Add to Collection

Add this item to an existing or new collection.
Harvard Art Museums
Incorrect Username, Email, or Password
This object does not yet have a description.

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
1943.1191
People
Wedgwood, British (founded 1759 )
Title
Thomas Pitt, First Baron Camelford (1737-1793)
Other Titles
Former Title: Thomas Pitt, Lord Camelford (1737-1793)
Classification
Medals and Medallions
Work Type
medallion
Date
c. 1787
Places
Creation Place: Europe, United Kingdom, England, Etruria
Culture
British
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/230222

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2340, European and American Art, 17th–19th century, The Silver Cabinet: Art and Ritual, 1600–1850
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Lavender jasperware body (dyed through) with profile in white relief
Technique
Jasperware
Dimensions
sight: 7.5 x 5.8 x 1.9 cm (2 15/16 x 2 5/16 x 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: verso, incised: Gron in a dish / Light purple / the Body / mixt 300 to 1 / No. 3919
  • manufacturer's mark: verso, impressed: WEDGWOOD
  • gallery label: verso, paper and black ink, printed and handwritten: [printed:] F. RATHBONE / South Kensington, / LONDON, S.W.; [handwritten:] Lord Camelford / (1737-1793) / fine inscribed / Wedgwood
  • label: verso, paper and black ink, handwritten: 4

Provenance

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

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop
Accession Year
1943
Object Number
1943.1191
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.

The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request.

Publication History

  • Old Wedgwood from the Bequest of Grenville Lindall Winthrop, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1944), no. 56, p. 27
  • Louise Todd Ambler, Benjamin Franklin: A Perspective, exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1975), p. 131, no. 63, ill. p. 130

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 - 01/01/2050

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