{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1790183"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1790183/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PP2218/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2026PP2218/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2026PP2218","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1790183/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1790183","accessionNumber":"WE.12505-2014","objectType":"Bust","titles":[{"title":"Bust of Virgil'","type":"generic title"}],"summaryDescription":"Virgil (70-19 B.C) was a Roman poet who authored the Aeneid, the Georgics, Eclogues and Bucolics. This black basalt bust was cast from a bust supplied by Hoskins & Grant in 1777. Hoskins & Grant, earlier known as Hoskins & Oliver, supplied Wedgwood with both plaster moulds and casts of figures and busts until 1779. On 2 August 1779 Josiah Wedgwood (1730-95) remodelled the cast of Virgil, writing to business partner Thomas Bentley  (1730-80) : 'this morning I resumed my old employment, took the modelling tools into my hands... & [I] shall send him to you saying some of his own divine poems'. Black basalt was a black stoneware first introduced in 1768 by Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-95). It is a fine grained black stoneware, composed of ball clay, calcined ochre and manganese oxide. It was developed by Josiah I as an improvement of the earlier ‘Black Egyptian’ ware produced in Staffordshire in the mid 18th century. Wedgwood said of his newly refined black basalt body that ‘the Black is Sterling and will last forever’. Ornamental wares became a popular feature of Georgian country house décor during the neo-classical movement of the mid to late 18th century. Contemporaries in Britain increasingly sought to decorate their houses in a style that emulated the classics and ancients of Greek and Rome in an attempt to reflect their own highly educated status. Josiah and business partner Thomas Bentley (1730-80) sought to take advantage of this trend, producing ornamental busts depicting Roman poets like Virgil in the neo-classical style. They produced ornamental wares in partnership as 'Wedgwood & Bentley' from 1767 to 1780.","physicalDescription":"Black basalt bust said to be the Ancient Roman poet, Virgil. This bust depicts the poet in his younger form dressed in a traditional Roman toga composed in a draping fashion with a laurel wreath adorning his head.","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Josiah Wedgwood and Sons","id":"A1450"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""},{"name":{"text":"Hoskins and Grant","id":"A18989"},"association":{"text":"modellers","id":"AAT25417"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"black basalt","id":"x30176"}],"techniques":[{"text":"moulded","id":"AAT53134"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"black basalt","categories":[{"text":"V&A Wedgwood Collection","id":"THES276060"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"WED","id":"THES270009"},"images":["2026PP2218"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"WDG1","id":"THES264736"},"free":"","case":"CA24","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"busts","id":"AAT47457"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Etruria","id":"x33200"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1777","earliest":"1772-01-01","latest":"1781-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"V&A Wedgwood Collection. Presented by Art Fund with major support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, private donations and a public appeal.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"380","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"260","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"of shoulders","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"145","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"nose to back of shoulders","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"No inscription","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Bust of Virgil, black basalt, modelled by Hoskins & Grant for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Etruria, ca. 1777","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"WDG1/CA24","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"24.09 Bust of Virgil. Black basalt / Plaster model supplied by Hoskins and Grant, 1777; / bust refurbished by Wedgwood in August 1779 / 1777-79.'","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["WE.12505-2014"],"accessionNumberNum":"12505","accessionNumberPrefix":"WE","accessionYear":2014,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"Wedgwood Museum Accession number","id":"THES269972"},"number":"5639"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-09-04","recordCreationDate":"2024-11-05","availableToBook":false}}