Rare Bronze Glazed Staffordshire Pottery Male Nude Figure of a Triton made by Wood and Caldwell after a bronze by John Flaxman 1755-1826, first quarter of the Nineteenth Century.
The figure is seated on a rocky outcrop holding a Cornucopia which is mounted with a decorative patinated bronze removable single candle holder.
Height: (entire overall as shown in image one) 10” (25.25cm). Width: (at base) 4” (10.255cm). Depth: (at base) 4" (10.25cm).
Condition: Good condition for such an early piece. No evidence of any restoration. This piece is unmarked.
Location: Dublin City, Ireland.
Worldwide Store to door shipping.
Enoch Wood (1759-1840) had, from about 1784, been working for himself but on 1st January 1791 Enoch went into partnership with James Caldwell (1760-1838) and construction began immediately on a much larger factory. While Enoch Wood was to concentrate on the running of the actual pottery, it would appear that James Caldwell, bringing a very different but complementary mix of skills, worked outside the company. James Caldwell was a man of many hats. He was a lawyer and a businessman, was a very close friend of Josiah Wedgwood and was widely known by many people in the Staffordshire potting community. In addition he was already considerably well off and was able to invest significant funds to help the firm to grow and prosper. This partnership of Potter and Lawyer was to last for 27 years up until July 1818 when James Caldwell (approx. 58 years of age) retired from the partnership.
John Flaxman R.A. 1755-1826. British Sculptor and Draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood’s pottery. He spent several years in Rome, where he produced his first book illustrations