Saturday, November 29, 2008

More About Wedgwood, Part I, Author Unknown




I THINK I have never met a man or a woman with soul so dead as not to feel something of the charm and beauty of old Wedgwood. The modern product by that name is beautiful, but the old ware-the work of the original Josiah Wedgwood surpasses it, and there is apparent an increasing interest in it among amateur American antiquarians. Those of our American forefathers and foremothers who owned some of it were indeed fortunate. They possessed the best that was to be had. And those of us who have inherited a piece or two are even more fortunate.

The story of this greatest of English potters is inspiring, and his product was unquestionably the finest that England has ever produced, in workmanship, design, material, and color. When Josiah Wedgwood started in the potter's trade, most of the tables of the middle classes in England bore only crude clay dishes, pewter, and woodenware. Saltglaze ware was too costly, and it remained for Wedgwood to provide those tables with good ware, perfect in form and material, at a low cost. But he did far more than this. In his finer ware he created works of art that are still the envy of sincere craftsmen. The collection of old Wedgwood, therefore, is a collection not only of antiques, but of true works of art, that no changes in fads or fashions can ever render less valuable to the connoisseur.

Pictured above: A lovely, antique Wedgwood Jasperware Cobalt Dipped Etruscan Jug, Circa 1890-1910. See this and other antique Wedgwood at our CHShops Mall Store at: www.pennyspantry.net.

copperpenny22
cupenny@tds.net
www.pennyspantry.net



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