34 Facts About Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist.

Josiah Wedgwood made great efforts to keep the designs of his wares in tune with current fashion.

Josiah Wedgwood was an early adopter of transfer printing which gave similar effects to hand-painting for a far lower cost.

Josiah Wedgwood pioneered direct mail, money back guarantees, self-service, free delivery, buy one get one free, and illustrated catalogues.

Josiah Wedgwood survived a childhood bout of smallpox to serve as an apprentice potter under his eldest brother Thomas Wedgwood IV.

Josiah Wedgwood began to study the new science of chemistry, seeking to understand the materials science of fire, clay, and minerals and to develop better clays and glazes for potter-making.

Inspired, Josiah Wedgwood leased the Ivy Works in the town of Burslem.

Josiah Wedgwood was keenly interested in 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.

Josiah Wedgwood convinced her to let him name the line of pottery she had purchased "Queen's Ware", and trumpeted the royal association in his paperwork and stationery.

Anything Josiah Wedgwood made for the Queen was automatically exhibited before it was delivered.

Josiah Wedgwood marketed his Queen's Ware at affordable prices, everywhere in the world British trading ships sailed.

Josiah Wedgwood's workers had to work day and night to satisfy the demand, and the crowds of visitors showed no sign of abating.

Josiah Wedgwood became what he wished to be: "Vase Maker General to the Universe".

Gilding was to prove unpopular, and around 1772, Josiah Wedgwood reduced the amount of "offensive gilding" in response to suggestions from Sir William Hamilton.

Josiah 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.

Josiah 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 the original or merely possessed a Josiah Wedgwood copy mattered little to Josiah Wedgwood's customers.

In 1773, Empress Catherine the Great ordered the Frog Service from Josiah Wedgwood, consisting of 952 pieces and over a thousand original paintings, for the Kekerekeksinen Palace, later known as Chesme Palace.

Josiah Wedgwood found this porcelain inspiring, and his first major commercial success was its duplication with what he called "Black Basalt".

Josiah Wedgwood combined experiments in his art and in the technique of mass production with an interest in improved roads, canals, schools, and living conditions.

In 1780, his long-time business partner Thomas Bentley died, and Josiah Wedgwood turned to Darwin for help in running the business.

Josiah Wedgwood's obsession was to duplicate the Portland Vase, a blue-and-white glass vase dating to the first century BC.

Josiah Wedgwood worked on the project for three years, eventually producing what he considered a satisfactory copy in 1789.

Josiah Wedgwood was elected to the Royal Society in 1783 for the development of the pyrometric device to measure the high temperatures which are reached in kilns during the firing of ceramics.

Josiah Wedgwood was an active member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, often held at Erasmus Darwin House, and is remembered on the Moonstones in Birmingham.

Josiah Wedgwood was buried three days later in the parish church of Stoke-upon-Trent.

One of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of the 18th century, Josiah Wedgwood created goods to meet the demands of the consumer revolution and growth in prosperity that helped drive the Industrial Revolution in Britain.

Josiah Wedgwood 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.

Josiah Wedgwood was a friend, and commercial rival, of the potter John Turner the elder; their works have sometimes been misattributed.

Josiah Wedgwood belonged to the fifth generation of a family of potters whose traditional occupation continued through another five generations.

Josiah Wedgwood's company is still a famous name in pottery, and "Josiah Wedgwood China" is sometimes used as a term for his Jasperware, the coloured pottery with applied relief decoration.

Josiah Wedgwood mass-produced cameos depicting 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.

From 1787 until his death in 1795, Josiah Wedgwood actively participated in the abolition-of-slavery cause.

Josiah Wedgwood reproduced the design in a cameo with the black figure against a white background and donated hundreds to the society for distribution.