Oil lamp
Wedgwood
Category
Ceramics
Date
circa 1775
Materials
Black basalt
Place of origin
Etruria
Order this imageCollection
Vyne Estate, Hampshire
NT 718620
Summary
Tripod oil lamp. Black basalt with moulded decoration supported on three female terms, with three figures of women surrounding the cover. Wedgwood and Bentley, c.1775.
Full description
A rare unmarked Wedgwood and Bentley black basalt tripod lamp, c.1775, after the gilt-metal tripod perfume burner, c.1760, designed by James ‘Athenian’ Stuart (1713–88) for Sir Nathaniel Curzon (1726–1804), of Kedleston, Derbyshire (now owned by the National Trust) : the antique form is a descendent of vessels used for receiving oblations in temples (Soros, 2006, pp.468-80; Reilly, 1995, p.146). Wedgwood may have known of ‘Mr. Stuart’s Tripod’ or the copy by Matthew Boulton produced in 1771 for William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (1737–1805) (Goodison, 1999, pp.71-76). The same rinceaux border and the three seated sybils supporting the palm-finial on The Vyne model appear on “Michelangelo lamps”, c.1780 and later (VAM, 4790&A-1901; and Brooklyn Museum, 55.25.3a-b).
Makers and roles
Wedgwood, maker after James 'Athenian' Stuart (1713 - 1788), designer
References
Soros, 2006: James ‘Athenian’ Stuart 1713-1788: the rediscovery of antiquity. Ed. Susan Weber Soros. Published for the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture ... by Yale University Press, [2006]., pp.468-480 Reilly 1995: Robin Reilly, Wedgwood: The New Illustrated Dictionary (Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club, 1995), p.146 Goodison 1999: Nicholas Goodison, Matthew Boulton: Ormolu (London, Christies, 1999), pp.71-76.