Bust of Mercury - 1782
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Bust of Mercury
© Wedgwood Museum
The modelling is attributed to John Flaxman Jr. It is probable that Josiah kept the original in his own study before it was manufactured commercially. 1789-95
In 18th-century England the library was one of the most important rooms within both town and country houses as it indicated the owner’s cultivation and education. The library became the social centre of the home where everyone met to read, draw or converse. Most libraries had space along the top of the bookcases to display a range of busts and according to your personal preference you could have representations of the classical writers, poets, statesmen, actors, military heroes or the ancient Gods. Wedgwood’s black basalt library busts were mostly adapted from plaster models purchased from specialist shops in London. However, in February 1771, Josiah suggested to Bentley that they ought to obtain models from the Royal Academy where he hoped they would be better and more original than those generally available to all.The library bust of Mercury is traditionally attributed to the work of John Flaxman Junior. It is known that he exhibited a bust of Mercury at the Royal Academy in 1781, and Flaxman subsequently wrote to Josiah thanking him for the praise of his bust of Mercury adding that he hoped Josiah would place it in his study. It seems likely that Wedgwood kept the model in his own rooms for some years before it was manufactured commercially.
- Type of object: Portraits and figures/library bust
- Mark: WEDGWOOD [Impressed]
- Year first produced: 1782
- Body: Black basalt
- Material: Ceramic
- Accession number: 9592
- Dimensions: 474 mm (height), 300 mm (width), 260 mm (depth)
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Related people
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John Flaxman Jnr RA
Modeller
John Flaxman Jnr RA - Modeller
English sculptor, and designer, born in York, the son of a modeller and maker of plaster casts. The family moved to Covent Garden, London in 1756. In 1766 at the age of 11 Flaxman Jnr won a premium from the Society of Arts, now the Royal Society of Arts, enrolling three years later as one of the first students of the newly founded Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited for the first time at the Academy in 1770, and had come to the attention of the founder of the Wedgwood company, Josiah I himself, in 1771. By 1775 Flaxman Jnr had commenced to provide models and designs to the Wedgwood factory. Flaxman at Wedgwood’s behest went to Rome in 1787, where he remained, studying classical architecture and arts until 1794. During this period Flaxman supplied many important designs to Wedgwood. Amongst these can be numbered the famous ‘Apotheosis of Homer’ relief and vase; ‘Hercules in the Garden of Hesperides’; various bust subjects including Mercury, as well as the Josiah Wedgwood memorial in St Peter ad Vincula, Stoke-on-Trent’s parish church. Flaxman also supplied a huge range of portrait medallions and smaller sized bas reliefs for use by the firm.
