78-528: Josiah Wedgwood FRS (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter , entrepreneur and abolitionist . Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery . The renewed classical enthusiasms of the late 1760s and early 1770s were of major importance to his sales promotion. His expensive goods were in much demand from
156-735: A Chair (all of whom are Fellows of the Royal Society ). Members of the 10 Sectional Committees change every three years to mitigate in-group bias . Each Sectional Committee covers different specialist areas including: New Fellows are admitted to the Society at a formal admissions day ceremony held annually in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation which reads: "We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote
234-480: A couple of years. Sir George Strickland, 6th Baronet, was asked for advice on getting models from Rome. Gilding was to prove unpopular, and around 1772, Wedgwood reduced the amount of "offensive gilding" in response to suggestions from Sir William Hamilton . When English society found the uncompromisingly naked figure of the classics "too warm" for their taste, and the ardor of the Greek gods too readily apparent, Wedgwood
312-679: A month the fashionable world thronged the rooms and blocked the streets with their carriages. (Catharine paid £2,700. It can still be seen in the Hermitage Museum .) Strictly uneconomical in themselves, these productions offered huge advertising value. As a leading industrialist, Wedgwood was a major backer of the Trent and Mersey Canal dug between the River Trent and River Mersey , during which time he became friends with Erasmus Darwin . Later that decade, his burgeoning business caused him to move from
390-433: A pot. Only a small range of vessels were fashioned on the tournette, suggesting that it was used by a limited number of potters. The introduction of the slow wheel increased the efficiency of hand-powered pottery production. In the mid to late 3rd millennium BC the fast wheel was developed, which operated on the flywheel principle. It utilised energy stored in the rotating mass of the heavy stone wheel itself to speed
468-558: A professor of metallurgy . The older children first went to school in 1772; the boys to Hindley , while Sukey went to a dame school in Lancashire along with his niece, the daughter of Mrs. Willet. In 1774 he sent his son John to the Bolton boarding school trun by the Unitarian minister Philip Holland , followed by young Josiah the next year, and Tom in 1779. Wedgwood was keenly interested in
546-711: A surgeon, he was accommodated by Thomas Bentley , who would become his close business associate. While recuperating, he met the chemist Joseph Priestley , who became a close friend, and discussed his dissenting theological ideas. In May Wedgwood began a long correspondence with Bentley, writing from Burslem, and moved into larger premises, the Brick House Works and dwelling. Wedgwood had wooed his distant cousin Sarah (1734–1815) since first meeting her, but her father Richard wanted to ensure his prospective son-in-law had sufficient means, and insisted on long negotiation by attorneys over
624-517: A very similar beginning as Japan. The history of Chinese pottery began in the Neolithic era about 4300 BC down to 2000 BC. Unlike Japan, which focused on production of everyday wares, China created mostly decorative pieces with few opportunities for industrialization and production of ceramic wares. Because China focused on decorative wares, most of their pottery was centered around porcelain instead of earthen wares seem almost everywhere else, and they used
702-423: A vessel and adding coils of clay then throwing again, pots may be made even taller, with the heat of a blowlamp being used to firm each thrown section before adding the next coil. Similarly, multiple sections may be thrown and combined to create large vessels. Large wheels and masses of clay can also allow for multiple people to work on a pot simultaneously, which can create very large ceramic pieces. This practice
780-547: A wheel into their work. Pottery can be identified in the Southwest of North American dating back to 150 CE and has been an important part of Native American culture for over 2,000 years. Historically Native Americans have been using the coiling method to achieve their decorative and functional pieces, and the technology to create an electric wheel did not show up until the arrival of Europeans. However, smaller turntables or slow wheels could have been used occasionally. The use of
858-641: A wider variety of shapes, including stemmed vessels, so wheel-thrown pottery can be distinguished from handmade. Potters could now produce many more pots per hour, a first step towards industrialization . Many modern scholars suggest that the first potter's wheel was first developed by the ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia . A stone potter's wheel found at the Sumerian city of Ur in modern-day Iraq has been dated to about 3129 BC, but fragments of wheel-thrown pottery of an even earlier date have been recovered in
