Figure group

Colourful figural groups made in tin-glazed ceramic provided the opportunity to own a durable and highly finished, sculptural object at relatively low cost. Such groups were mostly objects with a practical function, such as inkwells or candlesticks. Table-fountains are more rare. This table fountain is suitably fashioned as a drunken Bacchus, resting on a wine barrel. The Bacchus figure has a hole behind the head, through which it can be filled with liquid, which then escapes through a hole in the side of the barrel as well as through his penis. He is literary pissed and pissing at the same time. Objects such as this were obviously intended to provide some entertainment for guests at dinner parties.