For Sale we have a gorgeous Wedgwood Majolica model of a Sea Sprite from the Prestige range.
Measuring 18cm tall.
The Sea Sprite Vase is based on a mid nineteenth century original. A youthful figure or 'Sea Sprite' is seated between three trumpet-shaped shells surmounting a base decorated with embossed scallop shells. Like many a seemingly simple object, it is complex in production and is another fine example of the extraordinary handcraft skills still present in the production of Wedgwood.
The Sea Sprite vase epitomises the nineteenth century love of fantasy. The 'Sprite' or water fairy existed in the mythologies of many peoples, and in this model represents a link dating back to the neo classical heyday of Wedgwood in the eighteenth century, when imagery drew heavily on classical mythology for inspiration. The ancient Greeks identified Naiads as fresh water spirits and Oceanids for salt water, seas and oceans. However, as they regarded the world's water as one system that percolated from the sea through vast subterranean caverns to emerge, re-energised as springs, there was inevitably some overlap.