^oV" 
 
 
 
 
 v^' 
 
 'j>«i- 
 
 
 
 
 • '^^ ^^^ ^i!^ 
 
 
 
 -•\/* "V*^''*/ V-"^*'/'' V'^''*/ 
 
 <^ /^Va'^. \/ /.^\ ^^..^^ ^i^/A-'o V.^^ '^^ 
 
 :^^ : 
 
 v-^' 
 
 
 '- ^oV^ 
 
 
 <J.> _.v... 
 
 • ^'^' 
 
 
 -^^ 
 
 
.lT> 
 
 ■=• ^o (^ * Qii^ * ri. ■AT * t(C\S8 A ^rs Q^ 
 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS 
 IMITATORS 
 
Homeric Vase. British Museum. 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
COLLECTOR'S HANDBOOKS 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 BY 
 N. HUDSON MOORE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "the LACE BOOK," "tHE OLD CHINA BOOK," 
 
 "the OLD FURNITURE BOOK," " OLD PEWTER, BRASS 
 
 AND COPPER," " DELFTWARE, DUTCH 
 
 AND ENGLISH," ETC. 
 
 With^Q Half-tone Engra-vings from Photographs 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
Copyright, 1909, by 
 Frederick A. Stokes Company 
 
 All Rights Reser'ued 
 
 September, IQOQ 
 
 C<* 2^7 30 
 SEP 9 7909 
 

 ^ PREFACE 
 
 ^ To lovers of the beautiful and to discriminating collect- 
 
 ors, the Art of Wedgwood has ever appealed. But for 
 many years, indeed, till the last quarter of the XlXth cen- 
 tury, the world at large has been content to pass by speci- 
 mens of his basal tes and jasper, distracted by more florid 
 wares. 
 
 Then once again, we waked to the distinguished beauty 
 of those works sent out from Etruria and Burslem. Little 
 by little the prices have risen as buyers became more plenty. 
 Mr. John Wills, a well-known English collector of *' Old 
 Wedgwood," particularly the basaltes and jasper produc- 
 tions, sent his entire collection to this country for sale in 
 February, 1908. 
 
 In many cases the prices obtained at this sale have been 
 noted here for the benefit of owners and purchasers. There 
 is much " Old Wedgwood " in the United States ; in Canada 
 many large sets, both printed and painted, are still carefully 
 preserved, while correspondents in Mexico speak of much 
 that has been gathered there. 
 
 Most museums both in Europe and America contain speci- 
 mens of the " period of perfection," for the benefit of 
 students. The fullest written record of the work of this 
 great potter, is contained in Miss Meteyard's " Life and 
 Works of Wedgwood," and her " Handbook of Wedgwood 
 Ware," both of which have been consulted frequently in 
 the preparation of this book. Reference is due " English 
 Earthenware and Stoneware," by William Burton ; " Staf- 
 fordshire Pots and Potters," by the Rhead Brothers, " Jo- 
 
 .V . i 
 
PREFACE 
 
 siah Wedgwood," by Prof. A. H. Church, " Guide to Pot- 
 tery and Porcelain," issued by the British Museum, " Life 
 of Wedgwood," by Samuel Smiles. 
 
 Thanks for photographs are extended to Josiah Wedg- 
 wood and Sons, Etruria; "The Connoisseur," British 
 Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and several private 
 collectors. 
 
 VI 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 JosiAH Wedgwood i 
 
 List of Materials Invented or Perfected by 
 
 Wedgwood 17 
 
 Useful and Ornamental Wares 18 
 
 ^ Green-Glazed Ware 24 
 
 ^-' Mottled, Marbled, or Agate Ware .... 29 
 
 Cream-Colo ured Ware — " Queen's Ware " . 32 
 
 ^ Basaltes 41 
 
 Busts in Basaltes 51 
 
 ^ Jasper Ware • , . . . 54 
 
 Bas-Reliefs and Tablets 63 
 
 List OF " Illustrious Moderns " 71 
 
 Rosso-Antico 77 
 
 Cane-Coloured Ware 78 
 
 Lustre — Pearl Ware 79 
 
 Mortars and Pestles 82 
 
 Marks on Wedgwood 83 
 
 William Adams 84 
 
 The Warburtons 90 
 
 John Voyez 95 
 
 vii 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Henry Palmer, John Neale 99 
 
 John Turner . 102 
 
 " Wedgwood & Co." 106 
 
 J. LocKETT 109 
 
 Daniel Steel no 
 
 John Aynsley im 
 
 vm 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Plate i . . . 
 
 - Apotheosis of Homer. 
 
 Plate 2 . . . 
 
 Fig. I. Green Glaze Image. 
 
 " 2. Cauliflower Teapot. 
 
 " 3. Pineapple Teapot. 
 
 " 4. Pineapple Mould. 
 
 Plate 3 . . . 
 
 Fig. 5. " Surface Agate " Flower Pot. 
 
 " 6. 
 
 " 7. 
 
 Frontispiece. ^' 
 Facing page 14. 
 
 Facing page 32. 
 
 Russian service. 
 
 Covered Dish, Cream Coloured Ware. 
 
 Plate 4 . . . . Facing page 36. 
 
 Fig. 8. Cream-Coloured Ware, painted and printed. 
 
 " 9. Orange Basket. 
 
 " 10. Lozenge-cut Flower Pot. 
 
 " II. Candlesticks, Tea Caddy, cup and saucer. 
 
 Plate 5 . . . 
 
 Fig. 12. Basaltes Tea Service. 
 " 13. Basaltes Vase. 
 " 14 Basaltes Vases. 
 
 Plate 6 . . 1. 
 
 Fig. 15. Josiah Wedgwood. 
 " 16. A Vestal; George Whitfield. 
 " 17. Cameos mounted in Gold. 
 
 Plate 7 . . . 
 
 Fjg. 18. Cameos. 
 " 19. Black and White Jasper Vase. 
 " 20. Black and White Jasper. 
 
 Facing page 42. 
 
 Facing page 46. 
 
 , Facing page 5<5. 
 
 ^ 
 
X ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Plate 8 .... Facing page 5S. 
 
 Fig. 21. Marriage of Cupid and Psyche. 
 " 22. Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides. 
 " 23. Choice of Hercules. 
 
 Plate 9 . . . . Facing page 60. 
 
 Fig. 24. Apotheosis of Virgil. 
 
 " 25. Barberini Vase. 
 
 " 26. Rosso Antico. 
 
 " 27. Cane-Coloured Ware. A 
 
 Plate 10 . . > . Facing page So. 
 
 Fig. 28. Lustre Candlesticks. 
 " 29. Gold Lustre Ware. 
 " 30. Mortar and Pestle. 
 
 Plate ii . . . . Facing page 84. 
 
 Fig. 31. Wine Coolers. 
 *' 32. Adams Jasper Ware. 
 " 33. Adams Jasper, Wedgwood Basaltes. 
 
 Plate 12 . . . . Facing page 88. 
 
 Fig. 34. Adams Jasper. 
 " 35' Jasper Vase; marked Adams and Wedgwood. 
 " 36. Cream-Coloured Ware, marked Warburton. 
 
 Plate 13 . . . . Facing page g2. 
 
 Fig. 37. Cream-Coloured Figures, marked Warburton. 
 
 " 38. Jasper Vase, marked Voyez. 
 
 " 39. Tablet, marked J. Voyez. 
 
 " 41. Jasper Ware — Turner. 
 
 Plate 14 . . . .: Facing page 100. 
 
 Fig. 40. Jasper Ware, Neale & Co. 
 
 " 42. Jasper Ware, marked Turner. 
 
 " 43. Salad Dish or Tray, " Wedgwood & Co." 
 
 " 44. Wedgwood & Co. 
 
 Plate 15 . . . :• Facing page 108. 
 
 Fig. 45. Jasper Ware, J. Lockett. 
 " 46. Jasper Ware, marked Steel. 
 " 47. Cream Ware, John Aynsley. 
 
fi " With respect to myself there is nothing relating to 
 usiness I so much wish for as being released from these 
 degrading slavish chains, these mean, selfish fears of other 
 people copying my work — how many new and good things 
 has, and still does, this selfish principle prevent my bring- 
 ing to light? I have always wished to be released from 
 ft, and was I now free, I am persuaded that It would 
 do me much good in body and more in mind, and that my 
 invention wod. so far from.' being exhausted by giving a 
 free loose to it that it wod. increase greatly. . . 
 Dare you step forth my dear friend and associate, and share 
 the risque and honour of acting on these enlarged prin- 
 ciples ? " 
 
 — ^W. to B. — 1769. 
 
JOSIAH WEDGWOOD 
 
 b 1 730-1 795 
 
 EFORE treating of the various wares invented, 
 perfected and subsequently manufactured by this 
 eminent man, a short sketch of his life seems fit- 
 ting. During the period of his business activity, 
 I75i-I795> be produced so many and such varied articles 
 of use and beauty, that he seems to have crowded into these 
 brief years, forty-four, the vitality and activity which might 
 cover twice that period. 
 
 He was the youngest child of Thomas and Mary Wedg- 
 wood, and was born in Burslem, England, July, 1730. The 
 exact date of his birth is uncertain, but it must have been 
 early in the month, since the date of his baptism is July 
 1 2th. It was inevitable that he should have been a potter 
 as were his father and grandfather before him, his relatives 
 on both his mother's and father's side having followed that 
 art. 
 
 His childhood was passed in a comfortable home, and his 
 education progressed in a school at Newcastle, to which 
 he made a daily journey, though it was seven miles distant 
 from his home at Burslem. When the little boy Josiah was 
 nine years old, his father died. Though a fair amount of 
 property was left for the support of the widow and children, 
 Josiah was taken from school and set to work learning that 
 branch of the potter's trade known as a " thrower." 
 
 When he was about twelve, that terrible scourge of those 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 days, small-pox, swept through Burslem and attacked many 
 members of the Wedgwood family. None of them suffered 
 so severely as Josiah, who rose from his bed with a diseased 
 right knee which was a constant source of pain and discom- 
 fort, till many years later, when he had it amputated. 
 
 The recovery from the small-pox was slow, but when he 
 was something more than fourteen years old, in November, 
 1744, he was apprenticed to his elder brother Thomas, Ar 
 a term of five years, his previous work, apparently counting 
 in reducing the term of apprenticeship from the usual seven 
 years. 
 
 The indenture was worded in the form which obtained 
 at the time, and though it was often disregarded both in the 
 spirit and the letter, it was at least in the case of Josiah 
 Wedgwood exactly lived up to. For two years, notwith- 
 standing the pain he suffered in his leg, he still occupied his 
 position as thrower, his correct eye being a valuable asset 
 in the work of making teapots, pitchers, cups and bowls, as 
 well as round dishes like tureens, which were commonly 
 known at that time as " terrines." 
 
 At the end of this time, and when Josiah was sixteen, 
 he found that in order to give himself any ease at all he 
 must sit at his work with his leg stretched before him on a 
 bench. Under these circumstances his attention was now 
 turned to moulding and to experimenting in the manufacture 
 of small wares, the varying of the imitations of tortoise- 
 shell and agate wares which were so largely used in knife 
 handles, snuff-boxes, small teapots and pitchers. 
 
 The nature of the lad was painstaking and accurate; his 
 work in clays, in mixing materials and making glazes, 
 brought into his brother's works more attention to detail 
 than had hitherto been observed. Towards the end of his 
 apprenticeship he manifested his desire to be taken into part- 
 
 2 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 nership, but his brother Thomas, who showed none of the 
 genius of Josiah, was quite content to follow along the old 
 lines laid down by his father, distrusted the spirit of advance 
 evidenced by Josiah, and was not willing to take him into the 
 business. 
 
 Thrown thus on his own resources, he left Burslem and 
 went into business at what was known as the Cliff Bank 
 Pottery, near Stoke, with Thomas Alders and John Harri- 
 son. This was in 1751. The wares made at the Cliff 
 Bank works were the ordinary mottled and marbled wares, 
 with tea sets of " scratched " blue, and black Egyptian. So 
 admirable were the articles made in these simple materials 
 by the young potter, that the sales increased largely, and 
 Alders and Harrison seeing the benefit which would accrue, 
 drove Josiah to the limit of his powers, without increasing 
 the stipend at which they had engaged him, nor providing 
 him with proper materials with which to work. 
 
 Of course such treatment was not to be borne any longer 
 than he could help, and at the end of about a year he left 
 them, his second partnership being formed with Thomas 
 Whieldon at Fenton. 
 
 Some years before, by 1740, Whieldon had started a 
 small pot-works where he made mottled and marbled ware, 
 cottage ornaments, black Egyptian, tortoise-shell plates, tea- 
 pots and candle sticks, many of them in melon, pine-apple 
 and cauliflower designs. Whieldon was like Wedgwood in 
 regard to the accuracy and method observed in his work, 
 and he employed the best modellers to be had to make 
 models for his wares, one of them being Aaron Wood, well- 
 known for his skill in this line. 
 
 The connection between Whieldon and Wedgwood com- 
 menced about 1752, though the deed of partnership was not 
 signed till 1754, ^^^ so good was Josiah 's reputation for 
 
 3 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 skill at this time, that it was specified in the agreement that 
 the results of his secret experiments need not be imparted 
 to others. The first few months of this new partnership 
 were spent by him in getting his designs in order and in 
 making models for use in the works. 
 
 His first achievement was in the improvement of a green 
 ware, moulded in the form of fruits, leaves and flowers 
 and covered with a glaze of extreme glossiness and beauty. 
 The old formula for glaze, lead, flint and water, did not 
 produce the result desired by Wedgw^ood, who was always 
 striving for something better, and who never hesitated to 
 use plenty of work and the best materials for his purpose. 
 Objects in this brilliant green ware became exceedingly 
 popular and the demand was great. As Wedgwood went 
 on improving the forms and the materials, the product of 
 the pottery increased in importance. 
 
 Exceedingly choice little articles were turned out, but- 
 tons and boxes, principally for snuff, which were set in 
 metal mounts in Birmingham, made a large business item. 
 Little figures and teapots like those shown in Figures 2 
 and 3 were part of the output of this period, though Wedg- 
 wood made these after he had left Whieldon, as moulds 
 which were recently found at Etruria prove. 
 
 In the pursuit of his labours, which in a potter require 
 much standing and mounting of stairs, the unfortunate 
 leg received an injury which confined Wedgwood to his 
 room for many months. Though physically laid by, his 
 mind never slacked its work, and during this period he 
 read and studied, planned new products, made notes from 
 such art books as he could get hold of, and stored up valu- 
 able information, all of which he utilised later. 
 
 When the five years of the Whieldon partnership came 
 
 4 
 
iWEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 to an end it was not renewed, and early in 1759, at the 
 age of twenty-nine, with his cousin Thomas Wedgwood as 
 potter, Josiah commenced a partnership which was only 
 terminated with the death of Thomas in 1788. 
 
 The two young men were able to rent from their cousins 
 John and Thomas Wedgwood, who were successful potters 
 at Burslem, a small dwelling known as " Ivy House," 
 which had in the rear some kilns and sheds. The elder 
 "NVedgAvoods, having accumulated what was a comfortable 
 fortune for those days, reduced their works, leaving thus 
 open for their ambitious young relative a potworks of suffi- 
 cient size, and for which he paid the modest rent of £10 
 a year. 
 
 This was perhaps the busiest time of an always busy 
 career. There was little capital on which to build the 
 business, so Wedg\vood continued to make those small and 
 necessar)^ articles such as he had made with Whieldon, 
 formed his own moulds, mixed his clays, saw to the firing, 
 kept his books and attended to the warehouse where the 
 goods were displayed. 
 
 The care shown in the manufacture of his wares, the 
 beauty of the green glaze, his exquisite snuff-boxes and the 
 streaked and mottled plates, teapots and ewers, soon at-, 
 tracted great attention to the maker. He never considered 
 any commission too small, and like other potters of his time 
 was sometimes asked to replace dishes which formed a part 
 of some cherished service, often of Delft or Oriental ware, 
 his painstaking nature leading him to continue his efforts 
 till the match was practically perfect. 
 
 Little by little he increased the number of his products. 
 First caine a white stoneware in which garden pots, vases 
 and tiles were made. Then the cream-coloured ware came 
 
 5 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 under his attention, and he sought to Improve not only the 
 body and the glaze, but the shape of the objects as well. 
 Nothing satisfied this indomitable man but the best. Dis- 
 couragements which would have exhausted most men seemed 
 but to stimulate him, and battling with ill-health caused by 
 his unfortunate knee, he kept right on, instructing his men, 
 improving the implements of his trade, experimenting with 
 chemicals and ever alive to the necessity of securing new and 
 attractive patterns for his wares. 
 
 His struggles with the journeymen potters were endless. 
 A restless set of men, they passed from one employer to an- 
 other, their work was often slovenly and inaccurate, and 
 being ignorant they were averse to any innovations in their 
 methods. It took much labour and firmness to successfully 
 inaugurate more business-like methods, and to teach the 
 workmen that the new order af things helped rather than 
 hindered their work. Even while labouring with these busi- 
 ness details he remembered his civic responsibilities, and 
 gave his support by both his voice and his purse to the bet- 
 tering of the roads, the improvement of Burslem by the 
 building of schools, a town hall and a public market. 
 
 During his busy life he always found time and money for 
 such public works as were of benefit to mankind, and the 
 successful completion of the Grand Trunk Canal was largely 
 due to his efforts. 
 
 By 1 76 1 under Wedgwood's capable hands the cream- 
 coloured ware had become much improved. The body, com- 
 posed of Dorset and Devon clays with a small addition of 
 flint, was extremely light, and Greatbach's china glaze still 
 further improved the ware by giving it a beautiful glossiness. 
 The shapes of articles in this cream-coloured ware were most 
 attractive, and for the decoration Wedgwood turned to na- 
 ture for colours and designs. 
 
 6 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 The use of the turning lathe by potters had hitherto been 
 confined to polishing off irregularities and making only the 
 simplest ornamental effects. But in Wedgwood's hands, 
 when the improved engine-lathe was complete, having been 
 added to by Randle of Congleton, Baddeley of Eastwood, 
 Greatbach of Hanley and finally William Cox of Birming- 
 ham, the work turned out on red pottery tea and coffee 
 pots was of great beauty. Ultimately the engine work was 
 applied to other ware, basaltes, stonewares, but on the jas- 
 per ware for polishing only. 
 
 Another invention which simplified the production of 
 decorated china and also reduced its cost, was the applica- 
 tion of printing to both porcelain and pottery. Sadler and 
 Green, of Liverpool, had been printing designs on tiles, 
 mugs, plates, jugs, etc., since 1752, and to them, on pack- 
 horses was the improved cream-coloured ware sent by Wedg- 
 wood for decorating. It was returned to Burslem in the 
 same manner, was fired and started out again to the various 
 fairs, or was distributed through the country districts by 
 packmen, or sent to London for even wider distribution by 
 ship, to the Colonies or to the Continent. 
 
 In 1765 Wedgwood writes as follows about his exports: 
 
 " The bulk of our particular manufactures are, you know, 
 exported to foreign markets, for our home consumption is 
 very trifling in comparison to what is sent abroad, and the 
 principal of these markets are the Continent and the Islands 
 of North America. To the Continent we send an amazing 
 quantity of white stoneware and some of the finer kinds, 
 but for the Islands we cannot make anything too rich and 
 costly." 
 
 On Wednesday, January 25th, 1764, in the parish church 
 at Astbur}', Josiah Wedgwood was married to his distant 
 cousin Sarahj and took her to live in the " Brick House," 
 
 7 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 as it was called, with which. were also connected pot works 
 larger and more commodious than those at " Ivy House." 
 The pictures of " Brick House " show it to be a large and 
 comfortable dwelling, and here the Wedgwoods lived for 
 about five years. Many happenings of a domestic nature 
 took place in this period and in this house. There was 
 sorrow and suffering, for from here his second child, Rich- 
 ard, was buried, and here Wedgwood went through the 
 amputation of his leg, which had cost him so much agony. 
 Here many things connected with his art were perfected ; 
 here he invented that cypher in which his trade secrets were 
 noted down, and here came his friends, both humble and 
 distinguished, and they were many, for a man of such ac- 
 tivity in so many fields could not fail to attract other broad- 
 minded men, interested in the same things that absorbed 
 him. 
 
 It was but a couple of years before his marriage, in 1762, 
 that Wedgwood, confined to his bed in an inn at Liverpool, 
 with an injury to his knee, first met with Bentley. From 
 the moment of their first hand-clasp the admiration was mu- 
 tual, and till the time of Thomas Bentley's death there was 
 no man to whom Wedgwood was so closely allied, or who 
 stood so near to him in affection. Mr. Bentley was a man 
 of taste, he had travelled extensively on the Continent, par- 
 ticularly in Italy, he was interested in the beauty of the an- 
 tiquities which he had seen, and by means of prints and 
 engravings introduced to Wedgwood what proved to be a 
 mine of wealth and inspiration. His life had been laid on 
 a much broader plane than that of Wedgwood, who had 
 been little beyond the borders of Staffordshire. His letters 
 touching on events of the day, discussing questions of re- 
 ligion and ethics, art and poetry, as well as practical mat- 
 ters, were carefully read and treasured by Wedgwood. In- 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 deed, he had them bound and indexed, called them " The 
 Family Bible," and had them always at hand for reference. 
 Unfortunately they have been lost. 
 
 John Wed^vood, brother to Josiah, was resident in Lon- 
 don, and lived at the " Artichoke " in Cateaton Street. 
 Engaged in no business for several years while on the look- 
 out for something easy and congenial, he took charge of 
 the crates of pottery sent from Burslem to London, and had 
 the buyers view the goods at a warehouse in Cateaton Street 
 near his inn. 
 
 With the growth of business, which increased immensely 
 under Royal patronage, Wedgwood appreciated the neces- 
 sity for a London w^arehouse in a good neighbourhood and 
 under the charge of an efficient clerk. Although he writes 
 to his brother about the matter, nothing seems to have been 
 done at that time about it. 
 
 Mr. Bentley, in Liverpool, had also a largely Increasing 
 export business in Wedgwood's wares, so large, in fact, that 
 Wedgwood cannot supply him, and writes in 1766 that he 
 had better purchase two or three hundred crates of cream- 
 coloured ware from a pot-works in Burslem where it could 
 be had cheaper than elsewhere, "and keep it in stock to fill 
 these foreign orders. 
 
 In the black v/are, which had become one of the most 
 popular products, was made the useful as well as ornamental 
 objects. Marbled and pebbled vases were most successful, 
 so were the medallions and small figures. 
 
 The want of a proper shop and warehouse in London 
 began to be severely felt. The great growth of the business 
 which necessitated the frequent absence from home of 
 Wedgwood, who was constantly going to Liverpool about 
 the printed ware, to Birmingham about the small goods to 
 be metal mounted and to London when opportunity offered, 
 
 9 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 induced him to offer Bentley a partnership, the terms of 
 which were finally agreed upon in the spring of 1767. 
 
 The business was to be divided into two branches, " Use- 
 ful and Ornamental," the useful branch still remaining un- 
 der the charge of Thomas Wedgwood, and the ornamental 
 to be under the care of Wedg\vood and Bentley, as the new 
 firm was to be called. Of course Josiah WcdgAvood was 
 the moving spirit of both enterprises, but Bentley began 
 immediately to study and sketch small objects for the branch 
 in which he was interested. It was at first arranged that 
 he should come and live near the works, and various houses 
 and sites were looked at. Wedgwood, travelling constantly 
 on both his own affairs and those of a public nature in which 
 he was almost equally interested, over execrable roads and 
 on horseback, overdid, brought on trouble in his leg, and at 
 last decided to be relieved of it. 
 
 On May 28th, 1768, without the relief of a sigh or a 
 groan, he sat in his chair and viewed the two surgeons re- 
 move what for many years had been but a source of misery 
 to him. Before the wound had even partially healed, the 
 little boy Richard died, and but for the wonderful character 
 of jMrs. Wedg^vood, who bore up under her sorrow so as 
 to keep him serene, his recover}' would have been longer 
 delayed. 
 
