A PAIR OF DERBY WHITE FIGURES OF MILTON AND SHAKESPEARE

Details

A PAIR OF DERBY WHITE FIGURES OF MILTON AND SHAKESPEARE
CIRCA 1790, INCISED N^O 297 AND N^O 395

Each modelled standing beside a pedestal, Milton with his left arm resting on a stack of books atop a pedestal moulded with The Expulsion after Burgess used as an illustration for his epic poem Paradise Lost, Shakespeare in a similar but opposing pose after a model by Scheemaker for the monument in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey, chips to the edge of Shakespeare's scroll and nicks to the base, kiln spitting to both
10in. (25.4cm.) high (2)

Lot Essay

The portraits of Milton and Shakespeare, originally modelled on rocaille bases circa 1758, were reworked circa 1790 in the more-fashionable neo-classic taste. The rocaille bases were replaced with the square fluted bases seen on the present examples. Cf. John Twitchett, Derby Porcelain, London, 1980, fig. 122.