78 1860-1865 : PEESONAL 



I do assure you that without joking, Wedgwoods are an 

 unspeakable relief to me. I look over them every Sunday 

 morning, and poke into all the little second-hand shops I 

 pass in London, seeking medallions. The prices of vases are 

 quite incredible : I saw a lovely butter-boat and was quite 

 determined to go up to 30s. for it, at the dirtiest little pigstye 

 of a subterranean hole in the wall of a shop you ever were in, 

 the price was £25. All this amuses me vastly and is an 

 enjoyable contrast to grim science. No lady enjoys bonnets 

 more heartily. 



So he tells Hodgson : 



I have gone mad after Wedgwood ware, and especially 

 the medallions — things of another world. If you come across 

 any good specimens of old Wedgwood, pray beg, buy, borrow 

 and steal for me. 



And to his uncle the Eev. J. Gunn, a sympathiser in such 

 things, he writes (January 29, 1863) : 



When are you coming up ? I have some absolutely stifling 

 Wedgwoods to shew you : a plaque 18 in. long, with 

 Achilles dragging Hector round the walls of Troy, of Flax- 

 man's grandest time and manner — it will make your hair 

 curl to look at it ; an oval medallion of Goldsmith, 18 in. 

 diam. ; Mitten and Erasmus in white on pink clay, and the 

 Prince and Princess of Wales on pea-green clay ; besides 

 about forty other portraits of sorts. 



Darwin fed the hobby with mingled grain and chaff. 



I had a whole box full of small Wedgwood medallions 

 [he tells his friend in April] ; but, drat the children, every- 

 thing in this house gets lost and wasted ; I can only find 

 about a dozen little things as big as shillings, and I presume 

 worth nothing ; but you shall look at them when here and 

 take them if worth pocketing. 



He got his sister to send Hooker one of her black and 

 brown vases, but — 



You sent us a gratuitous insult about the ' chimney-pots ' 

 in dining-room, for you shan't have them ; nor are they 

 Wedgwood ware. 



