Sappho

Silver statue of Sappho at Bowes Museum, Co. Durham.

Silver figure of Sappho by James Pradier, signed and dated 1848, from the Simonette foundry.  Sappho with downcast head is represented leaning with her left palm on a Doric columnar plinth, upon which an upturned bowl of foliage, with Greek key design rests, with an unwound scroll which is inscribed in Greek with the last stanza of her ‘Ode to Aphrodite’.  At the foot of the plinth is a ewer with key design and drapery, and a pair of doves whose feet are bound together with a ribbon.  In her left hand Sappho carries a draped lyre, whose base is the shell of a tortoise.  The figure is draped and sandalled, wears her hair in a band, has a necklace and three bracelets.  The base of the statuette is square, with moulded sides, and has a bow front at Sappho’s feet.

Signed and dated 1848, from the Simonet foundry. James Pradier first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1819. An original version of the figure of Sappho was exhibited in 1848, by which time Pradier had a reputation as a Romantic sculptor with a particular interest in classical references and the human form, unusually this figure is fully dressed. It cost an astonishing 25,000 francs to cast in silver and was the star attraction. Sappho was a Greek lyrical poetess, born c.612 BC. The inscription on her scroll is the last stanza of a poem written in the form of a prayer to Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Sappho is asking for assistance in her love of another woman: ‘Come to me even now and put an end to troublesome care; All that my heart longs to have fulfilled for myself, fulfil; Be my ally’.
  • Title: Sappho, Ancient Greek writer of lyric poetry
  • Object number: M.234
  • Collection: SILVER
  • Creator: James (1790-1852) Pradier
  • Production place: France
  • Date: 1848 – 1848
  • Production period: 19th century
  • Object name: Statuette
  • Material: SILVER