Wedgewood pottery can trace their roots back to 1759 when an man by the name of Josiah Wedgewood founded a pottery after working in the industry. The company was started with funds from a dowry that he received from a marriage to a distant cousin, which gave him the much needed funds to establish the company. His early success gained him the attention of the British Queen consort, which gave him permission to use the term Queen’s Ware. This sort of publicity helped his business to continue to grow and sales were strong all over Europe.
Wedgewood was known for perfecting techniques in the design of pottery, especially as it relates to regulating kiln temperatures. His most notable work was the Jasperware which was a beautiful blue which looked similar to cameo glass. In 1783, mainly because of his contributions to pottery were so prevalent, he was elected to the Royal Society.
After Josiah Wedgewood passed the company passed through the Wedgewood family and they were directly involved in the company all the way up until the 1986 when the company was sold to Waterford Glass. Unfortunately tough times hit in the 2008 financial crisis and the company was sold off to a company called KPS Capital Partners and 1500 of the company’s 1800 employees were laid-off.
Today the company continues to focus on their higher-end pieces but many pieces from its earliest days were preserved and are currently held at the Wedgewood Museum.
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— Wedgewood Blue Jasper
— Wedgewood Bowls
— Wedgewood Cornucopia
— Wedgewood Enoch
— Wedgewood Plates
— Wedgewood Tea Pots