Hera

Wedgwood

1875-1900

  • Titles Hera (Descriptive)
  • Artist Wedgwood, England, est. 1759
  • Medium stoneware (jasperware)
  • Dimensions 7 1/2 × 4 × 1/4 in. (19.1 × 10.2 × 0.6 cm)
  • Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; The Buten Wedgwood Collection, gift through the Wedgwood Society of New York, AFI.1302.2011
  • Work Type plaque
  • Classification Plaques

See More of the Collection

Keith Murray designed creamware pitcher, Murray shape 4193, with printed commemorative imagery in blue ink. The pitcher is barrel shaped with a handle and spout. Three engine-turned bands encircle the foot. Imagery on the body commemorates the coronation of King Edward VIII, and includes a large image, below the spout, of the royal coat of arms held by a monkey on the left and a unicorn on the right. The year 1937 appears above the image. Below the image reads: DIEU ET MON DROIT. To the left of the monkey appears text, reading top to bottom: Coronation; ER; DEI : GRA; BRITT; OMN : REX. On the right, text: EDWARD VIII; ER; FID : DEF; IND : IMP.
Large black basalt figure of a nude, sleeping infant representing Somnus, God of Sleep, son of Night and twin brother of Death; Somnus sleeps peacefully on a rocky base that is draped with a cloth, his right leg is stretched out, his left leg is bent at the knee, and his small wings are draped casually to his right side; Somnus’ head is tilted slightly to the left, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open, his right arm is raised and with bent elbow, rests lightly on his head, his left arm is bent and lays at his side, his left hand clutches a bouquet of sleep-inducing poppies, a common attribute of the God of Sleep, who was considered a benefactor to man, giving the weary rest and sufferers alleviation of their pain.
Vase with a cylindrical form that flares out to a flat ridge, then tapers in and has a flared lip. The vase's exterior is decorated with alternating areas of brown and beige, with the bottom brown area decorated with dark brown spots. The middle of the vase's exterior is decorated with horizontal thin, impressed lines that appear almost scratched into the form. There are similar impressed lines around the lip of the vase, under the ridge, and along the base. The vase's interior is glazed dark green but the glaze does not continue to the bottom of the vase.
Solid light blue jasper bulb pot with applied white jasper relief decoration, the round foot decorated with acanthus leaves with beading at the joint, the lower body with stiff leaf motifs against a stippled ground, and a band of small reliefs including trophies, musical instruments, masks and acanthus leaves around the waist, the main body with the scene of Apollo and the Nine Muses in a landscape likewise against a stippled ground, the protruding lip with gadrooning, the inset cover fitment of solid light blue jasper with a darker blue jasper dip with a molded mossy ground with flowers and three large holes to support three inserts to hold bulbs, each in the form of a leafy stem.