Wedgwood And The Wedgwood Museum

"As a man is said to have a right to his property, he may be equally said to have a property in his rights. Where an excess of power prevails, property of no sort is duly respected. No man is safe in his opinions, his person, his faculties, or his possessions." --James Madison, National Gazette Essay, March 27, 1792
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"If, from the more wretched parts of the old world, we look at those which are in an advanced stage of improvement, we still find the greedy hand of government thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry, and grasping the spoil of the multitude. Invention is continually exercised, to furnish new pretenses for revenues and taxation. It watches prosperity as its prey and permits none to escape without tribute." --Thomas Paine, Rights of Man, 1791
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"In planning, forming, and arranging laws, deliberation is always becoming, and always useful." --James Wilson, Lectures on Law, 1791
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"It is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth -- and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. ... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it." --Patrick Henry
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Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

My husband and I have been collecting Wedgwood--mostly Jasperware--for several years. My Mother-in-Law started her collection more than 50 years ago; and when she passed away in 1999, we continued to haunt antique shops and eBay for additional pieces.

As with most collectors, we very often end up with duplicate Jasperware items. So last year, we opened our online store, at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry in an effort to find a good home for these extra pieces. Take a look; and if something sparks your interest, let us know. We are fast running out of space in our display cases and would like to pass on some of our inventory so that there will be room for more discoveries. (Grin)

I have several Wedgwood reference books and would be happy to share information from them with other collectors who may have questions about Wedgwood.

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

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For all of November and December, every item in our online store will be 10% off! Take advantage of great bargains in antiques, vintage gifts, and collectibles for your holiday shopping.

Pictured here: SPI Strategy Magazine and Game, Unpunched, Issue #91, Winter 1983. The game is RDF, Rapid Deployment Force. See this and other collectible gift items SPI S&T Game & Magazine

New listings at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry:
1. SPI S&T Game & Magazine
2. Vintage Ceramic Christmas Gift Box
3. Blown Glass Large Vintage Green Snake Vase

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

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Monday, April 13, 2009
250th Wedgwood Anniversary Celebration in 2009

Josiah Wedgwood Opened His Factory in 1759.

Coming Soon!

The USA Celebration Of The 250th Anniversary Of The Founding Of Wedgwood in 1759.

A five-month exhibition of 250 Wedgwood objects produced from 1759 to 2009 will be held at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum, Washington, D.C., opening October 2, 2009. A catalogue will be produced and there will be a special opening ceremony. Watch for details as they unfold. If you would like more information or wish to be a sponsor or benefactor, contact the "Wedgwood-250 Exhibition" co-chair, Adele Barnett, at airwedg@aol.com . Watch for special web site coming soon: Wedgwood250 USA.

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Pictured above: Wedgwood Jasperware Pitcher. This and other Wedgwood Antiques and Collectibles are available at our CHShops Online Mall Store at: Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

.Penny and Doug
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WATERFORD WEDGWOOD ASSETS SOLD

Most Waterford Wedgwood assets have been bought out of receivership by KPS Capital Partners of New York. They are not buying the Irish production facilities, so jobs will be lost. Some manufacturing will be transferred to Indonesia, Germany, and Slovakia. But this does mean production of the famous brands will continue. And higher-end Wedgwood products will still be made in England.

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Pictured Here: Wedgwood Jasperware elegant vase, available at our CHShops.com Online Mall Store at: Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Monday, January 26, 2009

Museum gets 10,000 pieces of Wedgwood ceramics
Gift has estimated value of more than $4 million

Friday, January 16, 2009

By: MICHAEL HUEBNER
News staff writer

After years of negotiations and legal wrangling in New York , the Birmingham Museum of Art has landed a gift of 10,000 Wedgwood ceramics with an estimated value of more than $4 million.

The collection, originally housed at the Buten Museum of Wedgwood in Merion , Pa. , was moved to Birmingham recently from Port Washington, Long Island , N.Y. It has been on long-term loan to Nassau County (N.Y.) Museums since the Buten museum closed in 1988.

Together with BMA's 1,400-piece Dwight and Lucille Beeson Wedgwood Collection, the Buten Collection will give the museum the largest and most comprehensive Wedgwood collection in the United States , and will rival the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston , England , said Anne Forschler-Tarrasch, BMA's curator of decorative arts.

