Vase

Unknown maker, England

1780-1800

  • Titles Vase (Descriptive)
  • Artist Unknown maker,, England
  • Medium stoneware (black basalt)
  • Dimensions 7 1/2 × 4 × 4 in. (19.1 × 10.2 × 10.2 cm)
  • Credit Line Collection of the Art Fund, Inc. at the Birmingham Museum of Art; The Buten Wedgwood Collection, gift through the Wedgwood Society of New York, AFI.3245.2008
  • Work Type vase
  • Classification Containers

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Papal medallion cast, Pope Urban VIII (1568-1644), reigned as pope from 6 August 1623 to his death in 1644. He expanded the papal territory by force of arms and advantageous politicking, and was also a prominent patron of the arts and a reformer of Church missions. However, the massive debts incurred during his pontificate greatly weakened his successors, who were unable to maintain the papacy's longstanding political and military influence in Europe. He was also involved in a controversy with Galileo and his theory on heliocentrism during his reign. He is the most recent pope to date to take the pontifical name of Urban upon being elected as pope.
The small, gilt-bronze bust of the Emperor Franz I of Austria wearing the garment of a Roman ruler, his head crowned with a ribbon of laurel leaves, mounted on a square pedestal of cast iron and resting on a stepped, rectangular base, the pedestal decorated with the gilt-bronze coat of arms of the Austrian empire.
Bowl, David Puxley, Wedgwood, stoneware (black basalt) with glazed interior
Vase with an elongated cup shape and tapered base. The exterior is decorated with dimensional bands along the vase's form. One thin groove runs along the center of the body, with several shallower grooves as well. The top of the vase has a rougher texture, appears almost sanded. The vase's interior is glazed a dark red/purple with some irregularities.