A fine and uncommon Parian figure group of 'The Golden Age'

An impressive large and complex Parian group of the Golden Age, unmarked but probably by Robinson & Leadbeater, dating from the last quarter of the C19th. The group shows a nude female sitting on a lion with a dove perched on her hand. By her feet are a wolf and a lamb while a young child plays with a snake and raises a bunch of grapes. The woman has a quill pen in one hand. The modelling is excellent, including the fine wreath of flowers worn on the woman’s head.

The Golden Age was a classical Greek concept; the Ages of Man were described by a number of Ancient Greek writers, with the Golden Age being the first and best age where man lived in harmony and prosperity with the wild animals, with the land providing freely for humanity. Later Roman writers such as Virgil and Ovid drew on the Greek authors to compose their own versions of the Golden Age. The commentary on  the Royal Collection Copeland version https://www.rct.uk/collection/41334/the-golden-age suggested that the Victorian interest in the Golden Age stemmed from Ovid’s description in Metamorphoses.

This group is depicted on page 24 in the Robinson and Leadbeater photographic archive dating from the late 1880s, where the example in the illustration bears the title “The Golden Age”.

Height 30cm (12”)

Condition: Excellent with no apparent faults.