"It's the only collection of its kind in the country," she said. "It makes Birmingham the center for Wedgwood studies in the United States ."

To read entire article: Birmingham News

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Pictured above: Antique Wedgwood Jasperware Cobalt Lemonade Pitcher. See this and other antique and collectable Wedgwood at our CHShops.com Mall Store at: Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

LONDON - Queen Elizabeth, the Kremlin and the White House have been customers, but in the current economic climate, luxury crystal and ceramics are a hard sell, as Waterford Wedgwood conceded Monday. The company, which is based in Dublin and whose roots go back 250 years, makes and sells crystal vases, glasses and ceramic figurines and kitchenware. It made the ball that drops each New Year's Eve in Times Square, and its crystal chandeliers decorate Windsor Castle.

Waterford Wedgwood said recently that its 10 British units and 4 businesses in Ireland had been placed into administration, similar to bankruptcy protection in the United States, after running out of money and failing to find a buyer. The remaining subsidiaries, including those in the United States, Germany and Canada, remain unaffected. The auditor, Deloitte, was appointed as administrator of the troubled businesses, which employ 2,700, or more than half of Waterford's 5,000 employees. The units will continue to operate until the administrator decides to sell, close or reorganize them. "I am disappointed that certain of the group's U.K. and Irish subsidiaries have had to go into administration and receivership, but we remain optimistic that ongoing discussions will result in a buyer being found for the business," the chief executive of Waterford, David Sculley, said.

Waterford Wedgwood was created in 1986 when the Irish crystal maker Waterford acquired the British ceramics company Wedgwood. Both companies have a rich history.
Wedgwood was founded in 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Charles Darwin, who formulated the theory of evolution, married a member of the Wedgwood family in the 19th century and was able to finance his research with the help of the family fortunes. Waterford was founded in 1783 by the brothers William and George Penrose and named after the Irish harbor town where they lived. Waterford faced difficult times in 1851, when it closed because of rising taxes, but the business reopened almost 100 years later. The Irish government gave Waterford glassware as a present to each American president from Dwight Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan, who kept his jelly beans in a Waterford dish.

Takeover talks with an unidentified private equity firm failed to come to fruition Friday and a group of lenders led by Bank of America declined to suspend a so-called covenant that is part of Waterford's loan agreement. Talks with the lenders started four months ago, and the banks agreed three times to suspend the covenant, which requires Waterford to have a certain amount of cash on hand, to give the company more time to find a buyer. The company, which generates about half of its revenue in the United States, has struggled for the last five years to return to profit by cutting costs and jobs, and by hiring designers to develop new products. Some analysts attribute Waterford's losses to management's reluctance to move manufacturing jobs to countries with lower labor costs, like Indonesia. The combination of high manufacturing costs, declining demand for luxury goods and a weak dollar last year overstretched the company's finances.

Waterford, which also owns the German china company Rosenthal, is the latest retailer in Britain and Ireland to run into financial difficulties as consumers curb spending because of concern about unemployment and the first recession in 17 years.
Woolworths, a variety store which sold things like chocolate bars, and toasters, started to close stores in December after failing to secure financing. Administrators were also called in for the music retailer Zavvi; Whittard, a tea retailer; and the Mfi Group, a furniture chain. Waterford's top shareholders, led by the chairman, Anthony O'Reilly, have repeatedly pumped more money into the company. Waterford also sought a loan from the Irish government last year but was rebuffed. The company's shares have declined steadily since 2001 and have traded at less than one euro cent a share since 2004. Waterford Wedgwood now has a market value of about 5.35 million euros but in October had net debt of 448.9 million euros ($625.1 million).
Sales for the year that ended in April 2008 were 672 million euros, down 9.4 percent from a year earlier. The company posted a loss of 231 million euros, up from 71 million euros.
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Sales of new Waterford Wedgwood items may be failing, but the resale market of vintage and antique pieces of Waterford or Wedgwood has not been affected by the bankruptcy announcement.

