A good Parian figure of L’Allegro by Copeland

A striking Parian figure of L’Allegro by Copeland sculpted by E H Bailey. The female figure is partly clothed in a fine diaphanous cloth and wears a wreath of flowers on her head with a central star. As well as the title and the artist’s name, the figure is marked Ceramic & Crystal Palace Art Union published 1864 and Copeland Copyright Reserved which indicates that this model is probably from the 1870s or 1880s.

This fine statue depicts the personification of active and joyful life (Mirth) described in Milton’s pastoral poem L’Allegro. Milton also wrote Il Penseroso to describe a contemplative and melancholic life.

A similar representation of Mirth is found in William Blake’s illustration to the poem: https://blakearchive.org/copy/but543.1?descId=but543.1.wc.01 

The figure is illustrated in The Parian Phenomenon page 151 fig 513 and in Robert Copeland’s book Parian, Copeland’s Statuary Porcelain page 150.

Height 42½cm (16¾“)

Condition: Very good. There is a small flake off the front at the base and a firing line through the cloth over the right thigh.