Collection of cameo samples and intaglios, made for Wedgwood. (SB). The sample cameos in wax and papier mache made by Henry Thompson, die maker to Queen Victoria, about 1840. The intaglios in black basaltes stoneware made by Wedgwood, England, late C18th / early C19th. (OF). Collection of 180 old Wedgwood Intaglio Seals, made of the black pottery known as "Basalt Ware", invented by Josiah Wedgwood about 1770. Eight of these seals have the mark "Wedgwood and Bentley", and are therefore between 1763 and 1780; the remainder mostly date before 1800, and a few probably belong to the early 19th century.. Some bear the original pattern numbers, and the subjects of 28 were traced in this way from the old Wedgwood Catalogue of 1787, a reprint of which was edited in 1873 by Eliza Meteyard. Another interesting specimen is No. "403", a supplicating slave, with the legend "Am I not a Man and a Brother". Wedgwood was an ardent supporter of the Anti-slavery movement, and issued this intaglio and corresponding cameos as propaganda (Catalogue of Exhibition of NSW Collection of Applied Art 1927).

173A