A fascinating and comprehensive work on the life of Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) who established the grand firm which carries his name, and who is of particular Australian interest as the creator of the Sydney Cove Medallion.

A fascinating and comprehensive work on the life of Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) who established the grand firm which carries his name, and who is of particular Australian interest as the creator of the Sydney Cove Medallion.

An investigation into the nature of the clay of the Sydney basin had been one of the first requests given to Governor Phillip, and he sent home a series of specimens to Sir Joseph Banks as soon as he was able. Banks was a close associate of Josiah Wedgwood, and some of the clay was immediately dispatched in order to create the Medallion. The medallion was designed by Henry Webber with the final finishing of the moulds done by William Hackwood, Wedgwood's principal modeller. The full title of the medallion is "Hope encouraging Art and Labour, under the influence of Peace, to pursue the employments necessary to give security and happiness to an infant settlement". An engraving of the design adorned the title-page of Phillip's Voyage (1789), and a fine depiction of the Medallion is also included in this work (II, p, 568).

Meteyard's work is also of great interest for the number of engravings of cameo portraits which it includes, such as the famous portrait of Sir Joseph Banks as a young man, as well as those of John Fothergill, the artist John Flaxman, and Sir Joshua Reynolds, quite apart from an almost endless array of illustrations of some of Wedgwood's finest work, including one of the famous Portland Vase.

The short note signed by Josiah Wedgwood II tipped-on to the verso of the frontispiece is of some interest, being a note about [Thomas] Minton's purchase of some clay at Liverpool, with a note on costs.