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Wedgwood gleaned inspiration from architects and antiquities collectors who traveled on the Grand Tour or had posts abroad and brought back to England their ideas and rare finds sparking the neoclassicism movement. Antiquities were collected from the lost cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and documented in several texts Wedgwood scoured for design inspiration. Not only were book illustrations and etchings used for inspiration, but also plaster casts of sculptural works by such artists as Michelangelo and Bernini from earlier centuries were used by Wedgwood to expand his product lines.
Wedgwood. Tripod Vase, circa 1790-1800, stoneware (black basalt). collection of Jeffrey s. Milkins and Steven R. Parker
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Wedgwood. Covered Vase, 1769–80, stoneware (black basalt). Museum Purchase: Delhom Collection. 1965.48.757A-B. Collection of The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC
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Adam, Robert, 1728-1792 / The works in architecture of Robert and James Adam, Esquires |
Architects
- Robert Adam (1728-1792) was known for the classical interpretations he applied to his architectural creations. He spent four years traveling throughout Italy where he observed Roman antiquity and brought these design elements back to England. He and his brother James Adam (1730-1794) published The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam: Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3
- Interesting note: Wedgwood was eager to hire away any former employee of the Adam's firm including John Voyez who eventually stole from Wedgwood and went to work for Wedgwood's competitor, Humphrey Palmer.
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James "Athenian" Stuart (1713-1788), a pioneer of neoclassicism, is best known for his publication, The Antiquities of Athens (1762) recording classical Greek architecture which became a source book for designers well after his death. Stuart is known for reviving the tripod form emulated in the Wedgwood vase below.
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Sir William Chambers (1723-1796), the designer of the temples and gardens at Kew in London named a Royal Architect thanks to his good friend the Prince of Wales, was an admirer of the Italian masters. His well-known Treatise on Civil Architecture influenced Wedgwood's designs.
Antiquities Collectors
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As a British envoy to Naples, Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) was fascinated with nearby Pompeii and Herculaneum and an avid collector of antiquities.
- More about Sir William Hamilton in "British Diplomat Hamilton documents the 'field of fire'" from The Getty
- By documenting his personal collection in four volumes (below), Hamilton helped establish neoclassicism in the eighteenth century by providing designs for Wedgwood's wares. Wedgwood had a complete set of these books in his personal library.
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- The Mint Museum's Wedgwood vase based on a drawing in Sir William Hamilton's collection.
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Collection of Etruscan, Greek and Roman antiquities from the cabinet of theHonourable William Hamilton, 1766. https://archive.org/details/collectionofetru01hami/page/n322 |
Wedgwood, Vase, circa 1780-95, The Mint Museum Collection |
- Charles Townley (1737-1805) traveled the Grand Tour on three separate occasions and developed the most significant collection of antiquities in Britain.
- Wedgwood consulted his copies of books with vase designs such as:
- Livre de Vases by Jacques Stella (1596-1657)
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Livre de Vases by Edme Bouchardon (1698-1762)
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Joseph-Marie Vien's (1716-1809) and his wife, Marie Therese Reboul's (1729-1805) Suite de Vases Composee dans le Gout de l'Antique. (designed by Vien, inscribed by Reboul)
- Sir Watkin Williams Wynn (1749-1789) brought vases home from his travels on his Grand Tours.
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The Marquess of Lansdowne, William Petty Fitzmaurice (1737-1805) lent Wedgwood plasterreliefs based on wall paintings found in Pompeii.
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Sir Roger Newdigate (1719-1806) invited Wedgwood to take casts from a whole series of relief-molded designs.
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See Buried by Vesuvius, an exhibition at the Getty Museum that displays treasures from the Villa de Papiri at Herculaneum that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
- See examples of Intaglios and other pieces derived from Herculaneum in Eliza Meteyard's 1874 work, Memorials of Wedgwood.
| Documentary about Herculaneum and the treasures found there. (60min) |
16th Century Sculptors
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Biographical information on Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
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More about Michelangelo's work from De Rossi's Raccolta di statue antiche e moderne, Wedgwood and Bentley's source of illustrations.
- Guglielmo della Porta (1500-1577), a noted sculptor of the Italian Renaissance influenced the design of some Wedgwood basalt medallions.
- Jacob Cornelisz Cobaert (1535-1615), a Flemish sculptor who worked in Italy with Guglielmo della Porta and made reliefs of his designs.
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Antonio Susini (1558-1624), a Florentine bronze caster and sculptor who worked in Giambologna's (1529-1608) workshop.
17th Century Sculptors & Etchers
- Biography of Bernini (1598-1680) from the National Gallery of Art.
- More about Bernini's work from De Rossi's Raccolta di statue antiche e moderne.
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The model for the Fountain of the Moor |
Triton, Wedgwood, circa 1770-1776, black basalt. The Vyne,Hampshire. |
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Alessandro Algardi (1598-1654), renowned sculptor, draftsman, and architect and an acknowledged rival to Bernini in 17th century Rome.
- Algardi's marble "Allegoria del Sonno," (Allegory of Sleep) on exhibit at the Medieval Museum of Bologna. See Wedgwood's black basalt version, called Somnus, below.
- Wedgwood's basalt Somnus from the Birmingham Museum of Art.
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Wedgwood and Bentley, Somnus, circa 1774, stoneware (black basalt), Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art, The Buten Wedgwood Collection, AFI.239.2008 |
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Stefano della Bella (1610-1664), not a sculptor but rather a prolific Italian draftsman and etcher provided inspiration from his vase illustrations from his Raccolta di vasi diversi. For an example see Plate 6.
- Jacques Stella (1596-1657), whose etchings in Livre de Vases were a source for Wedgwood's vase shape designs.
- More about a Wedgwood ewer from the Victoria & Albert Museum.
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Created by Christina Petty, LIS Graduate Student
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