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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Gallery Text

Renowned potter Josiah Wedgwood was not only a master artisan, but a transformative innovator in 18th-century craft, production, and science. Born into a family of potters, Wedgwood developed his own new clay bodies, such as the well-known pastel-colored jasperware above and the black basalt in the adjacent case. One of the medallions seen here is displayed to feature its back, which is inscribed with notes recording the process used to achieve the specific color of the jasperware body.

Many of the jasperware works seen here are from Wedgwood’s “Illustrious Moderns” series, which modeled political and other famous figures of the day in the form of ancient cameos so that one could collect and display their likenesses in their homes. Harnessing the interest in the ancient world during the second half of the 18th century, Wedgwood made and named works that would appeal to connoisseurs of antiquities.

[1943.1239, 1943.1195, 1943.1201, 1943.1191, 1943.1182]

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1943.1239
People
Modelled by John Charles Lochée (1751 - )
Wedgwood, British (founded 1759 )
Title
Sir William Herschel (1738-1822)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Sir Frederick William Herschel
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
relief, sculpture
Date
1783
Places
Creation Place: Europe, United Kingdom, England, Etruria
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/229909

Physical Descriptions

Medium
White jasperware body with green glaze, bust in white relief
Technique
Jasperware
Dimensions
sight: 11.9 × 9.1 × 1.5 cm (4 11/16 × 3 9/16 × 9/16 in.)
framed: 21 × 17.9 cm (8 1/4 × 7 1/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: below image, impressed: HERSCHEL
  • manufacturer's mark: reverse, impressed: WEDGWOOD
  • gallery label: reverse, paper, black ink, handwritten: Sir / F.W. Herschel / 1738-1822 / a fine med'n on / green ground by / Flaxman 1782
  • label: reverse, paper, black ink, printed and handwritten: [printed:] [WDH in monogram?] [handwritten:]196
  • inscription: reverse, graphite, handwritten: Modelled by / Flaxman / 1781
  • inscription: backing, black ink, handwritten: W.D. Holt collection 1876(?)
  • stamp: backing, black ink, stamped: J & W. VOKINS, / AKERS. 14 [Great Portland St. ] [stamp covered partially by masking tape]

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
W. Durning Holt, 1874 [1]. [Frederick Rathbone, London], sold; to Grenville L. Winthrop, New York, NY, 1910, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943

Notes
[1] Per Rathbone



Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1239
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS.

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Descriptions

Description
Two firing holes

Publication History

  • Jean Gorely, "The Winthrop Collection", Old Wedgwood, Wellesley Press, Inc. (Wellesley, MA, 1943), no. 10, pp. 132-139, p. 135
  • Old Wedgwood from the Bequest of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1944), no. 50, p. 26
  • Robin Reilly and George Savage, Wedgwood: The Portrait Medallions, Barrie & Jenkins (London, England, 1973), pp. 191-92
  • Louise Todd Ambler, Benjamin Franklin: A Perspective, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), no. 69

Exhibition History

  • Old Wedgwood from the Bequest of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 06/04/1944 - 09/03/1944
  • Benjamin Franklin: A Perspective, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 04/17/1975 - 09/22/1975
  • 32Q: 2340 Cabinet Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/10/2023 - 06/02/2025

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu