Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Liberty (c. 1775): Art, History and Details

Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Liberty (c. 1775) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Derby Porcelain Factory (Chelsea-Derby Period, 1770–84).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This allegorical figure depicts a shepherd dressed in richly patterned garments. Here the figure (Liberty) is accompanied by a dog and a bird that perches on his outstretched arm. An accompanying figure, a shepherdess (Matrimony) holds a birdcage in one hand and subtly directs the viewer’s gaze toward the sheep resting nearby with the other.

Object facts

• Title: Candelabrum Depicting an Allegorical Figure of Liberty
• Date: c. 1775
• Creator attribution: Derby Porcelain Factory (Chelsea-Derby Period, 1770–84)
• Culture: England, London, Chelsea
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: soft-paste porcelain
• Dimensions: Overall: 32.4 x 25.6 x 14.2 cm (12 3/4 x 10 1/16 x 5 9/16 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1917.627.2

A detail from the museum

The canopy of foliage surrounding these figures was inspired by the arbors popular in theatrical stage designs during the mid-1700s.

Collection credit

Bequest of Mary Warden Harkness

Further reading listed by the museum

• "Bequest of Mrs. Charles W. Harkness." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 4, no. 4 (1917): 63.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.