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#1732848063976936-536: Is also noted as an early adopter/founder of managerial accounting principles by Anthony Hopwood , professor of accounting and financial management at the London School of Economics , in "The Archaeology of Accounting Systems". The V&A historian Tristram Hunt called Wedgwood a "difficult, brilliant, creative entrepreneur whose personal drive and extraordinary gifts changed the way we work and live." The Adam Smith Institute states, " Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are
1014-520: Is amazing how rapidly the use of it has spread all most [ sic ] over the whole Globe." He first opened a warehouse at Charles Street, Mayfair in London as early as 1765 and it soon became an integral part of his sales organization. In two years, his trade had outgrown his rooms in Grosvenor Square . In 1767, Wedgwood and Bentley drew up an agreement to divide decorative wares between them,
1092-725: Is confirmed by the Council in April, and a secret ballot of Fellows is held at a meeting in May. A candidate is elected if they secure two-thirds of votes of those Fellows voting. An indicative allocation of 18 Fellowships can be allocated to candidates from Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences; and up to 10 from Applied Sciences, Human Sciences and Joint Physical and Biological Sciences. A further maximum of six can be 'Honorary', 'General' or 'Royal' Fellows. Nominations for Fellowship are peer reviewed by Sectional Committees, each with at least 12 members and
1170-401: Is considered as "being the place of origin of the potter's wheel. It was here that the turntable shaft was lengthened about 3000 BC and a flywheel added. The flywheel was kicked and later was moved by pulling the edge with the left hand while forming the clay with the right. This led to the counterclockwise motion for the potter's wheel which is almost universal." Thus, the exact origin of
1248-421: Is nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society (a proposer and a seconder), who sign a certificate of proposal. Previously, nominations required at least five fellows to support each nomination by the proposer, which was criticised for supposedly establishing an old boy network and elitist gentlemen's club . The certificate of election (see for example ) includes a statement of the principal grounds on which
1326-631: Is remembered too for his Am I Not a Man And a Brother? anti-slavery medallion , which had been commissioned by Joseph Hooper, a founder of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade . The medallion used the design from that society. Wedgwood was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family , and he was the grandfather of Charles and Emma Darwin . There were several related Wedgwood families in
1404-536: Is stiff but malleable, and for applying incised decoration or rings of colour. Use of the potter's wheel became widespread throughout the Old World but was unknown in the Pre-Columbian New World , where pottery was handmade by methods that included coiling and beating. A potter's wheel may occasionally be referred to as a "potter's lathe ". However, that term is better used for another kind of machine that
1482-403: Is used for a different shaping process, turning , similar to that used for shaping of metal and wooden articles. The pottery wheel is an important component to create arts and craft products. The techniques of jiggering and jolleying can be seen as extensions of the potter's wheel: in jiggering, a shaped tool is slowly brought down onto the plastic clay body that has been placed on top of
1560-476: Is used in Jingdezhen, China, where 3 or more potters may work on one pot at the same time. There are a variety of methods to throwing, though almost all involve the following steps in some form: center the clay on the wheel, open a hole in the clay, creating a donut shaped ring of clay around the base of the pot, then raise or shape the walls to create the pots final shape. The specifics of these steps, including
1638-512: The Moonstones in Birmingham. Leaving his company and his fortune to his children, Wedgwood died at home, probably of cancer of the jaw , in 1795. He was buried three days later in the parish church of Stoke-upon-Trent . Seven years later a marble memorial tablet commissioned by his sons was installed there. One of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of the 18th century, Wedgwood created goods to meet
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#17328480639761716-406: The motor -driven wheel has become common in modern times, particularly with craft potters and educational institutions, although human-powered ones are still in use and are preferred by some studio potters . Social consequences that can arrive of these technological advancements include increased economic advancements in the sales of pottery created using the potter’s wheel and industrialization of
1794-426: The post-nominal letters FRS . Every year, fellows elect up to ten new foreign members. Like fellows, foreign members are elected for life through peer review on the basis of excellence in science. As of 2016 , there are around 165 foreign members, who are entitled to use the post-nominal ForMemRS . Honorary Fellowship is an honorary academic title awarded to candidates who have given distinguished service to
