Mezzetin

Modeled by Johann Joachim Kaendler, Royal Porcelain Manufactory Meissen

Modeled about 1740; Formed and decorated about 1745-1750

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Lamp finial of solid light blue jasper with white relief decoration in the form of stiff leaf motifs, in brass mount.
Urn-shaped vase of solid white jasper with yellow jasper dip and applied black jasper relief decoration, on round foot decorated with acanthus leaves and lotus motifs which extend up to the lower body, the shoulder with a band of ribbon and stick and another of ivy leaves, the overhanging lip with a band of overlapping acanthus leaves.
Oval tri-color jasper (lilac, dark blue, and white) cameo with white relief sacrificial scene
Oval blue jasper medallion with white relief profile portrait of Thomas Bentley (1730-1780) Liverpool merchant and business partner of Josiah Wedgwood in the manufacture and experiment of Ornamental ware.Born at Scropton, Derbyshire. Bentley was introduced to Josiah Wedgwood by Dr. Matthew Turner when Josiah was bedridden in Liverpool in 1762. They seem to have been on terns of friendship from the first. Bentley was, at this time, in partnership with Samuel Boardman of Liverpool, a general merchant, and the firm became Wedgwood’s agent.Bentley agreed to become Wedgwood’s partner in 1767 for the manufacture of ornamental wares, the partnership deeds being signed in 1769, a few weeks after the opening of the Etruria factory. Bentley settled in London to take charge of the showrooms and decorating studio there, and as a man of widely ranging interests he was able to meet and influence fashionable society to a point where the showrooms became a social centre. Bentley always found difficulty in dealing with subordinates, and staffing troubles were common.Bentley was, however, essential to the design, production and sale of the ornamental wares, and Wedgwood constantly consulted him, and referred to him for approval. In 1772 Bentley married his second wife, Mary Stamford of Derby. He lived at Chelsea from 1769 to 1774. He then removed to the Greek Street showrooms, and from there, in 1777, to Turnham Green, where he remained till his death in 1780.No one ever replaced him as a friend and colleague. A very large number of Wedgwood’s surviving letters are addressed to Bentley on business and family problems, but hardly any of Bentley’s own letters have survived, so his opinions on the subjects discussed have to be deduced from what Wedgwood has to stay.