Potteries Venus

The Staffordshire ‘Potteries’didn’t just produce cups and saucers. This beautiful piece, in Parian porcelain, was produced at the Ridgways factory (John Ridgway, Bates & Company – to be exact) in Hanley in 1858. It was based on the statue 'Venus & Cupid' aka Venus Verticordia by the famous sculptor John Gibson

It’s astonishing to me that such a fine piece could be fired from what is basically... clay.

You’ll find this piece in the Industrial Gallery of Birmingham Museum. I guess the Museum sees it as a factory item, not a work of art in its own right. Hmm.