xvn Wedgwood and Flaxman 207 



so much in the chinmeypiece I am carving for Mr. 

 Knight, and particularly because you will have a new 

 production without the expense of a new model. In 

 the meantime I shall proceed diligently with your 

 drawings until I have further instructions, the expedi- 

 tion of which will add to the favours conferred on, sir, 

 with great respect and gratitude, your much obliged 

 servant, JOHN FLAXMAN, jun. 



" My wife joins with me in hopes for the health and 

 happiness of Mrs. Wedgwood and your family." 



Wedgwood had been so much indebted to Sir William 

 Hamilton, Ambassador to the Court of Naples, for his 

 casts from the antique, discovered during his researches 

 at Herculaneum, and for his fine collection of Etruscan 

 vases, that when Flaxman had finished his Apotheosis of 

 Homer, he offered to send Sir W T illiarn one of the 

 finest copies of the tablet. On receiving it, he replied 

 as follows (Naples, 22nd June 1779) : " I have had the 

 pleasure of receiving safe your delightful bas-relief of 

 the Apotheosis of Homer, or some other poet. Indeed, 

 it is far superior to my most sanguine expectation. I 

 was sure that your industry would produce in time 

 something excellent in the way of bas-reliefs from the 

 specimens I saw before I left England, but I really am 

 surprised and delighted in the highest degree with this 

 proof of the hasty strides you have made towards per- 

 fection in your art. I only wish you may continue to 

 meet the encouragement which you so richly deserve. 

 . Your bas-relief astonishes all the artists here. It 



