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The original cameo-glass Portland Vase, sometimes known as the Barberini Vase, is thought to date from the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar (27BC-14AD), and is currently housed in the British Museum, London. Sir William Hamilton brought the vase to England in 1783 and eventually sold it to the enigmatic Duchess of Portland.

In 1786, the year after her death, the contents of the private Portland Museum were put up for auction, and Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-95), potter, pioneer and philanthropist loaned the vase from the new owner the third Duke of Portland in order to study and model it. Josiah and his artists laboured for nearly four years to replicate the piece, and the first ‘good’ copy of the vase in Wedgwood’s celebrated Jasper body was made at the Etruria factory by September 1789 It was initially shown by Josiah to his great friend Erasmus Darwin, who was a Lunar Society member and Wedgwood family physician.

In April 1790 the Vase was exhibited at the Wedgwood London Showrooms at Portland House, Soho in London. Admission was by invitation only, and the great and the good flocked to view this ceramic masterpiece. Sir Joshua Reynolds gave his seal of approval declaring the vase - ‘...a correct and faithfull [sic] imitation, both in regard to the general effect, and the most minute details of the parts.’

‘First Edition’ Jasper copies appear in collections of note worldwide, and today Wedgwood continues the production of this ‘icon’ piece in limited editions to celebrate special events.

Category: People , Process , Product

Institute: Wedgwood Museum