Centerpiece
John Bridge (Retailed by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell (1788–1843); London)
1824–25
- Medium
- Silver
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Dimensions
- 39.7 × 40.7 × 37.2 cm (15 5/8 × 16 × 14 5/8 in.)
- Culture
- England
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago, Applied Arts of Europe
- Credit line
- Gift of Emily Crane Chadbourne
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Art Institute of Chicago
About this work
This silver centerpiece’s large scale and robust modeling epitomize the lavish quality of works by Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, one of the most prestigious retailers of silver and jewelry in the British Empire. It likely served as the model for a nearly identical group of four made for King George IV.
The design exploits silver’s plasticity to great effect, as seen in the craggy coral and turtles that support the base and in the undulating curves of the seashell bowl. Mythical figures—seahorses and the god Triton blowing his conch shell—demonstrate the firm’s mastery in blending naturalistic forms with symbolic references to the sea.
Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0