See the above Wedgwood Jasperware Vase and many other antique and vintage Wedgwood pieces available at our CHShops.com Mall Store at: Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

While less remarkable than the basalt or the jasper, the variegated ware manufactured by Wedgwood & Bentley is not without interest for the collector. Agate effects were produced by differentcolored clays, and cream-colored earthenware was colored on the surface and glazed to represent porphyry, granite, Egyptian pebble, etc.

A number of vases and bulb and flower-pots were made in these effects and in terra-cotta, likewise a few lamps and candelabra. A white porcelain biscuit, with smooth and wax-like surface, was also made, but only a few pieces of it are in existence. Some enameled ware was also turned out, but this is neither as distinctive nor as beautiful as the painted basalt.

The subject of cameos, medallions, etc., deserves a paragraph to itself. Some of Wedgwood's most decorative and most minutely perfect work was done in this class of pottery.

At first these were in cream colored relief, with the ground stained. Then medallions, miniature portraits, intaglios, medals, etc., were made in black basalt. A few of these were flat, with a Classic figure painted in encaustic, but most of them were in black bas-relief.

The invention of the jasper body enabled Wedgwood to produce white cameo reliefs on a colored ground in beautiful combinations. The relief was molded separately and so carefully applied that these cameos are often flawless under a magnify inb glass. Classic figures were used, and also portraits of royalties and other personages. There were several classes of these portrait cameos, some in basalt and others in jasper-chiefly blue and white. Medallion portraits were often set in silver and ranged from ring size to three inches in diameter. The commonest size was 2 x 1 1/4 inches, in oval form. The Classic medallions were also made in small sizes for jewels, and in larger sizes for framing or for mounting on furniture or mantels. Plaques were made for this purpose in sizes ranging from 9 x 6 inches to 27 1/2, x 81/2 inches.

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See our variety of Wedgwood Jewelry available at our CHShops.com Mall Store at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

Pictured above is a sample of the Wedgwood "Egyptian Jewelry" produced to commemorate the King Tut Tour of the United States in 1976.

Penny
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Sunday, January 18, 2009
More About Wedgwood, Part VII, Author Unknown

While less remarkable than the basalt or the jasper, the variegated ware manufactured by Wedgwood & Bentley is not without interest for the collector. Agate effects were produced by differentcolored clays, and cream-colored earthenware was colored on the surface and glazed to represent porphyry, granite, Egyptian pebble, etc.

A number of vases and bulb and flower-pots were made in these effects and in terra-cotta, likewise a few lamps and candelabra. A white porcelain biscuit, with smooth and wax-like surface, was also made, but only a few pieces of it are in existence. Some enameled ware was also turned out, but this is neither as distinctive nor as beautiful as the painted basalt.

The subject of cameos, medallions, etc., deserves a paragraph to itself. Some of Wedgwood's most decorative and most minutely perfect work was done in this class of pottery. At first these were in cream colored relief, with the ground stained. Then medallions, miniature portraits, intaglios, medals, etc., were made in black basalt. A few of these were flat, with a Classic figure painted in encaustic, but most of them were in black bas-relief. The invention of the jasper body enabled Wedgwood to produce white cameo reliefs on a colored ground in beautiful combinations. The relief was molded separately and so carefully applied that these cameos are often flawless under a magnify inb glass. Classic figures were used, and also portraits of royalties and other personages. There were several classes of these portrait cameos, some in basalt and others in jasper-chiefly blue and white. Medallion portraits were often set in silver and ranged from ring size to three inches in diameter. The commonest size was 2 x 1 1/4 inches, in oval form. The Classic medallions were also made in small sizes for jewels, and in larger sizes for framing or for mounting on furniture or mantels. Plaques were made for this purpose in sizes ranging from 9 x 6 inches to 27 1/2, x 81/2 inches.

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Pictured above: Wedgwood Egyptian Medallion. We have several pieces of vintage Wedgwood Jewelry coming soon to Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry. See their listings in a few days!

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

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Monday, January 12, 2009

The Beautiful Pottery Of Wedgwood

The jasper ware was Wedgwood's own invention. It received his closest personal attention, and some of his finest pieces were made in it. It is best described in his own words as "a white porcelain bisque of exquisite beauty and delicacy, possessing the quality of receiving color throughout its whole substance. This renders it particularly fit for cameos, portraits, and all subjects in bas-relief, as the ground may be made of any color throughout and the raised figures in pure white." It included in its composition barium, clay, and finely ground flint, and in its natural color was a peculiar dense, opaque white, varying from chalk-white to ivory.

