Object Number 1959.2941

Object Name

Bust (figure) (George Washington)

Title

George Washington

Category

Ceramics

Credit Line/Donor

Bequest of Henry Francis du Pont

Creator (Role)

Wedgwood - Etruria Works (Maker)
1769

Jean-Antoine Houdon (Inspiration for design)
1741-1828
Houdon studied under Slodtz, Pigalle, and Lemoyne at the ancienne école académique and at the age of twenty won the Prix de Rome. Three years later, Houdon obtained a residency at the Académie de France in Rome, and in Italy, he discovered the newly uncovered works at Herculaneum and Pompeii as well as works of the Renaissance sculptors, especially Michelangelo. A year after his return to Paris in 1768, Houdon was received into the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture. In 1771, Houdon became a member of the Acadmie, presenting his marble 'Morpheus' as his reception piece; Houdon was named professor at the Académie in 1778. Throughout his career, he moved easily between a style of controlled classicism and a baroque dynamism, adapting the treatment to the nature of the subject. His work also displays a rigorous realism, inspired by quattrocentro sculpture and based on in-depth anatomical studies. His sense of classical restraint coupled with an incisive understanding of and ability to depict human character give Houdon's portraits their particular vitality and reflective expression. (Source: ULAN).

Place of Origin

Etruria, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1868

Mark or Signature or Inscription or Label

1. Mark; Underside; Impressed: "WEDGWOOD" and "WJW" and "D"
2. Mark; Reverse shoulder; Impressed: "WEDGWOOD"

Subjects

Washington, George; President; George Washington; Political figure; Government; American market (English manufacture)

Materials

Stoneware (basalt)

Techniques

Molded

Dimensions (inches)

18.465 (H) , 11.457 (L) , 9.252 (W)

Dimensions (centimeters)

46.9 (H) , 29.1 (L) , 23.5 (W)

Object Description

Text available soon.

Bibliography and Bibliographic Notes

[Catalogue] Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth NH (auction catalogue).
• Smaller version (13 1/4") impressed "WEDGWOOD": August 1-3, 2008, lot 226
[Article] Magid, Barbara H. 2006 "Commemorative Wares in George Washington's Hometown". Ceramics in America. 2-39.
• Example possibly from same mold: p. 10, fig. XII, 1875, with impressed letters "XCD" after Antoine Houdon's sculpture.
[Book] Beddoe, Stella. 2015 A Potted History: Henry Willett's Ceramic Chronicle of Britain.
• Slightly smaller Wedgwood basalt version impressed "JBW / D": p. 98, no. 434, without indication of dating.