Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: The Museum Year 2011
The Year
Acquisitions
Art of Europe: July 2009–June 2011
Inkstand
1803
Attributed to Alexis Decaix (French, d. 1811)
Length x width: 31.8 x 26.7 cm (12 1/2 x 10 1/2 in.)
Gilt and patinated bronze; wood
Classification: Decorative arts
Culture: English
Accession number: 2010.1039
Description: With a kneeling classically-draped maiden holding two vine-cast cornucopiae issuing a removable inkwell and sander, flanking an oval dish, flanked by vase-shaped nozzles, above a rectangular stepped base fitted with a mahogany-lined drawer, on bun feet. Appropriate to an inkstand, these vin-wreathed 'horns of abundance' recall the fertility deities, Bacchus and Ceres and thus symbolise the presence of Venus, goddess of Love (inspired by Terence's celebrated quotation from his play "The Eunuch': 'Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus').
Provenance/Ownership History: Late 1980s, H. Blairman and Sons, London. Acquired on the London art market by Horace Wood Brock, New York; 2010, gift of Horace Wood Brock to the MFA. (Accession Date: January 26, 2011)
Gift of Horace Wood Brock