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Created by Wedgwood and Bentley (1769–1780), the manufacturer, after a model by William Hackwood (d. 1836), the modeler [1][a]; ...; acquired by an unknown collector [b]; purchased at auction by Spink & Sons, Ltd., London, England at Christie, Manson & Woods, in London, England, January 26, 1970 (lot 87, ‘A Fine Pair of Wedgwood and Bentley Blue and White Jasper Oval Portrait Medallions’) [2][c]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), February 1970 [d]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, 2001.

Notes:
[1] Wedgwood and Bentley was a pottery manufacturing partnership between British ceramicist Josiah Wedgwood (1730–1795) and Thomas Bentley (1731–1780), that began in 1769 and continued until Bentley’s death. Wedgwood founded the eponymous pottery firm in 1759, and the family business continued to thrive as the leading manufacturer of industrialized European ceramics into the mid-twentieth century. Bentley first met Wedgwood in 1762, and the two became lifelong friends. Bentley agreed to enter business with Wedgwood by late 1768 and thereafter managed the firm’s London location, assisted with design, and developed marketing campaigns.
This design, however, is by William Hackwood (d. 1836), who worked as a modeler for Wedgwood from 1769 to 1832. He was best known for his portraits of King George III and Queen Charlotte, including this one. Hackwood’s design for the monarch was based upon a wax model by fellow Wedgwood employee Isaac Gosset (1713–1799).

[2] The lot included this medallion and the companion Queen Charlotte portrait (B2001.2.1415) and was listed under "Different Properties."

Citations:
[a] Robin Reilly and George Savage, Wedgwood: The Portrait Medallions (Barrie & Jenkins, Ltd., 1973), 163–167.

[b] Christie, Manson & Woods, Catalogue of Wedgwood and Allied Wares 18th Century Pottery, Victorian Staffordshire Portrait Figures, Fairings and Artist Pottery (Christie, Manson & Woods, 1970), 24.

[c] Ibid.

[d] Elizabeth A. Fay, Fashioning Faces: The Portraitive Mode in British Romanticism (University Press of New England, 2010), 96.