History of Wedgwood
Posted by admin on March 9th, 2009
|
History Of Wedgewood
The Wedgwood factory has produced some of the finest examples of ceramic art. It is the most researched and documented pottery of all, appealing to collectors and enthusiasts worldwide. The Wedgwood pottery has produced many wares – earthenware, basalts, jaspers and china. The pottery continues to thrive today and the quality remains high.
Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-1795) has been described as the most influential figure in the history of Western ceramics. Not a surprising accolade when you consider that he produced innovative and stylish wares of such high quality that they were not only extremely fashionable, but much copied in England as well as the rest of Europe and America.
Josiah Wedgwood was born into a family of potters and he possessed a natural flair when it came to art. In 1754 Wedgwood went into a five-year partnership with one of the best ceramicists of the time, Thomas Whieldon, who encouraged him to experiment and introduce improvements in manufacture. Josiah was a natural market-orientated innovator, so the climate of the industrial revolution suited him well. He set up his own factory in Burslem in 1759. Seven years later Wedgwood formed a partnership with his cousin, Thomas Wedgwood, together with businessman and friend, Thomas Bentley.
In 1771 Wedgwood built his own factory called Etruria, which he initially used for the production of his ornamental vases. Later, the manufacture of other wares was transferred to this site and in 1782 it was the first factory to install a steam powered engine. After Josiah’s death in 1795 his descendants carried on the business at the Etruria site until the factory was relocated to Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent. It is now a member of a group together with Waterford crystal and Royal Doulton.
Wedgwood’s first important innovation to the pottery world was the introduction of creamware – a development of cream-coloured earthenware already well established in Staffordshire. The range was sophisticated in decoration and style and of high quality, despite being mass-produced and it was copied all over Europe. Creamware was generally used for tea and coffee services. It was hand-painted or decorated with moulded designs and transfer prints. Queen Charlotte was so impressed with a creamware tea service made by Wedgwood that she appointed Josiah royal supplier of dinnerware – hence the new title of ‘Queensware’.
In 1768 Wedgwood developed a fine black porcelain known as black basalt, another innovation which proved to be a huge commercial success. The Wedgwood factory could hardly keep up with the demand for black basalt items. It was particularly popular with 18th Century ladies who loved the striking contrast of the black basalt and their fine white hands.
Among the earliest items made from the basalt material were gems, seals, cameos and intaglios (gems with incised designs). The versatility and strength of black basalt led to the manufacture of a wide range of wares such as vases, teawares, busts and other ornaments, as well as tableware, candlesticks and medallions. The black basalt surface was also idea for hand-painting with encaustic enamels to emulate classical Etruscan pottery designs, an innovation which was the first and only patent Wedgwood ever took out, in 1769. From 1773 the plain black was known as ‘basaltes’, now shortened to ‘basalt’ and this term is applied to all bodies of this type, whether they are made by Wedgwood or another manufacturer.
Probably the most famous and popular of Josiah’s creations is jasperware, which was introduced around 1777. It has been in production for over 200 years and has been described as the most important invention in the history of ceramics since porcelain. Inspired by antique cameos and Roman glass and tombs, jasperware is a form of unglazed stoneware with many designs based on antiquity, or drawings by contemporary artists such as John Flaxman.
It took Wedgwood years of experimentation to perfect his design for this durable, unglazed stoneware. Jasper is white in its natural state and is stained with metallic oxide colouring agents. The most common shade is pale blue, but dark blue, sage green, lilac, crimson, brown, yellow and black were also used.
Objects made of jasper included vases, tableware, plaques, cameos and portrait medallions. One of the best known pieces is probably the outstanding reproduction of the Roman Portland Vase and this soon ensured that jasperware became the most sought-after decorative pottery in Europe. Wedgwood’s first copy in black and white jasper was so accurate that when the original vase was accidentally smashed in 1845 while on loan to the British Museum, it was successfully restored using Wedgwood’s model as a guide. First editions of these replica Portland Vases are now museum exhibits and one can be seen in the British Museum in London.
In the 20th century Wedgwood employed many cutting-edge designers, including Daisy Makeig-Jones, Keith Murray, Eric Ravilious and John Skeaping, although they kept producing traditional items alongside the more modern wares. Daisy (1881-1945) was one of the chief designers at Wedgwood during the 1920s and she had a powerful influence on the design policy at Etruria. Daisy is famous for her ornamental range known as ‘Fairyland Lustre’. These items have a dark coloured ground printed with various colours and gilding, depicting imaginary landscapes and figures.
Some of the rarer designs fetch very high prices, despite the fact that they were mechanically produced. During 1916 and 1923 Daisy also produced a number of amusing nurseryware patterns such as ‘Chicken’, ‘Thumbelina’, ‘Golliwog’ and ‘Rabbits’.
Wedgwood responded to Art Deco by employing the services of the prominent architect Keith Day Pearce Murray (1882-1981), who had a very distinctive, modern style. Murray is famous for his range of bold, geometric forms in muted shades and plain, simple patterns. Colours normally found include matt blue, grey, white, straw and shades of green. Many of the Murray shapes were being made well into the 1950s – sometimes these can be found with handcraft decoration and some were adapted to be used as commemorative wares.
The 1930s witnessed illustrator Eric William Ravilious (1903-1942) produce a variety of wares for Wedgwood, such as commemorative wares (including a coronation mug for Edward VIII), a Zodiac set, a boat race cup and bowl, patterns for dinner and teaware, lemonade sets, but most notably the Alphabet Nursery range. Due to the restrictions imposed by the outbreak of war, Ravilious died before many of the wares printed with his designs could be produced in the 1950s. He was killed whilst working as an official war artist.
Most collectors tend to focus on the work of a particular designer rather than the pottery as a whole. The thing to remember is that whatever you decide to collect in the Wedgwood range means that you not only collect items of high quality, but that you own a little piece of celebrated British history.
uk tourism: search by counties; english culture; uk tourism; english cuisine; meditterenean asian food stuff; wedgewoood pottery; fortnum and mason. photographs of england: wonderful site for photo tour.
Author: Marion Aston
Mail this post