Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery.Ashton, T. S. (1948). The Industrial Revolution 1760–1830, p. 81
The renewed classical enthusiasms of the late 1760s and early 1770s were of major importance to his sales promotion.McKendrick 1982, p. 113 His expensive goods were in much demand from the upper classes, while he used emulation effects to market cheaper sets to the rest of society.McKendrick 1982, p. 105. Every new invention that Wedgwood produced – green glaze, creamware, black basalt, and jasperware – was quickly copied.McKendrick 1982, p. 107. Having once achieved efficiency in production, he obtained efficiencies in sales and distribution.McKendrick 1982, p. 108. His showrooms in London gave the public the chance to see his complete range of tableware.Rendell, Mike (2015). "The Georgians in 100 Facts". p. 40. Amberley Publishing Limited
Wedgwood's company never made porcelain during his lifetime, but specialised in fine earthenwares and stonewares that had many of the same qualities, but were considerably cheaper. He made great efforts to keep the designs of his wares in tune with current fashion. He was an early adopter of transfer printing which gave similar effects to hand-painting for a far lower cost. Meeting the demands of the consumer revolution that helped drive the Industrial Revolution in Britain, Wedgwood is credited as a pioneer of modern marketing. He pioneered direct mail, money-back guarantees, self-service, free delivery, buy one get one free, and illustrated catalogues.
A prominent abolitionist fighting slavery, Wedgwood is remembered too for his Am I Not a Man and a Brother? anti-slavery medallion, which had been commissioned by Joseph Hooper, a founder of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The medallion used the design from that society.
Wedgwood was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family, and he was the grandfather of Charles and Emma Darwin.
Biography Early life
There were several related Wedgwood families in the village of Burslem, which around 1650 was the main centre of Staffordshire Potteries. Each pot-works had one bottle kiln. Thomas Wedgwood set up the Churchyard Works, near St John's parish church. In 1679 the business went to his son of the same name, master potter and churchwarden who bought a family pew, whose son Thomas, born in 1685, married Mary Stringer around 1710. She was the daughter of Josiah Stringer, a dissenting minister whose church had been outlawed by the Corporation Act, but preached occasionally. The young Thomas and Mary moved to a small pot-works for producing moulded ware. After his father died in 1716, they moved back to the Churchyard Works. Their first son, Thomas, was born in 1716, Catherine was born in 1726, and Josiah was their thirteenth and last child.
The children were baptised in the parish church; Josiah was baptised on 12 July 1730, probably his date of birth. Though her husband continued to occupy the pew, Mary brought them up with the values taught by her father, who held that "knowledge based on reason, experience, and experiment was preferable to dogma." Josiah went with the others to dame school then, around 1737 when able to walk to and from Newcastle-under-Lyme about distant, he went with them to the school there of Mr and Mrs Blunt, who were reputably Puritans.
After his father died in June 1739, Josiah finished school then, at about the usual age, began an informal apprenticeship and learnt to "throw" pots on the potter's wheel. When nearly twelve, he suffered a severe bout of smallpox which affected his right knee, but recovered sufficiently to get a formal indenture on 11 November 1744, serving as an apprentice potter under his eldest brother Thomas, who had taken over the Churchyard Works. Josiah resumed potter's wheel work for a year or two until his knee pains returned, causing him to turn to moulded ware and small ornaments. His brother thought his ideas of improvements unnecessary, and turned down his proposed partnership, so in 1751 or 1752 Josiah worked as a partner and manager in a pot-works near Stoke.
Late life Several potters locally used practical chemistry to innovate, and Wedgwood very soon went into partnership with Thomas Whieldon, who made high value small items such as snuff boxes. After six months of research and preparation, Wedgwood developed an exceptionally brilliant green glaze, and there was immediate demand for products with this glaze. Like his partner, Wedgwood occasionally took samples to Birmingham wholesalers to get orders, making business contacts. Unfortunately a knee injury spread to general inflammation, forcing him to convalesce in his room for several months. He took this as an opportunity to extend his education, reading literature and science books. His studies were helped by repeated visits from Wiliam Willet, minister of Newcastle-under-Lyme Meeting House, who had married Wedgwood's sister Catherine in 1754; "a man of extensive learning and general acquirements". Josiah attended this English Presbyterian chapel, later known as Unitarian, and was a friend of Willet. – Historical events
Around 1759, Wedgwood expanded his Burslem business, renting Ivy House Works and cottage from his distant cousins John and Thomas. They were often visited by their brother Richard Wedgwood, a wealthy Congleton cheesemonger, along with his daughter Sarah. She had been well educated, as was Unitarian practice, soon "Jos" wrote to his "loving Sally".
