By JIM and SUSAN HARRAN
Antique Week Correspondents

Cupid, the most famous of all Valentine symbols, has always played a role in the celebration of love and lovers. He is known as a mischievous, winged child, whose arrows would pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love.

He is also sometimes seen carrying a torch to inflame desire between men and women. Cupid is taken from the Latin word cupido, which means desire. To the Romans he was the God of love, and his mother was Venus. In ancient Greece he was known as Eros, the young son of Aphrodite.

A cherub is not a cupid although they look much the same. Cherubim are the second highest group in the celestial hierarchy. The form they take is that of plump little boys and were used as decorative elements in both religious and mythological art. They are found either naked or with a flowing loosely tied sash.

The putto is a figure of a human male baby or toddler, often naked and having wings. The word putto is the singular form of putti, which is Italian for little boy. Among the best-known artists using the putto as an image are the sculptor Donatello and the painter Raphael.

Raphael was an Italian painter and architect of the 14th century. Donatello was a famous early Renaissance (15th century) Italian painter and sculptor from Florence. In the 19th century there was a major revival of putti in fine art as many porcelain painters copied the works of the artists of the time.
The putto was a popular subject. The words cupid, cherub and putto have been used interchangeably in the antique world. For the purpose of this article, we will use the word cupid.

The cupid has been among the world’s most beloved decorative motifs. Cupids are frequently portrayed as rosy cheeked little boys with wings. They are often depicted carrying a basket of grapes and fruit to celebrate the autumn harvest. Sometimes they have a basket or arrangement of flowers. They are most often portrayed with a bow and arrow and quiver. Some of the most adorable images are cupids holding and hugging animals, such as a swan, lamb or seal.
Cupids are popular as stand alone figures and figure groups and can be found made of art glass, silver and bronze, and porcelain. Almost all porcelain makers included cupid figures in their inventory.

Royal Vienna style artists made some wonderful cupids. The set usually consisted of eight or 12 figures with each cupid playing a different musical instrument. Cupid carriages with 6-8 cupids in and around an ornate flower decorated carriage were a popular subject among German porcelain modelers.
Cupids also adorned a number of decorative objects and tableware, such as vases, compotes, candelabra, wall plaques, soup tureens and cups and saucers. They were used as a theme for dresser sets and perfume bottles.
In the world of art glass Bohemian glass maker Ludwig Moser’s work included cut colored glass with classical scenes, including cavorting cupids. He created some beautiful opaline glass cups and saucers with cupids painted in bright enamels.

Joseph Ahne had a porcelain and glass decorating studio in Steenschonau, Bohemia, around 1894. He created a series of white opaline glass vases with wonderful paintings of cupids holding flowers or fruit.

During the 19th century Romantic Age, bronze sculptors frequently used cupids as a subject in their art. Beginning with the reign of Louis Philippe in France in 1830, there was a revival of the light-hearted 18th century French Rococo style, featuring cavorting cupids, Paul Emile Machault created a group called Drunken Putti in 1850 and Gambling Putti in 1860. August Moreau sculpted the famous Bronze Cupid in 1880.

Cupids were frequently used by silversmiths to enhance decorative objects, such as compotes, centerpieces and candelabras. They were used as a subject to decorate chased silver perfume bottles and fancy dresser sets.
In the 1950s, large brass tone dresser sets were the rage. The sets were exported to New York City, where they were sold in upscale jewelry and department stores. The sets had a large brass tone framed glass dresser tray, perfume bottles, and a powder box and were frequently enhanced with faux jewels, flowers and cupids.

Sevres is the luxury name in French porcelain, and the finest artists of the time decorated elaborate dinnerware services and decorative items with cupid reserves surrounded by panels of exquisite gilding.

One of their most famous figures designed by L’Amour Falconet, circa 1757-66 was a winged bisque cupid seated on clouds. One index finger points to his mouth, while his other arm rests at his side with his hand on a quiver of arrows. The figure was made in several sizes.

Another example of the use of cupids as a subject was a 1760 Sevres snuff box with six plaques. One plaque features a cupid playing with two little girls, another has one cupid holding a shield with two hearts with the other eating grapes. A third and fourth plaque features cupids with flowers.

Some of the most beloved and eagerly desired cupid figures were made at Meissen. Famous 18th century designer Kaendler loved creating little Cupids in different poses. His Cupids were humorously conceived and were popular in the 18th century, both as individual and large groups. Most famous was the Allegory of Four Seasons. This was a popular and easily recognizable allegorical subject — spring depicted flowers, summer sheaves of wheat, fall grapes and winter coals or fire. He created Cupids disguised as mortals — an actor, a money lender, a pastry seller, a grape picker. Some of his Cupids played instruments.

The famous Motto Children were modeled by Acier with the assistance of Schönheit (1775-1778). Each figure was under 6in and was inscribed in French with a motto which was interpreted by the Cupid. There were 16 figures in the series. Meissen has reissued these many times, and they are very popular today with collectors.

Cupids were frequently used as a subject by the Dresden decorators, especially Ambrosius Lamm, who operated one of the finest porcelain painting studios from 1887 to 1949. It is quite evident that he enjoyed painting cupids. Many examples can be found with cupids holding fruit, flowers and playing musical instruments. They were often portrayed amidst fluffy clouds.

Cupids in all shapes and designs are favorite subjects of Dresden decorator Carl Thieme of Potschappel, Germany and are found attached to bowls and urns, as well as alone as a figure. The little bodies are dimpled and well formed with dainty fingers and toes. Thieme made a series of Device Children. These winged children or cupids have attributes containing innocently amorous allusions, such as a heart, and are explained by a motto written in French on a small oval plaque at the foot of a triangular base.