberty) is joined by a dog and a bird that perches on his outstretched arm.

Derby Porcelain Factory

the Chelsea-Derby period began in 1770, when William Duesbury, one of the owners of the Derby Factory, acquried the Chelsea factory, and lasted until he closed it in 1784. During these years the products of both factories bore the same mark.

Provenance

?-1916

Mary Warden Harkness [1864-1916], New York, NY, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art

1917-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

"Bequest of Mrs. Charles W. Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 4 (1917): 63. www.jstor.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
Only Candelabrum with Shepherd and Dog (1917.627.2) reproduced. Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 11 archive.org

The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.
Only Candelabrum with Shepherd and Dog (1917.627.2) reproduced. Reproduced: p. 10 archive.org

Milliken, William Mathewson. "European Porcelains Bequeathed by Mary Warden Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 2 (February 1928): 57-59. www.jstor.org

Exhibition history

No legacy exhibitions.

Art of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 9-December 2, 1934).

British Gallery Reinstallation (June 2020). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).