Terms and conditions of use
Figure of a seated nun
(1752-1755)
Medium
porcelain (soft-paste)
Measurements
15 cm diameter
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
Gallery location
17th & 18th Century Decorative Arts & Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
Members of Roman Catholic religious orders were represented in porcelain by a number of German factories. Intriguing, however, is the fact that, despite Catholic religious orders being banned in Protestant England since the sixteenth century, many English factories, including Chelsea, Bow, Derby, Longton Hall and Plymouth, produced figures of monks and nuns. English anti-Catholic sentiment saw monks and nuns transformed into objects of ridicule, and in the eighteenth century these roles also became favourite masquerade disguises. Yet these figures may also be read as indicators of a shifting attitude towards Catholicism within elite social contexts.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
London, England
Accession Number
2024.255
Department
International Decorative Arts