Description & Notes: An early pale blue jasper medallion showcasing The Dipping of Achilles (The Immortalization of Achilles / The Baptism of Achilles) in the neo-classical taste, made by Jean Voyez, after Wedgwood, after James Tassie, after the Roman original, c. 1770-1790.
Dimensions: 1¾” Diameter
Markings: impressed on backside with serif font, “WADGWOOD”, inscribed into jasper, “42”
Notes: Interestingly Voyez worked for James Tassie who supplied Wedgwood with a copy of the Roman original.
Condition: Very Good Vintage Condition – no damage, no repair. There are two miniscule flea bites, one 1/32” the other 1/16” along the edges as is common and expected on these plaques.
Biography: Voyez was enthusiastically hired by Josiah Wedgwood in 1768 for a job as a modeler at the Burslem factory wherein it was quickly discovered his resume may have been inflated and his talents not suited to creation. Wedgwood kept faith and shifted his workload to replicating the originals of Mrs. Landre, a skill that would later make him notorious. Within the year Voyez gets in trouble with the law is sentenced to a public flogging and imprisonment. Wedgwood & Bentley decide he is nothing but trouble and recognize he holds the keys to many company secrets and has the skills to train their competitors. They agree to pay his board and wage for two years for doing nothing in hopes it will keep him out of trouble. It fails and the always ambitious Voyez is courted by a variety of unscrupulous characters and goes on to become a master forger as well as an employee of the reputable James Tassie. Voyez used the “WADGWOOD” moniker as well as “WEDGWOOD”.
