Antique Chinese & Japanese PorcelainEuropean Ceramics & Works of Art
Pair of Wedgwood vases and covers, 19th century, in biscuit with olive green and pink decoration; either side with central relief medallions containing two women making an offering on an altar and a woman, possibly Pandora, with an arm draped around a sealed jar; framed by laurel garlands, the sides with satyr-mask handles, further laurel garlands to the shoulder, the neck and foot with leafy bands and applied spherical decoration. SOLD
Dimensions:
Height with lids: 27cm. (10 5/8 in.)
Condition:
Some restoration
Notes:
Vases such as these were purely decorative, and exemplified the fashion for neoclassical style which emerged in 18th century Britain. This fashion embodied an idealisation of ancient Greco-Roman civilisations following contemporary archaeological discoveries at Herculaneum and Pompeii. As great a businessman as he was a potter, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) proclaimed that he was to be ‘Vase Maker General to the Universe’ and capitalised on this trend by improving or developing technologies and techniques to produce pieces in the Classical style. Although commonly referred to in modern retellings as a ‘box’, older tellings of the myth of Pandora speak of a pithos, which translates to a jar. This mistake can be traced back to Erasmus of Rotterdam, who mistranslated Hesiod’s original pithos (referring to a large storage jar used for wine, oil or grain) as the Latin pyxis (box).>Josiah Wedgwood and Darwin were friends and both were members of the Lunar Soceity. The Wedwood factory was established in 1759
Guest & Gray 58 Davies StreetLondonW1K 5LP
