Description:
Field Marshall Sir Henry Seymour Conway (1721-1795) is immortalized in this Derby porcelain figure. Conway gained favor in America by his support of reformist politician John Wilkes and his criticism of Britain’s efforts to impose taxes upon her North American colonies. His popularity in America grew considerably as evidenced by the number of towns named in his honor, including Conway, Massachusetts.
The Derby Factory produced the figure of Conway as a mate to an earlier c. 1764 version of the John Wilkes figure, which also sat upon a Rococo-style scroll base. The figures’ similar bases and poses would have made them an aesthetically pleasing and like-minded pair. Both decorated and undecorated versions of the Conway and Wilkes figures are known to exist. However, undecorated Derby figures, like this example, are considerably rarer. Figure in soft-paste porcelain undecorated or "left in the white" of Field Marshal Sir Henry Seymour Conway standing on a rococo scrolled base with a cupid at his feet supporting a shield; he wears a semi-military costume with a baton in his right hand, and his left hand rests on a cannon, behind which are two standards Condition: Foot of cupid is broken off
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2021.23.4 |
