CHAPTEE XVII 



WEDGWOOD AND FLAXMAN 



WEDGWOOD was fortunate, as well as wise, in associating 

 with himself, in the production of his wares, perhaps 

 the greatest sculptor whom England has as yet pro- 

 duced. Born on the 6th July 1755, John Flaxman 

 entered life with no special advantages. His father 

 sold plaster of Paris casts in New Street, Covent 

 Garden, and afterwards at a little shop in the Strand. 



The boy was very weakly, and slightly deformed 

 from his birth. As he grew in years, he used to sit in 

 a little stuffed chair behind his father's counter, over 

 which he could just see ; and there he read and made 

 drawings in black and white from the casts before him. 

 When customers came he got down from his seat and, 

 with the help of crutches, went to the shelves and 

 selected the required articles. 



Flaxman's mother died when he was seven years 

 old. His father married again, but his stepmother was 

 very kind to him, as much so indeed as his own mother 

 had been. The customers who came to the shop took 



