Josiah Wedgwood was a friend of Erasmus Darwin and an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham. During the late AD 1700s, his pottery factory at Etruria produced thousands of portrait medallions in the famous blue and white jasper ware. Subjects included members of the Lunar Society and other important figures of the Enlightenment.
A portrait of Josiah Wedgwood made in 1841
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Isaac Newton
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Isaac Newton, Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University and a leading figure of the early Enlightenment.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=31925&partId=1&searchText=wedgwood+medallion+Isaac+Newton&images=true&&&&&&&&&&&&&people=&place=&from=ad&fromDate=&to=ad&toDate=&object=&subject=&matcult=&technique=&school=&material=ðname=&ware=&escape=&bibliography=&citation=&museumno=&catalogueOnly=&view=&page=1Joseph Priestley
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Joseph Priestley, chemist and member of the Lunar Society.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=32163&partId=1&searchText=wedgwood+medallion+Joseph+Priestley&images=true&page=1Benjamin Franklin
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Benjamin Franklin, American scientist, inventor and politician who was greatly admired by Erasmus Darwin and other members of the Lunar Society.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=31748&partId=1&searchText=wedgwood+medallion+Benjamin+Franklin&images=true&page=1James Cook
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James Cook, explorer, navigator and cartographer.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=32138&partId=1&searchText=wedgwood+medallion+James+Cook&images=true&page=1Joseph Banks
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Joseph Banks, naturalist and botanist who took part in James Cook’s first great voyage of 1768 – 71.
See more See more: http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=31515&partId=1&searchText=wedgwood+medallion+Joseph+Banks&images=true&&&&&&&&&&&&&people=&place=&from=ad&fromDate=&to=ad&toDate=&object=&subject=&matcult=&technique=&school=&material=ðname=&ware=&escape=&bibliography=&citation=&museumno=&catalogueOnly=&view=&page=1Carl Linnaeus
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Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist and zoologist, who created the system of biological classification still used today.
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