As idyllic as past centuries appear to be when viewed through the lens of made-for-TV productions set in those times, in reality life then was difficult. It must have taken much fortitude to get through the daily hardships, so perhaps figures of Fortitude were particularly meaningful.
Courtesy Skinner
| Usually, Fortitude is a large earthenware lady--about 23 inches tall. She stands stoically beside a broken column that symbolizes Fortitude's strength. The figure is found in much the same style in engravings of the period, as you see alongside, but the most well-known marble of Fortitude is in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, and it ---or a derivative plaster--seems to have inspired the earthenware model. | 
|
Fortitude's companion figure is Prudence, also to be found in St. Peter's Basilica. Prudence always has a snake (from Matthew 10:16: “be ye wise as serpents,” with the Latin word for “wise” being “prudentes”). Both Fortitude and Prudence are too freely attributed to Enoch Wood/Wood & Caldwell as they apparently emanated from more than one pot bank. A pair marked “E. WOOD” has been recorded, as has a bronze-glazed example impressed “WOOD & CALDWELL”...but a pair described as marked Wedgwood is in the Earle Collection (no. 422 and no. 426 below. The man in the middle is Mars.)
I was intrigued to see this tiny figure (6 inches) on Aurea Carter's site a few year's ago. She too is Fortitude, and I have never seen another like her.
Courtesy Aurea Carter
| 
Courtesy Aurea Carter
|
So just when I had Fortitude ranging in size from tiny (at 6 inches) to large (at over 20 inches), the figure below popped onto the horizon. She is coming up for sale at Pook and Pook, and she is 12.5 inches tall .
Courtesy Pook & Pook
I quickly identified this figure as Fortitude because of the column she holds....but just as quickly I thought again. What of the snake in her other hand? Is she intended to be Prudence? Hmm....that hand looks like it has some restoration, so perhaps the snake is a later addition?
And then something clicked in my brain....and I kicked myself hard for being so very stupid. Of course! This lady is not Fortitude. She is Liberty. The object she holds is not a column. Rather, it is a bundle of rods, Liberty's attribute.
After the abolition of the French monarchy, the Convention of 1792 decreed that a figure of Liberty should appear on the French Republic’s new Seal of State. Liberty is portrayed on the seal as a lady wearing a crown and holding fasces in her right hand to symbolize the power of the liberated people. In ancient Rome, fasces conveyed the power of Roman magistrates to punish. They comprised a bundle of birch rods tied into a cylinder with a leather ribbon. A depiction of Liberty—in print or figural form, as on the French Seal of State—probably inspired the earthenware figure.
Earthenware figures of Liberty are oh-so-rare. I know of only one other, the figure below in the V&A.
And then something clicked in my brain....and I kicked myself hard for being so very stupid. Of course! This lady is not Fortitude. She is Liberty. The object she holds is not a column. Rather, it is a bundle of rods, Liberty's attribute.
After the abolition of the French monarchy, the Convention of 1792 decreed that a figure of Liberty should appear on the French Republic’s new Seal of State. Liberty is portrayed on the seal as a lady wearing a crown and holding fasces in her right hand to symbolize the power of the liberated people. In ancient Rome, fasces conveyed the power of Roman magistrates to punish. They comprised a bundle of birch rods tied into a cylinder with a leather ribbon. A depiction of Liberty—in print or figural form, as on the French Seal of State—probably inspired the earthenware figure.
Earthenware figures of Liberty are oh-so-rare. I know of only one other, the figure below in the V&A.
Courtesy the Victoira and Albert Museum, London.
Sadly, the V&A figure has lost her left hand, so, assuming the Pook & Pook figure has a restored hand, we may never know what Liberty once held.
Who made these figures of Liberty? The Pook and Pook example was very probably made by Enoch Wood. That specific base form occurs again and again on figures with Enoch Wood attributes. As for the V& A example, I just don't know. I am intrigued by her elaborate dress pattern and have noted the same pattern on a few other classical figures...but, as yet, I can't draw any conclusions.
Who made these figures of Liberty? The Pook and Pook example was very probably made by Enoch Wood. That specific base form occurs again and again on figures with Enoch Wood attributes. As for the V& A example, I just don't know. I am intrigued by her elaborate dress pattern and have noted the same pattern on a few other classical figures...but, as yet, I can't draw any conclusions.
