TWO WEDGWOOD BLACK BASALT OVAL MYTHOLOGICAL MEDALLIONS

TWO WEDGWOOD BLACK BASALT OVAL MYTHOLOGICAL MEDALLIONS circa 1780-1800, impressed uppercase marks, designed by John Flaxman, from a series of three medallions depicting Herculean Labors, each applied in high relief with either â Hercules and the Nemean Lionâ or â Hercules and the Erymanthian Boarâ , h: 7 in. (2)

Provenance: With Muriel Polikoff, Philadelphia, PA,1992.
Jeffrey Milkins Collection, no. 225.

Catalogue Note:
B. Gallagher notes that John Flaxman and his son invoiced Wedgwood & Bentley on 25 March 1777, for three â Basso Relieveâ medallions depicting the Labors of Hercules. In addition to the present examples, the third subject depicts â Hercules Binding Cerberusâ . He also notes the design of â Hercules Strangling the Lionâ closely follows a pen-and-ink drawing of Giovanni Battista Cipriani (1727-1785), which in turn is likely derived from Antiquity.

Additionally, even though Hercules is known for wearing a lionâ s pelt, the second medallion is inexplicably published in Wedgwoodâ s 1777 catalogue as depicting â Meleagerâ , the youngest of the Argonauts, who after his return voyage is remembered for defeating the Calydonian Boar.

Exhibitions: Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina, â Classic Black: The Basalt Sculpture of Wedgwood and His Contemporariesâ , 9 February 2020 â 3 January 2021, nos. 50 and 51.

Literature: Brian Gallagher, â Classic Blackâ , op. cit., exhibition catalogue, pp. 163-164, nos. 50 and 51.