The Portland Vase
Manufacturer
Wedgwood Factory
(English, founded 1759)
Date19th century
MediumStoneware with metallic oxide stain (jasperware)
DimensionsOverall: 10 × 7 × 7 inches (25.4 × 17.78 × 17.78 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: the John S. Doud Fund and Adler Memorial Funds
Object number2022.1.2
Markingsimpressed on underside “WEDGWOOD”
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 123
Collections
DescriptionOvoid vase with twin handles on neck in deep blue body color, applied moulded decoration in white.Gallery LabelThis vase is the most famous design the Wedgwood factory ever produced. It is an exact ceramic reproduction of a glass vase from the 1st century C.E. that probably told the story of the marriage of two Greek gods. The vase was excavated in Rome in 1580, and a British duchess bought it in 1783. Eager to capitalize on the popularity of ancient Greek and Roman subject matter among British consumers, Josiah Wedgwood charmed the duchess’s nephew into letting him copy it. After thirty failed attempts, he unveiled his ceramic version in 1790. The vase has never been out of production since.
Wedgwood and Bentley. Museum Etruriæ: or A catalogue of cameos, intaglios, medals, busts, & bas-reliefs.: With a general account of vases, & other ornamental articles. The whole formed in various kinds of terra cotta, chiefly after the antique (Liverpool, James Boardman, 1817: 121–139.
Carol Macht. Classical Wedgwood Designs (New York: M. Barrows and Company, 1957): 5, 10, 81, 83, 128.
Geoffrey Wills. "Sir William Hamilton and the Portland Vase," Apollo 110, no. 211 (September 1979): 195–201.
Robin Reilly, Wedgwood (New York: Stockton Press, 1989): I, 83, 111, 129, 140, 663–684; II, 13, 111, 140 and passim.
Robin Reilly and George Savage, The Dictionary of Wedgwood (Woodbridge, England, 1985; orig. publ. 1980): 275–276.
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