Mercury

He wears a winged helmet and sandals, a loosely draped pink, white, and yellow washed cloak over a short tunic, and leans arrogantly against bales, his message sack over his left shoulder, the caduceus in his right hand and an orange money bag in his left; an inkwell, quill, scroll, and gold coins at his feet. Painted in typical muses-painter palette and with gilding over brown. Dense white paste, relatively thick even glaze. H. 7.0 in (17.8 cm).

Provenance: Taylor Collection; Parkside Antiques, Melbourne, 1979.

Mercury (Hermes), son of Jupiter and the nymph Maia, was Jupiter’s messenger, patron of commerce, thieves and eloquence – shown in the figure by the bales, scrolls, quills, inkwell, money bag and coins. The modelling of the figure, suggestive of Mercury’s arrogance, probably reflects the likely three dimensional source of the figure from a Meissen original by J. F. Eberlein, circa 1740, compared with the print sources of the Collection figures of Juno, Jupiter and figures of the Muses.

Another, MFA, Boston, Gift Jessie and Sigmund Katz, #1988.607. 

Restoration to right hand, one wing of helmet.