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Exhibited Wedgwood & Bentley Basalt Stoneware Four Handle Vase
About the Item
Etruria, Staffordshire, c.1780, thrown in four parts and bolted to a plinth built of five small slabs, decorated by molded handles with horned returns to high relief goats’ masks with drapery festoons, circular seal at bolt impressed “WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY: ETRURIA,” 18 in. Provenance: Dr. Ellis F. Rubin & Suzanne Borow Rubin.
Exhibited at the Mint Museum in Charlotte, NC in 2020 and illustrated in the accompanying literature, “Classic Black: The Basalt Sculptures of Wedgwood and his Contemporaries” by Brian D. Gallagher.
He notes the following of Wedgwood’s source:
A design by the prolific Italian draftsman and etcher, Stefanio Della Bella (1610-1664). His design for this vase was illustrated on plate 6 of his Raccolta di Vasi diversi, published in Paris about 1646. His vase designs were later included in the third edition of Robert Sayer’s The Ladies Amusement: Or, Whole Art of Japanning Made Easy (London, 1771). Wedgwood slightly altered the design, replacing the spouts that della Bella had positioned above the four goats’ heads with high, cartouche-shaped handles.
One hundred thirty years earlier, celebrated 19th century dealer Fredrick Rathbone wrote of this shape in his 1893 book, Wedgwood By Rathbone:
Vases of this form are rare. Some years ago, one was brought to the writer, with all the four handles missing. It was explained that one handle been accidentally broken, and the owner, thinking the vase could be improved, deliberately broke off the three remaining handles, and threw the fragments away! A similar incident is recorded of a fine old fifteenth-century church in Cumberland. A severe gale having demolished one of the four pinnacles of the tower, the churchwardens then met in solemn conclave, decided to pull down the remaining three pinnacles, considering it would save the parish the considerable expense of building up the missing one. The decision was happily not carried out, a more enlightened man interfering to prevent the sacrilege.
Another fine vase of this shape is illustrated on page 60 of David Buton's book, "18th Century Wedgwood: A Guide for Collectors & Connoisseurs" (1980).
- Creator:Wedgwood & Bentley (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Width: 6 in (15.24 cm)Depth: 6 in (15.24 cm)
- Style:Neoclassical (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1780-1789
- Date of Manufacture:1780
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Asheville, NC
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU10245243284532
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