Modelling the medallions
Compare the Wedgwood portrait medallion of Cook and the wax portrait matrix from which it may have been produced.
Sculptor John Flaxman modelled Cook's portrait in hard wax and then a plaster mould was made from it. We do not know whether this wax portrait is Flaxman's original — but there is plaster still stuck to the back.
Right: John Flaxman's wax portrait of Cook was modelled in about 1777.
Photo: George Serras.
Right: The Wedgwood medallion of Cook was made in about 1777.
Photo: George Serras.
Right: This engraving shows the artist John Flaxman in about 1800. Flaxman modelled the figures associated with Cook's voyages for Wedgwood between 1775 and 1784. Courtesy: The Print Collector.