 Before this operation he had secured in London what 
 seemed to him a most advantageous shop in which to display 
 and store his goods, and this was opened to the public in 
 August, 1768. It faced both Newport Street and St. Mar- 
 tin's Lane, and on the ground floor were on sale some in- 
 ferior goods and some of the useful wares, while upstairs, 
 to which a wide staircase led, were those articles which 
 were shown only to patrons of wealth and taste. 
 
 The new works upon which Wedgwood had finally set- 
 
 10 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 tied, were building at Etniria as well as a fine mansion for 
 himself which he named " Etruria Hall," and one also for 
 Mr. Bentley in which the Wedgwood family lived till their 
 own was completed. On November 14th, 1768, the part- 
 nership books were opened at Etruria for Wedgwood and 
 Bentley, and by the next spring the slip and clay houses 
 were finished, two mills were in progress, and in IVIay 
 everj'thing relating to the vases was removed to Etruria. 
 By the close of 1769 Etruria Hall was complete and the 
 Wedgwood family in occupation. 
 
 For the wonderful success of the showrooms In St. iVIar- 
 tin's Lane it is but necessary to consult the memoirs of the 
 day. The choicest products of Wedg^vood's fertile brain 
 and hands were being sent up from Etruria, and ]\Ir. Bent- 
 ley, who of necessity had gone to live in Chelsea so as to be 
 near London, presided over the handsome showrooms. 
 
 It was not many years, however, before the capacity of 
 these rooms was tested to the utmost. New quarters had 
 to be chosen and fitted up, so Mr. Bentley set about procur- 
 ing some. Those ultimately agreed on were " Portland 
 House," as It was called. In Greek Street, Soho, and they 
 were opened to the public in April, 1774. 
 
 The foreign business had Increased w^onderfully, and from 
 Russia, whence came many of Wedgwood's earliest orders, 
 the patronage extended far and wide. In 1774, Narva, 
 Revel and Moscow ordered large consignments. Goods 
 were sent to Cadiz, Venice, Valencia, Leipsic, Riga, Leg- 
 horn, Hamburg, Genoa, Lisbon, Naples, Ratisbon, Ver- 
 sailles, Turin, St. Petersburg, and when commerce was re- 
 stored, to Boston, New York, and Southern ports In 
 America. 
 
 As early as 1769 Wedgwood, annoyed by the constant 
 copying of his best productions, had taken out a patent to 
 
 II 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 protect his Etruscan vases, the only effort hie ever made to 
 keep for himself the compensations of. his years of experi- 
 ment and study. This patent drew Wedgwood into much 
 unpleasantness with Palmer of Hanley, who had been boldly 
 pirating, and the matter Avas not entirely adjusted till 1771, 
 and caused Wedgwood much annoyance in many ways. 
 
 The Revolutionary War had a bad effect upon the busi- 
 ness, since America was one of their best markets. But 
 Wedgwood was always upon the side of freedom, and in 
 a letter to Bentley, dated March 19th, 1778, he writes as 
 follows: "I am glad that America is free, and rejoice 
 most heartily that it is so, and the pleasing idea of a refuge 
 being provided for those who choose rather to flee from, 
 than to submit to the iron hand of tyranny has raised so 
 much hilarity in my mind, that I do not at present feel for 
 our situation as I may do the next rainy day. We must 
 have war and perhaps continue to be beat. To what degree 
 is in the womb of time. If our drubbing keeps pace with 
 our deserts, the Ld. have mercy upon us." 
 
 Not content with words merely, Wedgwood and Bentley 
 contributed to the funds for the sufferers from the war who 
 were imprisoned in England, and manifested in all ways 
 their sympathies with America. It may be mentioned here, 
 that from July, 1787, till his death Wedgwood was ac- 
 tively interested in the " Society for the Abolition of 
 Slavery." He wrote on its behalf, he gave money and in- 
 fluence, organised meetings and was constantly, at work for 
 the cause. He also caused Hackwood to model a seal for 
 the society, a slave kneeling but in chains, which was made 
 In basaltes. The seal became most popular with those who 
 endorsed the cause, and was made in many forms, for 
 setting in rings, studs, brooches and on watch chains. Wedg- 
 wood also sent a number of these seals to Franklin for dis- 
 
 12 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 tribution, with a letter stating his pleasure at being con- 
 nected with so good a cause. It may be noted that both 
 Washington and Franklin are included among the " Illus- 
 trious Moderns." 
 
 But to return to the business affairs of Wedgwood and 
 Bentley. In 1775 the new body on which Wedgwood 
 had been experimenting so long, was perfected, and to it he 
 gave the name of Jasper, a name which had been previously 
 applied by him to one of his crystalline bodies. Few ob- 
 jects now remain of this early jasper, while of the later 
 product quantities of pieces in every variety of form still 
 bear their message of beauty. 
 
 In 1775 also, the patent for making porcelain which had 
 been granted to Cookworthy and by him sold to Champion, 
 and against the extension of which Wedgwood, as the spokes- 
 man of the Staffordshire potters, protested, was granted 
 Champion. This effectually shut out the Staffordshire men 
 from making porcelain, though some of Wedgwood's high- 
 class wares are so porcellaneous as almost to come under 
 that head. 
 
 From this time, 1775, onward, the fame of Wedg- 
 wood's productions increased, his fortune was assured and 
 to him came the pleasure of meeting the choicest spirits of 
 the day, among whom were many who became close friends. 
 The life at Etruria Hall was conducted on a more elaborate 
 scale than had been possible at Brick House. Guests came 
 often and were always welcome. The collecting of books 
 became a delightful resource, and so many chests of them 
 found their way down into Staffordshire, that Wedgwood 
 was unable to read more than a small portion. In one of 
 his letters to Bentley he writes cheerfully, " I thank you 
 for the catalogues, but have not had time to read a page. 
 My wife says I must buy no more books till I build another 
 
 13 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 house, and advises me first to read some of those I have 
 already. What nonsense she sornetimes talks." 
 
 His life w^as not free from its griefs, like that of any 
 other human being. There was illness, one daughter in 
 some way alienated his affection, some of his children and 
 closest friends died, and he saw riot and disorder among 
 his workmen. The death of Mr. Bentley in November, 
 1780, was an overwhelming loss, and one which left its 
 mark permanently upon him. Eight years later Thomas 
 Wedgwood, his partner in the " Useful Wares," died. But 
 by this time his sons had grown up and been trained in their 
 father's business. In 1790, John, Josiah, Jr., and Thomas 
 were taken into partnership, as well as a nephew, Thomas 
 Byerley, who had been during his younger days much of a 
 trial to Wedgwood, as well as to his widowed mother. 
 
 From this time on the reins of management fell slowly 
 from the hands of the master potter, his health failed and 
 he died, January 3rd, 1795, at the age of sixty-five. 
 
 During the year 1906, in a storehouse at Etruria, the 
 factory built by Wedgwood in 1769, were discovered crates 
 covered with dust, and fairly rotting away. In them were 
 thousands of pieces of ware, moulds and trial pieces, to- 
 gether with notes on these by Wedgwood himself. It 
 seems difficult to understand why these crates were left 
 there undisturbed for more than a hundred years, " always 
 had been there," probably, and but for a desire for more 
 space in the works, would probably have been left there 
 another century. 
 
 While the finished examples among these new-found 
 specimens will no doubt attract most attention, the one 
 who is interested in the methods and skill of the great pot- 
 ter will turn most eagerly to the thousands of trial pieces 
 which fill rows upon rows of shelves. Here you can trace 
 
 14 
 
Pig. 2. Cauliflower Teapot. 
 
 Fig. I. Green Glaze Image. Fig. 4. Pineapplb Mould. 
 
 Fig. 3. Pineapple Teapot. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 the working of an idea from its inception to its perfection. 
 His accompanying notes show how each failure was made 
 to yield its usefulness, and how he followed up each small- 
 est hint they gave till failure was turned into success. 
 
 Slips, glazes, bodies, colours and applied clays are each 
 and all set forth, showing how he struggled with diffi- 
 culties over and over again, a most instructive exhibition of 
 industry, patience, and determination. The fertility of his 
 invention and the variety of his designs are exemplified here, 
 since of " pitcher moulds " alone more than a thousand re- 
 main in perfect condition. 
 
 The intaglios in basaltes which Wedgwood copied from 
 the antique gems whenever he had an opportunity, were 
 first made in wax by Wedgwood himiself. From this wax 
 impression the pitcher mould was taken, the work being 
 done on a massive table which stands in the second floor 
 of the works. This table is formed of a great tree-trunk 
 which is imbedded in the foundations of the works, and 
 which was absolutely free from tremor which might de- 
 stroy the delicate work. To-day, this tree-trunk is used 
 for the same purpose as it was in the days of the great 
 potter himself, nothing better having been found to take 
 its place. 
 
 Hardly one of the wares which made the name of Wedg- 
 wood famous is omitted from the list of perfect pieces 
 found, basaltes, cream and ivory-colored ware, lustre, en- 
 caustic painted, agate, blue printed ware and finally jasper 
 both dipped and solid. Most interesting of all are the 
 moulds taken by Wedgwood himself of the Barberini vase, 
 but which never were used. Instead wax models of the 
 figures were made by Webber, much larger than those on 
 the vase so as to allow for shrinking. From these figures 
 in wax, plaster casts were made, and from these in turn 
 
 15 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IIVIITATORS 
 
 were made the moulds which in firing shrank several sizes. 
 From these moulds the figures to go on the vases were 
 made, still several sizes larger than the original, but which 
 on firing, came out the perfect size. Two over-shrinkings 
 had to be calculated for by Webber, but he seems to have 
 been able to do it to the nicety of a hair, and twenty vases 
 came out perfect. 
 
 In addition to the many other interesting items in this 
 great " find " were the wax models of the famous chessmen 
 made by Flaxman. These, however, are too much damaged 
 to be of any use, but think of their surviving so long! 
 
 These recently discovered records and specimens prove 
 conclusively that to Wedg\vood must be yielded the credit 
 of making more improvements and innovations in his art 
 than any other one man. He took the common products 
 of the time and perfected them. The coarse and clumsy 
 shapes under his skilful fingers grew into things of beauty, 
 and the table furniture of the whole world was made more 
 attractive and sanitan', and low enough in price to be within 
 the reach of all. 
 
 His " Ornamentals " speak for themselves, particularly 
 those splendid examples in jasper and basaltes, which were 
 the highest product of his skill. In the following pages 
 his work will be considered in chronological order, ^nd the 
 labour of his own hands provides the best memorial which 
 can be built to the " Prince of Potters." 
 
 i'6 
 
LIST OF MATERIALS 
 
 INVENTED OR PERFECTED BY 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 In arranging this list a chronological order has been fol- 
 lowed as nearly as possible, and the dates given when the 
 body was perfected and ready to be put on the market. 
 Some of the bodies were made for a short time only and then 
 discarded, others were made in var}'ing quantities during 
 the whole of his career. 
 
 Green Ware. 1752. 1795. 
 
 Mottled and Agate Ware. 1752. 
 
 Imitations of Delft Ware. 1758. 
 
 White Stoneware. 1759. 
 
 Cream-Coloured Ware, 1759. 1795. 
 
 Basaltes. 1762. 1795. 
 
 Crystalline Pebbled, 1763. 
 
 Bronze Etruscan. 1768. 
 
 Fine White Ware. 1773. 1775. 
 
 Jasper. 1775. 1795. 
 
 Rosso-Antico. 1776. 
 
 Pearl White Ware. Lustre. 1776. 1779. 
 
 Cane-Coloured Ware. 1780. 1795. 
 
 17 
 
USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL WARES 
 
 WHEN the partnership between Wedg\vood and 
 Bentley was agreed upon, the products of the 
 works were divided into two classes, the 
 "Useful" and the "Ornamental." The 
 former class w-as to be under the charge of Thomas Wedg- 
 wood as manager and partner, and in the profits of this class 
 IMr. Bentley had no share. The second class was to be 
 made by Wedgwood and Bentley, and in the profits of these 
 Thomas Wedgrwood did not participate. 
 
 At first the division seemed very clear, but after the 
 Useful Wares began to be made in the same choice ma- 
 terials as the Ornamentals, the demarkation became less 
 easy to draw. A letter from Wedgwood to Bentley on this 
 subject is quoted here, as it explains very plainly to Mr. 
 Bentley, who seems to have been a little put out, exactly 
 how the great potter felt in the matter. 
 
 " With respect to the difference between Useful Ware 
 and Ornamental, I do not find any inclination in myself 
 to be overnice in drawing the line. You know I never 
 had any idea that Ornamental ware shod, not be of ' some 
 use.' You knew this from all we had done hitherto, from 
 the many conversations we have had upon the subject, 
 and from the list we wrote in 5'our commonplace book of 
 the uses to which ornamental vases might be put; I cod. 
 have wished therefore that you had not repeated this idea 
 so often, and asked me if my partnership wath T. W. 
 wod. exclude our making ' Stella's ' ewers. Tell me, my 
 dear friend, did you ask me this question for information, 
 
 18 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 or were you really as angry with me, as the question accom' 
 panied with any other idea would import. I hope you were 
 not, for I shod, be very unhappy to think you wod. be angry 
 with me lightly, or that I had given you any just occasion 
 for the warmth some parts of your letter seem to express. 
 I say seem, for I hope I am mistaken, and shall rest in that 
 hope till I have the pleasure of hearing from you again. 
 But as this question has put me upon thinking a little more 
 upon the subject, and the situation I am. or may be in, be- 
 twixt two Partnerships, it may not be amiss to enter a little 
 deeper into it, and attempt something like a line in Theorie, 
 though I hope we shall none of us be too rigid in our 
 adherence to it, in practice. And first negatively; I do not 
 think that fineness, or richness, or price, or colour, or 
 enamelling, or bronzing, or gilding, can be a criterion for 
 our purpose, for though we make a Table or desert service 
 ever so fine, rich, or expensive, though they are every piece 
 rich enough to adorn a Cabinet, they are in my opinion, 
 Useful ware still, and I think the same may be said of a 
 Teapot or a Chamberpot. Suppose for instance, that I 
 should make pebble desert ware, and should vein or edge 
 it with gold burnt in. This would be as rich as the vases, 
 but must, I apprehend be class'd as Useful ware still; and 
 on the other hand, though we make a flowerpot, a Vase, 
 Candlestick, etc., ever so plain, it is still in the class of 
 Ornamental Ware, and clearly within the partnership of 
 W. and B. only, and I should think I did wrong in mak- 
 ing them at Burslem on any occasion without first asking 
 your consent. 
 
 " If degrees of richness or elegance of form were to con- 
 stitute the difference in question, and consequently the mak- 
 ing of it be transferred from Burslem to Etruria upon its 
 improvement beyond such a pitch, this wod. not only lay a 
 
 19 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 foundation for frequent disputes, but must have the same 
 effect upon my useful works, as the King of France's 
 Edict has upon the potteries of France, to prevent their 
 rivalling his w^orks at Seve, for T. W. might with reason 
 say I have such or such an improvement to introduce into 
 the desert or Tea, but I shall then lose the Article, or if 
 I improve such a single article further it is gone! This is 
 no forced or unnatural supposition, but is what must result 
 from such a principle being admitted, and as there seems to 
 me to be a distinct criterion to distinguish between Useful 
 ware and Ornaments, and which is clear of these or any 
 other material objections, I cannot hesitate in rejecting the 
 former. May not useful ware be comprehended under this 
 simple definition, of such vessels as are made use of at 
 meals? This appears to me to be the most simple and 
 natural line, and though it does not take in Wash-hand 
 basons and bottles, or Ewers, chamberpots, and a few such 
 articles, they are of small consequence, and speak plain 
 enough for themselves; nor wod. this exclude any superb 
 vessels for sideboards, or vases for desert if they could be 
 introduced, as these would be for show rather than use." 
 This was written in September, 1770. 
 
 When, in 1773, after the firm of Wedgwood and Bent- 
 ley had been in partnership four years, it was found neces- 
 sary to issue a catalogue, the Ornamental Wares were di- 
 vided into twenty classes. 
 
 " One. Intaglios and Medallions or Cameos, accurately 
 taken from antique gems and from the finest models that 
 can be procured from modern artists. In 1787 there were 
 1032 designs of these objects. 
 
 " Two. Bas-reliefs, Medallions and tablets, etc. Of 
 these there were 300 designs. 
 
 20 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 " Three. Medallions, etc., of Kings, Queens and Illus- 
 trious persons of Asia, Egypt and Greece. In 1787 there 
 were over a hundred of these. 
 
 "Four. A set of sixty medals, from Dassler, illus- 
 trating ancient Roman history, from the founding of the 
 city to the end of the Consular government, including the 
 age of Augustus. 
 
 " Five^ Heads of Illustrious Romans. Forty of these 
 were produced. 
 
 " Six. The twelve Caesars, made in four sizes, and their 
 Empresses, which were made in one size only. 
 
 "Seven. Fifty-two medallions showing Emperors from 
 Nerva to Constantine the Great. 
 
 " Eight. Heads of the Popes, 253 medallions. 
 
 "Nine. A series of 102 heads of Kings and Queens of 
 England and France, sold only in sets. 
 
 " Ten. Heads of Illustrious Moderns. In 1787 there 
 were 230 heads made both in jasper and basaltes, in several 
 sizes, chiefly in one colour, sold at is. each. 
 
 " Eleven. This was a most important class, headed by 
 Wedgwood ' busts, small statues, boys and animals.' It in- 
 cluded many busts of distinguished persons which have 
 now become very rare and are much in demand. The 
 material most often used was basaltes, and there were in- 
 cluded in it such persons as Marcus Aurelius, Lord 
 Chatham, Zeno, Marcus Brutus, Homer, Pindar, John De 
 Witt, etc., some of the busts reaching a size of twenty-five 
 inches while others varied from four to eighteen inches. 
 Eighty busts in all were produced and there were forty 
 statues of animals, etc., also in basaltes. 
 
 " Twelve. Lamps and Candelabra. Made in marbled 
 ware or basaltes as well as jasper; some of them adapted 
 for Argand's patent burner. The prices ranged from 2 
 
 21 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 shillings to 5 guineas. Not many were made and they are 
 rare. 
 
 " Thirteen. Tea and coffee services, including chocolate 
 pots, sugar dishes, cream ewers, cabinet cups and saucers, 
 etc., made in bamboo, basaltes, plain and enriched with 
 Grecian and Etruscan ornaments. Likewise in jasper of 
 two colours ' polished within like the natural stone.' 
 
 "Fourteen. Flower and root-pots. 
 
 " Fifteen. Ornamental vases of antique form in terra- 
 cotta. 
 
 "Sixteen. Antique vases of black porcelain or artificial 
 basaltes, highly finished with bas-reliefs. Sizes from 3 inches 
 to 2 feet. They came in sets or singly, and many of these 
 vases were used as mortuary urns. 
 
 " Sei'cnteen. Vases, tablets, etc., with encaustic paint- 
 ings. The tablets were made of varying sizes, small enough 
 for a lady's ring or large enough to set in furniture or a 
 mantelpiece. 
 
 " Eighteen. To this class belonged the magnificent 
 vases, tripods, and other objects in jasper with coloured 
 grounds and white reliefs. 
 
 " Nineteen., Inkstands, paint-chests, eye-cups, mortars 
 and chemical vessels. 
 
 " Twenty. Thermometers for measuring strong fire or 
 the degree of heat above ignition." 
 
 These articles were all marked Wedgwood and Bentley, 
 till after 1780, then the mark was Wedgwood. 
 
 Tlic first edition of the catalogue was a small pamphlet, 
 published 1773. The second edition, published 1774, was 
 much more imposing; when this was later translated into 
 French, it was called the third edition. Fourth edition, 
 1777, fifth, 1779, sixth in French the same year, and the 
 
 22 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 sixth English was brought out in 1787. This was issued 
 in French in 1788. Besides the French editions of these 
 catalogues there were also Dutch and German ones. Since 
 the death of Wedgwood there have been two English re- 
 prints of these catalogues, one in 1817 and the other in 
 1873. 
 
 23 
 
GREEN-GLAZED WARE 
 
 1752-1795 
 
 GREEN ware, that is, a body covered with a green 
 glaze, had long been made in England. Indeed, 
 the process had come down from the Roman 
 potters, but with the decline of tile-making the 
 secret had been lost. 
 
 Whieldon and some of the other Burslem potters had 
 taken up the manufacture of the green ware again, but 
 their method of obtaining the colour was to stain the body 
 with oxide of copper and then apply a glaze made of lead, 
 water and flint. 
 
 To Wedgwood is ascribed the " invention " of the green 
 glaze which through his experimenting finally became so 
 successful. Miss Meteyard gives the formula for Wedg- 
 wood's green glaze as follows: 
 
 " Flint glass, 6. "] 
 
 Red lead, 2. Witrlfied. 
 
 White enamel, 4.J 
 
 Calcined copper, ^o- This will be a blue green and 
 will require a good deal of yellow ground with it to make 
 it grass green." 
 
 The colour of this glaze as perfected by Wedgwood Is 
 extremely brilliant and beautiful, and marks the great ad- 
 vance in the matter of glaze which Wedgwood made even 
 so early In his career. He appreciated far more keenly than 
 many of his contemporaries the advantage of preparing 
 his materials with the greatest care and trusting less to 
 
 24 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 chance than was common in the Potteries. Under his 
 supervision the wares put out from the Whieldon works be- 
 came much more popular than before, and articles which 
 hitherto had never been attempted were successfully made 
 and put on the market. 
 
 While Whieldon himself seems to have had small initia- 
 tive and inventive power, he had the sagacity to procure 
 for his works the best assistance possible. Josiah Spode 
 the elder, William Greatbach, Garner and Barker were his 
 apprentices at various times; Aaron Wood modelled for 
 him, and Wedgwood made moulds for him as well as im- 
 proved many processes. 
 
 The little " image toy " in green is a very early piece, 
 Figure i, and most brilliant in colour and glaze. Few 
 of these figures come into the hands of collectors now,. but the 
 beautiful green plates and trays are occasionally to be met 
 with. One exceedingly choice example of a cauliflower 
 compotier was obtained not long ago by a china fancier at 
 an auction sale which took place at a small house in Roches- 
 ter, New York. A woman bought it before our collector 
 arrived and he saw her showing it with considerable dis- 
 satisfaction to a friend. He told her that he would give 
 her a new white china dish in exchange. She was more than 
 satisfied, chose a dish which cost forty cents, and our col- 
 lector bore his treasure homeward, pleased with his luck. 
 
 Some of the trays have finely modelled wreaths of fruit 
 or flowers, grapes and strawberries being especial favour- 
 ites. Teacaddies also are occasionally to be met with, par- 
 ticularly in the cauliflower pattern, and are most orna- 
 mental. 
 
 Wedgwood continued making this ware after he started 
 in business for himself, but after he became fully employed 
 in making those wares in which finer effects were to be 
 
 25 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 obtained, he disposed of the green ware he had on hand. It 
 was, however, continually made in small quantities at Burs- 
 lem. Wedgwood's taste for copying natural forms in pot- 
 tery found ample expression in this beautiful glaze, and it is 
 wonderful to see the variety of charming " pickle leaves," 
 as they were called, which came from his hands. Grape, 
 maple and fern leaves as well as cabbage leaves were 
 used, and if it were possible to obtain a collection of these 
 green leaves alone, it would be seen that each specimen was 
 worthy special attention. A numher of them are packed 
 away in the storerooms of the Boston Museum of Fine 
 Arts, waiting for room in the new buildings in which they 
 can be displayed. 
 
 About ten years after the ware first came into favour, It 
 began to decline in popularity, and to stimulate interest in 
 it, Wedgwood had it decorated with gilt sprigs. In Au- 
 gust, 1766, WedgAvood writes to Bentley about it as fol- 
 lows: "Pray sell the Green and Gold for Pensacola, the 
 new discover'd Islands, or where you can, for I will never 
 take it again, so make your best of it. I am quite clearing 
 my Warehs. of colour'd ware, and am heartily sick of the 
 commodity and have been so long, but durst not venture 
 to quit it till I had got something better in hand, which 
 thanks to my fair customers I now have and intend to make 
 the miost of it. Green desert ware is often wanted in 
 reality for the West India Islands. I have a few crates on 
 hand, some gilt, some plain, ergo, shod, be glad to part with 
 them on very moderate terms, for the reason assigned above 
 I wod. sell them at 20 p. ct. less than I ever sold any be- 
 fore." 
 