1872-587: The (Green) Frog Service from Wedgwood, consisting of 952 pieces and over a thousand original paintings, for the Kekerekeksinen Palace ( palace on a frog swamp (in Finnish) ), later known as Chesme Palace . Most of the painting was carried out in Wedgwood's decorating studio at Chelsea. Its display, Wedgwood thought, 'would bring an immence [ sic ] number of People of Fashion into our Rooms. For over
1950-716: The Churchyard Works. Josiah resumed potter's wheel work for a year or two until his knee pains returned, causing him to turn to moulded ware and small ornaments. His brother thought his ideas of improvements unnecessary, and turned down his proposed partnership, so in 1751 or 1752 Josiah worked as a partner and manager in a pot-works near Stoke . Several potters locally used practical chemistry to innovate, and Wedgwood very soon went into partnership with Thomas Whieldon , who made high value small items such as snuff boxes . After six months of research and preparation, Wedgwood developed an exceptionally brilliant green glaze , and there
2028-1811: The Royal Society ( FRS , ForMemRS and HonFRS ) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge , including mathematics , engineering science , and medical science ". Fellowship of the Society, the oldest known scientific academy in continuous existence, is a significant honour. It has been awarded to many eminent scientists throughout history, including Isaac Newton (1672), Benjamin Franklin (1756), Charles Babbage (1816), Michael Faraday (1824), Charles Darwin (1839), Ernest Rutherford (1903), Srinivasa Ramanujan (1918), Jagadish Chandra Bose (1920), Albert Einstein (1921), Paul Dirac (1930), Winston Churchill (1941), Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar (1944), Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis (1945), Dorothy Hodgkin (1947), Alan Turing (1951), Lise Meitner (1955), Satyendra Nath Bose (1958), and Francis Crick (1959). More recently, fellowship has been awarded to Stephen Hawking (1974), David Attenborough (1983), Tim Hunt (1991), Elizabeth Blackburn (1992), Raghunath Mashelkar (1998), Tim Berners-Lee (2001), Venki Ramakrishnan (2003), Atta-ur-Rahman (2006), Andre Geim (2007), Bai Chunli (2014), James Dyson (2015), Ajay Kumar Sood (2015), Subhash Khot (2017), Elon Musk (2018), Elaine Fuchs (2019) and around 8,000 others in total, including over 280 Nobel Laureates since 1900. As of October 2018 , there are approximately 1,689 living Fellows, Foreign and Honorary Members, of whom 85 are Nobel Laureates. Fellowship of
2106-439: The Royal Society has been described by The Guardian as "the equivalent of a lifetime achievement Oscar " with several institutions celebrating their announcement each year. Up to 60 new Fellows (FRS), honorary (HonFRS) and foreign members (ForMemRS) are elected annually in late April or early May, from a pool of around 700 proposed candidates each year. New Fellows can only be nominated by existing Fellows for one of
2184-655: The Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future". Since 2014, portraits of Fellows at the admissions ceremony have been published without copyright restrictions in Wikimedia Commons under a more permissive Creative Commons license which allows wider re-use. In addition to the main fellowships of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS & HonFRS), other fellowships are available which are applied for by individuals, rather than through election. These fellowships are research grant awards and holders are known as Royal Society Research Fellows . In addition to
2262-510: The abolition-of-slavery cause. His anti-slavery medallion, which had been commissioned by Joseph Hooper, a founder of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade , brought public attention to abolitionism. Wedgwood reproduced the design in a cameo with the black figure against a white background and donated hundreds to the society for distribution. Thomas Clarkson wrote: "ladies wore them in bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair. At length
2340-502: The award of Fellowship (FRS, HonFRS & ForMemRS) and the Research Fellowships described above, several other awards, lectures and medals of the Royal Society are also given. Potter%27s wheel In pottery , a potter's wheel is a machine used in the shaping (known as throwing) of clay into round ceramic ware. The wheel may also be used during the process of trimming excess clay from leather-hard dried ware that
2418-479: The business model with innovations that have continued into the present. "[Wedgwood] is someone who commercialised creativity. He made an industry of his talent." — Sir Howard Stringer , chairman of Sony Corporation , 2012. For devising a number of sales methods, historian Judith Flanders in The New York Times called him "among the greatest and most innovative retailers the world has ever seen". He
Josiah Wedgwood - Misplaced Pages Continue
2496-486: The business. As a result of the close association that grew up between the Wedgwood and Darwin families, Josiah's eldest daughter would later marry Erasmus' son. To clinch his position as leader of the new fashion, he sought out the famous Barberini vase as the final test of his technical skill. Wedgwood's obsession was to duplicate the Portland Vase , a blue-and-white glass vase dating to the first century BC. He worked on
