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Duck
Made at: Bow Manufactory (England)
English
about 1775
Object Place: Europe, England
Medium/Technique
Soft-paste porcelain decorated in polychrome enamels
Dimensions
13 x 12 cm (5 1/8 x 4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Rita and Frits Markus
Accession Number1985.81
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
DescriptionThe figures were press-molded and therefore are relatively heavy. Each duck is standing on a pad base with a central pedestal supporting the body. On the front of each pedestal, between the duck's legs, is a rose, with leaves, modeled in high relief, behind the left leg of no. 77a and the right leg of no. 77b are four leaves applied in quatrefoil pattern. No. 77a has its head turned to the left and its bill tucked beneath its wing. The bill and the legs are orange; much of the color on the bill seems to have worn off (?), as has some of that on the legs. The claws are black, and there are black stripes on the legs. The eyes are black, encircled with orange. The body is colored in shades of gray and brown, with black and dark brown used to define the feathers. The rose is yellow, the leaves green with black veins, and two leafy patches of green with black outlining are at the edge of the mound. The simulated mark, slightly in relief but smaller than the Chelsea mark, is on the pedestal under the tail.
No. 77b, which has an upright head, is distinguished by a narrow white crescent below the bill. The head and neck have black feathers, as does the tail, while the body and wings are light brown with darker detailing. Both the bill and the legs are black. The eyes have black on yellow pupils and are outlined in orange. The rose between the legs is a salmon color, and the leaves are green with black veining. The mark, which is similar to that on no. 77a, is also under the tail. Both ducks have suffered considerably from fire cracks, some masked by the enamels and by the crazing of the glassy glaze, which is greenish where it has pooled.
No. 77b, which has an upright head, is distinguished by a narrow white crescent below the bill. The head and neck have black feathers, as does the tail, while the body and wings are light brown with darker detailing. Both the bill and the legs are black. The eyes have black on yellow pupils and are outlined in orange. The rose between the legs is a salmon color, and the leaves are green with black veining. The mark, which is similar to that on no. 77a, is also under the tail. Both ducks have suffered considerably from fire cracks, some masked by the enamels and by the crazing of the glassy glaze, which is greenish where it has pooled.
Marks
(1) on base, in red enamel: an anchor within an oval, simulating Chelsea
ProvenanceJuly 23, 1953, Christie's, London, lot 36; June, 1956, purchased in New York by Rita and Frits Markus, New York and Chatham, MA; 1985, gift of Rita and Frits Markus to the MFA. (Accession Date: February 27, 1985)