Oval black basalt medallion with relief portrait of John Dryden (1631-1700) facing right. John Dryden was born in Aldwincle near Thrapston in Northamptonshire the eldest of fourteen children. In 1650 Dryden went to Trinity College, Cambridge.where he studied the standard curriculum of classics, rhetoric, and mathematics. He graduated in 1654 with his BA, graduating top of the list for Trinity that year. Dryden returned to London during the Protectorate, where he obtained work with Cromwell's secretary of state, John Thurloe. This later helped him publish his first poem, Heroic Stanzas (1658), a eulogy on Cromwell's death which is cautious and prudent in its emotional display.

John Dryden

Wedgwood

About 1785

See More of the Collection

Round plaque with Perseus and Andromeda with silver mount and ring
Silver commemorative medal with relief profile portrait of John Flaxman on one side, and relief scene of Mercury supporting Pandora flying left on the other, only thirty silver examples of this medal were awarded
Vestal, or oil lamp, of black basalt on a square plinth with truncated corners and a baluster stem, molded with a fluted neck, oak leaf border and acanthus and bellflowers on the lower body, with the figure of a classical maiden sitting atop the lamp holding a pitcher.
Bust in profile left.