Britannia mourning the death of the Prince of Wales

Dateca. 1751

Maker St. James's Factory

Maker Charles Gouyn

OriginEngland, London

MediumPorcelain, Soft-paste

DimensionsH: 7 1/4"; L: 6 1/4"; W: 4 1/4"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1962-84

DescriptionSoft-paste porcelain figure of a young woman, resembling Britannia (symbolic representation of Great Britain). She sits upon a sphere. Her clothing resembles classical style robes. In her right hand she holds a kerchief to her eyes. There is a single tear on her left cheek. Her left arm is extended to support a large, oval medallion with a profile portrait of a man in relief. The man has been identified as Frederick, Prince of Wales (1707-1751). By her right side, there is a recumbent lion. No color has been applied.

Label TextA most important figure in the St. James Factory group, this Britannia can be very closely dated: logically it would have been made only shortly after the death of Frederick, son of George II and father of George III, in 1751. The sloping position of Britannia's body is quite typical of St. James figures. The medallion of Frederick that she holds appears to have been taken from a wax relief probably made by the Huguenot artist Isaac Gosset. The lion, perhaps cast from a bronze figure, is found alone in an unidentified porcelain paste. There are four recorded examples of this model; the earliest, in the British Museum, has a different lion that fits better on the base. All four figures, two in America and two in England, are in the white. The other three have a shield of the Union Jack at the right leg that is missing on Colonial Williamsburg's example.
InscribedNo
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceEx coll: M.G. Kaufman, Chicago

Exhibition(s)