23 Facts About Wedgwood

Wedgwood is especially associated with the "dry-bodied" stoneware Jasperware in contrasting colours, and in particular that in "Wedgwood blue" and white, always much the most popular colours, though there are several others.

Josiah Wedgwood, came from an established family of potters, and trained with his elder brother.

Wedgwood was in partnership with the leading potter, Thomas Whieldon, from 1754 until 1759, when a new green ceramic glaze he had developed encouraged him to start a new business on his own.

Wedgwood led "an extensive and systematic programme of experiment", and in 1765 created a new variety of creamware, a fine glazed earthenware, which was the main body used for his tablewares thereafter.

In 1766, Wedgwood bought a large Staffordshire estate, which he renamed Etruria, as both a home and factory site; the Etruria Works factory was producing from 1769, initially making ornamental wares, while the "useful" tablewares were still made in Burslem.

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In 1769 Wedgwood established a partnership with Thomas Bentley, who soon moved to London and ran the operations there.

Wedgwood was a fine modeller, especially of moulds for tablewares, and probably did most of Wedgwood's earlier moulds as an outside contractor.

Wedgwood was an early adopter of the English invention of transfer printing, which allowed printed designs, for long only in a single colour, that were far cheaper than hand-painting.

From 1769 Wedgwood maintained a workshop for overglaze enamel painting by hand in Little Cheyne Row in Chelsea, London, where skilled painters were easier to find.

Wedgwood's best known product is Jasperware, created to look like ancient Roman cameo glass, itself imitating cameo gems.

From 1787 to 1794 Wedgwood even ran a studio in Rome, where young Neoclassical artists were in abundance, producing wax models for reliefs, often to designs sent from England.

Wedgwood developed other dry-bodied stonewares, meaning that they were sold unglazed.

Wedgwood developed an attractive reddish stoneware he called rosso antico This was often combined with black basalt.

Wedgwood continued to grow under Jack and his son Francis Wedgwood, and by 1859 the factory had 445 employees.

Godfrey Wedgwood, Josiah I's great-grandson became a partner in 1859, and had considerable success reviving the firm in both these areas, in what was generally a successful period for British pottery.

From very early on Josiah Wedgwood was determined to maintain high artistic standards, which was an important part of his efforts to appeal to the top end of the market with pottery rather than porcelain wares.

Wedgwood relied considerably on Bentley in London in this, as is clear from their correspondence.

In 1979, Wedgwood purchased the Franciscan Ceramics division of Interpace in the United States.

Wedgwood was succeeded by the then-president of Wedgwood USA, Moira Gavin, up until the company went into administration in 2009.

In 2001, Wedgwood launched a collaboration with designer Jasper Conran, which started with a white fine bone china collection then expanded to include seven patterns.

From 2006 to 2008, Wedgwood began to offshore most production to Indonesia to reduce costs, while Waterford production moved to Eastern Europe.

Wedgwood's founder wrote as early as 1774 that he wished he had preserved samples of all the company's works, and he began to do so.

In June 2009, the Wedgwood Museum won a UK Art Fund Prize for Museums and Art Galleries for its displays of Wedgwood pottery, skills, designs and artefacts.