Terms and Conditions
The artist, title and date of the work must be listed anywhere the image is reproduced:
Wedgwood, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent (manufacturer)
Lady Diana Beauclerk (after)
Bacchanalian boys, plaque (c. 1790)
stoneware (blue jasper)
16.0 × 59.0 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mrs Norma Deutsher, Governor, 1994
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Where possible, the image must be reproduced in full (no cropping or over-printing). If you wish to use a detail of the work, a full reproduction of the work must also be reproduced elsewhere in the publication.
While the NGV believes this work to be in the Public Domain, it is the responsibility of the publisher to ensure that no further permissions are required for use.
For a complete list of terms and condition of use see the National Gallery of Victoria’s copyright policy.
Bacchanalian boys, plaque
(c. 1790)
Medium
stoneware (blue jasper)
Measurements
16.0 × 59.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mrs Norma Deutsher, Governor, 1994
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
The drapery that forms the upper border of this plaque is playfully looped between trees and vases set on columns, its ends decoratively interpreted as if representing the skins of panthers, the panther being traditionally associated with Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. The plaque is full of Classical imagery, including the columns topped with covered vases and the young boys and satyrs engaged in Bacchic revelry; to the right a young Bacchus holding his thyrsus (fennel staff) is being held aloft. Wedgwood’s 1787 Catalogue, lists a ‘Bacchanalian tablet’ of boys ‘under arbours, with panthers’ skins in festoons’.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Staffordshire, England
Inscription
impressed (diagonally) in reverse c.: WEDGWOOD
Accession Number
D38-1994
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Rectangular solid blue plaque showing eight young boys at play, in five panels divided by trees and columns supporting panther skins.