It is hard to say whether the chief charm of jasper-ware lies in its color, its form, or the beauty and perfection of the ornamentation. Certainly the colorings are superb. Many colors were employedmostly delicate tints-the light blue perhaps being the most popular and best known. There were at least five tones and hues of blue derived from cobalt, six tones of green, three tones of red, from orange to terra cotta, lilac, rose, plum, chocolate, buff, brown, canary-yellow, black, and four distinct whites. White was usually employed in relief on one of these colors, and sometimes with a combination of two other colors. Occasionally two colors were employed without white, such as olive-green on buff.

There were two ways of coloring the Jasper-coloring throughout and coloring simply the surface by dipping. The latter method was invented in 1777 and made possible several new effects. The majority of the ware, however, is colored throughout.

Previous to 1781 the jasper-ware had been used almost exclusively for plaques and cameos. Then Wedgwood turned his attention to vases, adapting the forms largely from the antique. They were made in various sizes, chiefly in one color with white reliefs. Many were ornamented in Classic figures by Flaxman. To these jasper vases Wedgwood owes much of his reputation as a consummate artist and craftsman.

The well known incident of the Portland vase may be worthy of mention at this point. In 1787 Wedgwood made fifty copies of the famous antique Barberini vase, owned by the Duke of Portland. This vase was a wonderful example of the highest type of Classic art, and Wedgwood's copies nearly surpassed the original. They were made in black and blue, with white reliefs. It is said that about twenty of the original fifty copies are extant in museums and private collections, chiefly in England, but the authenticity of some of them is disputed.

After 1780 many articles were made in jasperware: tea and coffee sets, including cups and saucers, bowls and sugar basins, tea and coffee pots, cream pitchers and trays; plaques, medallions, and cameos; scent-bottles, match-pots, a few pipe-bowls and hookahs, candlesticks, pedestals for statuettes and busts, pots for growing bulbs and flowering plants, and a remarkable set of chessmen designed by Flaxman in 1785.

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Pictured above: Wedgwood Cobalt Biscuit Barrel, Circa 1880 or prior. See this item, and other Wedgwood antiques at our CHShops.com Mall Store at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Thursday, January 01, 2009
More About Wedgwood, Part V, Author Unknown

The Manufacture of Wedgwood Basalt

In 1767 Wedgwood turned his attention to the manufacture of black basalt or Egyptian black ware. This had already been made in a crude form in Staffordshire, but Wedgwood brought it to a high degree of perfection. It is so hard that it will strike fire with steel, and yet is smooth and velvety in appearance and to the touch. Bits of it are still used as touchstones by jewelers. In texture it is perfect, fine in grain and rich in its soft blackness probably the most solid pottery ever produced. The real Wedgwood basalt never shows waviness or crazing. It proved to be a splendid ware, not only in plain black, as in most of the tea-sets, but for seals, intaglios, busts, statuettes, plaques, medallions, and as a background for bas-reliefs and encaustic painting.

Some of the basalt tea and coffee sets were painted in colors, but these are not generally as fine as the plain black ones. The latter were usually decorated with raised work in flutings, basket effects, and relief figures, generally Classic in form. This relief work is perfect in its minutest details, even under a magnifying glass. The edges of the raised figures were often slightly undercut to give an absolutely sharp relief.

The finest basalt, however, is found in the vases. The first basalt vases were made in 1768. Up to 1780 they were rather simply decorated. At first they were plain, smooth black. In 1769 festoons in white were applied occasionally. From 1769 to 1786 the ornamentation consisted chiefly in black relief flutings, strap work, borders, festoons, Classic figures, etc., with handles in the form of masks, dolphins, goats' heads, satyrs, etc.

It is interesting to note the Classic forms and motifs used in pottery of this period, in that this was the age of Classic decorations in architecture and furniture, generally known as the Adam period, which ran from 1760 to 1790. Rams' heads and feet, and satyrs, were frequently, almost generally, used as ornaments on furniture at this period.