 This green glaze was applied to the cauliflower, see Fig- 
 ure 2, pine-apple, see Figure 3, and Figure 4, and melon 
 ware which has so long been assigned to Whieldon. In 
 
 26 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 1906 in the crates before mentioned as being found at 
 Etruria, were specimens of teapots, pitchers, etc., and their 
 moulds, proving conclusively that Wedgwood made them. 
 Very charming they are too, the contrast between the green 
 of the leaves and the yellow top being particularly fresh 
 and pleasing. Owing to the high price of tea these pots 
 were made usually in small sizes, the two shown being four 
 and a half inches high, while some ran even smaller. 
 
 Quantities of these pots were sent to America in the 
 crates of " Assort'd Wares " which were so popular, or by 
 " the chest, newest fashion," as was advertised by James 
 McEvers in 1757. "Colly flower tea and coffee pots" 
 are advertised in 1765, and in many of these advertisements 
 " Wedgwood's wares " are specified. Besides what was 
 sold by the regular merchants at their shops, much stuff of 
 all kinds was sold direct from the ships. Frida3% Nov. 7th, 
 1783, there was this advertisement in the Ncic York Morn- 
 ing Post: "Just arrived in the Iris from London, and to 
 be sold low By Robert Loosely, In Water Street between 
 the Coffee House and Old Slip, A Great variety of Goods, 
 Amongst which are a few Books, Gold Rings, Lockets and 
 Pins, Very fine and fresh French and English hard and soft 
 Pomatums, Fine plated and high finished steel spurs, a par- 
 cel of very neat Wedgwood, Ink stands. Cream ware, etc." 
 
 Indeed particularly in the old newspapers of New Eng- 
 land there was hardly an issue after 1770 which did not 
 contain an advertisement of china wares. In addition to 
 the ship sales and the merchants, there was scarcely a 
 " dame " who had a little shop but who imported her crate 
 of china ; the chemists followed suit, so did the tobacconists, 
 the dealers in pewter, and apparently everybody else who 
 could obtain it. 
 
 In- the Connecticut Courant for September, 1773, 
 
 27 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 is this advertisement from the " Staffordsliire and Liver- 
 pool Warehouse," Boston, Mass.: 
 
 ** A fine sortment of Crockery Ware, consistinsi of almost 
 every kind of Cliina, Glass and Delph; Cream-colour, 
 white, blue and white, black, brown, as;ot, tortoise, melon, 
 pineapple fruit pattern, enamcl'd and many other kinds 
 of Stoneware." 
 
 These teapots of Wedgwood's had more excellencies than 
 those of form and colour. The noses were so well placed 
 that they poured without spillinp; the liquid, the handles 
 were comfortable to i^rasp and the lids stayed on. In fact 
 they were only another exemplification of his determination 
 that whatever he made should be the best of its kind, and 
 entirely suitable for the purpose for which it was intended. 
 
 28 
 
MOTTLED, MARBLED, OR 
 AGATE WARE 
 
 1752 
 
 IN the close quarters of " The Potteries," where trade 
 secrets became common property over night, it was 
 not to be wondered at that all pot-works turned 
 out similar wares. The oldest potters, Warburtons, 
 Turners, Mayers and the elder Wedgwoods, all made mot- 
 tled or marbled ware of two or three coloured clays, some- 
 times applying the colour in slip form, the colours being 
 drawn together by the use of a comb, as the painter nowa- 
 days produces artificial graining in wood. 
 
 These mottled and agate wares were so improved by 
 Thomas Whieldon, who potted between 1 740-1 780, that 
 they are commonly called " Whieldon Ware " no matter 
 by whom produced. Working under so skilful and broad- 
 minded a potter as Whieldon, Wedgwood sought in every 
 way to improve the wares which were in hand, and these 
 crude and primitive mottled articles bloomed into new 
 beauty. 
 
 The old method of " combing " several coloured slips 
 together was replaced by the use of coloured clays being 
 worked together, thin cakes or " bats " being beaten to- 
 gether so that they would stick, strips being cut from the 
 mass, which, when formed into articles by being thrown 
 or pressed, exhibited marvellous streakings and veinings in 
 different colourings. Wares produced in this way were 
 
 29 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 known as " solid agate," and its method of production, that 
 is, whether thrown or pressed in a mould can always be told, 
 in the latter case by the seam which remains between the two 
 halves of the mould. 
 
 Tea sets, flower pots, vases, bowls, jars open and covered, 
 plates, trays and baskets were all made in this early 
 marbled ware, which is quite distinct from the " pebbled 
 ware " of much greater beauty, which is considered later. 
 
 The mottled ware was sometimes made on a cream- 
 coloured body by the use of manganese, oxide of iron, 
 oxide of copper and oxide of cobalt dissolved by the lead 
 glaze and floating into one another. This mottled ware was 
 often extremely beautiful when a skilful hand blended 
 the colours, and when the object was enriched with raised 
 design or punched work, with splashes of zaffres laid in, or 
 touches of emerald green. The soft tones of browns in the 
 wares which seem to float on a ground of saffron are most 
 pleasing and restful to the eye, and no collection of early 
 English wares is complete without one. I have mentioned 
 before, in " The Old China Book," a piece of great beauty, 
 a covered jar, which is in the Antiquarian Society Rooms at 
 Concord, Massachusetts. 
 
 Wedgwood, after he went in business for himself, 
 painted with liquid clays his cream-coloured ware, old stock 
 or seconds, in mottled effects, keeping his wares constantly 
 moving, like the practical business man that he was. 
 
 He writes to Bentley in November, 1769: " I have re- 
 served my house at Burslem for Mr. Rhodes, (a skilful 
 painter and enameller) and his men, it is quite ready for 
 him and when he comes you shall have Mr. Bakewell; but 
 we must have some one here to vein and finish the vases 
 and if Bakewell goes before Mr. Rhodes comes the business 
 must stand still the while." 
 
 30 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 When this mottled, marbled or agate decoration was 
 applied to the cream-coloured ware it was known as " sur- 
 face agate " to distinguish it from' the " solid agate " where 
 the colour went through the whole body. In Figure 5 
 is given an example of surface agate, from the Museum at 
 Burslem, and though on this piece the wavings are large 
 and wide apart they are often found on smaller pieces, 
 or on plates and dishes, with small mottlings and veinings, 
 much like the markings in tortoise shell, which name was 
 also sometimes applied to this ware. 
 
 31 
 
CREAM-COLOURED WARE 
 
 "QUEEN'S WARE" 
 
 1 759-1 795 
 
 IN Shaw's " ffistory of the Staffordshire Potteries," 
 published in 1829, he says: "About 1725 Mr. 
 Thomas Astbury, a son of the person already men- 
 tioned (John Astbury), commenced business at Lane 
 Delph, first using a different kind of marl with the flint, 
 which so varied the tint of this improved pottery, that he 
 named it cream-coloured stoneware; and this was further 
 improved by using only the whitest native clay and flint 
 ground at Mothersall mill." 
 
 Various Staffordshire potters made this ware, using a lead 
 glaze and only one firing. Enoch Booth of Tunstall 
 in 1750 was the first potter to fire the body to a biscuit 
 state, and then apply a liquid glaze composed of calcined 
 flint and calcined lead ore ground in water to a perfect 
 smoothness. 
 
 Cream-coloured ware was made in this way for about 
 nine years, before Wedgwood began to experiment with 
 both body and glaze. He was so successful that in 1763 
 Queen Charlotte ordered from him a table service, and in 
 compliment to her he named the ware " Queen's Ware," 
 and was made " Potter to the Queen " and supplied several 
 services to the royal family. 
 
 The use of Greatbach's glaze, which was similar to that 
 in use in the great English china potteries, and the use of the 
 
 32 
 
Fig. $. " SuRFAcii Agate " 1"lov\i;u Pot. 
 
 Fig. 6. Russian Service. 
 
 % 
 
 ^ 
 
 y» ',-■>•- >5: 
 
 %^ ■f"*-- %.■: -^r ■ «^'- -i 
 
 W- 
 
 4 
 
 Fig. 7. Covered Dish, Cream-coloiired Ware. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 finer clays of Devon and Dorset in addition to the calcined 
 flint, gave an increased w^hiteness to the ware and made it 
 less liable to crack and flake off. 
 
 It was decorated in enamel colours — ^Wedgwood sent his 
 pieces to Mrs. Warburton of Hot Lane for this decoration 
 at first, — then printing was applied by Sadler and Green 
 at Liverpool, and finally when the material and shapes were 
 as perfect as Wedgwood could make them, he had them 
 decorated under his own supervision. 
 
 When it became evident what important materials china 
 stone and china clay were in the making of cream-coloured 
 ware, and what a blow would be given to the industry by 
 tile extension of Cookworthy's patent to Champion, it was 
 no wonder that the Staffordshire potters rose up in a body 
 to protest against its extension. The petition they presented 
 was so far successful that it granted to Champion the sole 
 right to use Cornwall clay in " transparent " ware only, 
 leaving open to the pottery trade its use in opaque ware of 
 every kind. It hampered Wedgwood from ever making 
 porcelain. 
 
 In 1767 Wedgwood writes: "The demand for the 
 Cream-colour, alias Queen's Ware, alias Ivory still in- 
 creases. It is really amazing how rapidly the use has spread 
 allmost over the whole globe and how universally it is 
 liked." 
 
 In fact in this year it was to be found on sale in Russia, 
 France, Germany, Spain, America, East and West Indies, 
 the Baltic ports and Holland. 
 
 The most celebrated set he ever made in cream-coloured 
 ware was the one which filled an order from Queen Cathe- 
 rine of Russia, It is not nearly as artistic as many of his 
 simpler productions, since the presence of a green frog on 
 every piece is a positive defect. The set was to be used at 
 
 33 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 " La Grenoulllicre " at Tzarsko-selo near St. Petersburg. 
 It was commenced in April, 1773, and contained 952 pieces. 
 The cost of tlie plain ware for the dinner service was £36 
 6s. and for the dessert service £15 2s. 4d. The decorative 
 work cost £2290 I2S. 4d. and the amount paid out for 
 prints, engravinp;s, books and having the views made cost 
 £2410 more. The green frogs were painted by one man, 
 Nathaniel Cooper, at 2| pence and 3 pence each, and there 
 are entered on the bill 1244 of them, so there must have 
 been two on some pieces. The scenes depicted were the 
 famous mansions of England ; the amount of work was 
 stupendous and the price received from Catherine, £3000, 
 quite inadequate, save that it was a magnificent advertise- 
 ment and spread the fame of Wedgwood far and wide. 
 
 In June, 1774, the set was on exhibition at the London 
 showrooms, and was open to the public for two months. 
 Mrs. Delany, a fashionable dame, went with the rest of the 
 world to see it, and has recorded her impression as follows: 
 " I am just returned from viewing the Wedgwood Ware 
 that is to be sent to the Empress of Russia. It consists 
 of many pieces, I believe as there are days in the year. 
 They are displayed at a house in Greek street, * Soho,' 
 called ' Portland House.' There are three rooms below and 
 two above filled with it, laid out on tables, everything that 
 can be wanted to serve a dinner; the ground, the common 
 ware pale brimstone, the drawings in purple, the borders a 
 wreath of leaves, the middle of each particular piece a view 
 of all the places in the King's dominions neatly executed. .1 
 suppose it will come to a princely price, it is well for the 
 manufacturer, which I am glad of, as his ingenuity and 
 industry deserve encouragement." Some of the plates in 
 the dessert service are shown in Figure 6. 
 
 Wedgwood's eflforts to improve everything that he set 
 
 34 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 his hand to never slackeneil, aiul his desire to <:!:et some 
 material by which he could make better ware ituluccd 
 l\im in 1775 in company with Turner of Lane End and 
 one or two others, to take a journey tlirouij^li Cornwall in 
 search of clays, 'i'hey became lessees of st>me mines near 
 St. Stephens, and a man named (uilllths who had been 
 Wedi^wooil's ai^ent in South Carolina remained as mana!i,er. 
 
 The shades of cream-coloured ware vary from a pale 
 cream throui:;h all the intermediate shades to saffron, in- 
 lluenced by the qualities of the clay, the differences in de- 
 gree of heat in firing and the xwixuy uncertainties which the 
 potter has to contend w ith. Wedtjwood says ( 17(18) : " With 
 respect to the colour of my ware, I endeavour to make it 
 as pale as possible to continue in cream-colour, ami lind my 
 customers in general, though not every individual of them, 
 think the alteration I have made in that respect a great 
 improvement, but it is impossible that any one colour, even 
 though it were come down from Heaven, shod, please every 
 taste, and I cannot regularly make two cream-colours, a 
 deep and a light shade, without having two works for that 
 purpose. Nor have 1 any clay to make with certainty a 
 very light colour for Teawarc." 
 
 Miss Meteyard gives a list of the pieces comprising a 
 service of Queen's Ware of " middling size," such as were 
 sent all over the world by Wedgwood. 
 
 "Two Oval dishes, 10 in. 
 Two ditto dishes, 17 in. 
 Two Round dishes, 17 in. 
 Two Round dishes, 15 in. 
 Four Oval dishes, ij^ in. 
 Four Oval dishes, 1 1 in,, 
 Four Oval dishes, 11 in. 
 
 35 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Four 0\al dishes, ii in. 
 
 Four Round. 
 
 Two Terrines for Soup. 
 
 Two Sauce Terrines. 
 
 Four Sauce Terrines. 
 
 Twx) Salad Dishes. 
 
 Six Salts. 
 
 Two Mustard Pots. 
 
 Four Pickle Dishes. 
 
 Six Dozen Flat Plates. 
 
 Two Dozen Soup Plates." 
 
 This ser^'ice, plain, was sold at £3 17s. When dec- 
 orated the price varied according to the amount of decora- 
 tion. In 1783 a table and tea-service was printed by Sad- 
 ler and Green for David Garrick, with an edging and 
 cypher of the letters D. G., the cost of which work was 
 £8 6s. i|d. 
 
 In addition to the pieces composing table and tea-serv- 
 ices, there were many miscellaneous articles made. " Fish 
 drainers oval and round. Root dishes with pans to keep 
 them hot. Covered Dishes, see Figure 7, Soup Dishes with 
 covers, Dishes for Water Zootjes (Dutch fish). Herring 
 Dishes single or double. Ice pails, Pickle stands, Leaves and 
 shells of different kinds, Epergnes for the middle of the 
 table, Egg Baskets to keep boiled eggs hot, Egg Cups with 
 or without covers. Oil and Vinegar Stands, Egg Spoons, 
 Table Candlesticks of different patterns from 9-14 in. high. 
 Bread Baskets oval or round, Cheese Toasters with 
 Water Pans, Oval and round Potting Pots, Pudding 
 Cups, shapes for Blanc-mange, Asparagus pans, Montciths 
 for keeping Glasses cool in water, Curvettes, Cheese Plates, 
 Beer mugs and Jugs with or without covers, Large soup 
 
 36 
 
Fig. 8. Cream-coloured Ware, Painted and Printed. 
 
 Fig. 9. Orange Basket. 
 
 Fig. id. Flower Pot. 
 
 Fig. II. Cream-coloured Ware. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Ladles, Fruit Baskets with or without covers. Sweet- 
 meat Baskets, Croquants or Sweet-meat Dishes, Glacieres 
 (for Ice-Cream), Ice-cream Cups and covers. Ice-cream, 
 bowls, Strawberry Dishes and Stands, Custard cups. Tartlets, 
 Dessert Spoons, Water Plates with covers to keep toast & 
 butter warm, Gondolas for Dry toast, Butter tubs & stands, 
 wash hand basons & ewers, Shaving Basons, Punch bowls. 
 Spitting pots, Sauce Pans for cooking. Night Lamps to 
 keep any liquid warm all night, & Table & toilet candle- 
 sticks with extinguishers." 
 
 Even this long list does not cover all the articles made, 
 for Wedgwood was constantly adding new articles of use 
 to those already made. His coffee, tea and chocolate 
 services with kettles and lamps were of great beauty, and 
 quite recently I saw a. tall vessel for keeping liquid warm 
 with a place below for a small lamp. There was no coloured 
 decoration, but the top was ornamented with a charming 
 design in punched work, in which Wedgwood particularly 
 excelled, inventing many small tools so as to vary the pat- 
 terns. Many very choice dessert services have this punched 
 work on the rims, and he used it on teapots with good ef- 
 fect. " Pierced Si gilt " are terms seen on many lists of his 
 wares. On the printed ware, he not only supplied the de- 
 sign but saw to it that they were varied. Each dozen 
 plates of dinner sets had different central ornament; each 
 dish, tureen, and centre-piece was also different. 
 
 All nature yielded patterns for his guidance. Flowers, 
 birds, see Figure 8, insects, sea-weeds and shells were all 
 atilised. Coats of arms and crests were either painted or 
 printed, and the choicest sets had enamelled borders. 
 
 From 1769 the demand for this cream-coloured ware 
 constantly increased, and in 1774 Miss ^leteyard gives as 
 the most popular border designs: 
 
 37 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 " Printed bird pattern, 
 
 Oat border, 
 
 Arrow pattern. 
 
 Green flowers. 
 
 Green husks. 
 
 Strawberry leaf. 
 
 Black flowers. 
 
 Blue shell edge. 
 
 Green shell edge. 
 
 Ivy border with springs. 
 
 Purple arrow heads. 
 
 Purple antique. 
 
 Etruscan red and black borders. 
 
 Etruscan green and black. 
 
 Marine pattern, purple edge. 
 
 Calico pattern and springs. 
 
 Green double lines. 
 
 Brown double lines. 
 
 Laurel border. 
 
 Green feather edge and flower. 
 
 Green oat leaf. 
 
 Blue lines. 
 
 Brown antique border. 
 
 Red border. 
 
 Greek border. 
 
 Shaded figures purple grounds. 
 
 Queens pattern, red birds. 
 
 Black pencilled. 
 
 Enamelled shagreen." 
 
 When the demand for these services grew to such large 
 proportions, Wedgwood had borders enamelled at his own 
 works for this purpose at Chelsea, 1774, and finally, by 
 1784, did much of his own printed ware too, while Green 
 
 38 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 continued to print the old standard patterns. The year 
 before the death of Thomas Wedg\vood at Burslem, 1787, 
 the number of border patterns had increased. There were, 
 in addition to those already given: 
 
 " Honeysuckle in several colours. 
 Red Etruscan. 
 
 Black and red spike. ^ 
 
 Brown edge inside. 
 
 Brown husk. 
 
 Blue convolvulus with green leaves. 
 
 Deep rose colour, bell drops. 
 
 Red and black strawberry leaf with drop. 
 
 Double laurel. 
 
 Brown Etruscan. 
 
 Dotted border. 
 
 Green and shaded purple. 
 
 Royal pattern pencilled landscapes. 
 
 Light green bell drops. 
 
 Broad pea-green and mauve." 
 
 The enamelled borders were almost infinite in their 
 variety. They were made to order, and crests and coats 
 of arms introduced to suit owners. The ware itself of 
 the " old " period is very beautiful from the perfection of 
 each piece. The plates were absolutely true and symmetrical, 
 his bowls and dishes " nest " with accuracy, and no piece 
 was too simple or too " useful " not to be made as well as 
 possible. 
 
 The twigged work was always graceful and beautiful, 
 as the orange basket shown in Figure 9 abundantly testi- 
 fies, and even milk pans and watering-pots were as care- 
 fully studied. The punched " lozenge " work on the flower 
 pot in Figure 10 shows how ornamental so simple a device 
 
 39 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 may be made when skilfully applied. Figure ii shows 
 candlesticks and a charming tea-caddy, with a design by 
 Roquet. 
 
 Cream-coloured ware was not used only in the " useful " 
 department, but very beautiful vases were formed of it as 
 well. The early specimens are of small size, ribbed or 
 fluted, the later ones showing choice ornament in the way 
 of floral festoons, handles and drapery. The patterns were 
 part printed, part painted, sometimes touched up with gold, 
 occasionally finished with punched or pierced work. The 
 cream ware was the body for the mottled, marbled and 
 " surface agate," and some were made, and referred to 
 particularly by Wedgwood, in which the neck and serpent 
 handles were coloured blue, the body of the vase left in its 
 cream tint or enriched with gold. 
 
 These cream vases in all their varieties were boldly 
 copied at Leeds, but in an inferior style. The Stafford- 
 shire makers imitated anything they could lay their hands 
 on, and with regard to the " blue necked " vases, Wedg- 
 wood cautions Bentley to be sure he knows to whom he 
 sells such things, else they will be back at the Potteries by 
 the first carriers' cart. 
 
 The cost of many of these cream ware vases was high. 
 " Cream ware vases with serpents, satyr's heads, husk fes- 
 toons, and black necks, feet and ornaments, £2 2s. each." 
 1769. 
 
 The vases, by wholesale, ranged from one shilling to sev- 
 eral pounds, according to their size and decorations. It 
 is rare to come across one now. Bentley never had any 
 share in the profit of even ornamental cream ware, and the 
 demand for it in useful forms was so large, and the ex- 
 quisite vases made in other materials so popular that the 
 making of cream ware vases gradually ceased. 
 
 40 
 
BASALTES 
 
 1 762-1 795 
 
 THE making of "black ware," "Egyptian black 
 clay," or " basaltes," as it is variously called, had 
 long been practised in The Potteries. Indeed, 
 during Roman times and the Middle Ages, it was 
 one of the commonest materials used in pottery. Besides 
 being formed into vessels of one kind or another, it was 
 made into tiles as well. 
 
 The method of making it as practised by the Elers 
 Brothers about 1700 was simple enough, as the materials 
 were ironstone and red clay. Miss Meteyard says that 
 from 1 7 10-17 15 there were forty-three pot-works at Burs- 
 lem, and of these, seventeen produced black ware as well as 
 the variously marbled, combed and mottled ones, while the 
 Churchyard Works, carried on by the father of Josiah 
 Wedgwood, produced only mottled and black ware. From 
 time to time others of the Staffordshire potters experi- 
 mented with it, but it was Wedgwood who finally brought 
 it to its point of perfection. The formula he used con- 
 tained native clay, ironstone, ochre and oxide of manga- 
 nese. The quality of this basaltes when fired was ex- 
 tremely hard and fine, susceptible of taking a high polish 
 on a wheel, or of being left with its velvety surface, this 
 latter dull colour being generally preferred. 
 
 Wedgwood himself calls it " a fine black porcelain " and 
 " equal in hardness to agate or porphyry." Although this 
 material seems more suitable to articles of ornament, many 
 
 41 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 pieces of "useful ware" were made in it, see Figure I2. 
 There were also odd tea and coffee pots, eye cups, ink 
 stands of endless patterns, many extremely beautiful lamps, 
 salt cellars, flower pots, trays, and urns. 
 
 Many of these were plain, relying on their beauty of 
 form for their success, see Figure 13, while others were 
 decorated with engine-turned patterns, with bas-reliefs, or 
 the two combined. In some cases where the figures were 
 single ones, they made processions about the bodies of tea- 
 pots and vases, their positions being altered so as to make 
 endless varieties. 
 
 The handles of the vases exhibited much fertility of in- 
 vention; there were animals, heads, dolphins, sphinxes, or 
 plain forms of classic shape. 
 
 The vases shown in Fig. 14 exhibit the highest class 
 basaltes vases. The mark on these vases is in a raised 
 medallion in circular form ; giving both names, and some- 
 times in addition the word *' Etruria." Basaltes also formed 
 the base for the Etruscan ware made in imitation of the 
 ancient Etruscan vases. It was also used for the base of 
 those pieces to which " bronze " was applied. 
 
