Oval medallion of black basalt with the bas relief portrait bust of Roman Emperor Nero (37-68 AD) facing right, wearing laurel leaf crown, the name NERO impressed below the truncation, self frame, pierced to hang.

Portrait Medallion of Nero

Wedgwood, Wedgwood and Bentley period

1777-1780

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Pink oval box with painting of a castle on top.
Oval blue jasper plaque with white relief scene of Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, The subject was originally taken from a Renaissance gem, a sardonyx, then in the Marlborough collection and now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Wedgwood produced three distinct versions of the subject two of which show significant variations from the originals. The version closest to the original was probably taken from a sulphur cast of the gem by Tassie who reproduced it in his glass paste, or from a direct study of the Marlborough gem. Wedgwood was acquainted with the fourth Duke. The third version, attributed to Flaxman gives more space to the figures and incorporates detail from the other two versions. Bartolozzi engraved the subject, either from Marlborough gem or Tassie copy. Hackwood worked on the subject in 1774 from a cast supplied by Tassie. Lochee is reputed to have remodelled the subject in 1787 after Tassie. Webber is also said to have worked on it. Flaxman’s version seems to have been comparatively late, about 1787.
Plaque of white Jasper, with blue and lilac dip and applied white relief decoration. The cameo scene depicts 'Aurora, Goddess of the Dawn'. A female figure in flowing classical robes drives a chariot, pulled by two rearing horses, to the right across the sky. She wears a diadem of a rayed sun. One winged putti leads the way with a flaming torch and another flies behind the chariot. They are all surrounded by wispy clouds. Around the edge of the scene is a raised border of olive green, with applied white relief decoration of intertwined rope and small impressed bosses at regular intervals. The plaque, for box decoration, is rectangular with cut off corners and a bevelled and polished edge.
Bust in profile left.