Diana with hound

Art Historical Context

In this small ceramic figure, a graceful woman stands in classical robes with soft folds draping from her shoulders to the ground. She holds a bow in one hand while raising the other near her shoulder, and a slender hound stands alert at her side. The entire group rests on a simple rectangular base with modest foliage details at the feet, all modeled in a smooth, creamy lead-glazed earthenware that catches the light gently. Titled *Diana with hound*, the piece was made in Burslem, Staffordshire, around 1780–90 by Ralph Wood the Younger, possibly with the involvement of John Voyez. During this period, Staffordshire potters produced many such mythological figures for domestic display, drawing on the era’s enthusiasm for ancient subjects. The lead-glazed surface gives the work a refined yet approachable finish typical of these British ceramics. Now in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the sculpture offers visitors a charming glimpse of how classical stories were brought into everyday Georgian homes through skillful local craftsmanship.

About the Artist

Ralph Wood the Younger|John Voyez · 1748–1795

Ralph Wood the Younger was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, in 1748, the son of the celebrated potter Ralph Wood the Elder and a member of a family that stood at the center of the Staffordshire ceramics industry during its most creative and internationally influential period. Growing up in the workshops of his father, he absorbed from childhood the technical traditions of English earthenware produc...