Portland Vase
Vase
1790 (made)
1790 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Josiah Wedgwood's (1730-1795) copy of the famous Portland Vase is seen as the culmination of his career as ceramics manufacturer. Wedgwood was aware of the vase's fame as the pinnacle of the art of Roman cameo-glass and he knew that being able to copy it in his newly developed jasper clay meant not only directly benefitting from this fame but also demonstrating the technical and artistic superiority of his wares, rivalling that of antiquity.
It was probably the sculptor John Flaxman jr who made Wedgwood aware of the vase being in England in February 1785: 'I wish you may soon come to town to see Wm Hamilton's Vase, it is the finest production of Art that has been brought to England and seems to be the very apex of perfection to which you are endeavouring to bring your bisque & jasper; it is made of dark glass with white enamel figures. The Vase is about a foot high & the figures between 5 & 6 inches, engraved in the same manner as a Cameo & of the grandest & most perfect Greek Sculpture.' (V&A Wedgwood Collection, MS E2-30188).
The vase had been in the possession of the Dowager Duchess of Portland and was put up for sale after her death in 1785. Her son, the 3rd Duke of Portland bought the vase and lent it to Josiah Wedgwood to copy it. Wedgwood put his best modellers, including Henry Webber (1754-1826), William Hackwood (c. 1757-1839) and William Wood (1746-1808) to work under his personal supervision. He encountered various technical difficulties of which trial pieces in the V&A Wedgwood Collection tell the story. He devised a special mixture of jasper colours to imitate the blue-black colour of the original glass vase and tried to emulate the translucency of the cut glass with very thin white reliefs as well as painting with diluted liquid clay.
In September 1789 Wedgwood achieved a first perfect copy which he sent to his friend Erasmus Darwin who later included a description of it in his poem The Botanic Garden together with an illustration by William Blake. Wedgwood's son Josiah II together with his cousin Thomas Byerley set out on a tour across continental Europe in May 1790 to promote the vase at the European courts and their signatures can be found in various visitor books.
It was probably the sculptor John Flaxman jr who made Wedgwood aware of the vase being in England in February 1785: 'I wish you may soon come to town to see Wm Hamilton's Vase, it is the finest production of Art that has been brought to England and seems to be the very apex of perfection to which you are endeavouring to bring your bisque & jasper; it is made of dark glass with white enamel figures. The Vase is about a foot high & the figures between 5 & 6 inches, engraved in the same manner as a Cameo & of the grandest & most perfect Greek Sculpture.' (V&A Wedgwood Collection, MS E2-30188).
The vase had been in the possession of the Dowager Duchess of Portland and was put up for sale after her death in 1785. Her son, the 3rd Duke of Portland bought the vase and lent it to Josiah Wedgwood to copy it. Wedgwood put his best modellers, including Henry Webber (1754-1826), William Hackwood (c. 1757-1839) and William Wood (1746-1808) to work under his personal supervision. He encountered various technical difficulties of which trial pieces in the V&A Wedgwood Collection tell the story. He devised a special mixture of jasper colours to imitate the blue-black colour of the original glass vase and tried to emulate the translucency of the cut glass with very thin white reliefs as well as painting with diluted liquid clay.
In September 1789 Wedgwood achieved a first perfect copy which he sent to his friend Erasmus Darwin who later included a description of it in his poem The Botanic Garden together with an illustration by William Blake. Wedgwood's son Josiah II together with his cousin Thomas Byerley set out on a tour across continental Europe in May 1790 to promote the vase at the European courts and their signatures can be found in various visitor books.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Portland Vase (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Jasperware with applied relief |
| Brief description | First edition copy of the Portland vase, Jasperware with applied reliefs, Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Etruria, 1790 |
| Physical description | Black two-handled Jasperware vase with flared neck, decorated with white reliefs, copying the design of the Roman 'Portland' or 'Barberini' Vase; the base of the handles are decorated with lion masks with relief scenes running around the lower half of the bulbous body; an additional relief scene is underneath the vessel. |
| Dimensions |
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| Credit line | V&A Wedgwood Collection. Presented by Art Fund with major support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, private donations and a public appeal. |
| Summary | Josiah Wedgwood's (1730-1795) copy of the famous Portland Vase is seen as the culmination of his career as ceramics manufacturer. Wedgwood was aware of the vase's fame as the pinnacle of the art of Roman cameo-glass and he knew that being able to copy it in his newly developed jasper clay meant not only directly benefitting from this fame but also demonstrating the technical and artistic superiority of his wares, rivalling that of antiquity. It was probably the sculptor John Flaxman jr who made Wedgwood aware of the vase being in England in February 1785: 'I wish you may soon come to town to see Wm Hamilton's Vase, it is the finest production of Art that has been brought to England and seems to be the very apex of perfection to which you are endeavouring to bring your bisque & jasper; it is made of dark glass with white enamel figures. The Vase is about a foot high & the figures between 5 & 6 inches, engraved in the same manner as a Cameo & of the grandest & most perfect Greek Sculpture.' (V&A Wedgwood Collection, MS E2-30188). The vase had been in the possession of the Dowager Duchess of Portland and was put up for sale after her death in 1785. Her son, the 3rd Duke of Portland bought the vase and lent it to Josiah Wedgwood to copy it. Wedgwood put his best modellers, including Henry Webber (1754-1826), William Hackwood (c. 1757-1839) and William Wood (1746-1808) to work under his personal supervision. He encountered various technical difficulties of which trial pieces in the V&A Wedgwood Collection tell the story. He devised a special mixture of jasper colours to imitate the blue-black colour of the original glass vase and tried to emulate the translucency of the cut glass with very thin white reliefs as well as painting with diluted liquid clay. In September 1789 Wedgwood achieved a first perfect copy which he sent to his friend Erasmus Darwin who later included a description of it in his poem The Botanic Garden together with an illustration by William Blake. Wedgwood's son Josiah II together with his cousin Thomas Byerley set out on a tour across continental Europe in May 1790 to promote the vase at the European courts and their signatures can be found in various visitor books. |
| Associated objects | |
| Other number | 5689 - Wedgwood Museum Accession Number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | WE.4014-2014 |
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| Record created | April 27, 2023 |
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