This class of vases formed a considerable proportion of the output of Wedgwood & Bentley. About 1776 more elaborate and beautiful figures in basrelief were applied, many of them of rare Classic charm, like Flaxman's "Dancing Hours." The surface was less highly polished during this later period, and these vases are considered superior even to the more striking jasper-ware by many connoisseurs. From 1780 to 1795 painted basalt vases were made in imitation of antique Greek and Etruscan painted vases and other vessels.

In basalt were also made ewers for water and wine, mugs, inkstands, salt-cellars, flower pots, and other practical articles, as well as medallions, plaques, and portrait cameos. These last will be considered more at length later.

Pictured above: Wedgwood Basalt Bud Vase, Lady Templeton Design, Circa 1880 or prior, available at our CHShops.com Mall Store at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

copperpenny22
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Sunday, December 14, 2008
More About Wedgwood, Part IV, Author Unknown

Part IV of on ongoing article on the life and times of Josiah Wedgwood and his Wedgwood Factory.

Josiah Wedgwood, the elder, died January 3, 1795, and, though the works went on after his death, his personal supervision and inspiration could never be replaced. With his death the production of old Wedgwood, as the connoisseur knows it, ceased.

Now as to the Wedgwood wares. In 1754 Wedgwood invented a green glaze that enjoyed some popularity, but the improved cream-colored ware was the earliest that is still extant in any considerable quantity. This ware was light and durable, similar to Leeds ware in appearance, but superior to it in biscuit, glaze, color, and form. Several tones and hues were employed, ranging from pale cream to deep straw, saffron, and sulphur yellow. It is always clear and even in tone, forming a good background for decoration. At first it was plain; later it was decorated in various ways-colored lines, marbled in gold, or decorated with flower, fruit, vine, shell, or Etruscan borders in blue, red, green, black, and brown. Gilt appeared occasionally on pieces made from 1763 to 1765. The color was painted on by hand, at first merely on the surface and later burned in. At first the decorated pieces were rather too expensive, so that later the outlines were printed and the color filled in by hand, but the work was always careful and accurate.

In 1761 Wedgwood presented a breakfast set of this cream-colored ware to Oueen Charlotte, and was made Potter to her Majesty in consequence. This increased the popularity of the ware materially, and it became known as queen's-ware, the name commonly given to it by collectors today.

As early as 1761 Wedgwood was making excellent tea- and dinner sets in queen's-ware that sold as cheaply as £4 for 146 pieces at wholesale. Many of his decorated services were much more costly, however. Sasketwork dishes were common, and vases of good form with Etruscan borders. The pierced and embossed work was always done with minute perfection, which distinguishes it from Leeds and other wares.

Wedgwood invented many new dishes for his table services, and made also flower-pots, bulb-pots, and "bough pots." Serpent, goat's head, satyr, and dolphin handles and festoons are noteworthy features. While the queen's-ware cannot compare with basalt and jasper for artistic beauty, there is a charm about the look and the "feel" of it that endears it to the hearts of Wedgwood enthusiasts. To be Continued.

Pictured above: Wedgwood Jasperware Cobalt Lemonade Pitcher, Circa 1910-1930, available at our CHShops.com Mall Store at: Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

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Friday, December 12, 2008
More About Wedgwood, Part III, Author Unknown

This is Part III of a continuing series.

Josiah Wedgwood came from a family of potters. He was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, England, in 1730. When nine years old he left school and went to work in his brother's pottery. In 1744 he became apprenticed to his brother Thomas. In 1752 he formed a partnership with Thomas Alders and John Harrison, and in 1754 with Thomas Wheildon, a famous potter at Fenton. They made pottery of good quality and form, now very rare.

In 1758 he started business alone in a small way at Stoke, and in 1759 returned to Burslem. He leased the Ivy House Works, and enlarged them. Here he improved the cheap cream-colored ware of that day, aiming at both artistic and mechanical perfection. All through his life he gave personal attention to details and was an incessant worker in spite of ill health and many setbacks.

In 1761 he started the Black Works at Burslem for the manufacture of black basalt, and in 1763 leased the Brick House or Bell House Works in Burslem. These three factories he managed continuously until his final removal to Etruria in 1773. In 1764 he married.

