Vase
Decorative Arts and Design
This is a later version of one of Wedgwood’s best-known pieces. It reproduces in ceramic the Portland Vase, one of the most famous objects from antiquity, now in the British Museum. An ancient Roman cameo glass vase from the reign of the emperor Augustus, it was found about 1600 and was owned by the Barberini family in Rome until it was bought by a Scotsman in 1780; it was eventually brought to England, where it was sold to the Duchess of Portland. The original vase has a dark blue glass body cased in white glass that was cameo cut to reveal the blue beneath. Wedgwood was eager to make copies of this famous artifact to sell. The first Wedgwood versions were made about 1787, and it has been in production ever since.
MEDIUM
Tinted stoneware
DATES
ca. 1801–1900
DIMENSIONS
10 x 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (25.4 x 19.0 x 19.0 cm) (show scale)
MARKINGS
Impressed on bottom "WEDGWOOD"
SIGNATURE
not signed
INSCRIPTIONS
no inscriptions
COLLECTIONS
Decorative Arts and Design
ACCESSION NUMBER
1996.85.1
CREDIT LINE
Gift of Mrs. William Liberman
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Wedgwood and Sons (British, Staffordshire, 1759–present). Vase, ca. 1801–1900. Tinted stoneware, 10 x 7 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (25.4 x 19.0 x 19.0 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Mrs. William Liberman, 1996.85.1. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 1996.85.1_bw.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 1996.85.1_bw.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph
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RIGHTS STATEMENT
Creative Commons-BY
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