Wedgwoodware
Wedgwoodware refers to ceramic products that follow the style of the English manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood , especially the colored jasperware , some of which are covered with white . These are different variants of earthenware and other, harder types of ceramic. Earthenware was developed in England on the basis of the older "white salt-glazed stoneware" and Wedgwood brought it closer to porcelain. His company, founded in 1757, soon took on industrial characteristics. At the same time he created a new stoneware style by following the change in taste of his contemporaries to classicism , drawing inspiration from ancient models and striving for the highest artistic quality by drawing on designers such as John Flaxman . They now preferred clear, even lines instead of bizarre rococo motifs, elegant instead of voluminous expansive forms, finely reliefed instead of brightly painted surfaces.
Around 1765 he first produced creamware , a cream-colored earthenware. Its thin application of glaze made the delicacy of the relief stand out more clearly. The delivery of a dining service to Queen Charlotte also coined the term Queens-ware. Further developments were called “Pearl-Ware” and “White-Ware”. In addition, Wedgwood developed a very hard, fine-grained body colored black with manganese and iron salts, which could be shaped with great precision and remained unglazed. Commercially available as basalt or Egyptian Black , it was also imitated outside of Staffordshire. Wedgwood has been using pastel-colored materials for its vessels and decorative elements since around 1775: compounds containing heavy pathways and colored through with metal oxides were processed into unglazed goods that were given a matt, biscuit-like surface. The colors used were predominantly matt blue, but also sea green, yellow and gray. Like the basalt ware, this jasper ware was partly decorated with reliefs made of white clay. Basalt ware and jasper ware are often categorized as earthenware, but they are more densely sintered , watertight and therefore better to be classified as stoneware or as soft porcelain .
Today the traditional brand is part of WWRD United Kingdom Limited, but only part of the production still has something to do with Wedgwoodware , its appearance, the old patterns and the classic Wedgwood technique. The letters WWRD in today's company name stand for Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton, the three traditional brands that are united here under one roof.
The widespread ceramic tableware from Enoch Wedgwood (Tungstall) Ltd. which was also operated under the brand name Wedgwood & Co. Ltd. until 1965 . was sold, it is not the generally higher quality Wedgwoodware . This is often misrepresented, especially on auction and classifieds pages, whether accidentally or knowingly.
literature
- Wolf Mankowitz: Wedgwood , London 1966
- Gustav Weiß: Ceramic Lexicon , Berlin 1984 (on technology)