In 1768 Wedgwood took as a partner Thomas Bentley, a literary man with artistic tastes, who helped him materially in advancing the ornamental end of the business. Bentley remained a large part of the time in London, pushing the sale of the ware.

In 1769 Wedgwood & Bentley built the large works at Etruria, a mile north of Stoke-on-Trent. It was here that the finest of the Wedgwood pottery was made, many special orders being executed for European royal families and other notable persons. It was the largest and best pottery works ever established in England up to that time. Here Wedgwood built a mansion for himself and a model village for his workmen.

In 1773 he invented the jasper ware, perfecting it before 1787. During this period Wedgwood also attached to his works several famous designers, including John Flaxman, an artist of rare Classic taste, whose work is now highly prized by connoisseurs.

Bentley died in 1780, and Wedgwood ran the factories alone until 1790, when he took into partnership his three sons, Josiah, John, and Thomas. In 1793 his nephew, Thomas Byerley, was also taken, in, and the firm became Wedgwood, Sons & Byerley.

To be Continued.

Pictured above: Antique Wedgwood Jasperware, Large Green Pitcher, Circa 1880 or prior. For more antique wedgwood pieces, see our CHSHops.com Mall Store aPenny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry.

Penny and Doug
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Thursday, December 04, 2008

(This is Part II of a continuing series at this blogsite)

I shall consider only the so called old Wedgwood the work of Josiah Wedgwood the elder, made in the last half of the eighteenth century. Wedgwood pottery is still being made in England by the original Wedgwood's successors, and much of the early nineteenth-century pottery from that house is not only excellent, but, in the common acceptation of the term, antique. To keep the chapter within reasonable bounds, however, I shall consider only the old Wedgwood.

To start with a fairly clear conception of what Wedgwood pottery is, I will divide it roughly into four classes: first, cream-colored or queen's-ware; second, black basalt; third, variegated and terra cotta ware; fourth, jasper-ware. Of these the basalt and the jasper are best known and most sought after by collectors. In fact, I find that the term Wedwood is often used synonymously with jasper by the uninitiated. There were a few other products of the Wedgwood factories, but these were the most important.

Another general statement may help to classify Wedgwood ware. With one unimportant exception, he made no porcelain.

Before describing these various types of pottery, a brief sketch of the potter's life is almost essential to the proper understanding of his work and the dating of his products. It was the life of a man of genius in art, an earnest man of interesting personality and sterling character, a man of intellect, patience, perseverance, courage, and high ideals. No brief sketch can do him justice; I must leave that to his biographers, Eliza Meteyard, Arthur H. Church, Frederick Rathbone, and others, whose works are generally available.
(to be continued)
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Pictured above: Wedgwood Jasperware Biscuit Barrel in the very rare color of Lilac. The base markings indicate a production date prior to 1880.

See our selection of antique Wedgwood at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry. Visit our website on a regular basis, as we are adding new listings of Wedgwood every week.

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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Saturday, November 29, 2008

I THINK I have never met a man or a woman with soul so dead as not to feel something of the charm and beauty of old Wedgwood. The modern product by that name is beautiful, but the old ware-the work of the original Josiah Wedgwood surpasses it, and there is apparent an increasing interest in it among amateur American antiquarians. Those of our American forefathers and foremothers who owned some of it were indeed fortunate. They possessed the best that was to be had. And those of us who have inherited a piece or two are even more fortunate.

The story of this greatest of English potters is inspiring, and his product was unquestionably the finest that England has ever produced, in workmanship, design, material, and color. When Josiah Wedgwood started in the potter's trade, most of the tables of the middle classes in England bore only crude clay dishes, pewter, and woodenware. Saltglaze ware was too costly, and it remained for Wedgwood to provide those tables with good ware, perfect in form and material, at a low cost. But he did far more than this. In his finer ware he created works of art that are still the envy of sincere craftsmen. The collection of old Wedgwood, therefore, is a collection not only of antiques, but of true works of art, that no changes in fads or fashions can ever render less valuable to the connoisseur.