 In the ornamental branch were also busts from four 
 to twenty-five inches in height, statuettes, small groups, 
 sphinxes, tritons, medallions, cameos and vases. Many of 
 the best models obtained by Wedgwood were used for this 
 ware, such as charming little figures by Mrs. Landre, Theo- 
 dore Parker, Denby, Boot, and William Hackwood, whose 
 presence at Etruria is first spoken of in 1770. 
 
 Voyez modelled the earliest bas-reliefs in 1766, and they 
 were used to set in chimney pieces, occasionally by the 
 brothers Adam, the architects, as well as by individual pur- 
 chasers. He also modelled seals and some of the articles 
 in useful ware. 
 
 42 
 
Fig. 12. Basalt ES Tea Service. 
 
 Fig. 13. Basaltes Vase. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Besides Mrs. Landre, Wedgwood employed many other 
 feminine artists either as modellers, enamellers, or design- 
 ers. Richard Parker modelled figures and animals; P. 
 Stephan also modelled animals, not entirely to Wedgwood's 
 satisfaction. There were Hoskins and Grant, who made 
 moulds; Lady Templetown made charming sketches of 
 children, while Webber modelled such dainty subjects as 
 " Cupid, a model," " Hebe," " Cupid drawing his dart," 
 "Triumph of Mars," etc., besides many articles like cups 
 and vases. In 1787 he went to Rome under Wedgwood's 
 employment, where he made models and drawings, and after 
 his return continued at Etruria till Wedgwood's death. 
 He was a valuable assistant when the Barberini vase was 
 being copied, and gave much assistance till the copies were 
 successfully made. 
 
 Lochee modelled small articles, and assisted by a man 
 named Peart copied many antique gems. Wyatt the artist 
 and Westmacott also did some work for Wedgwood, and 
 there was also Devaere, who succeeded Webber at the Or- 
 namental works, and who, on his return from Italy, where 
 he had followed Flaxman, Anglicised his name to John De 
 Vere. There was also John Bacon, John Coward, Edward 
 Watson, who modelled the first ink-stand used, Isaac Gos- 
 set, Thomas Astle, James Tassie, who for many years 
 did much work for Mr. Wedgwood, Pingo and Pacetti, 
 Italians, the latter of whom modelled " Birth of Achilles," 
 *' Priam begging from Achilles the body of Hector," and 
 numerous other subjects both original and copied. There 
 was also Angelo Dalmazzoni, who from 1787 till Wedg- 
 wood's death, in 1795, copied from the antique and origi- 
 nated many bas-reliefs and cameos. Dalmazzoni also em- 
 ployed two cameo cutters, Fratoddi and Mangiarotti, who 
 copied the finest antiques, and made models for Wedgwood's 
 
 43 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 use of quantities of very choice ones. Other artists who 
 worked for Etruria under Dalmazzoni's direction were 
 Manzolini, Cades and Angelini, Nearly every ship from 
 Leghorn carried boxes of cameos, prints and moulds to 
 Wedgwood, who copied in his choicest materials those beau- 
 tiful figures and cameos. 
 
 The foremost artist employed by Wedgwood, the one to 
 whom he was indebted for many of his choicest designs, 
 was John Flaxman. It was through Mr. Bentley that 
 he was procured as a modeller, and in January, 1775, he 
 began to work. His first bill included work done in March 
 and April, 1775, and mentions models for vases, bas- 
 reliefs and medals. In the summer more work was sent 
 him, making portraits, and till 1779 he was busy modelling 
 the heads of illustrious Greeks, busts, many bas-reliefs, 
 such as the " Dancing Hours," " Muses with Apollo," 
 " Silenus and Boys," " Bacchanals," " Fauns," " Sacrifice 
 to Pan," and the " Marriage of Cupid and Psyche," one of 
 his most charming designs. He was particularly felicitous 
 in his delineations of childhood, and his cupids, children 
 playing with animals, etc., were most popular, and made 
 beautiful many pieces of " useful ware," as well as being 
 applied to the choicer *' ornaments." 
 
 It is not possible here to go into a detailed account 
 of John Flaxman's career. Sufficiently well known is his 
 trip to Rome in 1787, for which Josiah Wedgwood ad- 
 vanced the money. Many and beautiful were the designs 
 and models he sent home to Etruria, not his work alone, 
 but work done by others under his direction. He com- 
 pleted several commissions of his own for sculptures during 
 his seven years' residence in Rome, and returned to England 
 but one year before the death of his generous patron. 
 
 It was to the basaltes vases that the charming design of 
 
 44 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 the " Dancing Hours " by Flaxman was first applied, and 
 achieved great popularity. Wedgwood himself says of these 
 basaltes vases in his catalogue for 1779: ''There are a 
 great variety of forms, chiefly Grecian or Etruscan; the 
 sizes from three or four inches high to more than two feet. 
 The prices from seven shillings and sixpence a piece to 
 three or four guineas, excluding the very large ones, and 
 those pieces which consist of many parts, and are very highly 
 finished. The sets of five pieces for chimney-pieces, sell 
 from about two guineas to six or seven guineas a set. From 
 all the specimens we have seen, and the observations of 
 others, we have reason to conclude that there are not any 
 vases of porcelain, marble or bronze, either ancient or mod- 
 ern, so highly finished and sharp in their ornaments as these 
 black vases; and on this account, together with the pre 
 cision of their outlines, and the simplicity of their antique 
 forms, they have had the honour of being highly and fre- 
 quently recommended by many of the connoisseurs in Eu- 
 rope; and of being placed amongst the finest productions 
 of the age, in the palaces and cabinets of several princes." 
 
 Portrait medallions in black basaltes, while not as popular 
 as those in jasper, were much in demand by the " nobility 
 and gentry." A set of portraits known as " Illustrious 
 Moderns " were made in basaltes as well as in a creamy 
 white biscuit, but after the discovery of jasper and Its ap- 
 plication to this use about 1777, this material was the most 
 used. A basaltes portrait of Josiah Wedgwood, modelled 
 by William Hackwood and signed W. H., is given in 
 Figure 15. 
 
 A pair of black basaltes vases decorated with the reliefs 
 of the " Dancing Hours " by Flaxman brought at the 
 Wills sale $370. They were unusually small, 7^ inches 
 high, and marked. A pair ii| inches high with handles of 
 
 45 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 masks and serpents, date 1790, brought $260. A single 
 vase, basal tes, 1775, 11 inches high, with medallion (Three 
 Graces), by Flaxman, $50. 
 
 Plinths, or the bases on which vases of other materials 
 were mounted, were often made of basaltes, frequently 
 very highly polished. Impressions from cameos were also 
 made in this black ware, to be used either for rings, seals, 
 bracelets or lockets, and proved exceedingly durable. They 
 varied In size from ^ of an inch to 2 inches, and may oc- 
 casionally be found as large as 2% inches, but these were for 
 cabinet use. Both the medallions and intaglios in basaltes 
 were much pirated, but the excellence of Wedgwood's 
 pieces, the perfection of the field on which the raised por- 
 tion of the medallion is placed, the finish of this latter, the 
 careful undercutting, are unmistakable. 
 
 In the last edition of the catalogue. 1787, Wedgwood 
 writes about them as follows: "The Intaglios, as now im- 
 proved, take a good polish; and when polished have exactly 
 the effect of fine black basaltes or jasper. Another method 
 has been discovered of adding very considerably to their 
 beauty, by making the intaglio part black, and the flat 
 surface blue and highly polished, by which means they 
 are made to imitate the black and blue onyx, (or niccolo) 
 with great exactness, and become equally ornamental for 
 rings as for seals. They are now made and polished, in 
 imitation of various coloured agates and other stones and in 
 cyphers, with the letters of one colour and the ground of 
 another. The correct sharpness and superior hardness of 
 these intaglios have now been sufficiently ascertained by 
 experience." 
 
 When the intaglios and cameos left the works, they were 
 carefully wrapped in papers which had the name of the 
 subject and catalogue number printed on it. Impressed on 
 
 46 
 
Fig. is. Josiah Wedgwood. 
 
 Fig. I 6a. A Vestal. 
 
 Fig. i6b. Georgb Whitfield. 
 
 :l 
 
 M 
 
 ^^%%&&^ P 
 
 
 Q- 
 
 :^' 
 
 \J/-' 
 
 6 
 
 Fig. 17. Cameos Mounted ix Gold. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 some of the pieces is the catalogue number, which in such 
 cases can be identified, and on the larger ones may some- 
 times be found the letters, W. & B. A beautiful example 
 "A Vestal " 15I in. high is given in Figure 16. 
 
 By far the greater number of busts made by Wedgwood 
 were in basaltes, but there were occasional ones in cane- 
 colour, in red ware and in white terra-cotta. 
 
 Not only were they made in plain black basaltes, but 
 also in " bronzed ware," which was the basaltes covered 
 with a bronzed powder and fired. Few of these bronzed 
 were made since the plain basaltes was so much more 
 popular. 
 
 The first subjects made, a little prior to 1773, were Cic- 
 ero, Horace, George II. The work of making them, first 
 modelling them, then preparing the moulds took much 
 time, but by 1775, a large number in various sizes, and 
 different representations of the same person, were put on 
 the market. 
 
 They never were cheap — in 1775 the wholesale prices 
 of the largest sized busts being, Homer, £3 3s.; Cicero, 
 £2 2s. ; Venus de Medici, £2 2S. ; etc. 
 
 In 1866, at Christie's one of these large busts sold for 
 £17 17s., and they have grown very difficult to find. There 
 were a number of them at the sale of the Wills collection 
 in 1908; one of Cicero, modelled by Bacon, 10 inches high, 
 date 1777, marked Wedgwood & Bentley, with name of 
 subjects in incised letters, brought $80. This bust was 
 one of those originally bronzed, but this had worn off, 
 showing the basaltes. There was one of the " Antinous," 
 modelled by Flaxman, 21 inches high, name of subject and 
 Wedgwood & Bentley incised on back, date 1774. Brought 
 $110, 
 
 Another bust, originally bronzed, 10 inches high," Seneca," 
 
 47 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 modelled by Bacon, marked twice, on back and on base, with 
 name of subject incised, date 1777. Brought $42.50. After 
 the death of Bentley these busts were marked " Wedg- 
 wood," and occasionally a single letter or figure was added, 
 meaning superior quality. The letter O and figure 3, used 
 together or separately, indicate the best quality and period. 
 They are always found in connection with the name. It 
 should be remembered that when three capital letters are 
 used together, the piece on which they are found is com- 
 paratively modern, not going further back than 1845. 
 
 Under the head of " basaltes " should also be placed 
 those vases called by Wedgwood " Etruscan and Grecian 
 Painted." 
 
 It is in connection with these vases that Wedgwood 
 took out the only patent he ever applied for to protect his 
 inventions. This was in November, 1769. It was not 
 long before imitations of the Grecian vases were on the 
 market, made in clumsy fashion by Neale and Palmer, pot- 
 ters of Hanley. In 1771 a compromise was agreed on. 
 Neale and Palmer were allowed to have a share in the 
 patent, and they made, till 1778, many of these encaustic 
 painted vases. 
 
 The first of these vases produced by Wedgwood were 
 crude, but as the methods were perfected, they increased 
 in beauty, and two skilful painters, Rhodes and Crofts, 
 decorated the vases. Later in addition to these two_, were 
 Mr, and Mrs. Wilcox, who painted at Etruria and Chel- 
 sea. The clever work of the latter in figures was much 
 admired. She died in 1776. There were also Thomas 
 Glover, Christopher Taylor, Simcock, Hutchins, Denby, 
 Browne, Cooper, Bakeweil, George Barrett, L. F. Roubi- 
 liac, Le Brun, Aaron Steel and Ralph Unwin. 
 
 To Steel was assigned the work of painting the drapery, 
 
 48 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 etc., on the choicest encaustic vases, and from 1784, when 
 he first signed an agreement with Wedgwood, till almost 
 a quarter of a century later, he still worked for the firm. 
 The decorating shops were in London and Chelsea, and al- 
 though the first vases were made as early as 1768, the best 
 period was embraced between the years 1 777-1 795. 
 
 The expense of producing these vases was great, but after 
 a time the design was printed on, and filled in by hand. There 
 was great demand for these vases, and from persons able to 
 pay the highest price, so eventually there were three styles, 
 those entirely hand painted, running from fifteen guineas 
 up; those partly printed then filled in by hand, and those 
 entirely printed. These latter were small, and not by any 
 means high class, but there was, nevertheless, a demand for 
 them wherever the more costly ones went. The subjects 
 employed on these vases were taken from antique bas-re- 
 liefs, paintings and gems. They were sold singly, in pairs, 
 sets of three and five for mantel shelves, and sometimes 
 even in sets of seven. There were also encaustic tablets 
 for chimney pieces and wall decoration, with the same 
 subjects as the vases. They do not seem to have been made 
 in very large quantities, however. 
 
 At the Russian court, in Italy, the home of art, and in 
 Holland too, these splendid examples of encaustic paintings 
 found homes. They could not be too long or too costly; 
 even one vase seven feet high, which was a show-room or- 
 nament in Greek Street, found a purchaser in a German 
 prince. 
 
 Nor can the American colonies be left out. They were 
 appreciative buyers of Wedgwood's choicest wares. One of 
 these encaustic vases which was bought at the sale of Mr, 
 Aspinwall's collection in New York, has weathered many 
 a housemaid's duster, and is now passing a revered old age, 
 
 49 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 in a sheltered cabinet. At one time it was thought to be 
 broken, but on examination it was found that the iron screw 
 which held the foot to the body of the vase, had rusted 
 out, a sure sign of its age. Indeed these iron screws are 
 one of the indications of the " Old Wedgwood " period, 
 though sometimes, as in this case, they have had to be re- 
 placed. 
 
 While basaltes was the body used for the encaustic 
 vases, it was occasionally chemically treated so that it took 
 on a brownish or bluish cast. 
 
 As in the basaltes vases themselves, when in the encaustic 
 vases the ground was left black, it might be shining or a 
 dead black. 
 
 50 
 
BUSTS IN BASALTES 
 
 
 25 
 
 inches high 
 
 M. AuRELius Antoninus 
 
 Marcus Brutus 
 
 Lord Chatham 
 
 
 
 Pindar 
 
 'Zeno 
 
 
 
 Homer 
 
 Plato 
 
 
 
 Cornelius de Witt 
 
 Epicurus 
 
 
 
 John de Witt 
 
 Junius Brutus 
 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 inches high 
 
 Antinous 
 
 
 
 Palladio 
 
 Augustus 
 
 
 
 Demosthenes 
 
 Antoninus Pius 
 
 
 
 Minerva 
 
 Inigo Jones 
 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 inches high 
 
 Cato 
 
 
 
 Dr. Swift 
 
 Faustina 
 
 
 
 Horace 
 
 Rousseau 
 
 
 
 Grotius 
 
 Cicero 
 
 
 
 Seneca 
 
 Socrates 
 
 
 
 
 
 18 
 
 inches high 
 
 Lord Bacon 
 
 
 
 Newton 
 
 Johnson 
 
 
 
 Venus de Medici 
 
 Raleigh 
 
 
 
 Boyle 
 
 51 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 l6| INCHES HIGH 
 
 Young Germanicus Agrippina 
 
 Young Marcus Aurelius Dr. Fothergill 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 INCHES HIGH 
 
 Homer 
 
 
 
 Pope 
 
 Democritus 
 
 
 
 Plato 
 
 Hippocrates 
 
 
 
 Sappho 
 
 Galen 
 
 
 
 Julia 
 
 Aristotle 
 
 
 
 Seneca 
 
 Cicero 
 
 
 
 Virgil 
 
 Vestal 
 
 
 
 Addison 
 
 ZiNGARA 
 
 
 
 Dryden 
 
 Chaucer 
 
 
 
 Horace 
 
 Beaumont 
 
 
 
 JONSON 
 
 Fletcher 
 
 
 
 Spenser 
 
 Shakespeare 
 
 
 
 Madonna 
 
 Milton 
 
 
 
 Locke 
 
 Congreve 
 
 
 
 Newton 
 
 Prior 
 
 
 
 BOERHAAVE 
 
 Swift 
 
 
 
 Michael de Ruyter 
 
 
 ID TO 
 
 [i| inches high 
 
 Cicero 
 
 
 
 George I. 
 
 Locke 
 
 
 
 Voltaire 
 
 Newton 
 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 AND 
 
 8 inches high 
 
 Socrates 
 
 
 
 Newton 
 
 Aristotle 
 
 
 
 Locke 
 
 Marcus Antony 
 
 
 Prior 
 
 Cleopatra (reclining) 
 
 Congreve 
 
 52 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 4 TO 4^ INCHES HIGH 
 
 Homer 
 Bacchus 
 Ariadne 
 Montesquieu 
 
 Rousseau 
 Pindar 
 Aristophanes 
 Voltaire 
 
 53 
 
JASPER WARE 
 
 1775-1795 
 
 THE jasper ware as perfected by Wedgwood is con- 
 sidered the most successful of his numerous prod- 
 ucts. The body is white and resembles terra- 
 cotta in appearance; its ingredients were barytes, 
 barium carbonate, clay and flint. The use of barytes (barium 
 sulphate) gave to the body a texture of great beauty, almost 
 as translucent as porcelain, and capable of being stained 
 with the metallic oxides. The principal colours produced 
 in the jasper were seven in number, the familiar dark blue, 
 a medium blue, two shades of green, lavender or lilac, a 
 fine black more translucent than basaltes, and a splendid 
 yellow. Chocolate brown and a cold shade of grey were 
 also developed, the brown often being used in the shape of 
 small ornaments on fields of another colour. 
 
 The perfected jasper was the result of years of careful 
 study, of endless experiments of which careful notes were 
 kept, and of a patience which was almost phenomenal. Mr. 
 Burton in his " English Earthenware and Stoneware" says: 
 " Among the white minerals with which he was experiment- 
 ing in 1773 were the native spars or earths containing 
 barium. From the lead mines of Derbyshire he obtained 
 both barium sulphate, known as ' heavy spar ' or ' cawk,' 
 and barium carbonate. At first he was much puzzled at 
 the different behaviour of these two minerals when they 
 were fired with mixtures of clay and flint; and as he does 
 not seem to have known the simple method of distinguish- 
 
 54 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 ing between them by the mere action of a drop of acid, it 
 took him considerable time and experiment to discover that 
 barium sulphate or barytes was the mineral which would 
 answer his purposes, while the carbonate could only be used 
 in exceedingly small quantities to increase the fusibility of 
 the mixtures. He appears to have tried these new ingredi- 
 ents with every variety of white-burning clay, such as the 
 plastic tertiary clays of Dorset and Devon, and the white 
 china clay of Cornwall, along with varying proportions of 
 flint and Cornish stone." 
 
 By the end of 1776 perfection was attained both in the 
 body and means for firing it, and Wedgwood endeavoured 
 to keep secret the composition of the new body. He writes 
 to Bentley: "You can hardly conceive the difficulty and 
 trouble I have had in mixing two tons of this composition, 
 and leaving everybody as wise as they were." 
 
 Miss Meteyard says: "At Etruria Hall, the places are 
 still to be seen in which Wedgwood stored the cawk and 
 other materials, and made his secret mixtures. They are a 
 range of cellars shut off from the rest by thick partition 
 walls and heavy doors. Wedgwood's means of access was 
 a trap-door, and a flight of narrow brick steps leading from 
 a room which was probably his study. The trap-door steps 
 ended in a wide passage, and from this opened a door to the 
 outer air, as also the cellar In which the mixtures were made, 
 the bins or troughs still remaining." 
 
 The colouring matter was originally applied to the entire 
 body, but this was found to be very costly, so by 1777 the 
 method of " jasper dip " or staining only the surface was 
 introduced, and at the time of Bentley's death in 1780 was 
 generally used. 
 
 The application of figures and ornaments to the coloured 
 grounds was the same which had long been In use in the 
 
 55 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Potteries, and was called " sprigging." The moulds were 
 formed in plaster-of-Paris, or were " pitcher moulds," 
 which were made of clay and then fired. Into these moulds 
 were pressed bits of white jasper which were crowded down 
 into every cranny by the potter's thumb. This gave the name 
 of " thumb moulds " to these articles. When the mould 
 was filled all the extra clay was scraped off and a short 
 time was allowed for drying. Then the ornament was 
 taken from the mould, and stuck in place on the object, a 
 little water having been washed over the jasper so that the 
 ornament would adhere to it. Not till the piece had left 
 the lapidary's hands were the vicissitudes to which it was 
 subjected, over, for the ornament might shrink away from 
 the field in firing, the colour might be ruined by gases, the 
 undercutting might not be done with precision, or it might 
 be over done, in which case the body showed through too 
 plainly. 
 
 The small cameos were fired once, but all the larger or 
 finer pieces, twice. Wedgwood himself says: "When the 
 workman has finished them they have a long and hazardous 
 fire to pass through, which with the polishing and finishing 
 afterwards, takes near a week, and in this burning they are 
 liable to various and unavoidable accident, in which case 
 we are obliged to make them over again and this doubles 
 the time." 
 
 Yet with all these things to guard against, thousands of 
 perfect pieces were produced each year, the trained workers 
 under Wedgwood's superintendence working with marvel- 
 lous exactitude. There seems to have been no article which 
 was susceptible of being made in clay, of too dainty or ele- 
 gant a character for Wedgwood to attempt in his jasper. 
 Exquisite sets mounted in gold like the set of ornaments in 
 Figure 17 were made in quantities, and many small and 
 
 56 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS miTATORS 
 
 perfect copies of antique gems were set as buckles, buttons 
 or pins, with a brilliant mounting of cut steel, which was 
 even more effective than gold. 
 
 The following list from IVIiss Meteyard's " Handbook " 
 shows to how many purposes the cameos were applied : 
 Rings, chatelaines, chains, scarf pins, hair pins, pins for hats, 
 watches, buckles of all descriptions, bracelets, brooches, 
 watch keys, lockets, coat buttons, opera glasses, smelling 
 bottles, snuff boxes. Etui cases, patch boxes, toilet and work 
 boxes, desks, hangers, swords, daggers, door handles, bell 
 pulls, cloak pins, window shutters, metal vases, metal urns, 
 metal boxes, lamps, coach panels, chests of drawers, chimney 
 pieces, cabinets, chairs, swivels and buffets. 
 
 Strings of jasper beads with decoration of stars were much 
 in demand, and were made in all the exquisite shades of 
 jasper. Smelling bottles of many shapes were popular, and 
 sold wholesale from 7s. 6d. to 13s. 6d. each. 
 
 A string of the star beads brought at the Wills sale 
 $57.50. The scent bottles have increased a hundred fold 
 in value, a small one, blue and white, with decorations by 
 Flaxman, bringing $18. 
 
 The small cameos with coloured grounds for rings or 
 bracelets, were sold in sets of not less than ten for five 
 shillings each. Like the intaglios, the cameos were made 
 in minute sizes, running from one-quarter of an inch to two 
 and a half inches. The average size was one, or one and a 
 half inches. 
 
 While the name of *' cameos " was not applied to these 
 objects till 1772, so many were made that by 1777 there 
 were 441 subjects, many of them made from moulds sup- 
 plied by Tassie, or taken from gems lent to Wedgwood, or 
 from moulds made by Flaxman. From 1779 to 1795 was 
 the best period of the cameos. After 1787 every difficulty 
 
 57 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 in regard to the making of the cameos had been surmounted, 
 and not only were the most minute and exquisite figures, 
 groups, heads and portraits successfully produced, but the 
 smallest and most beautiful borders, like some of those on 
 the cameos shown in Figure 17, applied. 
 
 There is great difficulty now in " naming" the various 
 cameos, which might have been averted as far as those which 
 are catalogued go, if the catalogue number had been put on 
 them. Some of them bear the name of the subject, many 
 were made after the last issue of the catalogue, and those 
 that were sold in sets are now in most cases separated. 
 Some examples are shown in Figure 18. 
 
 The subjects embraced in the cameos were, " Egyptian 
 Mythology," " Greek and Roman Mythology," " Sacri- 
 fices," " Ancient Philosophers, Poets and Orators," " Sov- 
 ereigns of Macedonia," " Fabulous Age of the Greeks," 
 " War of Troy," " Roman History," " Masks, Chimaeras, 
 etc.," " Illustrious Moderns," and " Miscellaneous." 
 
