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Erasmus Darwin's Wedgwood copy of the Portland Vase

Image attached to C.20-1984

An image of Erasmus Darwin's Wedgwood Copy of the Portland Vase. Wedgwood, Josiah (English potter 1730-1795). Portland Vase copy, blue-black jasperware with applied white reliefs; on the sides classical scenes; on the base, the head of Paris. Squat ovoid body with incurved neck and everted rim, with two elbowed handles, and disk base. Decorated with two scenes separated by bearded male masks below the handles. Reading from left to right: Side 1. Two square pillars supporting an architrave, behind which is a small shrub. In front of the pillars a nude young man holding a drape behind him in his right hand, steps forward to take the arm of a partly draped woman who sits on the ground, looking back at him, and has a snake in her lap. Eros, holding a bow in his left hand and a torch in his right, flies overhead looking back to the young man. On the right, a bearded man stands in three-quarter profile to left, with his right foot on a heap of stones in front of a tree. He rests his chin on his right hand and his right elbow on his right thigh. To the right behind him there is a slender tree. Side 2. A square pillar with a capital, beside which sits a nude young man on a pile of rocks. He has a drape over his right leg, and looks to the right towards a woman, who reclines on pile of rocks in front of a tree. Her lower body is draped, and she holds a torch pointing downwards in her left hand, and has her right arm bent with the hand on her head. In front of her is a square stone with central hole and chamfered edge. On the right is a nude woman, seated on a separate pile of rocks, looking back towards the other two figures. She is partly draped, and holds a sceptre in her left hand. On the base, there is a spray of foliage above the head of a young man, in profile to right, wearing a Phrygian cap, and a cloak, and having his right forefinger to his lips. Solid blue-black jasper, thrown and turned, with applied press-moulded white reliefs, height 25.2 cm, width 19.1 cm. 1789. Neoclassi

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Erasmus Darwin's Wedgwood Copy of the Portland Vase. Wedgwood, Josiah (English potter 1730-1795). Portland Vase copy, blue-black jasperware with applied white reliefs; on the sides classical scenes; on the base, the head of Paris. Squat ovoid body with incurved neck and everted rim, with two elbowed handles, and disk base. Decorated with two scenes separated by bearded male masks below the handles. Reading from left to right: Side 1. Two square pillars supporting an architrave, behind which is a small shrub. In front of the pillars a nude young man holding a drape behind him in his right hand, steps forward to take the arm of a partly draped woman who sits on the ground, looking back at him, and has a snake in her lap. Eros, holding a bow in his left hand and a torch in his right, flies overhead looking back to the young man. On the right, a bearded man stands in three-quarter profile to left, with his right foot on a heap of stones in front of a tree. He rests his chin on his right hand and his right elbow on his right thigh. To the right behind him there is a slender tree. Side 2. A square pillar with a capital, beside which sits a nude young man on a pile of rocks. He has a drape over his right leg, and looks to the right towards a woman, who reclines on pile of rocks in front of a tree. Her lower body is draped, and she holds a torch pointing downwards in her left hand, and has her right arm bent with the hand on her head. In front of her is a square stone with central hole and chamfered edge. On the right is a nude woman, seated on a separate pile of rocks, looking back towards the other two figures. She is partly draped, and holds a sceptre in her left hand. On the base, there is a spray of foliage above the head of a young man, in profile to right, wearing a Phrygian cap, and a cloak, and having his right forefinger to his lips. Solid blue-black jasper, thrown and turned, with applied press-moulded white reliefs, height 25.2 cm, width 19.1 cm. 1789. Neoclassi

Image data

  • Accession Number: C.20-1984
  • Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
  • Aperture: f/32.0
  • Focal length: 120
  • Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
  • Photographer name: Andrew Norman
  • Image height: 1025 pixels
  • Image width: 769 pixels
  • Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
  • Filesize: 409.97kB
  • Exposure time: 1/125
  • ISO Speed: 200
  • Fnumber: 32/1

Key words

18th Century applied black and white British Classicism English Erasmus Darwin Eros female nude Fitz_AA Georgian handled handles jasper ware jasperware Josiah Wedgwood male nude moulded mythological mythology neo-classical Neoclassical nude portland vase press moulded relief Staffordshire Pottery stoneware the portland vase thrown two handled two-handled vase vases Wedgwood Factory

Colours in this image

rgb(56,58,62), rgb(152,155,151), rgb(240,242,245), rgb(116,115,116), rgb(172,171,165), rgb(120,124,115), rgb(188,190,188), rgb(176,180,171), rgb(204,203,205), rgb(107,119,124), rgb(108,132,129)

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