{"product_id":"rare-first-model-enoch-wood-john-wesley-bust-aged-81-c1784-earliest-pearlware","title":"Rare First Model Enoch Wood John Wesley Bust Aged 81 c1784 Earliest Pearlware","description":"\u003cp\u003eA rare early \u003cstrong\u003eStaffordshire pearlware portrait bust of the Reverend John Wesley\u003c\/strong\u003e (1703–1791), founder of Methodism, from the first model by \u003cstrong\u003eEnoch Wood of Burslem\u003c\/strong\u003e. The reverse has the oval tablet impressed \u003cstrong\u003eTHE REV\u003csup\u003eD\u003c\/sup\u003e JOHN WESLEY MA \/ AGED 81.\u003c\/strong\u003e with the small impressed signature \u003cstrong\u003eE WOOD SCULP \/ BURSLEM\u003c\/strong\u003e beneath.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWesley sat for the young Enoch Wood at Burslem, and the likeness was praised by those who knew him as the most faithful ever taken. Wesley was 81 in 1784–85, so the \u003cstrong\u003e'Aged 81' tablet dates this bust to the earliest period of production\u003c\/strong\u003e. These first-model busts are built with an \u003cstrong\u003eopen, hollow back\u003c\/strong\u003e, the tablet carried on two upright supports, exactly as here. After Wesley's death in 1791 Wood remodelled the bust with a closed back, fuller drapery and a tablet recording his death, and it is those later versions, and the many copies by other potters, that are usually found.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eComparable 'Aged 81' examples are held by the Chipstone Foundation (USA) and Queen's College, University of Melbourne. The early busts are discussed in the \u003cem\u003eProceedings of the Wesley Historical Society\u003c\/em\u003e (1908) and in Frank Falkner, \u003cem\u003eThe Wood Family of Burslem\u003c\/em\u003e (1912).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWesley is shown in old age with long white hair ending in rolled curls, a flesh-tinted face with finely modelled wrinkles, black gown and white preaching bands, on a waisted square socle decorated in marbled pink, yellow, grey and black. Pearlware glaze with the characteristic blue tint where it pools, and crazing throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition – please read.\u003c\/strong\u003e This bust has been restored. There is an \u003cstrong\u003earea of restoration (filler and paint) inside the back where the shoulders meet the socle\u003c\/strong\u003e, consistent with a repair at the neck join. There is a \u003cstrong\u003efine hairline running down the forehead\u003c\/strong\u003e from the hairline, approximately 3cm. The black of the gown has a matt surface and later touching-in to the black cannot be ruled out. The impressed lettering on the tablet is filled in black. Light frits and rubbing to the lower edges of the socle. An old paper collector's label is inside the shoulder. Please view all photographs, which form part of the description.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHeight approximately 30cm (11¾in).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCarefully packed and dispatched promptly, with combined postage offered on multiple purchases. UK and international postage available. Please message with any questions before purchasing.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Enoch Wood","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54710901637404,"sku":"18SEP-01","price":2450.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0677\/4630\/0188\/files\/57_d3aa7abb-0145-49c0-b10a-3e865e21467e.jpg?v=1792134516","url":"https:\/\/moffitts.co.uk\/products\/rare-first-model-enoch-wood-john-wesley-bust-aged-81-c1784-earliest-pearlware","provider":"Moffitts Antiques","version":"1.0","type":"link"}