 The jasper vases, classic in shape, enriched with patterns 
 and designs of greatest perfection, are the aim of every col- 
 lector of " Old Wedgwood." In none of Wedgwood's 
 products is attention to detail so carefully observed, every 
 slightest part of the decoration being admirable, both in 
 design and workmanship. In writing to Sir William Ham- 
 ilton, long a friend and patron, Wedgwood says in 1786, 
 in reference to the vases, " every ornament and leaf being 
 first made in a separate mould, then laid upon the vase with 
 great care and accuracy, and afterwards wrought over again 
 upon the vase Itself by an artist equal to the work, for from 
 the beginning I determined to spare neither time nor ex- 
 pense in modelling and finishing my ornaments." 
 
 The vase shown in the Frontispiece was made by Wedg- 
 wood In 1786 for the British Museum, where it now Is. 
 
 58 
 
Fig. 21. Marriage of Cui-id and Psyche. 
 
 Fig. 22. Garden of thf, IIesperides. 
 
 Fig. J3. Choice of Hercules. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Wedgwood in writing to Sir William Hamilton about it, 
 calls it, " The finest and most perfect I have ever made." It 
 is eighteen inches high, with Flaxman's design of the 
 " Apotheosis of Homer " and with a figure of Pegasus on 
 the top of the cover. 
 
 When these vases were made the price was twenty 
 guineas. Not one of such quality was offered at the Wilh 
 sale, and they seldom come into the market, being snapped 
 up immediately at private sale. In 1877 ^t the sale of the 
 collection of Doctor Sibson in England, one of these Hom- 
 eric vases in black and white jasper brought 700 guineas. 
 Only three of them in black and white are known, and as 
 it happens all three are owned in Scotland, one collector. 
 Lord Tweedmouth, having two of them. 
 
 Figure 19 shows a vase, Grecian in shape and in black 
 and white jasper, which is a great favourite with collectors. 
 The beautiful wreath about the neck, and the husk pattern 
 which adorns the body are made with exquisite exactness. 
 This black and white jasper is alwaj's elegant no matter 
 what object is made in it, and what a wealth of ornamen- 
 tation was lavished on some of the tea-services is shown in 
 Figure 20, where the festoons and masks are so closely set 
 as to leave exposed only small portions of the field. 
 
 It is difficult to speak with sufficient restraint of such 
 works of beauty as the three following tablets. Figures 21, 
 22, 23. The first one, " The Marriage of Cupid and 
 Psyche," was taken from an antique gem belonging to the 
 Duke of Marlborough, and the first model was made by 
 Tassie. In 1787 it was re-modelled by Lochee, who was at 
 Blenheim for that purpose. This lovely group was made in 
 sizes from one small enough for a lady's ring, to one large 
 enough to set in a chimney-piece, or in furniture. The 
 large ones were ii| by 16 inches, and they were made in 
 
 59 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 biscuit and uncolourcd jasper, but are most lovely in jasper 
 with a coloured ground. 
 
 Early tablets were pressed complete from plaster-of-Paris 
 moulds, carefully re-touched with modelling tools. Some- 
 times these had a frame of the material which was stamped 
 from the same mould with the tablet, but as these frames 
 gave a clumsy look to the tablets, Wedgwood discontinued 
 making them. It was only after repeated experiments that 
 Wedgwood approached perfection in making the large tab- 
 lets. The early ones were small, 6 by 9, generally, but by 
 1773 some 20 by 14^ inches had been satisfactorily made. 
 By 1779 panels 30 inches long had been produced, and 
 finally some were made 36 by 24. These tablets were fired 
 twice, one whole w^ek being taken for each firing, and in 
 drying and firing the shrinkage was about one-eighth of an 
 inch. 
 
 The sizes set down In the catalogue are not always exact 
 with the specimens, sometimes varying almost half an inch; 
 in the busts and figures the variation is greater. These 
 large pieces, particularly the panels, were never cheap; they 
 took too much time and labour to allow that, and in 1 779 
 " The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche," with a dark blue 
 ground, 10 inches long, was sold wholesale, for £5 5s. In 
 1787 tablets the same size as the one in Figure 21 were 
 invoiced at £12 12s. each. At the Wills sale, a fire-cracked 
 copy, 10 by 7, in blue and white, sold for $50. In 1884 at 
 Christie's a large-sized perfect tablet of " The Marriage " 
 brought £415. At these same rooms on March 13, 1903, 
 were sold a pair of oblong panels, decoration not specified, 
 size 5 by I2!i, for £102 lOs. At the same time and place 
 a collection of small medallions brought £35 14s., and a 
 poor copy of the Barberini vase sold for £126. 
 
 " Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides," Figure 22, 
 
 60 
 
Fig. 25. Barberini Vase. Fig. 26. Rosso-antico. 
 
 Fig. 24. Apotheosis op N^irgil. 
 
 Fu-.. 27. Cane-coloured Ware. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 was modelled by Flaxman in 1787, from an Etruscan vase 
 now in the British Museum, but formerly in the possession 
 of Sir William Hamilton. The panel is 5^ by 17, and the 
 exquisite beauty of the figures needs no words to extol them. 
 They were first used as a tablet, but subsequently adapted 
 to vases. In Flaxman's bill to Wedgwood for the year 
 1787, the bas-relief for these figures is mentioned particu- 
 larly, and Flaxman's charge for it was £23. 
 
 " The Judgment of Hercules " in the lower panel was 
 made in many sizes, and as it says in the catalogue, " was 
 modelled agreeably to Lord Shaftesbur>''s idea of represent- 
 ing this subject." It appears in all editions of the catalogue, 
 so was modelled before 1773. This "Judgment of Her- 
 cules," in size 6 by 18 inches, occasionally appears upon a 
 pink ground. Mr. Arthur Sanderson of Edinburgh, Scot- 
 land, has one showing the three central figures only. Panels 
 with this colouring are extremely rare, and in all England 
 but one medallion made in it could be found to exhibit at 
 a loan exhibition of " Old Wedgwood " held at Liverpool 
 a short time since. 
 
 The circular panel, " Apotheosis of Virgil," Figure 24, 
 modelled by Flaxman, appears only in the last edition of the 
 catalogue, 1787, although it was made originally for a 
 mantel-piece at Longton Hall, and was referred to as early 
 as 1777. 
 
 The Barberini vase is commonly spoken of as the most 
 famous of all of Wedgwood's productions, see Figure 25. 
 The celebrated original, exhumed in 1623 when Maffeo 
 Barberini, as Urban VIII sat in the Papal chair, is called 
 after him. In 1784 Sir William Hamilton brought it to 
 England and sold it to the Duchess of Portland. Shortly 
 after, in 1785, on the death of the Duchess it was sold among 
 her effects, and bought in by her son, who found a spirited 
 
 61 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 competitor in Wedgwood. The Duke lent the vase to 
 Wedgwood (he paid £1029 for it), and the latter with his 
 most able assistants was four years in making the moulds 
 and perfecting the colour. 
 
 The difficulty of reproducing in jasper a vase which was 
 formed of glass seemed at first almost insuperable. But 
 constant experiments at last brought success, and the won- 
 derful blue-black of the body, which was due to the careful 
 work of Josiah Wedgwood the younger, was a fit back- 
 ground for the fine bas-reliefs which went on it, and which 
 were modelled by Henry Webber, William Wood and 
 William Hackwood. The original had been buried so long, 
 the sarcophagus in which it was found was dedicated to the 
 ashes of the Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother, 
 who perished during a revolt in Gaul, A. D. 235, that some 
 of the reliefs were damaged by time. These were restored 
 in the moulds, but otherwise, as to size, 10 inches high by 
 7 inches in the largest part, colour, polish, etc., the vase was 
 copied exactly. 
 
 It is stated that fifty copies were made by Wedgwood 
 himself, but it seems to be a fact that only about twenty 
 were made in his time, and not more than fifty during the 
 period between 1 789-1810. The highest price which has 
 been paid so far for one of these proof copies was given 
 for the vase which belonged to Mr. J. L. Propert and which 
 was sold at auction in 1902 at Christie's. Mrs. Spranger 
 paid £399 for it, and besides being of the greatest perfec- 
 tion, the ground is more slate-coloured than blue, and has 
 quite a gloss. 
 
 Copies of this vase are made to-day by the Wedgwood 
 firm, and many potters in many countries have pirated it. 
 An inferior copy was disposed of among the Wills collec- 
 tion, and even with its defects, brought $550. 
 
 62 
 
BAS-RELIEFS AND TABLETS 
 
 A PARTIAL list of the subjects used In medallions 
 and bas-reliefs follows, with, when possible, the 
 name of the artist or the source from whence it 
 was derived. These scenes are also found on the 
 vases, and in many cases the figures are differently grouped, 
 or as in the case of small medallions used separately. While 
 those subjects taken from the antique never came up to the 
 beauty and finish of the original, those modelled by Flaxman 
 are extremely beautiful, and many have the merit of origi- 
 nality. The charming series from Mrs. Landre, the " Do- 
 mestic Employments," by Miss Crewe, and the children and 
 cupidons by Lady Templetown (so spelled in the British 
 Museum Catalogue), are all delightful. 
 
 Birth of Bacchus. 
 
 War of Jupiter and the Titans. 
 
 Destruction of Niobe's Children. 
 
 Marriage supper of Perseus and Andromeda. 
 
 Jupiter and Ganymedes. 
 
 Apollo and Marsyas. Mrs. Landre. 
 
 Apollo and Daphne. " " 
 
 Apollo and Python. 
 
 Judgment of Midas. 
 
 Bacchanalian boys at play. 
 
 Silenus and boys. 
 
 Bacchus and panther. 
 
 Hercules and Omphale. 
 
 63 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Cupid shapino; his bow, from painting by Correggio. 
 
 Sacrifice to ^sculapius. 
 
 The Graces, by Burch. 
 
 The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche, modelled by Tas- 
 
 sle and later by Lochee. 
 The Judgment of Paris. 
 Cassandra. Bacon. 
 
 Diomedes carrying away the palladium. Bacon. 
 Farnesian Hercules. 
 
 Althea, mother of Meleager, burning the firebrand. 
 Somus, or Cupid reposing, T. Parker, 1769. 
 Judgment of Hercules, after Lord Shaftesbury's idea. 
 Death of a Roman warrior. 
 Hercules and Theseus supporting the world. 
 Night. 
 
 Day. These were made in 20-inch and in 7-Inch sizes. 
 Meleager and Atalanta killing the Calydonian boar. 
 The Arts. 
 Fire; Air; Earth and Water, from casts by Grant and 
 
 Hoskins. 
 Head of Medusa, from a marble, by Flaxman, 1776. 
 Jupiter, Flaxman, 1775. 
 Juno; Apollo; A Muse, Flaxman, 1775. 
 Contemplative Muse, Flaxman, 1775. 
 Hercules strangling the lion, Flaxman, 1775. 
 Hercules binding Cerberus, Flaxman, 1775. 
 Meleager; Justice; Minerva; Hope; Melpomene; 
 
 Comedy, all by Flaxman, 1775. 
 Dancing Nymph ; Head of Bacchus ; Head of Ariadne, 
 
 Flaxman, 1775. 
 Spring; Summer; Autumn; Winter, all by Flaxman, 
 
 heads, 1775. 
 Isis; Ariadne; Bacchus and Pan, heads, Flaxman, 1776. 
 64 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Syrinx, a head. This and " Pan " come in white jasper 
 and are specially referred to by Wedgwood. Mod- 
 elled by Flaxman, 1776. 
 
 Perseus and Andromeda, Flaxman. 
 
 ^sculapius; Hygiea; Artemisia; A vestal, Flaxman. 
 
 Fauns sacrificing, Flaxman. 
 
 Cupid on a lion; Indian Bacchus; Roman Matron; 
 Sophonisba, Flaxman, 1776. 
 
 Hercules; A piping Faun, Flaxman, 1776. 
 
 Abundantia, Flaxman. 
 
 Medea rejuvenating Jason's father, Flaxman. 
 
 Bacchanalian Triumph, Flaxman. 
 
 Male figure with greyhound, Flaxman. 
 
 Hebe and eagle, Flaxman. 
 
 Juno; Euterpe; Fame, Flaxman. 
 
 Head of Flora, Flaxman. 
 
 Sleeping Venus, Flaxman. 
 
 Diomedes carrying ofiE the palladium, Flaxman. 
 
 Triumph of Ariadne, Flaxman. 
 
 Winged Cupid with swan, Flaxman. 
 
 Ditto, flying away with the swan, Flaxman. 
 
 Judgment of Paris, Flaxman. 
 
 Triumph of Silenus, Flaxman. 
 
 Sacrifice to Hymen, Flaxman. 
 
 Apotheosis of Homer, Flaxman. 
 
 The Nine Muses, Flaxman. 
 
 The Muses with Apollo, Flaxman. 
 
 The Dancing Hours, Flaxman, 1776. 
 
 The Nine Muses and Apollo in separate pieces, Flax- 
 man. 
 
 Tragedy, Comedy and Apollo, Flaxman. 
 
 The Four Seasons in separate pieces, Flaxman. 
 
 Blindman's Buf^, Flaxman, 1782. 
 65 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Commercial Treaty with France, Flaxman, 1787, 
 
 Coriolanus with his wife and mother persuading him 
 to return to Rome, Flaxman. 
 
 Apotheosis of Virgil, Flaxman. 
 
 Diana visiting Endymion, from the Capitol at Rome, 
 Flaxman. 
 
 Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides, modelled 
 from a vase, Flaxman. 
 
 An offering to Ceres, Flaxman. 
 
 Agamemnon, Achilles and Briesis, Flaxman. 
 
 Birth of Bacchus, Hackwood. 
 
 Indian Bacchus, Hackwood, 1776. 
 
 Triumph of Bacchus, Hackwood, 
 
 Teletes and Socrates, a masque, Hackwood. 
 
 Bacchanalian Figure from an antique vase, Mrs. 
 Landre. There were five of these figures all mod- 
 elled in the same year, 1769. 
 
 A Philosopher reading on the immortality of the soul, 
 Landre. 
 
 Dead Jesus with Virgin and boys, Landre. 
 
 Cupid inflaming the mind, and Cupid and Hymen, 
 were from casts by Grant and Hoskins, 1774. 
 
 Andromache, Bacon, 1777. 
 
 An offering to Flora, Bacon, 1778. 
 
 An offering to Peace, Lady Templetown, 1777. 
 
 Domestic Employment, Lady Templetown. 
 
 Family School, Lady Templetown. 
 
 Study, and its companion. Lady Templetown. 
 
 Maria, and the Bourbonnais shepherd. Lady Temple- 
 town. 
 
 Genii, by Lady Templetown. 
 
 Companion to the latter. Lady Templetown. 
 
 Sportive Love, Lady Templetown. 
 66 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Charlotte at the Tomb of Werther, Lady Temple- 
 town. 
 
 Contemplation, and its companion, Lady Templetown. 
 
 A Triumph of Mars, Webber. 
 
 A boy leaning on his quiver, with doves, Webber. 
 
 Hebe; its companion, Webber. 
 
 Peace, Labour and Plenty, Webber. 
 
 Masque of Alexander, Webber. 
 
 Triumph of Mars, Webber. 
 
 Nymphs decorating the statue of Priapus, Webber. 
 
 Sacrifice to Hymen, Webber. 
 
 Sacrifice to Concordia, Webber. 
 
 The Graces erecting the statue of Cupid, Webber. 
 
 Domestic Employment, by Miss Crewe. 
 
 The Sewing Lesson, Miss Crewe. 
 
 Venus in her car, from design by Le Brun. 
 
 Group of boys, by Lady Beauclerk. 
 
 Infant Academy, from painting by Reynolds. 
 
 Proserpine, by Davaere. 
 
 Discovery of Achilles, Davaere. 
 
 Orestes and Pylades prisoners on the shore of Scythica, 
 Davaere. 
 
 Achilles and the daughters of Lycomedes, Davaere. 
 
 The Muses with reclining figures, Pacetti. 
 
 Priam kneeling to Achilles and asking for the body of 
 Hector, Pacetti. 
 
 The fable of Prometheus, Pacetti. 
 
 The triform goddess Luna, Diana, and Hecate, Pacetti. 
 
 The simulacrum of Hygiea, Pacetti. 
 
 A Faun with three Bacchantes, Pacetti. 
 
 Endymion sleeping on the rock Latmos. 
 
 JMarcus Aurelius making his son Commodus, Caesar, 
 Pacetti. 
 
 67 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Apotheosis of Faustina, Pacetti. 
 
 The Nine Muses, Pacetti. 
 
 Thetis in childbed with Achilles, Pacetti. 
 
 The Triumph of Achilles over Hector, Pacetti. 
 
 Apollo and the muse Erato, Angelini, 
 
 Pluto carrying off Proserpine, Angelini. 
 
 The fable of Meleager, Angelini. 
 
 Apotheosis of a young prince, Angelini. 
 
 Two Fauns, Angelini. 
 
 Two Bacchantes, Angelini. 
 
 Silenus, Angelini. 
 
 Pleasures of the Elysian Fields, Angelini. 
 
 The Nereides, Dalmazzoni. 
 
 Roman procession, Dalmazzoni. 
 
 The Vitruvian Scroll, Westmacott, 1785. 
 
 Birth of Bacchus, from seal of Michael Angelo. 
 
 Hero and Leander. 
 
 The frightened horse, from painting by Stubbs. 
 
 The fall of Phaethon, Stubbs. 
 
 Cupid sharpening arrows and stringing bow, two me- 
 dallions from painting by Correggio. See cover and 
 title page. 
 
 Thetib presenting Achilles to the Centaur, Pacetti, 
 1790. 
 
 Sacrifice of Iphigenia, Pacetti, 1790. 
 
 Achilles and Chiron. 
 
 The Muses watering Pegasus in Helicon, Flaxman. 
 
 Battle of the Giants, medallions for mantels. 
 
 Dancing Nymphs, from Herculaneum paintings, six of 
 these. 
 
 Centaur teaching Achilles Music. 
 
 Feast of the gods. 
 
 Death of NIobe's children. 
 68 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Papirius and his Mother. 
 
 Marriage supper of Perseus. 
 
 Marsyas and the young Olympus. 
 
 Night shedding poppies. 
 
 Neptune drawn by sea horses. 
 
 Sacrificial Altar with Bacchic Symbols. 
 
 Bacchus with Urn and grapes, Hackwood, 1780. 
 
 The Elder Sister, Lady Templetown, 1780. 
 
 Cupid with wreath, Flaxman, 1787. 
 
 War of Jupiter and the Titans. 1773. 
 
 Cupid's Triumph, Lady Templetown. 
 
 Cupid frightening his companions with a mask, Lady 
 
 Templetown. 
 Cupid playing with Helmet, Bird and Hourglass, Lady 
 
 Templetown. 
 Infantile Games. These last four subjects were a series 
 
 much used by Wedgwood, and often pirated. 
 Nymph with flowers, Lady Templetown, 1778. 
 Hope with anchor, Flaxman, 1777. 
 Marsyas teaching his disciple Olympus. 
 Diomedes gazing at the Palladium, Bacon, 1777. 
 Cupid in the balance, Flaxman. 
 Hymettus watering Pegasus, Pacetti. 
 Achilles dragging Hector's body round walls of Troy, 
 
 Pacetti. 
 Signs of the Zodiac, Hackwood. 
 Bacchanalian Triumph, with Bacchus, Ariadne, Si- 
 
 lenus and attendants, Flaxman. 
 
 In the last edition of the catalogue 275 subjects were 
 given as being used on tablets and medallions, many sub- 
 jects were not catalogued, and Flaxman made many groups 
 of children which were not named. 
 
 69 
 
iWEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 It is practically impossible now to identify many of the 
 intaglios and cameos. Mr. C. T. Gatty, to whom was in- 
 trusted the task of getting up a catalogue for a " Loan Col- 
 lection of Wedgwood for the Liverpool Art Club," found 
 great difficulty in ascertaining what the various cameos and 
 intaglios were. Besides the catalogues he had the assistance 
 of the old moulds at Etruria, and on 600 of these the names 
 were scratched. It must be remembered that the list of 
 subjects covered many hundreds of subjects. 
 
 Under the head of " Illustrious Moderns " are grouped 
 the most interesting of Wedgwood's portrait productions. 
 They come in various sizes and in basaltes and blue and 
 white jasper. Many of them are of an exceedingly high 
 order of workmanship. Occasionally some of the early me- 
 dallions of " Illustrious Moderns " will be found in 
 creamy, or in a dead white terra-cotta, but these were made 
 before the perfection of the jasper body. Some of these 
 portraits cannot now be recognised, and there are some 
 which are not recorded in the catalogues. 
 
 Lists of them are given, however, to aid in identification. 
 
 The portrait busts in basaltes are usually marked with the 
 name of the subject on the back of the bust. As there were 
 many made by others than Wedgwood, lists of his are given, 
 together with the sizes in which they are found. These 
 often vary some fractions of an inch. 
 
 70 
 
LIST OF "ILLUSTRIOUS MODERNS" 
 
 In black basaltes and blue and white jasper. 
 PRINCES 
 
 Amurat I. 
 
 Antonius, Kjng of Na- 
 varre. 
 Henry IV. of France. 
 Louis XIV. 
 Louis XV. 
 Louis XVI. 
 Queen of France. 
 Louis Bourbon, Prince 
 
 OF CoNDEo 
 
 King of Spain. 
 
 Pius VI. 
 
 Prince Lambertini. 
 
 Christiana, Queen of 
 Sweden. 
 
 Charles XII. of Sweden. 
 
 GusTAvus, King of Swe- 
 den. 
 
 Peter the Great of Rus- 
 sia. 
 
 Peter Alexis, son of 
 Peter the Great, 
 
 Empress of Russia. 
 
 Prince of Russia. 
 
 r- 
 
 Duke of Courland. 
 
 Joseph II. of Germany, 
 two models. 
 
 John Sobieski, King of 
 Poland. 
 
 Augustus II., King of 
 
 Poland, 
 
 Frederick the Great of 
 Prussia. 
 
 Frederick William III. 
 OF Prussia, 
 
 Prince of Lignes. 
 
 Prince of Brunswick. 
 
 William I. of the Neth- 
 erlands. 
 
 Queen of the Nether- 
 lands. 
 
 WiLHELM, first PrINCE 
 
 of Orange. 
 
 Louise de Coligny, Prin- 
 cess OF Orange. 
 
 Wilhelm - Frederick, 
 hereditary Prince of 
 
 Orange. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Queen Elizbeth. 
 
 Princess Fred. Wilhel- 
 MiNA Louisa of Or- 
 ange. 
 
 Henry IV. 
 
 Charles I. 
 
 Oliver Cromwell. 
 
 Charles II. 
 
 William III. 
 
 George I. 
 
 George II. 
 
 Prince of Wales. 
 
 STATESMEN AND 
 
 Duke de Sully. 
 Colbert. 
 
 Cardinal Fleury. 
 Cardinal Mazarin. 
 Cardinal Noailles. 
 Duke de Bouillon. 
 M. de Sartine. 
 Montesquieu. 
 Marshal Turenne. 
 Marshal Saxe. 
 Temminck, Lord Burgo- 
 master. 
 Cornelius de Witt. 
 John de Witt. 
 Michael Ruyter. 
 Barneveldt. 
 Peter Hein. 
 Rombout Hogerboots. 
 
 Princess Dowager of 
 Wales. 
 
 George III. 
 
 Queen Charlotte. 
 
 Prince of Wales, after- 
 wards George IV. 
 
 Duke of York. 
 
 Prince William Henry. 
 
 Prince Ernest Augustus. 
 
 Prince Augustus Fred- 
 erick. 
 
 Prince Adolphus Fred- 
 erick. 
 
 COMMANDERS 
 
 Egbert Kortenaar. 
 
 Baron Reden. 
 
 Duke of Bedford, Re- 
 gent OF France. 
 
 Algernon Sydney. 
 
 Sir Robert Walpole. 
 