On a business trip in 1762, Wedgwood had another knee accident. After attention from a surgeon, he was accommodated by Thomas Bentley, who would become his close business associate. While recuperating, he met the chemist Joseph Priestley, who became a close friend, and discussed his dissenting theological ideas. In May Wedgwood began a long correspondence with Bentley, writing from Burslem, and moved into larger premises, the Brick House Works and dwelling. During negotiations for the proposed Trent and Mersey Canal, Wedgwood met and befriended Erasmus Darwin (Robert's father), whose family long remembered as saying that Unitarianism was "a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian". After more problems with his knee, Wedgwood had his leg amputated on 28 May 1768.Darwin, C. R. (1879), Preliminary notice. In Ernst Krause, Erasmus Darwin. Translated from the German by W. S. Dallas, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin. London: John Murray, pp. 44–45.
The Etruria Works built at the canal opened in June 1769, in July the family moved there. For several months they stayed in Little Etruria, a house built for Bentley's use, then they moved into the just completed Etruria Hall.
Marriage and children Wedgwood had wooed his distant cousin Sarah (1734–1815) since first meeting her, but her father Richard wanted to ensure his prospective son-in-law had sufficient means, and insisted on long negotiation by attorneys over the marriage settlement. Then, "Jos" and "Sally" were married on 25 January 1764 at Astbury parish church, near Congleton. They had eight children:
Susannah Wedgwood (3 January 1765 – 1817), known to the family as "Sukey", married Robert Darwin and became the mother of the English naturalist Charles Darwin. Charles married Emma Wedgwood, his first cousin. John Wedgwood (1766–1844), joined the business rather reluctantly, being mainly interested in horticulture Richard Wedgwood (1767–1768) (died as a child) Josiah Wedgwood II (1769–1843) (father of Emma Wedgwood Darwin, first cousin to and wife of Charles Darwin) Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805), best known as a pioneer photographer Catherine Wedgwood (1774–1823) (no children) Sarah Wedgwood (1776–1856) (no children, very active in the abolition movement and founding member of Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves, the first anti-slavery society for women) Mary Anne Wedgwood (1778–86) (died as a child) As a Unitarian, aware of legal constraints on nonconformists getting education, Wedgwood supported dissenting academies such as Warrington Academy, where he gave lectures on chemistry, and was made a professor of metallurgy. The older children first went to school in 1772; the boys to Hindley, while Sukey went to a dame school in Lancashire along with his niece, the daughter of Mrs. Willet. In 1774 he sent his son John to the Bolton boarding school run by the Unitarian minister Philip Holland, followed by young Josiah the next year, and Tom in 1779.
Career and work Pottery
Wedgwood was keenly interested in the scientific advances of his day and it was this interest that underpinned his adoption of its approach and methods to revolutionise the quality of his pottery. His unique glazes began to distinguish his wares from anything else on the market.
By 1763, he was receiving orders from the highest-ranking people, including Queen Charlotte. Wedgwood convinced her to let him name the line of pottery she had purchased "Queen's Ware", and trumpeted the royal association in his paperwork and stationery. Anything Wedgwood made for the Queen was automatically exhibited before it was delivered.McKendrick 1982, p. 121. In 1764, he received his first order from abroad. Wedgwood marketed his Queen's Ware at affordable prices, everywhere in the world British trading ships sailed. In 1767 he wrote, "The demand for this sd. Creamcolour, Alias, Queen Ware, Alias, Ivory, still increases – It is amazing how rapidly the use of it has spread over the whole Globe."
He first opened a warehouse at Charles Street, Mayfair in London as early as 1765 and it soon became an integral part of his sales organization. In two years, his trade had outgrown his rooms in Grosvenor Square.McKendrick 1982, p. 118. In 1767, Wedgwood and Bentley drew up an agreement to divide decorative wares between them, the domestic wares being sold on Wedgwood's behalf.Coutts, Howard. The Art of Ceramics. European Ceramic Design 1500–1830, p. 180. A special display room was built to beguile the fashionable company. Wedgwood's in fact had become one of the most fashionable meeting places in London. His workers had to work day and night to satisfy the demand, and the crowds of visitors showed no sign of abating.McKendrick 1982, p. 119. The proliferating decoration, the exuberant colours, and the universal gilding of rococo were banished, the splendours of baroque became distasteful; the intricacies of chinoiserie lost their favour. The demand was for purity, simplicity and antiquity.McKendrick 1982, p. 114. To encourage this outward spread of fashion and to speed it on its way Wedgwood set up warehouses and showrooms at Bath, Liverpool and Dublin in addition to his showrooms at Etruria and in Westminster.McKendrick 1982, p. 120. Great care was taken in timing the openings, and new goods were held back to increase their effect.
The most important of Wedgwood's early achievements in vase production was the perfection of the black stoneware body, which he called "basalt". This body could imitate the colour and shapes of Etruscan or Greek vases which were being excavated in Italy. In 1769, "vases was all the cry" in London; he opened a new factory called Etruria, north of Stoke. Wedgwood became what he wished to be: "Vase Maker General to the Universe".McKendrick 1982, p. 140. Around 1771, he started to experiment with Jasperware, but he did not advertise this new product for a couple of years.