Wedgwood, Staffordshire and Bassalt Pottery
Whilst in no way a generic group, this rather contrived category of ceramics bridges
the gap between the early (18th century and earlier) Continental and domestic pottery
and the so called Art Potters of the later 19th century. Something of a catch all
that includes Staffordshire pearlware and pottery portrait figures, transfer decorated
wares and a whole series of hybrid pottery porcelain bodies such as jasper wares
and their ilk, the black basalts and even parian ware.
A Staffordshire pearlware performing bear group.
There were a multitude of Staffordshire pot houses that catered for the whole spectrum
of tastes from the often complex groups on table bases produced by Obadiah Sherratt
and his contemporaries. Subject matter included Bull Baiting and Dancing Bears as
well as amusing social commentary pieces such as Tee Total, Ale Bench and the Tithe
Pig Group. Reflecting the popular culture of the time, there were portrait groups
of the famous and infamous whether it be royalty, admiralty, opera singers or criminals
and, of course, the ubiquitous Staffordshire Spaniel.
A Crimean Period Staffordshire pottery figure Napoleon and Albert.
The invention of transfer printing transformed the ceramic industry, allowing it
to produce multiple copies of engraved images onto a ceramic body. Invented in the
1750s, primarily for use on porcelain, by the end of the century it was more widely
used on pottery.
A blue and white plate transfer decorated with The Durham Ox, circa 1810.
Initially Chinese inspired designs were favoured but the heyday came during the
first three or four decades of the 19th century, with improvements in the technique
and the use (or sometimes misuse of) existing engravings. These vintage years included
named and recognisable topographical views both home and abroad, flora, fauna and
humour and literary subjects being popular. Perhaps the most desirable pieces from
this period are the Durham Ox, the Shipping Series or the Indian Sporting Series.
The advent of the 1842 Copyright Law was good news to engravers and publishers,
but bad news for enterprising and plagiarising potters. The decades afterwards saw
a decline in quality and a drift into rather romanticised pseudo Oriental or Continental
views and rather a raft of seemingly identikit designs cobbled together from accumulated
engraved 'spare parts'.
A Wedgwood rosso antico teapot.
King of the hybrid body was undoubtedly Josiah Wedgwood who invented the
black basalt in 1768 and in the following decade the ever popular jasperware, rosso
antico, porphyry and cane ware bodies all utilised for all manner of decorative
vases and urns, useful table wares, bas relief plaques for collectors and furniture
makers alike with a heavy bias towards classical Greco Roman decoration.
A Wedgwood blue jasper ware vase decorated with The Apotheosis of Homer.
Both the decoration and these 'new' bodies were much mimicked by other makers and
had an almost endless period of popularity with black basalt and various shades
of jasper ware still in production today.
A Copeland parian bust The Veiled Bride, dated 1861.
Whilst Wedgwood in turn used the primarily white bisque porcelain or parian body,
it was not one that he was responsible for; that accolade initially was Sevres,
but during the 1840s Minton and Copeland started manufacture of parian, largely
as a result of the opportunities offered by the invention of Cheverton's reducing
machine – a sort of large etch-a-sketch contraption that allowed accurate small
reproductions to be made of existing statuary. Especially popular amongst the Art
Unions, many domestic factories produced a range of parian 'sculpture', peak production
being between 1850 and 1900.
Specialists
 | Nic Saintey
Department Head
|  | Andrew Thomas
Ceramics and Glass Expert
|