Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”

In 1788, the potter Josiah Wedgwood introduced a radical new sub-section under the banner of his popular Heads of Illustrious Moderns, from Chaucer to the Present Time focused on historical and contemporary women, rather than men, and entitled “Femmes Célèbres”. In its creation, Wedgwood celebrated...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal:	Patricia F. Ferguson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Yale University 2021
Materias:	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/e983b59c418f4f7897dd97fcc2d5d1f6
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:e983b59c418f4f7897dd97fcc2d5d1f6
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:e983b59c418f4f7897dd97fcc2d5d1f62021-12-01T10:53:22ZDefining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”10.17658/issn.2058-5462/issue-21/pferguson2058-5462https://doaj.org/article/e983b59c418f4f7897dd97fcc2d5d1f62021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://britishartstudies.ac.uk/issues/issue-index/issue-21/wedgwood-portrait-medallions-of-sarah-siddonshttps://doaj.org/toc/2058-5462In 1788, the potter Josiah Wedgwood introduced a radical new sub-section under the banner of his popular Heads of Illustrious Moderns, from Chaucer to the Present Time focused on historical and contemporary women, rather than men, and entitled “Femmes Célèbres”. In its creation, Wedgwood celebrated the lives and achievements of twenty-eight elite, white women of immense privilege and beauty, but also objectified and commodified them for his financial gain. Within this group of aristocrats, mistresses, poets, queens, and educationalists were several female worthies, inspirational women, who possessed qualities he clearly admired—independence, intelligence, and industry. The outsider was the actress and first modern female celebrity, Sarah Siddons, whose struggles to gain acceptance by overcoming gendered obstacles paralleled those of elite, educated, literary women in their desire for recognition. Wedgwood’s gallery of female heads may have served as a visual conduct book or manual, presenting a modern vision of female agency, a new femininity that circumvented and navigated conventions of politeness and the status quo. When accompanied by enlightened conversations, even gossip, among women around the tea-table or while shopping with friends, the life choices of the sitters depicted in these portrait medallions served to educate and promote what it meant to be a woman in the late eighteenth century. This article redefines the reception of this group of ornamental portrait medallions in Wedgwood’s new stoneware bodies as decorative art objects inspired by fine art representations and made accessible through mass production.Patricia F. FergusonYale UniversityarticleFine ArtsNArts in generalNX1-820ENBritish Art Studies, Iss 21 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Arts in general NX1-820 Patricia F. Ferguson Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
description	In 1788, the potter Josiah Wedgwood introduced a radical new sub-section under the banner of his popular Heads of Illustrious Moderns, from Chaucer to the Present Time focused on historical and contemporary women, rather than men, and entitled “Femmes Célèbres”. In its creation, Wedgwood celebrated the lives and achievements of twenty-eight elite, white women of immense privilege and beauty, but also objectified and commodified them for his financial gain. Within this group of aristocrats, mistresses, poets, queens, and educationalists were several female worthies, inspirational women, who possessed qualities he clearly admired—independence, intelligence, and industry. The outsider was the actress and first modern female celebrity, Sarah Siddons, whose struggles to gain acceptance by overcoming gendered obstacles paralleled those of elite, educated, literary women in their desire for recognition. Wedgwood’s gallery of female heads may have served as a visual conduct book or manual, presenting a modern vision of female agency, a new femininity that circumvented and navigated conventions of politeness and the status quo. When accompanied by enlightened conversations, even gossip, among women around the tea-table or while shopping with friends, the life choices of the sitters depicted in these portrait medallions served to educate and promote what it meant to be a woman in the late eighteenth century. This article redefines the reception of this group of ornamental portrait medallions in Wedgwood’s new stoneware bodies as decorative art objects inspired by fine art representations and made accessible through mass production.
format	article
author	Patricia F. Ferguson
author_facet	Patricia F. Ferguson
author_sort	Patricia F. Ferguson
title	Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
title_short	Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
title_full	Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
title_fullStr	Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
title_full_unstemmed	Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”
title_sort	defining a new femininity? josiah wedgwood’s portrait medallions of sarah siddons and his “femmes célèbres”
publisher	Yale University
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/e983b59c418f4f7897dd97fcc2d5d1f6
work_keys_str_mv	AT patriciafferguson defininganewfemininityjosiahwedgwoodsportraitmedallionsofsarahsiddonsandhisfemmescelebres
_version_	1718405267543031808

Defining a New Femininity? Josiah Wedgwood’s Portrait Medallions of Sarah Siddons and his “Femmes Célèbres”

Ejemplares similares