The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Firedog

Firedog

c. 1785
gilt bronze
Overall: 50.3 x 46.3 x 14 cm (19 13/16 x 18 1/4 x 5 1/2 in.)
The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection 1944.126.2
Location: 202 French Neoclassical Decorative Arts

Description

Although Louis Jean Desprez’s design was largely inspired by tombs in southern Italy, he added sphinxes in his print Tomb with Sphinx due to his fascination with ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptians saw the sphinx, a half-human, half-lion mythological creature, as a protector of tombs and temples. The pair of andirons, decorative supports for a hearth’s firewood, alongside Tomb with Sphinx, highlight the growing interest in Egyptomania during the 1700s. Interestingly, the andirons portray ancient Greek and Roman interpretations of the sphinx. Most Europeans learned of ancient Egypt by studying Egyptomania in ancient Roman and Greek art and architecture or Egyptian antiquities brought over by the Romans.
  • Marquis of Hertford, Paris; Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss, Cleveland Heights, Ohio.
  • Catalogue of the Elisabeth Severance Prentiss collection : bequest of Elisabeth Severance Prentiss, 1944. [Cleveland]: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1944. Mentioned: p. 61; reproduced: p. 60; cat. no. 43 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 157 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 157 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 189 archive.org
  • Egyptomania: Fashion's Conflicted Obsession. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 1, 2023-January 28, 2024).
    Neo-classicism: Style and Motif. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer).
  • {{cite web|title=Firedog|url=false|author=|year=c. 1785|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1944.126.2