. The Wedgwoods: being a life of Josiah Wedgwood; with notices of his works and their productions, memoirs of the Wedgwood and other families, and a history of the early potteries of Staffordshire. ity, and illustrate the historyof our era. Some few of them (and only a few, on accountof the expense) were finished with all the art that the agewas capable of, and will convey no unfavourable idea of thestate of the arts at this time. It may with truth be saidthat the body is far more durable than the antique. It isbasaltic, and has this great advantage over the antiques,that whereas they are of a
. The Wedgwoods: being a life of Josiah Wedgwood; with notices of his works and their productions, memoirs of the Wedgwood and other families, and a history of the early potteries of Staffordshire. ity, and illustrate the historyof our era. Some few of them (and only a few, on accountof the expense) were finished with all the art that the agewas capable of, and will convey no unfavourable idea of thestate of the arts at this time. It may with truth be saidthat the body is far more durable than the antique. It isbasaltic, and has this great advantage over the antiques,that whereas they are of a tender, brittle body, this is thehardest body made. It is as durable as mortar material,which is the most durable that any product of clay can bemade to arrive at. At Etruria is preserved a small teapot, of red ware, ofwhat is usually called the crab-stock pattern, which bearsa written label, stating that it is the first teaj^ot at JosiahWedgwoods, made by Josiah Wedgwood himself. This CiHiNESE PORTRAIT MODELLER. 209 piece I show on the accompanying- engraving, not because Iplace credence in the statement, but because it is interestingto note that an example with such a memorandum attached. to it is preserved at the works. I ought to mention that theoriginal spout has been replaced by one of metal. Mr. Bentley seems to have busied himself, as did alsoWedgwood, in seeking out all the talent which could berendered available for the purposes of the manufactory, andin getting together, by loan or purchase, impressions ofintaglios, bas-reliefs, and other specimens of ancient in all this the partners were well and liberally secondedby people of every rank, who appear to have been only tooglad to place at their disposal the treasures of their cabinets. In 1769, on the 4th of November, Bentley thus writes inone of his interesting letters from London :— We have been so much taken up of late with fine articles andfine things that I have not had a moment to spare, and am in deb
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookidwedgwoodsbei, bookyear1865
