19th Century Porcelain Busts of Cleopatra Originally Manufactured During the Grecian Revival in Trenton, New Jersey

As I noted in a post from earlier today, when traveling to Philadelphia last week, I stopped at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, New Jersey in order to see some of the museum's locally made pottery on display. But I was not aware until I arrived at the museum that I would see some of the most prolific porcelain figures manufactured anywhere in America in the nineteenth century.

According to the museum, "The word "porcelain" conjures up images of delicate dishware and tiny tea sets. But New Jersey ceramic artist Isaac Broome (1835-1922) liked to make big things out of porcelain. 

In 1873, the Trenton pottery firm Ott & Brewer hired Broome to create display pieces for the 1876 Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia. Reproduced several times using his original mold, Broome's multicolored bust of Cleopatra garnered much attention and even appeared in magazine accounts about Trenton potteries."

Although, this form was later reproduced in 1914 "when the renowned  Trenton pottery firm Lenox, Inc. created a bust using Broome's original mold. Walter Scott Lenox, the company's namesake, worked with Ott & Brewer in the 1870s before starting his Ceramic Art Company. It later became Lenox, Inc."

To my knowledge, the majority of the Cleopatra busts in existence today were manufactured in 1914, such as those owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. But the New Jersey State Museum currently displays three original busts created by Broome for the Centennial International Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, as well as a fourth example that was made at Lenox, Inc. in 1914.

According to the MET, "The design of Broome's Cleopatra bust originates to the early period of his career; shown at the Paris Exposition Universelle, where it won a gold medal, Cleopatra garnered a lot of attention because it was an extraordinary representation of the dark-skinned beauty with the use of clays colored with oxides and elaborate gilded details. The work captured the attention of many admirers (and some detractors), and was widely discussed in the press at the time.

Porcelain Busts of Cleopatra - Trenton, NJ

(Bottom Left) 19th Century Polychromatic Porcelain Bust of Cleopatra

Made by Isaac Broome for Ott & Brewer in Trenton, NJ 

Circa 1873-1876
Won Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universells

(Top Right) 20th Century Parian Porcelain Bust of Cleopatra

Made at Lenox, Inc. in 1914

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

(Bottom Left) Information Displayed with the Cleopatra Bust Made by Broome

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

(Top Right) Information Displayed with the Cleopatra Bust Made at Lenox, Inc. in 1914

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

(Top Left) 19th Century Porcelain Bust of Cleopatra

Made by Isaac Broome for Ott & Brewer in Trenton, NJ 

Circa 1873-1876

(Bottom Right) 19th Century Chocolate Porcelain Bust of Cleopatra

Made by Isaac Broome for Ott & Brewer in Trenton, NJ 

Circa 1873-1876

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

(Top Left) Information Displayed with the Cleopatra Bust Made by Broome

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

(Bottom Right) Information Displayed with the Cleopatra Bust Made by Broome

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Photo Courtesy: New Jersey State Museum

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