2574-508: The canal opened in June 1769, in July the family moved there. For several months they stayed in Little Etruria, a house built for Bentley's use, then they moved into the just competed Etruria Hall . As a Unitarian, aware of legal constraints on nonconformists getting education, Wedgwood supported dissenting academies such as Warrington Academy , where he gave lectures on chemistry, and was made
2652-597: The cause of science, but do not have the kind of scientific achievements required of Fellows or Foreign Members. Honorary Fellows include the World Health Organization's Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (2022), Bill Bryson (2013), Melvyn Bragg (2010), Robin Saxby (2015), David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville (2008), Onora O'Neill (2007), John Maddox (2000), Patrick Moore (2001) and Lisa Jardine (2015). Honorary Fellows are entitled to use
2730-481: The ceramics processes. The potter’s wheel greatly increased the production rate of ceramics, which allowed for more products to be created. With the industrialization of ceramics in Japan, ceramics also lost some of its historical value, and some techniques and meanings of the ceramics were lost in the process. A skilled potter can quickly throw a vessel from up to 15 kg (30 lb) of clay. Alternatively, by throwing
2808-458: The clay of the base of the pot. This arrangement allowed the potter to rotate the vessel during construction, rather than walk around it to add coils of clay. The oldest forms of the potter's wheel (called tourneys or slow wheels ) were probably developed as an extension to this procedure. Tournettes, in use around 3500 BC in the Near East , were turned slowly by hand or by foot while coiling
2886-684: The company's works for posterity, with the collection later put into the Wedgwood Museum . In 2009, the museum won a UK Art Fund Prize for Museums and Art Galleries (Museum of the Year) for its displays of Wedgwood pottery, skills, designs and artefacts. In 2011, the archive of the museum was inscribed in UNESCO 's UK Memory of the World Register . Wedgwood was a prominent slavery abolitionist . His friendship with Thomas Clarkson – abolitionist campaigner and
2964-505: The daughter of Josiah Stringer, a dissenting minister whose church had been outlawed by the Corporation Act , but preached occasionally. The young Thomas and Mary moved to a small pot-works producing moulded ware , then after his father died in 1716 they moved back to the Churchyard Works. Their first son, Thomas , was born in 1716, Catherine was born in 1726, and Josiah was their thirteenth and last child. The children were baptised in
3042-604: The demands of the consumer revolution and growth in prosperity that helped drive the Industrial Revolution in Britain. He is credited as a pioneer of modern marketing , specifically direct mail , money-back guarantees , travelling salesmen , carrying pattern boxes for display, self-service , free delivery, buy one get one free , and illustrated catalogues. He is the subject of Brian Dolan's 2004 book, Wedgwood: The First Tycoon , in which Dolan explains how he revolutionised
3120-425: The domestic wares being sold on Wedgwood's behalf. A special display room was built to beguile the fashionable company. Wedgwood's in fact had become one of the most fashionable meeting places in London. His workers had to work day and night to satisfy the demand, and the crowds of visitors showed no sign of abating. The proliferating decoration, the exuberant colours, and the universal gilding of rococo were banished,
3198-515: The fellowships described below: Every year, up to 52 new fellows are elected from the United Kingdom, the rest of the Commonwealth of Nations , and Ireland, which make up around 90% of the society. Each candidate is considered on their merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Fellows are elected for life on the basis of excellence in science and are entitled to use
Josiah Wedgwood - Misplaced Pages Continue
3276-453: The fifth generation of a family of potters whose traditional occupation continued through another five generations. Wedgwood's company is still a famous name in pottery (as part of the Fiskars group), and "Wedgwood China" is sometimes used as a term for his Jasperware , the coloured pottery with applied relief decoration (usually white). As early as 1774, Wedgwood began preserving samples of all
3354-652: The first historian of the British abolition movement – aroused his interest in slavery [The above seems to be a closed arguement and unlikely to be true. Jospeh Hooper and Erasmus Darwin knew each other well, via the Medical Society of London, before Clarkson and Wedgwood became involved in the abolition movement. John Fothergill was their mentor as young Doctors. Darwin must have introduced Wedgwood to Hooper, and through Hooper, Wedgwood and Clarkson would have become known to one another]. Wedgwood mass-produced cameos depicting
3432-447: The foot from side to side against the spinning hub is rather awkward. At some point , an alternative solution was invented that involved a crankshaft with a lever that converted up-and-down motion into rotary motion. In Japan the potter's wheel first showed by in the Asuka or Sueki period (552–710 CE) where wares were more sophisticated and complicated. In addition to the new technology of
