{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O34774"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O34774/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF8784/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BF8784/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006BF8784","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O34774/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O34774","accessionNumber":"MISC.124-1921","objectType":"Figure","titles":[{"title":"Hebe","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"This exceptionally ambitious life-size sculpture is thought to be the largest porcelain figure ever made in a single piece. It represents Hebe, the goddess of youth in Greek mythology and cup-bearer for the gods, and was modelled after a statue carved in Rome in 1816 by the Danish artist and collector Bertel Thorvaldsen, one of Europe's leading sculptors working in the neo-classical style. By the 1870s, when this figure was made, the demand for biscuit porcelain figures after famous statues was well established in Europe. Unglazed and white, biscuit was an ideal medium for the reproduction of sculptures and had maintained a steady popularity since its introduction at Vincennes, France, in the mid-eighteenth century.\r\n\tThe Danish factory of Bing & Grøndahl (founded in 1853) concentrated on fashionable and popular wares for an expanding middle-class market, producing sculptural ceramics in the classical or Renaissance style, in keeping with the European taste for historicism. A popular staple of the Danish porcelain industry in the nineteenth century, Thorvaldsen biscuit replicas also reached the international market. They could be made in series, relatively inexpensively, and thus sold to a much wider public. Bing & Grøndahl manufactured this figure of Hebe in three different sizes. The two smaller sizes were first produced in 1862, and this version, which has the same dimensions as Thorvaldsen's original, is believed to be the only example in this size. It was made for the International Exhibition of 1871, held in London, and was probably intended as a unique showpiece.","physicalDescription":"Figure of Hebe in unglazed biscuit porcelain. She wears a loosely gathered dress in Grecian style, and carries a bowl in her right hand, a jug in her left.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Schjeltved, C.O.A.","id":"A3547"},"association":{"text":"modeller","id":"AAT25417"},"note":"attributed"}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Bing & Grøndahl","id":"A3546"},"association":{"text":"manufacturer","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"biscuit","id":"AAT242297"},{"text":"porcelain","id":"AAT10662"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Biscuit porcelain, unglazed","categories":[{"text":"Ceramics","id":"THES48982"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"CER","id":"THES48594"},"images":["2006BF8784"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"145 (VA)","id":"THES49865"},"free":"","case":"52","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Copenhagen","id":"x32462"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1871","earliest":"1871-01-01","latest":"1871-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"MA/1/R1884/2","id":"ARC180380"},"association":"Archive record"}],"creditLine":"Given by H. M. Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Weight","value":"63","unit":"kg","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"137.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"54","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Modelled after Thorvaldsen's statue made in Rome in 1816, this figure was made in three different sizes by Bing & Grøndahl. The first two smaller sizes were first made in 1862. This, the largest size, believed to be the only example produced and the same size as the original sculpture, was made for the international exhibition of 1871 held in London. It was acquired by Her Majesty's Commissioners and subsequently given to the Museum.","historicalContext":"Thorvaldsen's sculpture of Hebe was also copied by Royal Copenhagen from 1846.","briefDescription":"Figure of Hebe in unglazed biscuit porcelain, modelled by C.O.A. Schjeltved after an original by Bertel Thorvaldsen, made by Bing and Grøndahl, Copenhagen, 1871","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Liefkes, Reino and Hilary Young, eds. <u>Masterpieces of World Ceramics.</u>. London: V & A Publishing, 2008. pp. 118 -119, ill. ISBN 9781 851 775279."},{"reference":{"text":"Siemen, Wilhelm, <i>All Nations are Welcome : Porzellan der Weltausstellungen 1851 bis 1910</i>, Dusseldorf, 2002","id":"AUTH347300"},"details":"p.23, Cat. 16","free":""}],"production":"Modelled after a statue of Hebe made by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844) in Rome.\n\nAttribution note: probably","productionType":{"text":"Unique","id":"THES48864"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Hebe","id":"N196"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"bowl","id":"AAT203596"},{"text":"jug","id":"AAT45685"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"'American and European Art and Design 1800-1900'\r\n\r\nModelled after Thorvaldsen's statue made in Rome in 1816, this figure was made in three different sizes by Bing & Grøndahl. The first two smaller sizes were first made in 1862. This, the largest size, believed to be the only example produced and the same size as the original sculpture, was made for the international exhibition of 1871 held in London. It was acquired by Her Majesty's Commissioners and subsequently given to the Museum. Thorvaldsen's statue of Hebe was also copied by Royal Copenhagen from 1846.","date":{"text":"1987-2006","earliest":"1987-01-01","latest":"2006-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["MISC.124-1921"],"accessionNumberNum":"124","accessionNumberPrefix":"MISC","accessionYear":1921,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"H.M.C. Loan no.","id":"THES57872"},"number":"HMC.7"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LP5478","2019LT5858","2019LU1491"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-06","recordCreationDate":"2000-04-04","availableToBook":false}}