Oval medallion with relief profile portrait of Gladstone

Portrait Medallion

Wedgwood

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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.
Green and white
Small, silver basket of boat-shaped form raised on a scalloped foot, the foot ribbed at the edge and decorated with bright-cut dotted bands, the body likewise ribbed at the upper edge and with a band of bright-cut floral motifs, on all four sides engraved floral swags in a heart-shaped configuration, on two sides with a shield-shaped reserve, one left empty, the other with the image of a falcon and a banner containing the motto NE OUBLIE, the swing handle also ribbed, with a light gold wash inside.
Louis XVI mantel clock set with six plaques of soft-paste porcelain, each decorated with brightly colored enamels in imitation of jewels in a pattern of scrolls and foliage in green, turquoise, red, and gold on a white ground, the plaques fit into a plinth-shaped gilt-bronze frame flanked by four rock crystal Corinthian columns with gilt-bronze capitals and surmounted by draped urn finials, on top a large, central rock crystal classical urn draped with gilt-bronze garlands, the blue enamel clock face surrounded by a white enamel dial is mounted with two gilt-bronze classical figures with bells and mythological motifs, the base with scrolling foliage on four flattened bun feet