3510-530: The good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from
3588-504: The marriage settlement. Then, "Jos" and "Sally" were married on 25 January 1764 at Astbury parish church, near Congleton. They had eight children: During negotiations for the proposed Trent and Mersey Canal , Wedgwood met and befriended Erasmus Darwin (Robert's father), whose family long remembered as saying that Unitarianism was "a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian". After more problems with his knee, Wedgwood had his leg amputated on 28 May 1768. The Etruria Works built at
3666-443: The motions of the hands, can vary from culture to culture, as well as from potter to potter. In most cultures, the wheel spins counterclockwise and the right hand is placed on the outside of the pot as it is thrown. Japanese pottery is thrown oppositely, with the wheel spinning clockwise and the right hand on the interior of the pot. However, modern wheels powered by electric motors often allow for rotation in either direction, allowing
3744-508: The original or merely possessed a Wedgwood copy mattered little to Wedgwood's customers. In 1773 they published the first Ornamental Catalogue , an illustrated catalogue of shapes. A plaque, in Wedgwood's blue pottery style, marking the site of his London showrooms between 1774 and 1795 in Wedgwood Mews, is located at 12, Greek Street , London, W1 . In 1773, Empress Catherine the Great ordered
3822-460: The parish church; Josiah was baptised on 12 July 1730, probably his date of birth. Though her husband continued to occupy the pew, Mary brought them up with the values taught by her father, who held that "knowledge based on reason, experience, and experiment was preferable to dogma." Josiah went with the others to dame school then, around 1737 when able to walk to and from Newcastle-under-Lyme about 3 miles (4.8 km) distant, he went with them to
3900-509: The post nominal letters HonFRS . Statute 12 is a legacy mechanism for electing members before official honorary membership existed in 1997. Fellows elected under statute 12 include David Attenborough (1983) and John Palmer, 4th Earl of Selborne (1991). The Council of the Royal Society can recommend members of the British royal family for election as Royal Fellow of the Royal Society . As of 2023 there are four royal fellows: Elizabeth II
3978-562: The potter's wheel for the development of porcelain clay culture. Porcelain took off during the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when the iconic blue and white porcelain ceramics emerged. Several places in China mix traditional elements and methods with modern design and technologies. Native Americans have been creating ceramics by hand and in more modern eras started incorporating
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#17328480639764056-449: The process. This wheel was wound up and charged with energy by kicking, or pushing it around with a stick, providing angular momentum . The fast wheel enabled a new process of pottery-making to develop, called throwing , in which a lump of clay was placed centrally on the wheel and then squeezed, lifted and shaped as the wheel turned. The process tends to leave rings on the inside of the pot and can be used to create thinner-walled pieces and
4134-651: The project for three years, eventually producing what he considered a satisfactory copy in 1789. In 1784, Wedgwood was exporting nearly 80% of his total produce. By 1790, he had sold his wares in every city in Europe. To give his customers a greater feeling of the rarity of his goods, he strictly limited the number of jaspers on display in his rooms at any given time, a sales technique detailed by Cambridge professor Neil McKendrick in "Josiah Wedgwood: An Eighteenth-Century Entrepreneur in Salesmanship and Marketing Techniques". He
4212-546: The proposal is being made. There is no limit on the number of nominations made each year. In 2015, there were 654 candidates for election as Fellows and 106 candidates for Foreign Membership. The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process and appoints 10 subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees, to recommend the strongest candidates for election to the Fellowship. The final list of up to 52 Fellowship candidates and up to 10 Foreign Membership candidates
4290-471: The rotating plaster mould . The jigger tool shapes one face, the mould the other. The term is specific to the shaping of flat ware , such as plates, whilst a similar technique, jolleying, refers to the production of hollow ware , such as cups. Prior to using a wheel all of these civilizations used techniques such as pinching, coiling, paddling, and shaping to create ceramic forms. In addition, several of these techniques continued to be used on pots on or off
4368-463: The royal association in his paperwork and stationery. Anything Wedgwood made for the Queen was automatically exhibited before it was delivered. In 1764, he received his first order from abroad. Wedgwood marketed his Queen's Ware at affordable prices, everywhere in the world British trading ships sailed. In 1767 he wrote, "The demand for this sd. Creamcolour, Alias, Queen Ware, Alias, Ivory, still increases – It
