Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), English potter, whose works are among the finest examples of ceramic art (see Pottery). Wedgwood was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, 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 business. In 1759 he set up his own pottery works in Burslem. There he produced a highly durable cream-colored earthenware that so pleased Queen Charlotte Sophia, wife of George III of Great Britain, that in 1762 she appointed him royal supplier of dinnerware. From the public sale of what has become known as queensware, 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. Wedgwood’s basalt—a hard, black, stonelike 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 stoneware most characteristically blue with fine white cameo figures inspired by the ancient Roman Portland Vase. Many of the finest designs in jasperware were the neoclassical work of British artist John Flaxman.

Wedgwood was one of the first potters to market his wares not only to the European aristocracy, but also to middle-class society. The enormous popularity of his wares severely affected the competing porcelain and faience industries. Other innovations by Wedgwood include a device for measuring high oven temperatures, an improved green glaze, and efficient factory distribution methods. After Wedgwood’s death in Etruria, his descendants carried on the business, which still produces many of his designs. Wedgwood was the grandfather of British naturalist Charles Darwin.