Stock No.16068

A Parian Ware group of Ariadne and the Panther, after the marble sculpture by Johann Heinrich Dannecker, which was one of the most renowned works of sculpture of the nineteenth-century, drawing huge crowds to view it in Frankfurt, in the "Ariadneum" built solely for its display. It depicts the Cretan princess Ariadne, wife of the god of wine Dionysus (identified by her crown of vine leaves), seated on a panther in a relaxed pose. The panther was a creature associated with the god of wine.

English, c.1860. Although this example of Parian Ware is unmarked it is the same model produced by Minton & Co in 1847 until the 1860s for Summerly’s Art Manufactures. The model - by John Bell (1811-1895) was available as tourist souvenirs.

Provenance: Coleridge Collection. Anthony Coleridge was well-known in auction circles, a Director of Christie's as well as Chairman and later President of Christie’s South Kensington. He was a keen collector, not just of furniture, but in particular of works of art and ceramics, and he looked after his collection meticulously and recorded it in considerable detail.

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