CIRCA 1776-82

This vase shape is recorded in the 'First Shape Book' (circa 1802) as shape number 150 and was produced in black basaltes in three sizes, of which the present vases are the largest and would have cost 12 shillings each. According to Wedgwood factory archives, an order for 'Lord Leigh of Stoneleigh Abbey' dated 1776-1782 is recorded (Gaye Blake-Roberts of the Wedgwood Museum in Correspondence with John Hardy, 5 September 2006). It seems probable that these fashionable classical vases would have been purchased as part of the extensive refurbishment of Stoneleigh, begun by Edward, 5th Lord Leigh, on his coming of age in 1763. With their classical ornament and antique forms, Wedgwood’s black basaltes and 'encaustic' wares were inspired by both the comte de Caylus's publication Recueil d'Antiquitiés, published in seven volumes between 1752-1767, and Antiquitiés, Etrusques, Grecques et Romaines, a four volume catalogue of Sir William Hamilton's notable collection of Greek and Italian vases, complied by Hamilton and Pierre d'Hancarville and published in 1766-7. Wedgwood's decorative 'encaustic' technique was patented in 1769 and was a much simpler technique than that used by ancient potters, the red figures and ornament painted directly on to the black ground with details and shading added after the red ‘silhouette’ was dry (see Robin Reilly, Wedgwood, London, 1987, Vol. I, pp. 414-423).