Josiah Wedgwood was an English
potter, whose works are among the finest examples of ceramic art.
Wedgwood was born in Burslem,
Staffordshire, England on July 12, 1730, into a family with
a long tradition as potters. At the age of nine, after the death
of his father, he worked in his family's pottery.
In 1759 he set up his own pottery
works in Burslem. There he produced a highly durable
cream-coloured earthenware that so pleased Queen Charlotte that in
1762 she appointed him royal supplier of dinnerware. From the
public sale of Queen's Ware, as it came to be known, Wedgwood was
able, in 1768, to build near Stoke-on-Trent a village, which he
named Etruria, and a second factory equipped with tools and ovens
of his own design. At first only ornamental pottery was made in
Etruria, but by 1773 Wedgwood had concentrated all his production
facilities there.
During his long career Wedgwood
developed revolutionary ceramic materials, notably basalt and
jasperware.
In 1754 Wedgwood began to
experiment with coloured creamware. He established his own
factory, but often worked with others who did transfer printing
(introduced by the Worcester Porcelain Company in the 1750s). He
also produced red stoneware; basaltes ware, an unglazed black
stoneware; and jasperware, made of white stoneware clay that had
been coloured by the addition of metal oxides. Jasperware was
usually ornamented with white relief portraits or Greek Classical
scenes. Wedgwood's greatest contribution to European ceramics,
however, was his fine pearlware, an extremely pale creamware with
a bluish tint to its glaze.
Wedgwood's basalt, a hard, black,
stone-like material known also as Egyptian ware or basaltes ware,
was used for vases, candlesticks, and realistic busts of
historical figures. Jasperware, his most successful innovation,
was a durable unglazed ware most characteristically blue with fine
white cameo figures inspired by the ancient Roman Portland Vase.
Many of the finest designs were the work of the British artist
John Flaxman.
Wedgwood Jasper Ware
Wedgwood impressed mark
Wedgwood Ceramic Marks
Artists
The most famous artist Wedgwood employed at
Etruria was the sculptor John Flaxman, whose wax portraits and other
relief figures he translated into jasperware.
Competitors
Wedgwood's wares appealed particularly to
the rising European bourgeois class, and porcelain and decorated and
glazed earthenware factories suffered severely from competition from
him.
The surviving factories switched to the manufacture of creamware
(called on the Continent faience fine or faience anglaise) to try to
imitate and compete with Wedgwood. Even the great factories at
Sèvres, France, and at Meissen, Germany, found their trade
affected.
Jasperwares were imitated in biscuit porcelain at Sèvres, and
Meissen produced a glazed version which they even called
Wedgwoodarbeit.
The Royal Society
Wedgwood's invention of the pyrometer, a
device for measuring high temperatures (invaluable for gauging oven
heats for firings), earned him commendation as a fellow of the Royal
Society.
History of Josiah Wedgwood
The youngest child of the potter
Thomas Wedgwood, Josiah came from a family whose members had been
potters since the 1600's.
| 1730 |
Baptised July 12, 1730, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. |
| 1739 |
After his father's
death in 1739, he worked in the family business at Churchyard
Works, Burslem, becoming exceptionally skilful at the potter's
wheel. |
| 1744 |
Became an apprentice to his elder brother Thomas.
However an attack of smallpox seriously reduced his work (the
disease later affected his right leg, which was then amputated);
the result of this inactivity, enabled him to read, research,
and experiment in his craft as a Master Potter. |
| 1752-3 |
In 1749 Thomas
(Josiah's elder brother) refused his proposal for partnership
and Josiah formed a brief partnership with John Harrison at
Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. |
| 1754 |
Wedgwood formed a partnership with
Thomas Whieldon of Fenton Low, Stoke-on-Trent, probably the
leading potter of his day. This became a fruitful partnership,
enabling Wedgwood to become a master of current pottery
techniques. He then began what he called his "experiment book,"
an invaluable source on Staffordshire pottery. |
| 1759 |
After inventing
the improved green glaze which is still popular even today,
Wedgwood finished his partnership with Whieldon and went into
business for himself at the Ivy House factory in Burslem. |
| 1762 |
On
one of his frequent visits to Liverpool to arrange export of his
ware, Wedgwood met the merchant Thomas Bentley. |
| |
Because the sale of his ware had spread from the British Isles
to the Continent, Wedgwood expanded his business to the nearby
Brick House (or Bell Works) factory. |
| 1765 |
Queen Charlotte's
patronage of Wedgwood's cream-coloured earthenware in 1765, led
the well finished earthenware which Wedgwood produced to be
called
Queen's ware.
Queen's ware became, by virtue of its durable material and
serviceable forms, the standard domestic pottery and enjoyed a
worldwide market. |
| 1768 |
The
merchant Bentley became his partner in the manufacture of
decorative items that were primarily unglazed stonewares in
various colours, produced and decorated in the popular style of
Neoclassicism.
Chief among these wares were:
- black basaltes, which by the addition of special painting
(using pigments mixed with hot wax, which are burned in as an
inlay), could be used to imitate Greek red-figure vases; and
-
jasper, a fine-grained vitreous body resulting from the high
firing of paste containing barium sulphate. |
| 1771 |
Wedgwood built a
factory called Etruria, for the production of his ornamental
vases. Later the manufacture of useful wares was also
transferred. (At this site his descendants carried on the
business until 1940, when the factory was relocated at Barlaston,
near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire - the Etruria site was used
as part of the "National Garden Festival" and Wedgwood's great
house can still be seen as it has been incorporated into an
hotel. |
| 1774 |
Evidence of the popularity of Wedgwood's creamware is found in
the massive service of 952 pieces made for Empress Catherine the
Great of Russia |
| 1775 |
Jasper's
introduction in 1775 was followed by other wares such as: -
rosso antico (red porcelain), cane, drab, chocolate, and olive
wares. |
| 1782 |
In
1782 Etruria was the first factory to install a steam-powered
engine. |
After Wedgwood's
death in Etruria on January 3, 1795, his descendants carried on the
business, which still produces many of his designs. |
