{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O369662"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O369662/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O369662","accessionNumber":"W.13-1953","objectType":"Figure","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"This figure of the Roman goddess Minerva (the goddess of wisdom) is paired with a figure of the Roman god Mars (the god of war) (Museum no. W.14-1953).  They were carved in the Southern Netherlands in about 1700, probably for use in a large public building.  Similar figures representing such concepts as 'Government' or 'Justice' are known. When they came to Britain is not known, but the donor recorded the story that they came from Ansley Hall in Warwickshire, where they formed part of a chimneypiece.  As Ansley was originally an eighteenth-century house, it is likely that these formed part of an antiquarian chimneypiece put into the house in the nineteenth century. ","physicalDescription":"A figure of Minerva, carved in oak, in the round. Minerva wears Roman armour and a plumed helmet.  She carries an oval shield on her left arm and a spear (carved separately) in her right hand.  The figure is mounted on a five-sided ebonised plinth, with moulded top and bottom edges, which is a later addition. The thumb of her right hand was replaced after the figure came to the museum.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oak","id":"AAT12264"}],"techniques":[{"text":"carving","id":"AAT53149"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Carved oak","categories":[{"text":"Sculpture","id":"THES48896"},{"text":"Interiors","id":"THES48933"},{"text":"Myths & Legends","id":"THES49005"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341880"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"001","id":"THES341880"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Figure","id":"x42725"}],[{"text":"Spear","id":"AAT37038"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Southern Netherlands","id":"x28742"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1700-1710","earliest":"1700-01-01","latest":"1710-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"W.14-1953","id":"O369661"},"association":"Pair"}],"creditLine":"Given by Mrs Katharine Agar","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"167","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/02/1993","earliest":"1993-02-19","latest":"1993-02-19"},"part":"figure","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"65","unit":"","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"19/02/1993","earliest":"1993-02-19","latest":"1993-02-19"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"plinth","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"39","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"plinth","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"32","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"plinth","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Noted in conservation report.","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"This figure and its companion figure of Mars (W.14-1953), are said to have come from the overmantel ofthe ballroom at Ansley Hall, Warwickshire, the home of the Newdigate-Ludford family (according to the donor). As Ansley was an earlier house, modified at different dates, it is likely that these figures were part of a nineteenth-century antiquarian scheme of decoration.\n\nThey were purchased by an uncle of the donor (John Hill Page, who died in 1889), when Ansley had to be abandone because of mining operations. Mr Page bequeather them to Mrs Agar's family. The donor recorded that they had been examined by Mr Walter Mulliner of the New York dealers Haydon & Co. some years before they were donated.  He believed the figures to be English (notes from Nominal File MA/1/A207)\n\nThe pair of figures were lent to The County Museum Warwick from 1967 to 1980 (Nominal File MA/1/W670)\n\n\n","historicalContext":"As Ansley was an earlier house, modified at different dates, it is likely that these figures were part of a nineteenth-century antiquarian scheme of decoration.","briefDescription":"Figure of Minerva in carved oak, Southern Netherlands, 1700-1710. Said to have come from Ansley Hall, Warwickshire.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[{"text":"Ansley Hall, Warwickshire","id":"THES250164"}],"contentPerson":[{"text":"Minerva","id":"N23"}],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["W.13:1-1953","W.13:2-1953"],"accessionNumberNum":"13","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":1953,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Figure","Spear"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-08-15","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}