4446-524: The same area. However, southeastern Europe and China have also been claimed as possible places of origin. A potter's wheel in western Ukraine , from the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture , has been dated to the middle of the 5th millennium BC, and is the oldest ever found, and which further precedes the earliest use of the potter's wheel in Mesopotamia by several hundred years. On the other hand, Egypt
4524-603: The same qualities, but were considerably cheaper. He made great efforts to keep the designs of his wares in tune with current fashion. He was an early adopter of transfer printing which gave similar effects to hand-painting for a far lower cost. Meeting the demands of the consumer revolution that helped drive the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Wedgwood is credited as a pioneer of modern marketing . He pioneered direct mail , money-back guarantees , self-service , free delivery, buy one get one free , and illustrated catalogues. A prominent abolitionist fighting slavery, Wedgwood
4602-495: The school there of Mr and Mrs Blunt, who were reputably Puritans . After his father died in June 1739, Josiah finished school then, at about the usual age, began an informal apprenticeship and learnt to "throw" pots on the potter's wheel . When nearly twelve, he suffered a severe bout of smallpox which affected his right knee, but recovered sufficiently to get a formal indenture on 11 November 1744, serving as an apprentice potter under his eldest brother Thomas, who had taken over
4680-451: The scientific advances of his day and it was this interest that underpinned his adoption of its approach and methods to revolutionise the quality of his pottery. His unique glazes began to distinguish his wares from anything else on the market. By 1763, he was receiving orders from the highest-ranking people, including Queen Charlotte . Wedgwood convinced her to let him name the line of pottery she had purchased " Queen's Ware ", and trumpeted
4758-543: The seal for the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade and had them widely distributed, which thereby became a popular and celebrated image. The Wedgwood anti-slavery medallion was, according to the BBC , "the most famous image of a black person in all of 18th-century art". The actual design of the cameo was probably done by either William Hackwood or Henry Webber who were modellers at his factory. From 1787 until his death in 1795, Wedgwood actively participated in
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#17328480639764836-448: The smaller Ivy Works to the newly built Etruria Works , which would run for 180 years. The factory was named after the Etruria district of Italy, where black porcelain dating to Etruscan times was being excavated. Wedgwood found this porcelain inspiring, and his first major commercial success was its duplication with what he called "Black Basalt". He combined experiments in his art and in
4914-459: The spiritual heirs of Josiah Wedgwood, developing and promoting the new products and processes that will enrich our world with new opportunities". He was a friend, and commercial rival, of the potter John Turner the elder ; their works have sometimes been misattributed. For the further comfort of his foreign buyers he employed French-, German-, Italian- and Dutch-speaking clerks and answered their letters in their native tongue. Wedgwood belonged to
4992-584: The splendours of baroque became distasteful; the intricacies of chinoiserie lost their favour. The demand was for purity, simplicity and antiquity. To encourage this outward spread of fashion and to speed it on its way Wedgwood set up warehouses and showrooms at Bath, Liverpool and Dublin in addition to his showrooms at Etruria and in Westminster . Great care was taken in timing the openings, and new goods were held back to increase their effect. The most important of Wedgwood's early achievements in vase production
5070-491: The taste for wearing them became general, and thus fashion, which usually confines itself to worthless things, was seen for once in the honourable office of promoting the cause of justice, humanity and freedom". The design on the medallion became popular and was used elsewhere: large-scale copies were painted to hang on walls and it was used on clay tobacco pipes. Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of
5148-535: The technique of mass production with an interest in improved roads, canals, schools, and living conditions. At Etruria, he even built a village for his workers. The motto, Sic fortis Etruria crevit ("Thus Etruria grew strong"), was inscribed over the main entrance to the works. Not long after the new works opened, continuing trouble with his smallpox-afflicted knee made necessary the amputation of his right leg. In 1780, his long-time business partner Thomas Bentley died, and Wedgwood turned to Darwin for help in running
5226-551: The upper classes, while he used emulation effects to market cheaper sets to the rest of society. Every new invention that Wedgwood produced – green glaze, creamware , black basalt, and jasperware – was quickly copied. Having once achieved efficiency in production, he obtained efficiencies in sales and distribution. His showrooms in London gave the public the chance to see his complete range of tableware . Wedgwood's company never made porcelain during his lifetime, but specialised in fine earthenwares and stonewares that had many of
