Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 143, The Timothy Sainsbury Gallery

Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (161-180 AD)

Sample Medallion
ca. 1780s (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Oval Jasper medallion (3.7 x 3.3 cm) with black 'dip' top and bottom, and blue border with applied white reliefs; the low relief portrait faces right; bottom centre is a white tablet with reference number '1265' (corresponding to an entry in 1773 catalogue), and the reverse has the impressed mark 'WEDGWOOD' (indicating a date after 1780).


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMarcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (161-180 AD)
Materials and techniques
White Jasper medallion with black 'dip' back and front, with applied portrait relief (the detail of which was probably heightened by hand), and applied blue Jasper border with applied white reliefs.
Brief description
Factory or showroom sample medallion, possibly a trial, with portrait of Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (161-180 AD), after a rock crystal, Jasper with black 'dip' and applied reliefs, Josiah Wedgwood, Etruria, Staffordshire, probably 1780s
Physical description
Oval Jasper medallion (3.7 x 3.3 cm) with black 'dip' top and bottom, and blue border with applied white reliefs; the low relief portrait faces right; bottom centre is a white tablet with reference number '1265' (corresponding to an entry in 1773 catalogue), and the reverse has the impressed mark 'WEDGWOOD' (indicating a date after 1780).
Dimensions
  • Height: 3.7cm
  • Width: 3.3cm
Credit line
Given by Mrs Ursula Vaughan Williams
Object history
Provenance: by descent through the Wedgwood, Darwin and Vaughan Williams families.
Production
Josiah Wedgwood (manufacturer). In production in Black Basalt by 1773, this factory or showroom piece probably 1780s
Collection
Accession number
C.87-1999

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Record createdJanuary 27, 2000
Record URL
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