However, of equal importance is an inscription to the base dated July 1898 that states it belonged to Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Allen, wife of Josiah Wedgwood II (the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood), and was later owned by their daughter Emma Wedgwood, who married her first cousin Charles Darwin.
Their son Leonard Darwin appears to have commissioned the inscription.
At 1818 Auctioneers (20% buyer’s premium) in Cumbria it sold for £2000 (estimate of £300-500) as part of a timed online sale that closed on January 31.