 John, Duke of Marl- 
 borough. 
 
 Lord Keppel. 
 
 Lord Hood. 
 
 Lord Howe. 
 
 Lord Nelson. 
 
 Lord Duncan. 
 
 Earl St. Vincent. 
 
 Lord Amherst. 
 
 General Elliot. 
 
 General Monkton. 
 
 General Washington. 
 
 72 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Governor Franklin. 
 Duke of Northumber- 
 land. 
 Duke of Montague. 
 Marquis of Stafford. 
 Marquis of Rockingham. 
 Earl of Shannon. 
 Earl Cowper. 
 Earl of Chatham. 
 Earl of Chesterfield. 
 Earl of Sandwich. 
 Lord Hillsborough. 
 
 Lord Mansfield. 
 Lord North, 
 Lord Hawkesbury. 
 Bishop of St. Asaph. 
 Sir John Phillips. 
 Sir William Dolben. 
 Right Hon. William 
 
 Pitt. 
 Hon. Warren Hastings. 
 Mr. Montague. 
 Endymion Porter. 
 Andrew Fountaine. 
 
 PHILOSOPHERS AND NATURALISTS 
 
 Francis Verulam, Lord 
 
 Bacon. 
 Galileo. 
 Gassendi. 
 Descartes. 
 Sir Isaac Newton. 
 Dr. Franklin (The first 
 
 head of Franklin was 
 
 modelled in 1777.) 
 Bergman. 
 Dr. Priestley. 
 Sir William Hamilton. 
 De la Condamine. 
 De Moivre. 
 D'Alembert. 
 Diderot, 
 burlamaqui. 
 
 73 
 
 fontenelle. 
 Locke. 
 Magliabecci. 
 Ray. 
 
 Kaempfer. 
 Linnaeus. 
 Sir Hans Sloane, 
 Sir Joseph Banks. 
 Dr. Solander. 
 Dr. Foster. 
 Captain Cook. 
 Mr. Pennant. 
 Mr. Edwards. 
 Mr. Blake, late of Can- 
 ton, China. 
 Mr. More. 
 Sir Ashton Lever. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 PHYSICIANS 
 
 boerhaave. 
 Haller, 
 Van Swieten. 
 Dr. Friend. 
 Dr. Mead. 
 
 Dr. Woodward. 
 Dr. Pemberton. 
 Dr. Fothergill, 
 Dr. James Fordyce. 
 Dr. Buchan. 
 
 ENGLISH POETS 
 
 Geoffrey Chaucer. 
 John Gower, 
 Sir Philip Sidney. 
 Spenser. 
 Beaumont. 
 
 Shakespeare, several mod- 
 els. 
 Fletcher. 
 Jonson. 
 Cowley. 
 Milton. 
 Butler. 
 Rochester. 
 
 Oldham. 
 
 Otway. 
 
 Waller. 
 
 Earl of Surrey. 
 
 Dryden. 
 
 Addison. 
 
 congreve, 
 
 Prior. 
 
 Lansdowne. 
 
 Pope. 
 
 Swift. 
 
 Garrick, several models. 
 
 Milton, two models. 
 
 MOLIERE. 
 
 BOILEAU. 
 
 Crebillon. 
 Fontaine. 
 
 FRENCH POETS 
 
 corneille. 
 
 Racine. 
 
 Voltaire. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci. 
 Michael Angelo. 
 
 PAINTERS 
 
 Titian. 
 
 Rafaelle d' Urbino. 
 
 74 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 GiULio Romano, 
 correggio. 
 Annibale Carracci. 
 Le Sueur. 
 Francesco Albano. 
 
 Carlo Marratti. 
 Sir Joshua Reynolds. 
 Mr. West. 
 Mr. Byres. 
 
 ARCHITECTS 
 
 Sir Christopher Wren. 
 Inigo Jones. 
 
 Sir William Chambers. 
 Mr. Wyatt. 
 
 ANTIQUARIES 
 
 Marquis Maffei, 
 Dr. Stukeley. 
 
 Mr. Stuart. 
 
 DIVINES AND MORAL WRITERS 
 
 Melancthon. 
 
 Erasmus. 
 
 Grotius. 
 
 Conyers Middleton. 
 
 Rousseau. 
 
 Montaigne. 
 
 St. Evremond. 
 
 Fenelon, archbishop of 
 
 Cambrai. 
 Gonzalez. 
 
 Dr. Johnson, two models. 
 Jonas Hanway, 
 
 LADIES 
 
 Marchioness Pompadour. 
 Marchioness du Chate- 
 
 let. 
 Marchioness de Savigny. 
 Countess Grignan. 
 Countess de la Sage. 
 Countess Barre. 
 Madame Dacier. 
 
 Madame Clairon. 
 Madame de Scuderi. 
 Madame d'Estrees. 
 Madame des HouliIres. 
 Madame de Montespan. 
 Madame du Bocage. 
 Agnes Sorel. 
 Ninon l'Enclos. 
 
 75 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Laura. 
 
 Duchess of Devonshire. 
 
 Lady Banks. 
 
 Lady Charlotte Finch. 
 
 Mrs. Montague. 
 
 Mrs. Barbauld. 
 
 Mrs. Kennicott. 
 
 Mrs. Siddons. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING SUBJECTS WERE ADDED 
 
 LATER 
 
 Leopold, Emperor of 
 Germany. 
 
 George, Prince of Den- 
 mark. 
 
 William, Duke of Glou- 
 cester. 
 
 Charles XI. of Sweden. 
 
 Charles Emanuel, Duke 
 of Savoy. 
 
 William Maxmilian, 
 
 Duke of Brunswick, 
 
 Lady Orford. 
 
 Mrs. Hay. 
 
 Count Gyllingburg. 
 
 William, Duke of Cum- 
 berland. 
 
 The Queen of Denmark. 
 
 Martin Luther. 
 
 Averanius Benedict. 
 
 Martin Ffoulkes. 
 
 Vander Mulan. 
 
 William Bridgeman. 
 
 Dr. Baker. 
 
 Sir John Barnard. 
 
 Gay. 
 
 Addison, described as Bick- 
 erstaff. 
 
 Thomson, 
 
 Louis Francis Le Fevre. 
 
 Louis de Boucherat. 
 
 Christia Francia, Du- 
 chess OF SUABIA, AND 
 
 Queen of Cyprus. 
 
 Cardinal Rochefou- 
 cauld. 
 
 Tellier, Chancellor of 
 France. 
 
 Archbishop Laud. 
 
 Biragus Rene. 
 
 Lord Molesworth. 
 
 John Gordon. 
 
 Louis Gervaise. 
 
 William de Lamoignon. 
 
 Lord Camden. 
 
 Nicholas Keder. 
 
 James Stuart. 
 
 Marmontel. 
 
 Coysevox. 
 
 Charles Renald Berch, 
 
 Pascal. 
 
 76 
 
ROSSO-ANTICO 
 
 1776 
 
 THE ordinary red ware of the Potteries, like the 
 basaltes or black ware, had been made from the 
 time pot-works had first been established there. 
 It was a common, coarse material, not susceptible 
 of being made into fine articles until the coming of the Elers 
 Brothers about the beginning of the XVIII century, and they 
 transformed it into a thing of beauty. 
 
 The Rosso-antico made by Wedgwood was made from the 
 same clay that had been used by the Elers, and he glazed 
 the insides of his vessels. It never was one of his great 
 successes, and his first treatment of it was to ornament it 
 with black figures. After much experimenting he reversed 
 this order, putting the red figures on a black ground. He 
 produced many small and beautiful objects like the lamp 
 shown in Figure 26. 
 
 Nothing was too small or simple for Wedgwood to slur 
 in its treatment, and on the piece shown is put one of Flax- 
 man's masterpieces, " The Muses Watering Pegasus in 
 Helicon." The " Signs of the Zodiac " form the border on 
 the rim, the beauty and clearness of the figures standing out 
 well even in the photograph. 
 
 It was not until 1790 that the red figures were success- 
 fully applied to black, and then there was so great a demand 
 for the jasper, basaltes and painted vases, that little attention 
 was given to the Rosso-antico. 
 
 77 
 
CANE-COLOURED WARE 
 
 1776-1779-1795 
 
 THE cane-coloured ware, like the bamboo, was one of 
 the later productions of Wedgwood's fertile genius. 
 When he first made the cane-coloured material it 
 was defective, but after repeated experiments he 
 succeeded in producing a body which was entirely satis- 
 factory. 
 
 Flower pots, stands, teapots and vases were made in this 
 material, sometimes decorated in enamel colours, in which 
 case the effect is more brilliant than beautiful. Then the 
 raised decoration was used, wreaths of grape leaves being 
 extremely popular; the colours applied were brown, green, 
 slate-grey and black. On some choice specimens white fig- 
 ures are used, the same patterns of flowers, figures, cupids, 
 etc., as figured on the jasper ware. 
 
 In the vase and basket given in Figure 27 the decoration 
 is black and most effective, particularly in the case of the 
 vase with its fluted top and base. 
 
 78 
 
LUSTRE 
 
 1776 
 
 PEARL WARE 
 
 1779 
 
 THE first lustre produced by Wedgwood was made 
 about 1776 from a receipt given him by his friend, 
 Dr. Fothergill. This was for the application of 
 copper or " gold bronze " to a dark body, and was 
 intended primarily only for frames. Wedgwood appre- 
 ciated the value of the " discovery " and set about applying 
 it to other objects. 
 
 Much care had been given by Wedgwood to the shapes 
 of candlesticks. Figures, both male and female, had been 
 modelled for this purpose, mythology being heavily drawn 
 upon, so that there were sea-nymphs, naiads, bacchantes, 
 chimaerae and tritons. Many hands had worked on these 
 models, the tritons being the most successful. Boot had 
 worked on these first, but they had been Improved by 
 Bacon. Wedgwood chose these for lustre, and a pair of 
 them by Bacon are shown in Figure 28. They are made of 
 red clay and silvered, or rather treated with platinum to give 
 the silvered effects. So popular did this silvered ware be- 
 come that it was applied to tea sets, ewers for water and 
 cider, trays, candlesticks, etc. It was first used about 1792 
 and continued till 1810 or a little later, the greater part of 
 the silvered ware from these potteries being made after the 
 
 79 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 death of Josiah Wedgwood. This is particularly true of 
 those pieces treated with " resist " decorations, that is where 
 the pattern is removed by a stick and the body of the ware 
 shows through the lustre. 
 
 During the year 1779, Wedgwood in response to a de- 
 mand for tea-services of a whiter ware than the cream- 
 coloured body, made what he called " Pearl ware." Queen 
 Charlotte, always a good patron, took one of the first of these 
 services. The body was made with a larger proportion of 
 china clay and flint, the whiteness being intensified by the 
 addition of a trifle of cobalt. One use to which this pearl 
 ware was put was the making of shells, a natural form of 
 beauty towards which Wedgwood always had a great lean- 
 ing. These shells were used for dessert services and were 
 coloured exactly to life, and though fragile, were very beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 Later on Wedgwood applied lustre to them, " gold lustre " 
 it was called, and it was produced by painting with a coat 
 of purple of Cassius. Where the tint was thin the colour 
 was a purplish-pink, where it was thicker it had gold re- 
 flections. 
 
 Two pieces of this lustred ware are shown in Figure 29. 
 With the exception of Wedgwood, the gold lustre produced 
 by the Staffordshire potters was of poor quality, and even at 
 its best the lustre soon dims with wear. Occasionally some 
 of the beautiful " twigged baskets " made in cream-coloured 
 ware are found decorated with the lustre, but they are about 
 as rare as the pearl ware specimens, which either plain or 
 with decoration of any description are very difficult to find. 
 
 The marks on Wedgwood partake of the character of all 
 of the work. They consist of impressed letters of varying 
 sizes, generally extremely clear, and sharply cut. During 
 the period of Bentley's partnership, the names Wedgwood 
 
 80 
 

 Fig. 2g. Gold Lustre Ware. 
 
 Fig. 30. Mortar and Pestle. 
 
 Fig. 28. Lustre Candlesticks. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 and Bentley, sometimes accompanied with the word " Etru- 
 ria," are found on the ornamentals. The presence of the 
 figure 3 and the letter O denote a superior quality of work, 
 as does the presence of scrawled workmen's marks. After 
 Bentley's death the name Wedgwood was used, and has 
 been continuously ever since by the firm. 
 
 The rule can in most cases be safely followed, that marked 
 pieces are the only safe ones to buy, for the rule of the pot- 
 tery was, that no piece should be sent out un-marked. A 
 list of the marks is given, and they vary from 3^2 to an ^ 
 of an inch. 
 
 8i 
 
MORTARS AND PESTLES 
 
 1779 
 
 FOR a number of years, even prior to 1773, vessels 
 made by Wedgwood for use in laboratories had 
 been in demand. They were so true in shape, so 
 admirable in material that chemists sent for them 
 from all parts of the world. When the question arose of 
 making some body sufficiently hard for mortars, Wedgwood 
 found that the material used for his chemical vessels had not 
 sufficient resistance, and could not stand a sufficiently hard 
 firing. 
 
 He experimented with it, and writes, on May 30, 1779: 
 " To cure this body of the malady of blistering it should be 
 hid under ground for half a century. I am endeavouring 
 to make a new composition without such freaks as render 
 the other imperfect." 
 
 How well he succeeded his admirable mortars still at- 
 test. See Figure 30. When the material was brought to his 
 satisfaction, then he gave his attention to the shaping of 
 these articles, his theory being that they should be made on 
 a particular curve. Nothing but his own careful study pro- 
 duced the proper curve, and Wedgw^ood added to his list 
 of triumphs when his mortars stood the test and were taken 
 as the standard at Apothecaries' Hall. 
 
 I know a small mortar which has been in active use in 
 one family more than a century, its early use being to grind 
 salt free from lumps. It is still occasionally put to the same 
 use to-day, for the " sake of old times." 
 
 82 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 BuRSiEM, 1759. Eteuj RIM769. 
 
 Wf Ja*v<5oS <*^^mti^ 
 
 uavA 
 
 V 
 
 Wedgwood 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 Wedgwood 
 
 Wfedgwood 
 Wedgwnxxl 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 &BENTLEY 
 
 m^ 
 
 f 
 
 WOOi 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 
 ETRURIA 
 
 WEDGWOOD 
 ETRURIA 
 
 Wedgwood 
 
 Etruria 
 
 83 
 
WILLIAM ADAMS OF GREENGATES 
 ADAMS 
 
 1 745- 1 805 
 
 NEXT to that of Wedgwood, the most important 
 name among English potters of the last quarter 
 of the XVIIIth Century is that of Adams. 
 The Adams family was a large and prominent 
 one. They had long been potters, and had made many not- 
 able improvements in the manufacture of the wares already 
 known, even if they had made no absolutely new ones. By 
 far the most important member of this interesting family 
 was William Adams of Greengates, who was one of Wedg- 
 wood's closest friends, and worked for him as pupil and 
 associate. 
 
 The Brick House Works at Burslem, which were leased 
 by Wedgwood for a number of years before he moved to 
 Etruria, belonged to another William Adams, cousin of the 
 one of Greengates who became the pupil of Wedgwood, and 
 whose work we are studying. It was in these very works 
 that William Adams served at least a portion of his appren- 
 ticeship, the " one clever pupil " according to Wedgwood 
 himself. He eventually became a great helper and assistant 
 to Wedgwood, whose attachment to him no doubt kept 
 Adams longer an employe than was necessary. 
 
 He did not begin potting for himself till about 1787, at 
 Greengates in Tunstall, although he had a small pottery 
 at Burslem which he did not use. The one he built at Green- 
 gates did not prove large enough for his various activities, so 
 
 84 
 
Fig. 31. Wine Coolers. 
 
 Adams W'akk. 
 
 Fig. 33. Adams Jasper. Wedgwood Basaltes. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 he bought another one at Newfield, which was within easy 
 distance of the former. He made fine earthenware with 
 transfer printed patterns, high-class stoneware, and jasper, 
 the latter by a formula of his own, and decorated in many 
 cases by designs from his own pencil, since he was artist 
 as well as master potter. His jasper ware, like that of his 
 great master, was of two kinds, the first known as solid 
 jasper, in which the colour is incorporated and goes through 
 the whole body, and the second, surface jasper, in which 
 the plain white body receives a coating of colour. The solid 
 jasper in blue, the dark cobalt shade, and a slaty shade on 
 which the white figures show to uncommon advantage. 
 
 The more delicate and rarer shades, pale green, lilac, plum, 
 olive and pink as well as black, appear only in the surface 
 jasper. The demand for some of the chjoicer productions 
 of this variety of jasper made by Adams, render specimens 
 very valuable. Although undoubtedly an " imitator " and 
 copyist, his body, his colour, particularly that peculiar violet 
 shade known as " Adams blue," and many of his designs 
 were absolutely his own. His borders vi^re often very ex- 
 quisite, and one in particular showing entwined circles, was 
 in much favour and employed by him on choice specimens of 
 jasper both solid and surface. You can see it on the vases 
 in Figure 32 and the teapots in Figure 33. One peculiarity 
 of this border is, that the circles in white are invariably 
 included between two mouldings of the jasper of the same 
 colour as the ground. 
 
 The teapots shown here have an interesting history. They 
 are of the exquisite " Adams blue," have the interlacing 
 circle pattern and the well-known design, "Cupid disarmed," 
 from the pencil of Adams himself. One of the pots is dec- 
 orated in panels with the divisions marked by acanthus 
 leaves, and the other shows on the reverse side " Apollo 
 
 85 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 crowning Virtue " after Angelica Kauffman, which design 
 was published in 1782. 
 
 They are six and a half inches high, and were brought to 
 America in 1806 by a sea captain. They have never been 
 out of the hands of the family to whom they were originally 
 given. The basaltes tray in the same picture is marked 
 " Wedgwood," impressed, and was found in Leamington, 
 Eng. The small creamer is of cane-coloured ware and also 
 has the impressed mark of Wedgwood. All of these pieces 
 belong to the collection of Mrs. Joseph Farley of Rochester, 
 N. Y. 
 
 At the Wills sale of Old Wedgwood, a teapot exactly 
 like the first one of these, of Adams ware, but in perfect 
 condition, brought $25. One like the second one, " Cupid 
 disarmed," brought $23, while a pair of vases nine and a 
 half inches high, of " Adams blue " decorated with figures 
 similar to those on the teapots, " Nymphs," " Ceres," 
 " Cupid disarmed," etc., like those shown on the top shelf 
 of Figure 32, brought $70. 
 
 To my mind one of the most exquisite of the XVIIIth 
 Century productions was the teapot. Beginning with those 
 of red ware turned out by the Elers Brothers in the first ten 
 years of the century, and coming down to the last year of the 
 last decade, you find endless variety, shape and colour, and 
 most of them of tiny size. The reason for the small size was 
 clear, 1660 is assigned as the year when tea began to be 
 much known in England, and the following handbill issued 
 from a well-known dealer in coffee and tobacco, whose shop 
 was in Exchange Valley, London, shows its cost: 
 
 " Tea in England in the past hath been sold in the leaf 
 for £6 and even £10 the pound weight, and in respect to 
 its deamess and scarcity it hath been hitherto suitable only 
 to grandees and princes. Know all men that I, having 
 
 86 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 purchased a quantity, sell It either in leaf or drink made ac- 
 cording to the directions of the most knowing merchants in 
 Eastern countries. By reason of my continued care and in- 
 dustry in obtaining only the best tea, very many noblemen, 
 physicians and merchants buy of me the said leaf, and re- 
 sort daily to my house to drink the drink thereof. Tea of 
 the best quality, as good as can be drank in China, from i6 
 to 50 shillings a pound." 
 
 For many years after this the precious herb remained far 
 too high in price to tempt many except " grandees and 
 princes " to indulge in it to any great extent. 
 
 While Adams was a skilful artist with his pencil, he never 
 hesitated to employ others when he had the opportunity. 
 The vase shown in Figure 34 is exceptionally elegant. It 
 is of surface jasper, the handles of snake heads being white 
 like the ornaments. The decoration was designed by Mon- 
 glott under the direction of Adams, about 1790. It depicts 
 " A Sacrifice to Diana " ; reverse, " Arts and Sciences " 
 shown by classical figures. Height nine Inches. This vase 
 Is in the collection of the Earl of Spencer. Figure 35 shows 
 two vases, both blue and white jasper, the first with " Apollo 
 crowning Virtue," after a design by Angelica Kauffman, 
 published In 1782. Impressed mark, "ADAMS." 
 
 The second shows a design by PacettI, an artist who fur- 
 nished many designs and models to Wedgwood, and on this 
 vase the mark Is " WEDGWOOD " Impressed. This vase 
 Is in the Wedgwood Collection at Nottingham Castle Mu- 
 seum, gathered by Mr. Felix Joseph, an expert on Wedg- 
 wood, and supposed to show only specimens of what Is 
 known as the "period of perfection," 1781-1795. 
 
 The shape of the vases and the lines of the handles are 
 neither as pleasing nor as artistic as we expect from Wedg- 
 wood. Very similar handles were to be seen on vases bear- 
 
 87 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 ing the Adams mark which were disposed of at the Wills 
 sale, as well as on some made by Wedgwood, decorated with 
 design by Flaxman and dated 1786. 
 
 There is abundant food for reflection if you study care- 
 fully a number of specimens of Wedgwood and Adams jas- 
 per. In the vases just spoken of, note the pattern on the 
 base ; it was used frequently by Wedgwood on his high-class 
 jasper. You will find it again used by Adams on the jasper 
 vases shown in Figure 32. 
 
 On the vase in the centre of the bottom row In Figure 32 
 you will find a pattern of acanthus leaves used frequently by 
 Wedgwood on his " Ornamentals " as well as on his " Use- 
 ful ware." He considered it choice enough to combine with 
 a border of ** Signs of the Zodiac " modelled by Hackwood. 
 It was in use as late as 1794, as marked specimens testify. 
 
 The makers of jasper ware frequently furnished small 
 objects to the silversmith for mounting in silver or gold. 
 If the objects were of size like pitchers, mugs, wine coolers, 
 egg cups, hot water or syrup jugs, they were sent to Shef- 
 field for a rim of plate. The objects with metal trimmings 
 are rare and consequently in much demand. 
 
 The best artist whom Adams employed was the Swiss, 
 named Joseph Monglott. He drew mythological figures 
 and groups, and many of the designs of Angelica Kauffman 
 were also used. 
 
 Adams' business, while a good one, never equalled in ex- 
 tent that of Wedgwood, nor perhaps that of the Turners' 
 at their best period. All his products were good, whether 
 stoneware, earthenware, painted or printed, or basaltes. He 
 was succeeded by his son, Benjamin, who carried on the 
 works till 1820, when they were sold. Within recent years 
 these works have again come Into hands of the Adams' 
 family, not direct descendants of William of Greengates, 
 
Fig. 34. Adams Jasper. Fig. 36. Cream-coloured Ware, 
 
 Warburton. 
 
 A. Jasper \ ase. niarkeii Adams. B. Jasper X'ase, marked Wedgwood. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 but from a collateral branch. They are trying to preserve 
 the traditions of their distinguished relative, and have the 
 name still stand for a superior quality of work. 
 
 The mark used by William Adams of Greengates wsls 
 simply ADAMS, or ADAMS & CO., impressed. The 
 former mark is the one most frequently seen, but the 
 ADAMS & CO. is sometimes found on specimens of solid 
 jasper. 
 
 William Adams of Greengates must not be confused with 
 his relative, Williams Adams of Cobridge, whose blue 
 printed ware is so widely and favourably known in America 
 by his series of English views. His American scenes in 
 various colours are always interesting, and some of the rarer 
 pieces fetch good prices. 
 
 89 
 
THE WARBURTONS 
 
 WARBURTON. 
 
 1710-1825 
 
 THE name Warburton is generally connected with 
 Staffordshire figures of more or less excellence, and 
 they are assigned to Jacob Warburton of Cobridge, 
 who was doing excellent work by 1786, and who 
 died at the age of eighty-six in the year 1826. 
 
