This intricate ceramic sculpture has a shiny white glaze and a tall, narrow, circular shape. It is divided into two separate pieces: a small, pierced, round stand and a tall, narrow sculpture. The stand is formed from a circle of white ceramic leaves that interconnect. The lower of two garlands that make up the stand alternates leaves with four identical heads. The heads are used as feet for the stand. They have flowing beards, long hair, and wide open mouths. The stand is pierced with irregular open holes. Fitting into the stand is a large root ball of earth with a tall column of grape vines emerging from it. Large roots in the earth turn into thick twisting vines that reach up high over a woman’s head. Flowers peek from the top of the vine and from the surface of the ground where a little girl plays. Her mother sits on a stool next to her holding a sleeping baby wrapped in a blanket on her lap. The mother and baby are bare headed but the toddler wears a large lace trimmed bonnet. The little girl picks grapes and looks down at the blooming flowers below her bare feet. The mother wears a simple dress with a U necked bodice and lace trim and a cross on a chain around her neck.
Italian
Mother and Children Figure-Group and Stand,
19th century
Creamware (glazed earthenware)
,
33 cm (13 in.)
Object details
Accession number
C18s11.a-b
Primary Creator
Italian
Full title
Mother and Children Figure-Group and Stand
Creation Date
19th century
Provenance
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection at an unknown date.
Dimensions
33 cm (13 in.)
Display Media
Creamware (glazed earthenware)
Web Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.
Permanent Gallery Location
Little Salon
Bibliography
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 147. (as probably French, dated 18th century)
Rollin van N. Hadley. “Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 8, no. 29 (21 Mar. 1965), p. 2.
Rights and reproductions
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Isabella Stewart Gardner kept meticulous records of many of her acquisitions. In keeping with this legacy, object information is continually being reviewed, updated, and enriched in order to give greater access to the collection.