Lot 8
8
A WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY 'ENCAUSTIC'-DECORATED BLACK BASALTES OVAL PLAQUE
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A WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY 'ENCAUSTIC'-DECORATED BLACK BASALTES OVAL PLAQUE

CIRCA 1774

Details
A WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY 'ENCAUSTIC'-DECORATED BLACK BASALTES OVAL PLAQUE
CIRCA 1774
Painted in a shades of pinkish/grey and sepia with a vanquished gladiator, the bearded combatant with loose robes, holding the hilt of a sword, on one knee and supporting himself on stone, with an integral moulded frame with a bundle of reeds below fluted border enriched in matt brick-red enamel, pierced to the top of the frame for hanging
14 5/8 in. (37.2 cm.) wide, 11¾ in. (29.8 cm.) high
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Whilst Wedgwood & Bentley plaques of this scale with integral frames are not unusual, the use of 'encaustic' figural decoration, as opposed to the more typical bas relief, is very rarely recorded in the literature. The most celebrated examples are the pair of roundels painted with 'The Rape of Helen' and 'Hercules and Antaeus' in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, see Robin Reilly, Wedgwood (London, 1989), Vol. I, p. 417, pls. 579 and 560.

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