The story tells of a large English family in the middle of the 18th century: it was called Wedgwood and lived close to Stoke-on-Trent in the delightful county of Staffordshire. Believe it or not they had twelve children. Plus a pottery in Burslem. At first sight that was not particularly unusual for those times. The fact that the youngest offspring, called Josiah, just barely managed to survive smallpox, was also a common occurrence during this period. Nonetheless, the young lad was still able to be his father’s apprentice – but the illness severely weakened the boy’s knee. This meant that he was unable to operate the potter’s wheel on the floor, which was an essential tool for a potter.

Consequently, the young Josiah Wedgwood concentrated on designing the cups, plates and bowls instead of making them. The results soon paid off. Wedgwood took ideas and advice from leading experts of ceramics at that time, one of whom was Thomas Whieldon, who eventually became his partner. What do men do who cannot quench their thirst for action? They experiment.

It was in the year 1759 that Wedgwood began to look for a new kind of clay that would enable the reasonably priced production of durable tableware. It was four years before the future grandfather of the evolutionist Charles Darwin found the right mixture to meet these high demands.

Up until this point, besides the porcelain imported from China, Delft pottery was the market leader in Europe. Dutch manufacturers showed they could also offer quality. Both ornamental porcelain as well as everyday tableware sold splendidly on this side of the English Channel.

By comparison, Wedgwood’s ivory coloured articles were much more robust and less expensive. Besides, only one glazing was needed, whereas Delftware needed two layers. In addition, it was considerably easier to shape into the popular neo-classical forms than was porcelain or Delft pottery.

Wedgwood called his first material “creamware”, and its success, reaching into the highest echelons of British society, was exemplary. It wasn’t long before even Queen Charlotte made an order and, as a kind of reward, permitted Wedgwood to call his quality porcelain “Queen’s Ware”.

From this moment on, Wedgwood’s triumphal progress was unstoppable, Queen’s Ware became the talk of the town and of Europe’s salons. It is no wonder that a few years later a further prestigious order arrived at Burslem: Catherine the Great of Russia wished to receive a 952-piece set, the Green Frog Service. The imperial order of hand-painted landscapes was to be the most elaborate that Josiah Wedgwood ever produced with this type of earthenware.

Shortly after, Wedgwood began using unglazed black stoneware, “Black Basalt”, to make ornate vases and jugs in a shimmering matt black. Wedgwood hadn’t yet turned forty and was already known as “the father of the English ceramic industry”. At the end of the 18th century, ancient Greek vessels and their reproductions were particularly sought after and an absolute must in high society.

Unlike the porous earthenware available at that time, Wedgwood’s Black Basalt did not need glazing – it came out of the kiln smooth and impermeable, and was wonderfully suited to representing classical scenes from Greek mythology: red figure drawings in Etruscan style, just like the excavated antique porcelain from Italy that Wedgwood had seen.

Business was incredibly good and the ingenious company founder came up with another surprise: he invented another ceramic material that he called “Jasper”. This time it was a white, glass-like stoneware which, due to its fine density, was translucent and likewise didn’t need glazing. By using mineral oxide the mass could be stained blue, green, yellow, lilac or black.

The company founder Josiah Wedgwood suffered for the rest of his life under the long-term effects of his childhood bought of smallpox. Yet even though he had to have his right leg amputated between his invention of Black Basalt and Jasper, the small Wedgwood empire continued to flourish. Further factories were set up and the repertoire was expanded.
Josiah Wedgwood, who had always placed great importance on people of all classes being able to afford his precious products, passed the company on to his sons shortly before he died in 1795.