In 1759, Staffordshire potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) founded a ceramics company that gained worldwide recognition and continues production today. He rose to success as a leader of industrialized pottery in Europe, capitalizing on a renewed 18th-century fashion for classical forms in home decoration and tableware.
A meticulous researcher of current trends and materials, “Wedgwood conducted thousands of experiments to perfect his unique clays and glazes,” says the Victoria and Albert Museum, which holds more than 175,000 works of art, ceramics, manuscripts and photographs in the V&A Wedgwood Collection.
After streamlining factory production, Wedgwood turned his attention to marketing and is credited with pioneering some of the retail promotions and strategies we now take for granted, such as illustrated catalogs, direct mail orders, money-back guarantees, self-service, buy-one -get one and free shipping.
The company was known for its pottery and stoneware, which could imitate porcelain while being cheaper to produce. Some of Wedgwood’s original contributions to the world of ceramics include green glaze, cream workblack basalt, and jasper workwhich was in high demand and often copied by competitors. Early examples fetch thousands of dollars today.
Jasperware is considered one of the designer’s most notable contributions to ceramics. The matte, ‘biscuit’ finish was available in a variety of colours, but the most popular was a striking light blue – known as Wedgwood blue – decorated with white, cameo-style relief.
Wedgwood created approximately 5,000 test pieces in the process of perfecting creamware, and nearly 3,000 individual tests were required to innovate jasperware. Numerous trays of the samples are held by the V&A, illustrating Josiah’s meticulous attention to detail and approach to intellectual property protection.
“Each piece is numbered corresponding to an entry in an experiment book housed in the V&A Wedgwood Collection archive,” the V&A says. “Josiah wrote his experiments in secret code because of the risk of industrial espionage.”
Many sample bins were found in Wedgwood’s Etruria factory and are now on display at the V&A as part of World of Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent, where Wedgwood pottery is still produced. Visitors can view the creative studios, factory, tea room and shops, but if you can’t get there in person you can always explore thousands of objects online.