 But his reputation should not rest upon the figures alone, 
 as he made with some success both basal tes and jasper ware, 
 and his experiments with cream-coloured ware did much to 
 bring it to a state of perfection. The primitive cream-col- 
 oured ware was tinted by the glaze which was made by 
 combining lead ore with a little flint. 
 
 It was one of the Astburys, as early as 1725, who first 
 applied the colour to the body, and Enoch Booth invented 
 the fluid glaze which was applied after firing the body to the 
 biscuit state. The body Booth used was compounded of 
 Devonshire clay, Cornwall clay and flint, with a glaze of red 
 lead, flint and clay. The subsequent improvement in the 
 body was not only due to the use of new material, chiefly 
 Cornish granite and china clay, but to the use of better 
 methods in its manufacture, and in both of these the War- 
 burtons as well as Wedgwood had a share. 
 
 The use of these new materials did not become known 
 till Cookworthy obtained his patent in 1768, and in 1777 he 
 sold his patent to a group of Staffordshire potters, composed 
 of Samuel Hollins, Anthony Keeling, John Turner, Jacob 
 Warburton, William Clowes and Charles Bagnall. 
 
 90 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 As the Warburtons had a hand in the improvement of the 
 body of the cream-coloured ware, so, too, in its superior dec- 
 oration were they concerned. Hot Lane, where their pot- 
 tery was situated, was the place selected by two Dutch dec- 
 orators who had come to the Potteries to pursue their busi- 
 ness as enamellers, even before the cream-coloured ware had 
 been perfected, and before the general use of fluid glaze. 
 
 Salt glaze ware had been brought to a high degree of ex- 
 cellence. Its colour was pure white, the body was fine and 
 delicate and coloured decoration showed on it to good ad- 
 vantage. Indeed, so high in quality was this simple pottery, 
 that its Staffordshire makers, ever on the alert to keep a good 
 market for their wares, began to use enamels for its decora- 
 tion, and for which the very nature of the ware was adapted, 
 and which enabled them to compete with the makers of por- 
 celain, which had been previously the only material to which 
 the enamels had been applied. 
 
 The nature of enamel colours, which contain in addition 
 to the pigment a large quantity of flux or glass, requires 
 that they should be applied to the fired glaze. On account 
 of the presence of the large amount of flux or glass in their 
 composition, it is only necessary to bring the china to a 
 clear red heat, for which purpose what is known as a " muf- 
 fle kiln " is sufficient. Many colours which would burn away 
 if fired at the degree of heat necessary for under-glaze paint- 
 ing, are at the command of enamellers. If applied thickly 
 on the pitted surface of the salt glaze, the enamel was not 
 only very brilliant, but had a jewelled effect. 
 
 The Dutchmen settled in Hot Lane bought the salt- 
 glazed ware from the potteries near at hand, and set them- 
 selves to work to decorate it. They tried their best to keep 
 their methods secret, even erecting their muffle kiln at a 
 distance from their decorating shop. But in one way or 
 
 91 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 another their methods became known, men came from other 
 places in England for the sake of the ware, and decorated 
 either on their own account or for the potters, so that in a 
 short time Hot Lane was a centre of the enamelling busi- 
 ness. 
 
 It is said that Ralph Daniel, a near neighbour of the 
 Dutchmen, was the first to imitate their work. The War- 
 burtons, also in the neighbourhood, profited by the knowledge 
 of this style of decorating which spread through the dis- 
 trict, and it was to Mrs. Warburton, the mother of Jacob, 
 that Wedgwood intrusted his early cream-coloured ware to 
 be decorated with enamel. 
 
 The salt-glazed ware made by the Dutchmen them- 
 selves or by the Warburtons, or by Ralph Daniel or other 
 local potters who were among the first to employ it, is ex- 
 tremely decorative. A cold shade of blue was effectively 
 used, designs of Oriental tendency predominated, then floral 
 sprigs and sprays with borders of more or less artistic merit 
 succeeded and were rich with brilliant colour and jewel-like 
 effect. 
 
 Figures and landscapes came in later for their share of 
 attention, and even whole backgrounds of the gayest enamels 
 surrounded small reserved panels of the white, on which 
 were put some ornamental bit of choice painting. A large 
 collection of salt-glazed teapots was recently sold at auction. 
 They were of the oddest shapes, castles, houses, animals, 
 and one, a kneeling camel whose neck and head made the 
 spout, had a charming decoration on it of wild flowers in 
 their natural colours. The effect was most amusing. 
 
 As salt-glazed ware crowded out the ruder early earthen- 
 ware, so cream-coloured ware crowded out salt-glaze. Mr. 
 Burton in his " English Earthenware and Stoneware " gives 
 the year 1780 as the time when its manufacture was prac- 
 
 92 
 
w r 
 
 /. 
 
 Fig. 37. Cream-coloured Figures. 
 
 Fig. 38. Jasper Vase. 
 ^Marked Voyez. 
 
 Fig. 39. Tablet. J. Voyez. 
 
 Fig. 41. Jasper Ware. John Tuknkr. 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 tically abandoned, though, he states, it continued to be 
 made in continually decreasing quantities at Burslem till 
 1823. 
 
 There are few traces of gold ever to be found on these 
 early specimens of Staffordshire wares, since when they did 
 use it, the leaf was applied with size, as the method of firing 
 it was not known to them till later. Of course it wore off 
 very easily, so that only occasional traces of it are found, 
 like the faint vine pattern which can be seen on the vase 
 shown in Figure 36. 
 
 It was at the Warburtons' pottery in Hot Lane that 
 Enoch Booth's invention of fluid glaze was immediately put 
 in use, and by 1750 they were utilising it on their wares. It 
 was not the custom with the Staffordshire potters to mark 
 their wares till about 1 760, so that no doubt many pieces 
 of Jacob Warburton's cream-coloured ware are assigned to 
 other potters. 
 
 The charming pair of figures shown here. Figure 37, are 
 of highly glazed cream-coloured ware, and from the excel- 
 lence were probably made about 1780, when the works were 
 in a most flourishing condition, for though they had been 
 established before 17 10, it was the broad-minded policy of 
 Jacob Warburton, who made the name still further distin- 
 guished. He, like Wedgwood, appreciated that there was a 
 necessity for distributing their wares after making them, and 
 it was not long before he found that even the great fairs 
 like Stourbridge, Bury, and Bartholomew and travelling 
 peddlers besides would not dispose of their productions. So 
 not only did the Warburtons export their wares to the Eng- 
 lish colonies beyond seas, but to many Continental countries, 
 to which places Warburton journeyed himself, and as he 
 was an accomplished linguist he was able to materially ad- 
 vance their foreign business. To such an extent did this 
 
 93 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 business grow that at one time it was said to exceed that 
 of the Wedgwood firm. 
 
 It is a matter of fact that while they may have been to a 
 certain extent business rivals, the two men were friends, for 
 Jacob Warburton was the man chosen by Wedgwood to act 
 for him in the case against Neale and Palmer for copying the 
 Etruscan vases which were protected by the only copyright 
 ever taken out by Wedgwood. The matter was a tedious 
 one and occupied Warburton several months, an adjust- 
 ment of the difficulty finally being arrived at in London. 
 
 A descendant of the family, Peter Warburton of Lane 
 End, took out a patent in 1810 for making lustre ware, 
 decorated with " gold, silver, platina or other metals." The 
 works were closed in 1825. Any pieces of ware marked 
 " Warburton " are rare, and are held in esteem and bring 
 good prices. 
 
 94 
 
JOHN VOYEZ 
 CARVER IN IVORY, ENAMELLER, AND POTTER 
 
 J.VOYEZ 
 
 1768-1780 
 
 FEW men have been at once more versatile and more 
 unfortunate than this man of mystery, John Voyez. 
 Born In France, most of his work was done in 
 England, and it is from that country that such 
 records of his labours as are extant, come to us. His work 
 first assumed importance when he began to model under 
 Wedgwood in the year 1768. Wedgwood writes of him, " I 
 have hired a modeller for three years, the best I am told in 
 London, he has served his time with a silversmith, has worked 
 several years at China work, has been two or three years 
 carving in wood and marble for Mr. Adam the famous 
 architect, is a perfect Master of the Antique stile in orna- 
 ments, vases, etc., works with equal facility in Clay, wax, 
 wood, or stone." 
 
 His first known work is a glass cameo showing a portrait 
 of King George and which gained for him his mastership 
 as craftsman. This was about 1766, and showed that even 
 at that period he was an expert handler of clay and the pot- 
 ter's tools, since by Voyez's admirers this cameo is called the 
 forerunner of the material which Wedgwood called jasper. 
 There are splendid examples of his skill as an enameller 
 decorating such objects as watches and chatelaines, and there 
 are ivory carvings, panels, brooches and rings which are so 
 
 95 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 fine and delicate that a microscope is required to bring out 
 their exquisite beauty. But these objects are just mentioned 
 as showing whence came the skill that made him an object 
 of suspicion to Wedgwood, and has led him to come down to 
 us as the most successful and unscrupulous imitator of the 
 great master potter. 
 
 He worked for Wedgwood for about a year, modelling 
 under the master's eye many choice pieces, when his beset- 
 ting sin overcame him, and he was riotous, disorderly and 
 drunken on the premises of the Wedgwood works, for which 
 he was sentenced to be flogged and imprisoned three months. 
 
 It was during this period that he carved in ivory his larg- 
 est panel in that material, and called it " Prometheus Ale- 
 bound ! " While the work is by no means as fine as many 
 pieces which he made later, it shows a good knowledge of 
 anatomy and a certain amount of finish. Voyez made many 
 of these excursions into ivory carving in the next twenty 
 years, and brooches, rings and a few boxes remain to show 
 not only his skill and versatility, but his mercurial humour as 
 well. 
 
 This design, " Prometheus Ale-bound," Is repeated upon 
 the vase shown in Fig. 38. The arms of the figure in the 
 design have peeled off from imperfect firing. The vase is 
 of basaltes, stands 21 inches high, and is marked on the 
 base, " H. Palmer," while the design is signed Voyez and 
 dated 1769. This vase is at Holburne Museum, Bath, Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Besides these works of art, he left a craft book in a sort 
 of letter and figure cypher, which details many of his 
 choicest works in ivory and enamel. But it is with his skill 
 as a china modeller and decorator that we have the greatest 
 interest, and his work was so excellent and his methods so 
 dishonest that for years he was a thorn In the side of Wedg- 
 
 96 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 wood, who was constantly on the alert to prevent un- 
 scrupulous stealing of his choicest designs and processes. 
 The particular field in which Voyez was to be feared was 
 in the modelling of the jasper vases which were in such 
 demand that the Wedgwood works could not supply them. 
 On this subject Wedgwood writes, while Voyez was still 
 imprisoned, " I have got the start of my brethren in the 
 article of vases further than I did anything else, and it is 
 very much the most profitable that I ever launched into. 
 It is a pity to lose it by Voyez going to other potters. What 
 do our competitors stand most in need of to rival us the 
 most effectually? Some person to instruct them to compose 
 good forms, and ornament them with tolerable propriety. 
 Voyez can do this much more effectually than all the potters 
 of the country put together, and without much labour." He 
 proposed to pay Voyez his full wages for the three years to 
 prevent his working for other potters, but seems to have 
 abandoned this idea later. 
 
 It was as Wedgwood feared, for when Voyez came out 
 of prison after the three months' incarceration, he joined 
 at that time Palmer of Hanley, a potter who could neither 
 produce the jasper ware nor fire it promptly. Voyez then 
 worked for a time by himself, then in partnership with Hales 
 of Cobridge, and from time to time with other potters of 
 the Staffordshire region. 
 
 From his designs were made all sorts of jugs and vases, 
 some of the latter in jasper ware, and some in Staffordshire 
 coloured and decorated with figures of more or less merit. 
 Many of these are marked J. Voyez. His work in black 
 basaltes is also good, and this too is marked, sometimes in 
 connection with the potter who made the clay. 
 
 He modelled many figures of the " Cottage Ornament " 
 type and tablets, see Fig. 39, and these were marked also. 
 
 97 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 In fact, he stood high among the Staffordshire potters in 
 order of excellence, only Wood and Wedgwood leading him 
 in the skill with which he made these figures which were so 
 popular. He also made quantities of the small intaglios 
 and seals on which Wedgwood prided himself so much, and 
 in order to promote their sale, Voyez forged the names 
 " Wedgwood and Bentley," which he put at full length 
 upon the seals. 
 
 The last appearance of Voyez, at least as an annoyance 
 to Wedgwood, was in 1776, when the latter writes to Bent- 
 ley as follows: " Voyez has given up making clay intaglios 
 and has sold all his goods arid chattels here to go and make 
 paste seals in London." 
 
 Chaffers, in his " Marks and Monograms," gives one 
 mark of Voyez as late as 1780, but the place and date of his 
 death are uncertain. 
 
 98 
 
HENRY PALMER, JOHN NEALE 
 
 Neale and Palmer 
 1769-1776 
 
 Neale & Wilson 
 1787 
 
 Neale & Palmer. 
 Neale &f Co. 
 
 Henry Palmer 
 1 760- 1 769 
 
 Neales & Co. 
 1778-1787 
 
 J. Neale 
 1776-1778 
 
 Wilson 
 1800 
 
 C 
 
 THE names of Palmer and Neale are so almost in- 
 extricably mixed, that it is with difficulty that the 
 approximate dates of their various partnerships are 
 to be unravelled. Palmer's name is given by Bur- 
 ton as Henry, and by Rhead Brothers as Humphrey, either 
 of which may fit him equally well since he uses only the name 
 H. Palmer in the circular mark which stamped his wares 
 prior to 1769, when John Neale became his partner. 
 
 Palmer is one of the men who most flagrantly copied 
 Wedgwood's wares and designs, sending his wife disguised — 
 so the story goes — to buy at the Wedgwood showrooms in 
 London the new patterns as they came up from the pot- 
 teries at Burslem and Etruria. 
 
 It was Palmer who employed Voyez as a modeller after 
 he left the employ of Wedgwood, and Palmer was suffi- 
 
 99 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 ciently unscrupulous to make models of the reliefs on Wedg- 
 wood's vases, and use the same on his own wares. 
 
 That he was a skilful potter in some lines his work testi- 
 fies, and his black basaltes was of an excellent texture, not 
 far behind that of Wedgwood, and, as he used the same de- 
 signs, equally artistic. 
 
 Palmer was established at Hanley about 1760, and his 
 wife, a daughter of Thomas Heath of Lane Delph, an old 
 potter, assisted him in pushing his enterprise. John Neale, 
 brother-in-law of Palmer, was taken into partnership about 
 1769, and attended to the London end of the business. 
 
 They were not very successful financially, however, and 
 Palmer's difficulties were so great that Neale took over the 
 business in 1776, and ran it under his own name for two 
 years. In 1778 he was joined by Robert Wilson, and the 
 firm name became Neale and Co. They continued to work 
 under this title from 1778 to 1787, when it was changed to 
 Neale and Wilson, becoming finally Wilson, about 1800, 
 the son of Robert, known as " C. Wilson," carrying on the 
 business. 
 
 The changes which affected the personnel of the firm 
 made no difference in their production. They produced fine 
 basaltes, in vases, seals and medallions, some of these latter 
 being very large in size. 
 
 As soon as the composition of Wedgwood's jasper became 
 known through the potteries they seized the formula and 
 made much ware, some of it of a very high class, see Figure 
 40. Many of their productions are marked, for though 
 they were undoubted pirates, they had little hesitation in 
 marking their wares with their own names. 
 
 Besides their jaspers and basaltes they made cream-col- 
 oured ware, some ornamental pieces of which were marbled, 
 decorated with heads, busts, wreaths, etc., and touched up 
 
 100 
 
Fig. 40. Jaspkr Ware. Neale & Co. Fig. 44. " Wedgwood & Co. 
 
 Fig. 42. Jasper Ware. ^^ARKED Turner. 
 
 Fig. 43. Salad Dish. " Wedgwood & Co." 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 with gilding. Some of the vases of this " granite ware " are 
 very handsome in shape, material and ornamentation. Many 
 of the vases were ten inches high, not only the granite and 
 basaltes ones, but the jasper as well. At the Wills sale, 
 1908, a pair of blue and white jasper vases, with handles 
 and covers, 10 inches high, subjects of decorations " Char- 
 lotte at Tomb of Werther," " A Sacrifice," " Antonia," date 
 1 776-1 778, brought $76. While another pair 11 inches 
 high, with Shakesperian subjects, brought $260. 
 
 At the same sale, a black basaltes teapot, 5 inches high, 
 Palmer & Neale period, with "Justice addressing Peace, 
 Labour and Plenty," " Venus and Cupid," " The Bourbon- 
 naos Shepherd," copied from Wedgwood designs, brought 
 
 $19- 
 
 A pair of jardinieres, blue and white jasper, decorated with 
 portraits of contemporary actors and actresses, 6 inches high, 
 mark Neale & Co., 1778-1787, $75- A basaltes sugar bowl, 
 decorated with groups of shepherds and shepherdesses, 5 
 inches high, Neale & Co., 1780— $30. 
 
 When the pottery came into the hands of the younger 
 Wilson his most successful production was a superior red 
 stoneware, decorated with figures in black. The mark he 
 used is given, and is found on white ware with blue printed 
 patterns, the red ware mentioned, and buff ware, with col- 
 oured figures. 
 
 lOI 
 
JOHN TURNER 
 
 1762-1786. SUCCEEDED BY HIS SONS, 1786-1803 
 
 TURNER 
 
 1762— 1786 1786— 1803 
 
 THE student of the pottery of the XVHIth Century 
 finds so much to admire and interest, that although 
 many of the Staffordshire group followed care- 
 fully in one another's footsteps, the results furnish 
 an unlimited field for exploration. 
 
 While we call those men who borrowed without scruple 
 from Wedgwood " imitators," the conditions under which 
 they worked must not be overlooked. Here they were all 
 gathered together in a comparatively small district ; the work- 
 men passed from one master to another, carrying with them 
 methods and formulas; the processes were not protected by 
 patents save in isolated instances, and all were eager to em- 
 brace the advantages of a constantly increasing market. 
 
 Such men as Jacob Warburton, William Adams and John 
 Turner were friends and associates of Wedgwood, and were 
 all practical potters constantly engaged in experimenting to 
 perfect their products. The two who came nearest to Wedg- 
 wood in the excellence of their wares, particularly in the 
 jasper and basaltes were William Adams and John Turner. 
 In 1762 the latter came to Lane End from Stoke, where 
 he had been engaged in the making of stoneware with a man 
 named Bankes. After his removal, like the other potters 
 his neighbours, he made the usual stoneware and cream-col- 
 
 102 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 oured ^are, and by his discovery that there was fine clay to 
 be had at Green Dock, near the Longton cemetery, was able 
 to produce a superior body. This Green Dock clay when 
 fired had in itself a fine creamy tint, and when to it was 
 added the necessary amount of china clay and china stone, 
 he was able to produce a stoneware, vitreous and finely 
 grained, and ranging through all the tints from cream- 
 colour to cane-colour. 
 
 In this material, of which he was by far the most suc- 
 cessful maker, he produced bowls, mugs, inkstands, bulb- 
 pots and very charming busts and figures which he mounted 
 on bases or plinths of black basaltes which threw them out in 
 fine relief. His jugs were of exceptional merit, made from 
 the same vitreous stoneware, decorated with hunting scenes, 
 ships, etc., in relief, the tops and bases engine-turned, or with 
 wreaths or ornaments, and with most satisfactory handles, 
 firm, good in shape and well placed. The neck and some- 
 times a portion of the handle were coated with a dark brown 
 glaze, and very rarely one is found with the glaze top of a 
 peculiar shade of slate blue. Indeed both Adams and Turner 
 used very different shades of blue from those employed by 
 Wedgwood, whether intentionally or by accident it is hard 
 to determine. 
 
 As Turner's stoneware was his own composition, so was 
 the ware he called jasper, which is not at all the same body 
 to which Wedgwood gave the same name. Turner's is 
 more porcellaneous, very fine in texture and grain. The 
 cup and saucer in Figure 41 is a good example of Turner's 
 work. The engine-turning on both pieces, the fine border 
 and pleasing figures show the excellence of his methods. A 
 cup and saucer of similar design, marked "Turner, 1790," 
 brought $14 at the sale of the Wills collection of " Old 
 Wedgwood." A jardiniere and cover by Turner, also of 
 
 103 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 jasper with classical figures six inches high, date assigned 
 1762, sold for $15. 
 
 Another cup and saucer, jasper, with subject, " Cupids 
 and dancing Nymph," two inches high, and saucer five and 
 three-quarters inches in diameter, brought $26, while a cir- 
 cular medallion, jasper, subject " Cupid inflaming the 
 Mind," two and one-eighth inches in diameter, brought $18. 
 Besides the choice vases, like the one shown in Figure 42, 
 Turner produced may small objects which were popular at 
 that period, buttons, beads, buckles, brooches, seals, small 
 cases for sewing implements, etc., and these were sent to 
 Birmingham or Sheffield for mounting. 
 
 John Turner died at the age of forty-eight in the year 
 1786. The business was carried on by his sons, John and 
 William, and they still further increased the reputation of 
 the firm. After they took it in hand they used barytes in 
 the composition of the body of their wares, the knowledge 
 of the use of it by Wedgwood having by this time become 
 common property. This increased the resemblance of their 
 wares to his, and they not only made table furnishings, but 
 very choice vases in basaltes. While the figures and groups 
 may not have been taken directly from designs used by Wedg- 
 wood on similar objects, yet the truth is they were so much 
 alike as to be easily taken for his. 
 
 A large business had been worked up by the younger 
 Turners in France, which was indeed their largest market. 
 The French Revolution worked havoc with them, since 
 not only did they receive no more orders, but they could 
 not collect what was already owing them. William Turner, 
 who went to Paris to see what he could save from the wreck, 
 was thrown into prison and narrowly escaped the guillotine. 
 The business dragged along till 1803, when the moulds and 
 patterns were sold out to Adams. 
 
 104 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 In 1800 the brothers had tried to take out a patent for 
 a new method of making porcelain, using in it "Tabber- 
 ner's Mine Rock," but were not successful. After the fail- 
 ure of their business John Turner entered the pottery of 
 Thomas Minton at Stoke-on-Trent, and did much to as- 
 sist in bringing that firm to its present high position among 
 English potters. 
 
 These Turners must not be confused with Thomas Turner 
 of Caughley, who made cream-coloured ware and excep- 
 tionally fine figures and busts, as well as porcelain, and 
 who was the originator of the " willow " and " dragon " 
 patterns. 
 
 The marks of the Lane End Turners are given, — though 
 many of their specimens are not marked at all. 
 
 105 
 
"WEDGWOOD & CO." 
 
 1 796-1 800 
 
 •Ur C (? r'^ \^£KC WOOD 85C0 
 
 THERE are to be found in America many specimens 
 of earthenware, some of them exceedingly choice, 
 which bear the mark " Wedgwood & Co." These 
 were made by Ralph Wedgwood, cousin of Josiah, 
 and brought up in Burslem, where he worked for a time as 
 potter. He seems to have lacked the steadiness of his great 
 cousin, for in 1796 we find him at Ferrybridge, associated 
 with a potter named Tomlinson, and making the usual 
 wares, cream-coloured painted and printed, but not potting 
 any of the choicer materials like jasper or basaltes. He 
 remained at Ferrybridge only four years, till 1800, and then 
 gave up the business of potting to give his whole time to 
 perfecting his inventions. 
 
 The tray shown in Figure 43 Is of cream-coloured ware, 
 painted with a vine-leaf border. It is nine inches long and 
 bears the mark " Wedgwood & Co." impressed. It is not 
 such a good piece of potting as the plate in Figure 44, which 
 is extremely pretty, with the greyish-green foliage, touched 
 with bronzing. In addition to the mark Wedgwood this has 
 also " Nonpareil," " Wecow," and the figures 684. It was 
 made by the Stockton firm mentioned later. 
 
 I never see the name of Wedgwood & Co. without being 
 reminded of an experience of my own, in which my en- 
 deavours to satisfy two collectors almost resulted in my 
 being crushed between the upper and nether millstones. 
 
