Vase thumbnail 1

Vase

ca. 1785 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
The Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood 1730-1795) copied the shape of this vase from an ancient Greek amphora, originally a type of two-handled vessel for storing wine and oil. Wedgwood's version is purely decorative, and was probably displayed on a domestic mantelpiece or in a private library. Both front and back are finely painted with figure scenes, so the vase was probably intended to be seen from both sides or displayed in front of an overmantel mirror.

Materials & Making
The vase is made of Black Basalt. Wedgwood developed both the Basalt pottery and the type of decoration used here in imitation of ancient Greek 'red figure pottery'. Unlike the Greek originals, the decoration on Wedgwood's Black Basalt is painted in red on the black pottery. He called this type of painting 'encaustic', a term that was originally used for an ancient Greek and Roman technique of painting in which pigments are combined with hot wax. Wedgwood's encaustic decoration was painted in a mixture of enamel pigments and slip (a mixture of clay and water), and then fired onto the surface.

Design & Designing
The figure compositions are copied from vases illustrated in the first two volumes of Sir William Hamilton's Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities (1766-1767 and 1770).

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Black Basalt, with 'encaustic' decoration
Dimensions
  • Height: 34.29cm
  • Width: 17.14cm
Gallery label
(27/03/2003)
British Galleries:
See the 'Spot the Difference' label on the ledge of the case.
(23/05/2008)
Vase
made at the factory of Josiah Wedgwood, Etruria, Staffordshire, about 1785
Mark :'WEDGWOOD', impressed
Black Basalt with encaustic decoration

1408-1855

The figure subjects are taken from a vase in the collection of Sir William Hamilton now in the British Museum, and published in his 'Antiquities...' (1766-76)
Object history
Made at Josiah Wedgwood's factory, Etruria, Staffordshire
Summary
Object Type
The Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood 1730-1795) copied the shape of this vase from an ancient Greek amphora, originally a type of two-handled vessel for storing wine and oil. Wedgwood's version is purely decorative, and was probably displayed on a domestic mantelpiece or in a private library. Both front and back are finely painted with figure scenes, so the vase was probably intended to be seen from both sides or displayed in front of an overmantel mirror.

Materials & Making
The vase is made of Black Basalt. Wedgwood developed both the Basalt pottery and the type of decoration used here in imitation of ancient Greek 'red figure pottery'. Unlike the Greek originals, the decoration on Wedgwood's Black Basalt is painted in red on the black pottery. He called this type of painting 'encaustic', a term that was originally used for an ancient Greek and Roman technique of painting in which pigments are combined with hot wax. Wedgwood's encaustic decoration was painted in a mixture of enamel pigments and slip (a mixture of clay and water), and then fired onto the surface.

Design & Designing
The figure compositions are copied from vases illustrated in the first two volumes of Sir William Hamilton's Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman Antiquities (1766-1767 and 1770).
Collection
Accession number
1408-1855

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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