Bust

This bust is almost certainly a self-portrait by the great Staffordshire potter Enoch Wood (1759-1840), at the age of 62. Other versions exist elsewhere, including one at the British Museum, but this one is unusual in that it seems to have its original colour. The reverse is inscribed in Enoch Wood's own hand: 'The Bust of Enoch Wood of Burslem aged 62 AD 1821'.

The liquid clay, or slip, was poured into a plaster mould, which absorbed the excess water. The solidified slip shrank away from the mould, and was removed for drying. The clay was then fired, after which the surface was painted. This fine portrait represents the most ambitious example of an 18th-century ceramicist ‘elevating’ himself to the role of a sculptor, and is a perfect example of a work of art straddling both ceramics and sculpture.