Pictured above: A lovely, antique Wedgwood Jasperware Cobalt Dipped Etruscan Jug, Circa 1890-1910. See this and other antique Wedgwood at our CHShops Mall Store at Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

copperpenny22
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Penny's Antiques & Wedgwood Pantry

Sunday, October 26, 2008
The Jasperware of Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood and His Jasperware

Of all Staffordshire potters, probably none did so much to advance the craft, both artistically and commercially, as Josiah Wedgwood. Born in Burslem in 1730, he started his career at the age of fourteen as a potter's apprentice. Before he was thirty he had his own business and had begun his unceasing experiments for producing newer and better wares.

He showed signs from the beginning of being both a master potter and a good business man. He had a talent for knowing what the public wanted and also believed and practiced the belief that superior quality paid dividends. He would not tolerate imperfect pieces and on more than one occasion was known to have broken an offending ceramic object with his cane, rather than have it sold to the detriment of the Wedgwood reputation.

Only a few years after his first pottery was established in Burslem, he bought a tract of 150 acres and began building his Etruria factory. This name is still impressed on Wedgwood pieces, with Barleston, the works built some fifteen years ago, now added. His cream-colored queen's ware was the backbone of his business, but he was constantly experimenting with other wares. During the 1760's, he established a shop and warehouse in London, opened a Liverpool branch with an eye to the American trade, and brought out a descriptive catalogue of his wares which was printed in several languages. He also found time for such civic matters as better roads through the Staffordshire area and other improvements in transportation, so that the products of the various Staffordshire potteries might be shipped to the outside world easily and cheaply.

The invention of jasperware was Wedgwood's master accomplishment. To the amateur, this beautiful ceramic and the Wedgwood name have long been synonymous. He began his experiments with it in 1773 and perfected it four years later. A hard, unglazed stoneware, it took its name from its resemblance to the semi-precious stone, jasper, both in texture and color. This was obtained by adding carbonate and sulphate of barium to a semi-porcelain clay and then using a metal oxide far the desired color. Blue is the most familiar, but there are six others-pale green, greyish green, pink, lilac, yellow, and black. Against this colored background, a raised white decoration produced a cameo effect.

Articles made in this ware were mainly display pieces-vases, covered cups, urns, pitchers, and bowls. Tea sets, plates , and other items were made, but were probably more for display than for use. Wedgwood had the good sense to employ artists and craftsmen of high quality, such as James Tassie, John Flaxman, and William Hackwood. These men modeled the originals in wax for many of the jasperware pieces, including the portrait medallions that were set in some of the fine mantels and furniture of the Hepplewhite years.

William Hackwood, who modeled the Dance of the Hours vase , was Wedgwood's right-hand man in the modeling shop. He began working there in 1769 and was still in charge of modeling jasperware and basalt decorations for some thirty-seven years after the great Josiah's death in 1795. His portrait busts and medallions show that he could have been a sculptor of reputation. Well-known examples include portrait reliefs of George III, David Garrick, and Wedgwood himself.

Designs on the Hackwood vase and the accompanying wine pitcher by John Flaxman reflect Wedgwood's partiality for classic art which was in high favor during his years as master potter. Vases and urns portraying classic figures in various poses were produced in fair numbers between 1780 and 1790, the height of the Adam influence in architecture, furniture, and decorative accessories. Flaxman, who modeled the original design of this wine pitcher, began work for Wedgwood in 1775 when only twenty years old. This particular pitcher was made both in jasperware and in black basalt. Flaxman models were used interchangeably in both wares but jasperware remained the favorite.

As with all ceramic innovations, other potters tried their hands at jasperware but with indifferent results. Two exceptions were friendly rivals of Wedgwood. John Turner was fairly successful but the body color of his ware was inferior and his white raised decoration over-ornate. William Adams, who had served his apprenticeship under Wedgwood, produced jasperware so well done that the pottery marks are the chief means of telling an Adams piece from a Wedgwood. His mark is "W. Adams," either impressed or printed. Wedgwood pieces have the impressed circular mark of "WEDGWOOD AND BENTLEY" or simply, "WEDGWOOD" if done after 1781, the year Bentley, the London partner, died.

Today, small articles in jasperware, cameo-like medallions for brooches, rings, small boxes, seals, and other kinds of jewelry, are popular with collectors who often have them set in gold mountings.

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