5304-400: The village of Burslem , which around 1650 was the main centre of Staffordshire Potteries . Each pot-works had one bottle kiln . Thomas Wedgwood set up the Churchyard Works, near St John's parish church . In 1679 the business went to his son of the same name, master potter and churchwarden who bought a family pew , whose son Thomas , born in 1685, married Mary Stringer around 1710. She was
5382-427: The way in the use of Wedgwood plaques. Wedgwood hoped to monopolise the aristocratic market and thus win for his wares a special social cachet that would filter to all classes of society. Wedgwood fully realised the value of such a lead and made the most of it by giving his pottery the name of its patron: Queensware, Royal Pattern, Russian pattern, Bedford , Oxford and Chetwynd vases for instance. Whether they owned
5460-498: The wheel is not wholly clear yet. In the Iron Age , the potter's wheel in common use had a turning platform about one metre (3 feet) over the floor, connected by a long axle to a heavy flywheel at ground level. This arrangement allowed the potter to keep the turning wheel rotating by kicking the flywheel with the foot, leaving both hands free for manipulating the vessel under construction. However, from an ergonomic standpoint, sweeping
5538-589: The wheel to decorate or create more rounded or symmetrical shapes. Most early ceramic ware was hand-built using a simple coiling technique in which clay was rolled into long threads that were then pinched and smoothed together to form the body of a vessel. In the coiling method of construction, all the energy required to form the main part of a piece is supplied indirectly by the hands of the potter. Early ceramics built by coiling were often placed on mats or large leaves to allow them to be worked more conveniently. The evidence of this lies in mat or leaf impressions left in
5616-509: The wheel, firing was also changed to a much higher temperature in a rudimentary kiln. The industrialization continued through the Nara period (710–794) and into the Heian, or Fujiwara, period (794–1185). With higher temperature firings, new glazes followed (green, yellowish brown, and white), in addition new styles and techniques of glazing emerged. Ceramic wares that emerged from China were processed with
5694-464: Was a friend of Willet. Around 1759, Wedgwood expanded his Burslem business, renting Ivy House Works and cottage from his distant cousins John and Thomas. They were often visited by their brother Richard Wedgwood, a wealthy Congleton cheesemonger, along with his daughter Sarah. She had been well educated, as was Unitarian practice, soon "Jos" wrote to his "loving Sally". On a business trip in 1762, Wedgwood had another knee accident. After attention from
5772-510: Was elected to the Royal Society in 1783 for the development of the pyrometric device (a type of pyrometer ) working on the principle of clay contraction (see Wedgwood scale for details) to measure the high temperatures which are reached in kilns during the firing of ceramics. He was an active member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham , often held at Erasmus Darwin House , and is remembered on
5850-690: Was immediate demand for products with this glaze. Like his partner, Wedgwood occasionally took samples to Birmingham wholesalers to get orders, making business contacts. Unfortunately a knee injury spread to general inflammation, forcing him to convalesce in his room for several months. He took this as an opportunity to extend his education, reading literature and science books. His studies were helped by repeated visits from Wiliam Willet, minister of Newcastle-under-Lyme Meeting House , who had married Wedgwood's sister Catherine in 1754; "a man of extensive learning and general acquirements". Josiah attended this English Presbyterian chapel, later known as Unitarian , and
5928-421: Was not a Royal Fellow, but provided her patronage to the society, as all reigning British monarchs have done since Charles II of England . Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1951) was elected under statute 12, not as a Royal Fellow. The election of new fellows is announced annually in May, after their nomination and a period of peer-reviewed selection. Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership
6006-413: Was quick to cloak their pagan immodesty – gowns for the girls and fig leaves for the gods were usually sufficient. Just as he felt that his flowerpots would sell more if they were called "Duchess of Devonshire flowerpots", his creamware more if called Queensware, so he longed for Brown, James Wyatt , and the brothers Adam to lead the architect in the use of his chimneypieces and for George Stubbs to lead
6084-563: Was the perfection of the black stoneware body, which he called "basalt". This body could imitate the colour and shapes of Etruscan or Greek vases which were being excavated in Italy. In 1769, "vases was all the cry" in London; he opened a new factory called Etruria , north of Stoke. Wedgwood became what he wished to be: "Vase Maker General to the Universe". Around 1771, he started to experiment with Jasperware , but he did not advertise this new product for
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