HISTORICAL MEDALLIONS. 331 



It is pleasant to be able to state that in some of " the 

 houses of the first nobility and gentry " as at Kedleston 

 Hall, the seat of Lord Scars dale, for instance chimney- 

 pieces, decorated with these beautiful plaques in Wedg- 

 wood's own time, are still to be seen in all their original 

 beauty. 



The THIRD CLASS consisted of medallions, &c., of kings, 

 queens, and illustrious persons, " of Asia, Egypt, and 

 Greece," a series which, in 1787, consisted of more than 

 one hundred heads. CLASS FOUR, " the ancient Roman 

 history, from the foundation of the city to the end of the 

 Consular government, including the age of Augustus, in a 

 regular series of sixty medals, from Dassier, at one guinea 

 the set, or singly at sixpence each." CLASS FIVE, heads of 

 illustrious Romans, of which about forty were produced, 

 CLASS Six, the twelve Caesars, which were produced in four 

 different sizes, and their empresses, which were produced in 

 one size only. CLASS SEVEN, " sequel of emperors, from 

 Nerva to Constantino the Great, inclusive," a series of fifty- 

 two medallions. CLASS EIGHT, the heads of the popes, a 

 series of two hundred and fifty-three medallions, " at six- 

 pence a-piece singly, or at threepence a-piece to those who 

 take the set." CLASS NINE, a series of a hundred heads 

 of kings and queens of England and France, which were sold 

 in sets only, either in or out of cabinets ; and CLASS TEN, 

 "heads of illustrious moderns;" this series had at that time 

 extended to about two hundred and thirty heads, which 

 were made both in black basaltes and in blue and white 

 jasper, and of various sizes, their prices varying " from one 

 shilling a-piece to a guinea, with and without frames of the 

 same composition; but most of them, in one colour and 

 without frames, are sold at one shilling each." 



Of the medallions in these highly interesting and im- 

 portant classes, Josiah Wedgwood wrote in 1787 : 



" The peculiar fitness of these fine porcelains for rendering exact 

 and durable copies of medallions, heads, &c, at a moderate price, 



