Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1972.2500 |
Object Name |
Medallion |
Title |
Medallion with Portrait of John Paul Jones |
School |
Wedgwood |
Description |
One of two identical Wedgwood medallions of Jones (58.S.61). Ceramic, white on black jasper dip. On rear, "Wedgwood/O" and "P. Jones," stamped. |
Label |
John Paul Jones was the first well-known naval fighter in the American Revolution. In 1779, Jones was granted command of the Bonhomme Richard, a merchant ship that French mercantile magnate Jacques-Donatien Le Ray rebuilt and donated to the American cause. On 23 September 1779, Jones captured the British ship HMS Serapis, the defining event for his place in American military history. Medals by Augustin Dupré (01.C.13) and Dassier et fils (Dassier and Son), commemorated the event. The French artists based their bas-relief portraits of Jones on Jean-Antoine Houdon’s “tinted plaster cast” (portrait bust) displayed at the 1781 Paris Salon. The Wedgwood ceramics firm then adapted the medals to create this jasperware medallion of the Revolutionary hero. |
Medium |
Ceramic |
Dimensions |
Dia-2.25 inches |
Dimension Details |
Framed: 6 x 6 x 1.5 |
Credit line |
American Philosophical Society. Gift of the estate of Isaac Minis Hays, 1967. |
Search Terms |
18th century eighteenth century sculpture profile |