Prince of Wales (later George III)
Vauxhall Porcelain Factory
Category
Ceramics
Date
1751 - 1752
Materials
soft paste porcelain
Measurements
267 x 195 x 117 mm
Place of origin
Vauxhall
Order this imageCollection
Wimpole, Cambridgeshire
NT 205097
Summary
Bust of the Prince of Wales (later George III), soft paste porcelain, head turned half right, wearing wig with curls at side and long in back tied with a bow, shirt tight at the neck and ruffled down the front, coat with garter star half hidden by riband, and drapery extending from right shoulder across chest, the attached plinth with bowed front flairs out toward the base and features the crown and tri-feathers of the Prince of Wales, probably Vauxhall Porcelain Factory, London, 1751-2; left in the white.
Full description
This is one of only three known examples of this exceptionally rare model – all are in public collections. The bust at Wimpole and another at Colonial Williamsburg (ref. 1962-77) are undecorated, or left 'in the white.' The third, in the Willett Collection (Brighton Museum & Art Gallery) is decorated with overglaze enamels. The bust is important as a large-scale, ambitious piece of early English sculptural porcelain, made during the earliest years of the Vauxhall Porcelain Factory in London. It was presumably made to commemorate the Prince’s creation in 1751. The technical challenge of producing the bust is evident in the firing cracks and flaws that are visible on the object. The Vauxhall factory was known through documentary evidence, but objects were not attributable to the factory with confidence until excavations were carried out in the 1980s, enabling objects to be compared with recovered sherds. The first soapstone licence (which was needed for making porcelain) was taken out by Nicholas Crisp and his partner John Sanders in 1751. Large quantities of clay and soapstone were obtained in 1751-2 and the manufactory’s earliest known advert was placed in the Public Advertiser in 1753, claiming: ‘a strong and useful Manufacture of Porcelaine ware made there of English Materials. Attempts, lately made in England for establishing a Manufactory of Porcelain in Imitation of the Ware of China, gives Reason to hope, that this Design will still continue to be carried on, till it arrive at its due Degree of Perfection.’ The bust is well documented within historic ceramics literature, featuring in important publications and exhibitions while still with its previous owner, Mrs Dora Radford. Radford was the first president of the English Ceramic Circle and an important collector of ceramics. The bust's attribution has been debated and it was, for a time, thought to have been made at Chelsea and modelled by the sculptor Louis-François Roubillac.
Provenance
Part of the Bambridge Collection. The hall and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust in 1976 by Mrs Elsie Bambridge (1896-1976)
Marks and inscriptions
unmarked
Makers and roles
Vauxhall Porcelain Factory, manufacturer
References
Beddoe 2015: Stella Beddoe, A Potted History: Henry Willett’s Ceramic Chronicle of Britain Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 2015, cat. 032, p. 19 Boulay 2002: Anthony du Boulay, 'English Ceramics in National Trust Houses' in 'English Ceramic Circle Transactions', Vol. 18, Part 1, 2002., fig. 14 Blunt, 1925: Reginald Blunt, The Cheyne Book of Chelsea China and Pottery, Houghton Mifflin Company: London and New York, p. 130, fplate I, ig. 212 King, 1922: William King, Chelsea Porcelain, 1922, London: Benn Brothers Limited, p. 38, pl. 15 Esdaile 1928 K. A. Esdaile, The Life and Works of Louis François Roubiliac, Oxford and London, 1928, pp. 80-1, plate 20 Roe 1934: F. Gordon Roe, ‘Lested Lodge Well Walk Hampstead’ The Antique Collector, August 1934, pp. 188-192, p. 192