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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
ACCESSION NUMBER 1996.85.1
CREDIT LINE Gift of Mrs. William Liberman
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. (founded 1759). 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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Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. (founded 1759). <em>Vase</em>, 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)