Wedgwood First Edition Portland Vase

This extraordinary First Edition Wedgwood rendering of the legendary Portland Vase is one of the rarest masterpieces of Josiah Wedgwood, the most important ceramics manufacturer of the 18th century. A tour de force of ceramic art, the Portland Vase First Editions are regarded as one of the greatest ceramic accomplishments of the 18th century, and they are a testament to the superior skill of Josiah Wedgwood, his extraordinary ambition and his tireless dedication to perfection. One of the very few First Editions still in private hands, this exceptional Wedgwood Portland Vase is one of the most important works of ceramics on the market.

The story of Wedgwood and the Portland Vase is legendary. The original Portland Vase is the ancient world's most famous decorative arts masterpiece—a cameo glass vase dating to circa 25 CE with a frieze representing the myth of Peleus and Thetis, initially thought to be carved from stone. When it was first rediscovered around 1582, it captivated the world with its opaque white cameo figures over its rich blue background. After the vase was excavated it was owned by Cardinal Barberini, whose family later sold it to the Duke of Hamilton who eventually sold it to the Duchess of Portland, from whom the famed vase now takes its name.

The famed British sculptor John Flaxman was likely the first to have brought the vase to Wedgwood’s attention. In a letter dated February 5, 1784, he wrote: “I wish you may soon come to town to see William Hamilton’s vase, it is the finest production of Art that has been brought to England and seems to be the very apex of perfection to which you are endeavouring to bring your bisque and jasper…” Indeed, the Portland Vase is a masterpiece of cameo-cutting, with a stunning frieze of opaque white cameo glass over its translucent deep blue form. Its beauty and translucence would inspire Wedgwood to undertake his years-long endeavor to precisely replicate the original in porcelain.

Upon closer examination, Wedgwood realized the vase was not made of stone or earthenware, but of cameo glass—a technique so advanced it remains the masterpiece of cameo-cutting. Today, the vase is housed in the British Museum, where it is the second most viewed antiquity, only after the Rosetta Stone. It then took Wedgwood several painstaking years to craft his unparalleled copy of the vase, during which he perfected the jasperware technique that would become his crowning achievement. To this day, the renowned porcelain firm regards the vase as its most momentous triumph, so much so that the vessel’s silhouette is incorporated into the Wedgwood logo.

The four years it took Wedgwood to complete his vase were not without tribulations. From the start, Wedgwood encountered numerous problems with his copies, from cracking and blistering to the difficulty of replicating the translucent effects of the original. The first acceptable copy was produced in October 1789 and sent to Wedgwood’s physician and friend Erasmus Darwin, the grandfather of Charles Darwin. Wedgwood presented another copy to Queen Charlotte in May 1790 and afterward organized a private exhibition of the vase at the Portland House in London. The viewing proved so popular that Wedgwood was forced to restrict the show to 1,900 visitors. Much of London wished to see Wedgwood’s greatest major achievement. Perhaps the highest praise of Wedgwood’s copy came from the famed artist Sir Joshua Reynolds, the founder of the British Royal Academy: “I can venture to declare it a correct and faithful imitation, both in regard to the general effect, and the most minute detail of the part.”

Over the next few years, Wedgwood's oven records listed 43 First Edition copies of the Portland Vase produced between 1791 and 1796, 11 of which were broken during the firing process. In all, it is believed around 30 First Edition vases were completed, though an unknown number of these were somewhat damaged—one of these imperfect examples is currently held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. The perfect examples such as ours have found their way into the most important museum collections in the world. The British Museum (London), Art Institute of Chicago, Birmingham Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts (Boston) and the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge, UK), among others, all hold one of these highly coveted vases in their collections.

In terms of technical achievement, the First Edition Portland Vases remain unsurpassed. Our vase—one of the exceptionally rare original blue editions—is easily identified as original by several details: the raised elbow on the base protruding slightly above the rim, its considerable weight due to its use of solid blue jasper (not white jasper dipped in blue), the overall translucency of the white motifs and its incredible smoothness, as Wedgwood had stone lapidaries polish the blue background as they would a gemstone. Furthermore, its grayish-blue color was only used in the 18th century. In 1791, due to a shortage of black clay, a handful were made in blue—one of which was gifted by his son to the British Museum, where it remains today.

Vase: 10" high x 7 1/2" diameter
On stand: 16" high x 9" diameter

Circa 1791

Provenance:
Private Collection, New York
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

The First Edition copy of the Portland Vase is and mentioned in numerous publications, including:
The Portland Vase and the Wedgwood Copies, 1952, W. Mankowitz
The Portland Vase, 2009, R. Brooks, pp. 134-156
The Dictionary of Wedgwood, 1980, R. Reilly and G. Savage, p. 277
Wedgwood, Vol. 1, 1989, R. Reilly, pp. 655-656, 663-684
Wedgwood Jasper, 1994, R. Reilly, pp. 215-236
The Personal Life of Josiah Wedgwood, the Potter, 1915, J. Wedgwood, pp. 162-170
Wedgwood Ceramics, 2005, D.J. Keefe, p. 138
The Potter's Art: A Complete History of Pottery in Britain, 1995, G. Clark, pp. 60-62
Roman Glass in the Corning Museum of Glass, Volume 3, 2003, D. Whitehouse, pp. 177-179