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Title
Joseph Priestley (1733–1804)
Medium
mosaic, bronze, paving, ceramic tiles & brass
Accession number
SN11_RD_S007
Acquisition method
commissioned by Calne Town Council
Work type
Medallion
Owner
Calne Town Council
Custodian
Calne Town Council
Work status
extant
Access
at all times
Inscription description
bronze plaque: Dr. Joseph Priestley / This featured paving celebrates the life of Dr. Joseph Priestley LLD, FRS (1733 - 1804) / who discovered oxygen - in August 1774, at Bowood House. Here he was employed / by Lord Shelburne (later First Marquis of Lansdowne) as librarian and tutor to his / sons and provided with a laboratory. Priestley was also very interested in which gases / would dissolve in water and often visited the River Marden in Calne - at so-called / 'Doctor's Pond' near his home on The Green and not far from this spot. / The bronze head of Priestley is encircled by the symbol for oxygen and this in turn by / six brass motifs of all that depends on this gas - air, fire, fresh water, plants, fish / and land animals. The mosaic therefore illustrates the importance of oxygen, which / gives the 'breath of life' to all living things. The remaining motifs are symbols of the / other elements discovered by Priestley and his contemporaries. / Design and execution of the mosaic was undertaken by / David Reeves, Chris Fixsen and Vivien ap Rhys Pryce, members of the / Calne Artists' Group