A rare Derby biscuit figure of Admiral Lord Howe, circa...
A rare Derby biscuit figure of Admiral Lord Howe, circa 1795
Modelled standing look to his right, resting one hand on a cannon, a spyglass in the other, a shield and a sextant to one side of the naturalistic base, 28.4cm high, patch marks, incised crown, crossed batons and D marks, 'N 384' and repairer's mark
The large-scale British victory over the French on the 'Glorious First of June' was celebrated as Lord Howe's finest moment. Just weeks afterwards, in July 1794 correspondence between Derby's proprietor William Duesbury II and Joseph Lygo, manager of the factory's London warehouse, show that the former requested an image of the war hero so that a statuette could be modelled and put into production. In a series of letters Lygo recalls advice given by Lady Howe that they should use the portrait by John Singleton Copley, in her opinion 'the only good likeness there is' of her husband. Duesbury received a print of the portrait that October but in the meantime the modeller, most likely William Coffee, was able to start the figure from helpful descriptions forwarded by Lygo; 'My Lord Howe is a strong Bony man I think full six feet high and carries very little flesh'. See also Brian Bicknell's discussion on the modeller being Coffee rather than Stephan as previously suggested, The Derby Porcelain International Society Newsletter, No.28 (1993), pp.4-9.
A coloured and gilt example of the figure is in the Collection at Upton Park, Warwickshire, inv.no. NT446215. Model number 384 was identified in 1898 by William Bemrose as 'Lord Howe'.
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A rare Derby biscuit figure of Admiral Lord Howe, circa 1795
Modelled standing look to his right, resting one hand on a cannon, a spyglass in the other, a shield and a sextant to one side of the naturalistic base, 28.4cm high, patch marks, incised crown, crossed batons and D marks, 'N 384' and repairer's mark
The large-scale British victory over the French on the 'Glorious First of June' was celebrated as Lord Howe's finest moment. Just weeks afterwards, in July 1794 correspondence between Derby's proprietor William Duesbury II and Joseph Lygo, manager of the factory's London warehouse, show that the former requested an image of the war hero so that a statuette could be modelled and put into production. In a series of letters Lygo recalls advice given by Lady Howe that they should use the portrait by John Singleton Copley, in her opinion 'the only good likeness there is' of her husband. Duesbury received a print of the portrait that October but in the meantime the modeller, most likely William Coffee, was able to start the figure from helpful descriptions forwarded by Lygo; 'My Lord Howe is a strong Bony man I think full six feet high and carries very little flesh'. See also Brian Bicknell's discussion on the modeller being Coffee rather than Stephan as previously suggested, The Derby Porcelain International Society Newsletter, No.28 (1993), pp.4-9.
A coloured and gilt example of the figure is in the Collection at Upton Park, Warwickshire, inv.no. NT446215. Model number 384 was identified in 1898 by William Bemrose as 'Lord Howe'.
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