Abstract
IN his Friday evening discourse before the Royal Institution on December 16, Dr. John Thomas spoke on “Josiah Wedgwood and his Portraits of Eighteenth Century Men of Science”. The great success of three fellows of the Royal Society—Josiah Wedgwood and his two friends Matthew Boulton and James Watt—as industrialists was discussed. The successful production of artistic pottery at Etruria and of steam engines at Soho Factory, was only possible because of the persistent application of scientific principles. These ‘philosophic’ fellow-manufacturers endeavoured to satisfy this craving for scientific knowledge by attaching themselves to (a) the Lunar Society in the Midlands and (b) the Royal Society of London. Josiah Wedgwood, because of the artistic character of his jasper portrait medallions in the days before photography, established himself practically as the ‘official’ portrait producer of learned societies. Proof of this is the assembly of more than one hundred portrait medallions in Dr. Thomas's collection. Wedgwood handed the torch of science to his descendants, among whom was the illustrious Charles Darwin, his grandson, of whom Dr. Thomas exhibited a fine plaque by Wedgwood. Thus we, who live in the twentieth century, owe a great debt of gratitude to the ‘prince of potters’, not only for his scientific outlook, but also for the light which he has shed on his scientific contemporaries, through his inimitable portrait medallions.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wedgwood's Portrait Medallions of Men of Science. Nature 142, 1112 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1421112a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1421112a0