Banks Medallion collection

The Banks Medallion Collection comprises a Wedgwood & Bentley cameo portrait medallion featuring a profile bust of Joseph Banks modelled in high relief in white jasper on a solid blue jasper body c.1775-80. The portrait of Banks reproduced on the medallion was originally modelled by John Flaxman R.A. (1755-1826), a leading neo-classical sculptor employed by Wedgwood from 1775. Flaxman modelled his portraits in a hard grey-white wax directly onto a glass background, with each portrait in wax substantially larger than the resulting jasper copy to allow for shrinkage during moulding and firing. Due to the limitations of the casting process, the artist would 'undercut', or carve back into the jasper copies to sharpen their details and give a greater impression of depth to the portrait before firing. The condition of the collection is good, with only a few small chips missing from the edge of the medallion. The white jasper portrait is in excellent condition.班克斯奖章藏品集（The Banks Medallion Collection）收录一枚韦奇伍德与本特利（Wedgwood & Bentley）出品的浮雕肖像纪念章，该纪念章以纯蓝色碧玉细炻器（solid blue jasper）为胎体，采用高浮雕工艺将约瑟夫·班克斯的侧面胸像以白色碧玉细炻器（white jasper）塑造而成，制作年代约为1775至1780年。该纪念章上复刻的班克斯肖像最初由皇家艺术学院院士约翰·弗拉克斯曼（John Flaxman R.A.，1755-1826）创作，他是1775年起受聘于韦奇伍德的顶尖新古典主义雕塑家。弗拉克斯曼会直接在玻璃基底上使用硬质灰白色蜡料创作肖像原型，且每一件蜡制原型的尺寸均显著大于最终的碧玉细炻器复制品，以预留成型与烧制过程中的收缩余量。受浇铸工艺的局限性影响，艺术家会在烧制前对碧玉细炻器素坯进行底切雕刻（undercut），即反向刻蚀素坯以锐化细节、强化肖像的立体感。该藏品整体保存状况良好，仅纪念章边缘存在少量细小崩边；其白色碧玉细炻器肖像部分保存极佳。