Solurnan
Johan (John) Anders Lundqvist (1882-1972)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1930
Materials
Cast iron
Measurements
562 x 660 mm
Place of origin
Sweden
Order this imageCollection
Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire
NT 515118
Summary
Cast iron, Solurnan, designed by Johan Anders Lundqvist (1882-1972), cast by the Näfveqvarn Foundry, Sweden, 1930. The Solurnan, 'Sun Urn' in Swedish, depicts scenes from the life of the sun god Apollo and was designed in 1930 by the Swedish modernist sculptor John Lundqvist. Mounted on stone block. Scenes cast in relief show Apollo as an infant with his sister Diana and mother Leto; a Hyperborean worshiping the sun; Apollo seated by a river playing the lyre before a muse or Daphne, daughter of the river god Peneus; a winged Daphne metamorphosing into a tree; Diana, as a floating female head in the sky surrounded by a crescent moon and stars, or Coronis, lover of Apollo whose adultery was revealed by a white raven, represented by the bird flying towards the floating female head, stars, and moon which in turn represent Coronis' metamorphosis into the constellation Corvus; Apollo the Shepherd sitting under a sacred bay tree; Mercury, brother of Apollo.
Provenance
Bequeathed to the National Trust by Huttleston Rogers Broughton, 1st Lord Fairhaven (1896-1966) with the house and the rest of the contents.
Credit line
Anglesey Abbey, The Fairhaven Collection (The National Trust)
Makers and roles
Johan (John) Anders Lundqvist (1882-1972), sculptor Näfvekvarns styckebruk , founder