 106 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 The remains of a dinner set of fine old Ralph WedgiA'cod 
 ware were found by a dealer who asked my assistance in 
 disposing of them. The ware was exquisite, almost as light as 
 egg-shell china, and the decoration was a conventional border 
 in a greyish shade of blue. Four platters, eleven plates, a 
 gravy boat and a vegetable dish remained in perfect condi- 
 tion ; several of the pieces were marked, and it was certainly 
 a very choice " find." Besides the merit of the set there 
 were " associations," and these indeed are forces which 
 cannot always be reckoned with. At the dealer's request I 
 took a plate to a collector whom I knew, who admired the 
 china, said he wanted it, and agreed to let the dealer know 
 immediately. But being a busy man, he failed to do this 
 for several days — and hereby hangs the tale. 
 
 I mentioned " associations." The china had belonged to 
 the Schuyler family, whose hospitality in their splendid 
 home at Albany in Colonial days had included all the fa- 
 mous men and women of the time. The dealer not hearing 
 from the collector to whom I had taken the plate, included 
 one of the other plates in a box of " antiques," which he was 
 sending to New York for another purchaser to inspect. He 
 mentioned the Schuylers as being the original owners of the 
 " Wedgwood and Co." set, and here the trouble began! 
 
 By return mail came a letter from the New York man 
 inclosing a check for the " Wedgwood and Co.," saying he 
 wished it as a Christmas present for his wife, as she was a 
 Schuyler by descent, and would be so delighted with the set 
 which had belonged to her ancestors. 
 
 But in the meantime Collector Number One had re- 
 membered to telephone that he would buy the set, and it 
 had been sent to him. Possession is nine points of the law, 
 certainly — ten points it proved in this case, but not without 
 a struggle. The New York collector kept the mails hot with 
 
 107 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 his letters to the dealer, to me and to Collector Number 
 One! I was appealed to by both sides, Collector Number 
 One wanting it because he liked it, and asking if I thought 
 he really ought to give it up, and Collector Number Two 
 urging me in view of all circumstances to induce Number 
 One to let him have it, offering to pay double price and using 
 every argument in his power. You can imagine the amount 
 of diplomacy required to satisfy them both and lose the 
 friendship of neither. 
 
 Besides this firm composed of Ralph Wedgwood and 
 Tomlinson, there was a firm at Stockton, consisting of Wil- 
 liam Smith and some others, who signed ware in a fraudu- 
 lent manner, leading the unwary to be deceived. They used 
 the name but spelled it " Wedgewood," or left out the sec- 
 ond " e," putting in its. place a dot, or space, or used the 
 name " Wedgwood " and the initials " W. S. & Co." and 
 on some of their plates used " Wedgwood & Co." These 
 imitators never attempted any of the choicer wares, but made 
 much printed ware in various colours, and on common ware. 
 Very recently I have come across a beautiful vase in " rosso- 
 antico," fine in shape, well potted and having as decoration 
 Wedgwood's well-known " Sale of Cupids." The vase was 
 one of a pair given as a wedding present about 1850, and 
 must have been made after the injunction, for on the bot- 
 tom, impressed is the mark " W. S. & Co." 
 
 In 1847 this firm was enjoined by J. Wedgwood and Sons 
 of Etruria from using the Wedgwood mark any longer. 
 Even these pieces made by the Smith firm have an interest 
 to collectors, particularly if one should chance to find some 
 of the better class platters or bowls, printed in black or col- 
 ours. They hold, however, absolutely no comparison with 
 the work of the first " Wedgwood and Co.," or his great 
 cousin. 
 
 108 
 
Fig. 46. Jaspeb Waru. Steel. 
 
 m 
 
 "T T T T T T T r 
 
 Fig. 45- Jasper Ware. J. Lockett. Fig. 47. Cream Ware. John Aynsley. 
 
J. LOCKETT 
 
 J.LOCKETT. 
 
 THIS pottery was established in 1780 and is still 
 carried on. Lockett was another of those Staf- 
 fordshire makers actively engaged in making popu- 
 lar goods, and among them we find jasper ware. 
 His pottery was established about 1780 at Burslem, later 
 at Lane End, and must have been considerable in extent, 
 for he made stoneware of various kinds, gained quite a repu- 
 tation for his figures, and later, about 1802, was known as 
 a maker of superior lustre ware. The works are continued 
 under the title of J. Lockett and Sons, and they still make 
 lustre wares of various kinds. 
 
 The jasper, an example of which we show, is more pleas- 
 ing than that put out by some of the other Staffordshire 
 makers. The figures are better, the quality of the body is 
 smoother and softer, the undercutting brings out the design 
 in better relief. It is only necessary to see how admirable 
 the ornament is at the top of the teapot shown in Figure 
 45 to appreciate what good potting was done by Lockett, 
 even if the shape of the teapot is somewhat heavy. This 
 specimen is at the British Museum and is larger than many 
 of the pots made at that period, being seven and a half 
 inches wide and ten inches high. It is slightly unusual 
 from the handle being placed on the top instead of at the 
 side, and would have been much more attractive if it had 
 been placed in the ordinary way. The fact of the nose being 
 white is another blemish, but the charming figures and good 
 quality of the ware make up for many defects. 
 
 109 
 
DANIEL STEEL, BURSLEM 
 
 STEEL. 
 1 786-1 824 
 
 A NOTHER potter of no very great importance was 
 
 /\ Daniel Steel, who had his works at Burslem. The 
 
 / % making of jasper or of a material which looked like 
 
 jasper was the product by which he has come down 
 
 to us, and several pieces by him, marked with his name, show 
 
 the character of his work. 
 
 The vase given in Figure 46 is in the British Museum, 
 and while pleasing enough in its way, holds no comparison 
 with the Wedgwood product, nor indeed with the work of 
 such men as Adams, Neale or Turner. The white figures 
 show cracks in many places; they are not sharp and clear, 
 and the form of his vases are heavy and lacking in both 
 grace and elegance. 
 
 There is considerable divergence of opinion as to when 
 he commenced his potting, Chaffers giving the date as 1786, 
 while the British Museum Guide places it at 1766. The 
 former date seems more likely to be the correct one, since 
 Wedgwood's experiments with the jasper body did not be- 
 gin till 1774, and his final successes, which included not only 
 the perfection of the body, but means of firing it, were not 
 concluded till three years later. 
 
 Twenty-eight years is sufficient time, however, to put out 
 large quantities of pottery, and Steel no doubt contributed 
 his share to the large amount which was constantly sent to 
 this country. His pottery was closed about 1824, possibly 
 absorbed by some of the numerous firms which were con- 
 stantly coming into being in that congested region. 
 
 110 
 
JOHN AYNSLEY 
 
 Aynslty 
 Lant/ En^. 
 
 1 790- 1 826 
 
 JOHN AYNSLEY was one of the smaller Stafford- 
 shire potters who established his works before the 
 death of Josiah Wedgwood and who, while never en- 
 croaching to any extent on the higher-grade wares, 
 imitated as well as he was able the cream-coloured ware 
 which had long been one of Wedgwood's staples. By 1802 
 his pottery was at its most flourishing condition, and in Fig- 
 ure 47 is given one of his cream-coloured plates such as he 
 presented to apprentices when they were about to leave his 
 works. 
 
 There are a number of pious inscriptions on the plate 
 which is marked Lane End, and the general appearance of 
 it is Masonic, owing to the compass. The motto within 
 the circle reads, " Keep within compass and you shall be 
 sure to avoid many troubles which others endure." 
 
 His work was well done and the printing clear. His 
 mark was Aynsley, Lane End. 
 
 A full list of those potters who have copied or imitated 
 the wares of the " prince of potters " would include the 
 names of many outside of England. Even in Staffordshire 
 and its neighbourhood were a number who followed in his 
 footsteps in one material^ like Keeling and Toft, Birch, and 
 
 III 
 
WEDGWOOD AND HIS IMITATORS 
 
 Elijah Mayer, all of whom made excellent black ware, 
 similar in shapes (particularly in Useful wares) to those 
 made by Wedgwood, and ornamented with the same class 
 of figures, festoons, etc., which he used. 
 
 There were many small and insignificant makers who 
 copied boldly the cream-coloured ware, and it is impossible 
 to give their names, much less examples of their work. The 
 chief offenders, if we can call them such, when they made 
 ware of excellence and beauty, have been treated of here. 
 The marks which they used, if they used any, have been 
 given, but there still remain many specimens of all the wares 
 like those made at Burslem and Etruria which have no mark 
 at all. 
 
 With regard to these, the only thing to be done is to be- 
 come familiar with the feeling and appearance of the old 
 ware, and then settle for yourself about the period to which 
 your specimens should belong, even if you cannot " name " 
 
 them. 
 
 There is ever a fascination in a good piece of old pottery 
 which comes under the head of " maker unknown," for it 
 always invites speculation ; there is always the chance that 
 sometime you may see its duplicate, marked, and there 
 clings about it certain mystery which you would not rudely 
 tear away. 
 
 112 
 
INDEX 
 
 Adams, Benj., 88 
 
 "Adams blue," 85 
 
 Adams, Wm., 84-89, 102, no 
 
 Advertisements, 27, 28 
 
 Agate ware, 2, 17, 29, 30, 31, 
 
 40 
 Alders, Thomas, 3 
 America, 11, 12, 27, 33, 49, 106 
 " Ancient Philosophers, Poets, 
 
 Orators," 58 
 Angelini, 44 
 
 Antiquarian, So. Concord, 30 
 Argand's burner, 21 
 Astbury, John, 32 
 Astbury, Thomas, 32 90 
 Astle, Thomas, 43 
 Aynsley, John, in 
 
 Bacon, John, 43, 48, 79 
 
 Baddeley, 7 
 
 Bagnell, Charles, 90 
 
 Bakewell, 48 
 
 Bamboo, 22, 78 
 
 Bankes, 102 
 
 Barberini vase, 15, 16, 43, 60, 
 
 61, 62 
 Barker, 25 
 Barrett, G., 48 
 Barytes, 54, 55, 104 
 Basaltes, 7, 9, 15, 17, 21, 22, 42, 
 
 70-77, 86, 90, 100, 103 
 Bas-reliefs, 20, 43, 44, 63-70 
 Beads, 57 
 Bentley, Thomas, 8, 9, 10-14, i8, 
 
 26, 30, 44, 55, 81 
 Birch, in 
 Birmingham, 4, 7, 9 
 " Black ware," 41-53 
 " Blue necks," 40 
 Boot, 42, 79 
 
 Booth, Enoch, 32, 90, 93 
 Borders, 38, 39, 58, 85, 103 
 
 Boston, n 
 
 Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 26 
 Bottles, 57 
 
 "Brick House," 7, 8, 13, 84 
 British Museum, 58, 61, 63, no 
 Bronze Etruscan, 17, 47 
 Browne, 48 
 
 Burslem, i, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 19, 
 24, 26, 30, 31, 39, 41, 84, 106, 
 
 1X2 
 
 Burton, Wm., 54, 92 
 Byerley, Thomas, 14 
 
 Cades, 44 
 Cadiz, n 
 Cameos, 20, 43, 44, 46, 56, 57, 
 
 58. 95 
 
 Candelabra, 21 
 
 Cane-coloured ware 17, 78 
 
 Catalogues, 20, 22, 23, 45, 46, 
 47, 60, 70 
 
 Cateaton St., 9 
 
 Cauliflower ware, 25, 26, 27 
 
 Cawk, 54 
 
 Chaffers " Marks and Mono- 
 grams," 98 no 
 
 Champion, 13, 33 
 
 Chelsea, n, 38, 48, 49 
 
 Chemists vessels, 82 
 
 Chimney sets, 45, 49 
 
 China stone, 33 
 
 Christie, 47 
 
 Churchyard Works, 41 
 
 Clays, 6, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 54, 
 55, 80, 90, 95, 103 
 
 Cliff Bank Pottery, 3 
 
 Clowes, Wm., 90 
 
 Cobridge, 90 
 
 Colonies, 7 
 
 Colours, 54 
 
 Continent, 7, 8, 93 
 
 Cookworthy, 13, 33, 90 
 
 X13 
 
INDEX 
 
 Cooper, N, 34, 48 
 
 Coward, J., 43 
 
 Cox, Wm., 7 
 
 " Cottage Ornaments," 97 
 
 Cream-coloured ware, 5, 7, 9, 15, 
 17, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 
 36, 37, 39, 40, 90, 91. 92, 93, 
 97, 100, 103, 105, no 
 
 Crewe, Miss, 63 
 
 Crystalline pebbled ware, 17, 30 
 
 Dalmazzoni, a., 43, 44 
 
 Daniel, Ralph, 92 
 
 Dassier, 21 
 
 Delany, Mrs., 34 
 
 Delftware, 5, 17, 28 
 
 Denby, 42, 48 
 
 Devaere, John, 43 
 
 Dinner service, 35, 36 
 
 " Domestic Employments," 63 
 
 Dutch potters, 91 
 
 Earthenware, 85 
 
 East Indies, 33 
 
 * Egyptian Mythology-," 58 
 
 " Egyptian Black Clay," 41 
 
 Elers Bros., 41, 77, 86 
 
 Emperors, 21 
 
 Enamel, 33, 38, 39, 91 
 
 Encaustic ware, 15, 49, 50 
 
 Engine work, 7 
 
 England, 12, 59, 86, 92, 95 
 
 " English Earthenware and 
 
 Stoneware," 54, 92 
 Etruria, 4, 11, 14, 19, 42, 43, 
 
 44, 48, 70, 81, 84, 108, 112 
 Etruria Hall, 11, 13, 55 
 Etruscan, 12, 22, 42, 48, 61, 
 
 94 
 
 " Fabulous Age 
 
 Greeks," 58 
 Fairs, 93 
 
 " Family Bible," 9 
 Farley, Mrs. J., 86 
 Fenton, 3 
 Ferrybridge, 106 
 Figures, 93 
 Firing, 56, 60, 93 
 
 OF 
 
 THE 
 
 Flaxman, J., i6, 43, 44, 45, 
 
 46, 47, 57, 59, 61, 63, 77, 88 
 Flower and Root pots, 22 
 Fothergill, Dr., 79 
 Erankin, B., 12, 13 
 France, 33, 95 
 Fratoddi, 43 
 Frontispiece, 58 
 
 Garner, 25 
 
 Garrick, D., 36 
 
 Gatty, Mr. C. T., 70 
 
 Genoa, u 
 
 Germany, 33 
 
 Glaze, 4, 6, 24, 25, 26, 32, 77, 
 
 90, 91 
 Glover, Thomas, 48 
 Gold, 93 
 Gosset, I., 43 
 Grand Trunk Canal, 6 
 Greatbach, William, 6, 7, 25, 
 
 32 
 " Greek and Roman Mythology," 
 
 58 
 Greek St., ii, 34, 49 
 Green Dock, 103 
 Green Gates, 84 
 " Green Ware," 4, 5, 17, 24, 
 
 25, 26 
 Griffiths, 35 
 
 Hackwood, Wm., 12, 42, 45, 6z 
 Hanley, 7, 12, 48, 100 
 Handles, 42, 87, 103 
 " Handbook of Wedgwood 
 
 Ware," 57 
 Hamburg, 11 
 
 Hamilton, Sir Wm., 58, 59, 61 
 Harrison, John, 3 
 " Heads of Illustrious Romans," 
 
 21 
 " Heads of the Popes," 21 
 Heath, Thomas, 100 
 Hollins, Sam'l, 90 
 Holland, 33, 49 
 Homeric vases, 59 
 Hoskins and Grant, 43 
 Hot Lane, 91, 92, 93 
 Hutchins, 48 
 
 114 
 
INDEX 
 
 " Illustrious Moderns," 13, 
 
 21, 45, 58, 70, 71, 76 
 Inkstands, 22 
 
 Intaglios, 15, 20, 46, 57, 70 
 Italy, 8, 43, 49 
 Ivory ware, 33 
 " Ivy House," 5 
 
 Jasper, 7, 13, 15, 17, 21, 22, 54- 
 76, 77, 85, 88, 100, 103, 109, 
 no 
 
 "Jasper dip," 55 
 
 Kaufman, Angelica, 86, 87 
 
 Keeling, Anthony, 90 
 
 Keeling and Toft, 11 1 
 
 " Kings and Queens of Eng- 
 land," 21 
 
 " Kings and Queens of France," 
 21 
 
 " La Grenouilliere," 34 
 
 Lamps, 21 
 
 Landre, Mrs., 42, 43, 63 
 
 Lane Delph, 32, loo 
 
 Lane End, 35, 94, 102 
 
 Lathe, 7 
 
 Le Brun, 48 
 
 Leeds, 40 
 
 Leg amputated, 10 
 
 Leghorn, 11 
 
 Leipsic, 11 
 
 Liverpool, 7, 8, 9 
 
 Lochee, 43 
 
 Lockett, J., 109 
 
 London, 7, 9, 10, 27, 34, 49, 
 
 94, 99, 100 
 Lustre ware, 15, 79-81 
 
 Manzolini, 44 
 
 Mangiarotti, 43 
 
 Marbled ware, 9, 29, 30, 31 
 
 Marks, 80, 81, 83, 87, 88, 89, 
 
 94, 96, 98, 100, loi, 105, 106, 
 
 108, III 
 " Masks, Chimaeras, etc.," 58 
 Materials, 17 
 Mayer, 29 
 Medallions 9, 20, 21, 45, 46, 
 
 63-70 
 
 Medals, 21 
 
 Metallic oxides, 54 
 
 Meteyard, Miss, 35, 37, 41, 55, 
 
 57 
 Minton, Thos., 105 
 " Miscellaneous," 58 
 Monglott, J., 87, 88 
 Mortars, 22, 82 
 Mottled ware, x-j, 29, 30, 31, 
 
 41 
 Moulds, 30, 56, 58, 60, 62, 70 
 Mountings, 56, 57, 88. 
 
 Naples, 11. 
 
 Narva, 11. 
 
 Neale, J., 99-101, no. 
 
 Neale and Palmer, 48, 99-101. 
 
 New England, 27. 
 
 Newfield, 85. 
 
 Newport St., 10. 
 
 New York, ii. 
 
 Niccolo, 46. 
 
 "Old Wedgwood," 58 
 Oriental ware, 5. 
 "Ornamental wares," 10, 16, 18, 
 19, 20, 43, 44, 56, 88. 
 
 Pacetti, 43, 87. 
 
 Palmer, H., 12, 99-101. 
 
 Parker, R., 43. 
 
 Parker, T., 42. 
 
 Patent, 11, 48. 
 
 Patterns, 37, 
 
 Peart, 43. 
 
 Pearl white ware, 17, 79-81. 
 
 " Period of Perfection," 87. 
 
 " Pickle leaves," 26. 
 
 " Pierced and gilt," 37. 
 
 Pingo, 43. 
 
 Pitcher moulds, 15, 56. 
 
 Plinths, 46. 
 
 Porcelain, 13, 33, 41, 54. 
 
 Portland, Duke of, 62. 
 
 Portland, Duchess of, 61. 
 
 "Portland House," 11, 34. 
 
 " Potteries, The," 41, 77, 91. 
 
 " Punched work," 37, 39, 40. 
 
 "5 
 
INDEX 
 
 Queen Catherine, 33, 34 
 Queen Charlotte, 32, 80. 
 " Queen's ware," 32, 33, 35, 36. 
 
 Randle, 7, 
 
 Ratisbon, ii. 
 
 Red-ware, 7 
 
 Revel, II. 
 
 " Resist ware," 80. 
 
 Rhead Bros., 99. 
 
 Rhodes, Mr., 48. 
 
 Riga, II. 
 
 Rome, 43, 44. 
 
 " Roman History," 58. 
 
 Rosso-Antico, 17, 77. 
 
 Roubiliac, L. F., 48. 
 
 Russian service, 34. 
 
 S. W. & Co., 108. 
 
 " Sacrifices," 58. 
 
 Sadler and Green, 7, 36, 38. 
 
 Salt Glaze ware, 91. 
 
 Sanderson, Mr. A., 61. 
 
 St. Martin's Lane, 10, ii. 
 
 St. Petersburg, 11. 
 
 St. Stephens, 35. 
 
 Screws, 50. 
 
 Shaftesbury, Lord, 61. 
 
 Shaw's " Hist, of the Staff Pot- 
 teries," 32. 
 
 Shells, 80. 
 
 Sibson, Dr., 59. 
 
 " Silvered ware," 79, 80. 
 
 Simcock, 48. 
 
 Smith, Wm., 108. 
 
 " So. for Abolition of Slavery," 
 12. 
 
 " Solid Agate," 31. 
 
 " Sovereigns of Macedonia," 58. 
 
 Spain, 33. 
 
 Spode, J., 25. 
 
 "Sprigging," 56. 
 
 Staffordshire, 8, 13, 40, 41, 80, 
 90, 97, no. 
 
 Steele, A., 48. 
 
 Steel, D., no. 
 
 Stephan, P., 43. 
 
 Stockton, 106, 108. 
 
 Stoke, 102. 
 
 Stoneware, 5, 7, 17, 28, 102, 
 
 103, 
 " Surface Agate," 31. 
 
 Tablets, 20, 22, 49, 59, 60, 61, 
 
 63-70. 
 Taylor, C, 48. 
 Tassie, J., 43, 57. 
 Tea, 27, 86, 87. 
 Tea and Coffee services, 19, 20, 
 
 22, 26, 27, 28, 37. 
 Tea caddies, 25, 40. 
 Templetown, Lqdy, 43, 63. 
 Terra-cotta, 70. 
 " Terrines," 2 
 
 "The Old China Book," 30. 
 " Thumb moulds," 56. 
 Tiles, 41. 
 
 Tomlinson, 106-108. 
 Tortoise-shell ware, 2. 
 Transfer printing, 7. 
 Turin, 11. 
 Turner, J., 29, 35, 88, 90, 102- 
 
 105, no. 
 Turner, J. and W., 104. 
 " Twigged work," 39. 
 
 Undercutting, 46. 
 Unwin, Ralph, 48. 
 " Useful wares," 10, 14, 18, 19, 
 20, 40, 41, 42, 44, 88, 112. 
 
 Valencia, ii. 
 
 Vases, 22, 40, 44, 45, 46, 48, 49, 
 
 58, 59, 62, 85, 87, 96 
 Venice, n. 
 Versailles, n. 
 Voyez, J., 42, 95-98, 100. 
 
 Warburton, J., 90, 91, 92, 93, 
 
 94, ro2. 
 Warburtons, The, 29, 33, 90- 
 
 94- 
 Warehouse, 10. 
 " War of Troy," 58. 
 Washington, G., 13. 
 Watson, Edw., 43. 
 Webber, H., 15, 43, 62. 
 
 Z16 
 
INDEX 
 
 "Wedgwood and Co.," io6- 
 
 io8. 
 " Wedgwood and Bentley," 12, 
 
 18, 20, 22, 47, 98. 
 Wedgwood, Josiah, 1-16. 
 Wedgwood, Ralph, 106, 108. 
 Wedgwood, Sarah, 7, lo, 13. 
 Wedgwood, Thomas and Mary, 
 
 I. 
 Wedgwood, Thomas, (cousin), 
 
 5, 10, 14, 18. 
 Westmacott, 43. 
 
 Whieldon, Thomas, 3, 4, 5, 24, 
 
 25, 29. 
 White ware, 17. 
 Wilcox, Mr. and Mrs., 48. 
 Will's sale, 45, 47, 57, 59, 60, 
 
 86, 88, loi, 103, 104. 
 Wilson, C, 100. 
 Wilson, R., 100. 
 Wood, A., 25. 
 Wood, Wra., 62. 
 Wyatt, 43. 
 
 117 
 
XI 
 
 OS 1 
 

 
 .•' aO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 %.^' -^-^ ^o/ -^'^ %.^^ -^I^^^ %/ 
 
 
 
 
 ^^<^ 
 
 ^ /. 
 
 "^^ cV 
 
 
 
 'o^v* i 
 
 
 
 
 
 BOOKBINCHNC 
 Ufamville Pa __, -_, ^ ,\