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Portrait Medallion of Edward Bourne
Factory:
Wedgwood
Modeller:
Hackwood, William
Pale blue jasper plaque with applied moulded white jasper bust portrait in relief.
Pale blue jasper plaque with applied moulded white jasper bust portrait in relief. The sitter, Edward Bourne faces to viewer’s right. He has a balding brown, short curly hair, and wears a neckcloth, waistcoat and coat with three buttons. The truncation is signed faintly 'W H(ac)kwo(od)/1779'. The back of the plaque is inscribed (but difficult to see because of the glass in the frame) ‘Mr Byrne/Brick layer/Etruria/1779’The plaque is set into an oval ebonized wood frame with an oval unglazed aperture at the front, and a smaller oval glazed aperture at the back. Inserted into the top of the frame is a modern brass (?)loop with a ring for suspension.
History note: The owner's family
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (2009) by Keynes, W. M., Dr.
18th Century, Late
George III
Production date:
dated
AD 1779
: The plaque does not bear the Wedgwood & Bentley mark and is therefore probably after 1780 when Thomas Bentley died.
This is one of very few original medallions by the modeller William Hackwood. The sitter, Edward Bourne, a bricklayer at Wedgwood's factory at Etruria, was known as ‘Old Bourne’. Josiah Wedgwood referred to Hackwood’s model for this portrait in a letter written in November 1778 (Wedgwood MS E 188662-26-21 November 1778). Two moulds survive, one of which is signed ‘Wm Hackwood 1779’, the other unsigned, but inscribed ‘Mr Bourne Bricklayer by Hackwood 1779’. This plaque is presumably later, as it does not bear the Wedgwood & Bentley mark. Thomas Bentley, Wedgwood's partner, died in 1780.
Plaque
composed of
jasper ware
( blue)
Relief
composed of
jasper ware
( white)
Frame
composed of
wood
Height 13.5 cm
Width 11.3 cm
Inscription
Inscription present: so faintly that the letters cannot be seen distinctly
Accession number: C.165-2010
Primary reference Number: 178589
Entry form: 1039
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Portrait Medallion of Edward Bourne" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/178589 Accessed: 2024-12-22 17:46:46
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/178589
|title=Portrait Medallion of Edward Bourne
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 17:46:46|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:
https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-178589
To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:
<div class="text-center">
<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa36/C_165_2010_1_201011_amt49_dc2.jpg"
alt="Portrait Medallion of Edward Bourne"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Portrait Medallion of Edward Bourne</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
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