268 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP. 



ceived at the time they are produced, viz. the action 

 of fire on my compositions ; a little more or a little 

 less fire, and even the length of time employed in 

 producing the same degree, will make a very material 

 difference in this delicate operation. I am now en- 

 gaged in a course of experiments for determining these 

 points with as much precision as the nature of the 

 case will admit of, and this is now the only thing 

 that retards the completion of this grand object. 



" I long much to see the copies you are so good as 

 to send me of those fine works of antiquity, and you 

 may depend upon seeing the first productions from 

 them with all the despatch I am able to make. My 

 best thanks, accompanied as they are with the sincerest 

 gratitude and highest respect to your Excellency, are 

 a poor return for these repeated instances of your 

 goodness to me." 



At length, by introducing other expedients where 

 the hand of the modeller was insufficient, Wedgwood 

 in 1790, after many unsuccessful trials, produced 

 copies of the Portland Vase which, after a strict 

 comparison with the original, gave perfect satisfac- 

 tion to the most distinguished artists in Great Britain. 

 For the satisfaction of those who could not have 

 an opportunity of making such comparison them- 

 selves, he thought it necessary to have the accuracy 

 of some of the copies authenticated in the fullest 

 manner by men of the highest distinction ; in the first 

 place by the possessor of the Vase itself, the Duke of 



