The Snite Museum triton stand displays key traits of Doccia porcelain in both its color palette and its sculptural modeling. The puce, violet, and gray hues are all emblematic of the factory’s work, as are the poses of the triton figures, male and female, with their muscular bodies defined by peachy flesh-colored stippling. They stand back-to-back with a scallop shell resting on their raised wings, their serpentine lower bodies melding into the scrolling waves of the pedestal below. This style base—“vigorously scrolled and usually colored puce”—was one of the distinct types used for figures made at Doccia.

The function of the piece is slightly ambiguous. It is clearly an item meant for the table as a form of decoration. However, on a practical level, it could have been used as a salt cellar, a sweetmeat dish, a sugar stand, or as part of a centerpiece or ensemble.

from Weisberg, A Taste for Porcelain: The Virginia A. Marten Collection of Decorative Arts (Notre Dame, 2014)