Moulding an Eligant impression from “primitive” earth

Writing in his journal on 28 April 1770, Joseph Banks, on board James Cook’s Endeavour, anchored in Botany Bay, observed that two Sydney Aboriginal men on the shore ‘were painted with white’;

[T]heir faces seemingly only dusted over with it, their bodies painted with broad strokes drawn over their breasts and backs, resembling much a soldiers cross belts, and their legs and thighs also with such like broad strokes drawn round them which imitated broad garters or bracelets. Each of these held in his hand a wooden weapon… smeard [sic] over with the same white pigment with which they paint their bodies.

Joseph Banks, Endeavour Journal, 28 April 1770

On 6 May 1770, Captain James Cook recorded in his journal that ‘some’ of the Indigenous people ‘had their faces and bodies painted with a sort of white paint of [sic] Pigment’.

This pigment was clay, and the British visitors were keen to investigate further the commercial potential of Sydney’s natural resources. With the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Governor Arthur Phillip sent a ‘small box’ of this white clay to Joseph Banks in London for analysis, as well as additional samples of red and black clay. ¹

I should not think it worth sending, but that you mention’d it in your Voyage, & L’Abbe Mongez [a French Priest and Naturalist], a very sensible Man, & I believe a good Naturalist; told me that it would make good [c]hina.

Governor Phillip to Joseph Banks, 16 November 1788 

From these humble beginnings, Sydney clay became associated with, and representative of, a larger British imperialist vision for the new colony. The cultural value of the clay to the local Aboriginal people, however, was overlooked.
 

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In a letter written by Wedgwood to Sir Joseph Banks on 12 March, 1790, published in the same Philosophical Transactions of 1790, he wrote:

I have the pleasure of acquainting you, that the clay from Sydney Cove, which you did me the honour of submitting to [sic] my examination, is an excellent material for pottery, and may certainly be made the basis of a valuable manufacture for our infant colony there. Of the species of ware which may be produced from it, you will have some idea from the medallions I have sent for your inspection.

Britain’s colonial hopes for New South Wales were quickly tied to Sydney clay, with its potential for pottery manufacture which was seen to offer both industry and a ‘civilising’ influence. Sydney clay was later used not only in the manufacture of ceramic ware, but also in the production of bricks and roofing tiles by early settlers.

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The exact number of Sydney Cove Medallions produced by Josiah Wedgwood from Sydney clay remains unknown. Varying accounts suggest as many as 200 medallions may have been created, while others insist that a limited manufacture of a few dozen was more likely. Today, the whereabouts of only 13 original issue medallions have been identified, five of which are in the State Library’s collection. Two were purchased in London for £35 by the Agent-General of NSW, Sir Saul Samuel, in 1891. These items were initially deposited in the Australian Museum collection and were transferred to the Library in 1955.

Another brown-coloured medallion was presented by Sir Richard Tangye in 1886, and additional medallions have been bequeathed to the Library from Australian Wedgwood collectors. Unfortunately, the cup, noted as accompanying the medallions, has been lost.

In 1790 a little-known second batch of the Sydney Cove Medallion was also produced from Sydney clay. This clay was sent by Governor Phillip to Josiah Wedgwood as a gift:

You will receive some Clay by the Gorgon, for Wedgwood, I think that is the least we can do for him.

Letter from Governor Phillip to Joseph Banks, 26 July 1790

Currently, only three medallions from this second batch have been found, all a warm cream colour. Original issue medallions are easily distinguished from later issues and reproductions, as they are clearly impressed on the reverse: ‘Made by Iosiah Wedgwood of clay from Sydney Cove’, being one of the few instances where Josiah Wedgwood not only signed his own name, but also identified the origin of the clay used. In actuality, the medallion was designed by Henry Webber, and modelled by William Hackwood, both celebrated artists.

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Josiah Wedgwood produced a companion medallion, commonly referred to as the ‘Slave Medallion’.

Also designed by Henry Webber, the Slave Medallion was created in 1787 as means of identifying those associated with the abolitionist cause. As a member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade himself, Wedgwood manufactured and shipped a number of these ceramic medallions to Benjamin Franklin, then President of the Philadelphia Society for the Abolition of Slavery, most likely bearing the cost himself.  Later, the Slave Medallion’s design also became the emblem of the British anti-slave movement and was extensively reproduced and disseminated in promotional or decorative items such as jewelry, snuff boxes and hair pins.

In a letter from Josiah Wedgwood to Erasmus Darwin in July 1789, Wedgwood acknowledged the companion pieces:

The slave cameo comes in so well, & so extremely apropos where you have placed it…especially considering it as [sic] a companion to the Hope of Sydney cove [sic].

Correspondence of Josiah Wedgwood, 1781–1794

A further poem written by Erasmus Darwin entitled ‘The Economy of Vegetation’, from Part Two of The Botanic Garden, similarly sought to celebrate the scientific achievements of his contemporaries through the use of Ancient Greek mythology and Romantic traits.

And pleased on WEDGWOOD ray your partial smile,

A new Etruria decks Britannia’s isle.

Charm’d by your touch, the flint liquescent pours

Through finer sieves, and falls in whiter showers;

Charm’d by your touch, the knead clay refines,

The biscuit hardens, the enamel shines;

Each nicer mould a softer feature drinks,

The bold cameo speaks, the soft intaglio thinks.

Whether, O Friend of Art! the gem you mould

Rich with new taste, with ancient virtue bold;

Form the poor fetter’d SALVE on bended knee*

From Britain’s sons imploring to be free;

Or with fair HOPE the brightening scenes improve,

And cheer the dreary wastes at Sydney Cove…

Accompanying the latter stanza, Darwin included the footnote:

Alluding to two cameos of Mr. Wedgwood’s manufacture; one of a slave in chains, of which he distributed many hundreds, to excite the humane to attend to and to assist in the abolition of the detestable traffic in human creatures; and the other a cameo of Hope attended by Peace, and Art, and Labour; which was made of clay from Botany Bay; to which place he sent many of them to show the inhabitants what their materials would do, and to encourage their industry.

As Darwin suggests in his poem, the Sydney Cove Medallion illustrated the European ideals of enlightenment and imperialist vision for the new colony.

From Josiah Wedgwood’s perspective, the manufactured arts presented an opportunity for the dissemination and appreciation of European culture, with objects once reserved for the few now able to be copied to:

suit the tastes, the wants, & the purses of different purchasers

Letter from Josiah Wedgwood to Sir William Hamilton, June 24 1786. Correspondence of Josiah Wedgwood, 1781–1794, Euphemia Farrer, K. (ed), 1906

Since the early 1800s, over 20 editions of the Sydney Cove Medallion have been reproduced in Basalt (black), Jasper (various colours), and Queen’s ware (cream hard-paste porcelain), as well as serving as ornamental bas-relief motifs on larger Wedgwood pieces such as the Australia Vase. In particular, commemorative issues of the medallion were created to mark the sesquicentenary and bicentenary of the First Fleet Landing, in 1938 and 1988 respectively. 
 

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Josiah Wedgwood was confident in the quality and innovation of his wares, though he may not have foreseen their lasting impact. Ornamental wares by Wedgwood, particularly those from the era of ‘Old Josiah’, are highly prized in Australia and around the world. With so few examples of the original issue surviving, the Sydney Cove Medallion remains among the most coveted and historically significant of Wedgwood’s creations.

A selection of Wedgwood medallions and portrait medallions are on permanent display in the Library’s Collector’  s Gallery.