Visit the Wedgwood Zoo

Here is some nice information about a Wedgwood artist whose work is not too well known except to those who specifically collect his works. This is from The End of History Shop's (NYC) blog: John Skeaping was born in Essex in l90l and studied at Blackheath School of Art. Eventually he became a scholar at the Royal Academy School and in l924 he won the Prix de Rome. On his return to England in l926 he was introduced to Frank Wedgwood, wherein Skeaping was commissioned to model a series of animal studies for the venerable Wedgwood company. Among the designs, the "Sleeping Monkeys" figurine seen here. Made in 1927, glaze is a subtle celadon green & measures 7" X 7".

Click the title of this post to see the gorgeous photo that accompanies this entry. Or you can go here to see a beautiful creamware deer by Skeaping right on our site.
You can go HERE to see the listing on our site for this great Kruger National Park plate. We have lots of items with lions, just Browse Inventory using the word LION to see what else we have in stock. Or use the word DEER for some other things.

PRESS ONCE AGAIN ABUZZ WITH WEDGWOOD MUSEUM MESS

Tonight's press is full of new articles about the folly the British Government is trying to foment against the award winning, historically critical Wedgwood Museum. Click this post title for another well-written article by Tristram Hunt, MP for Stoke Central. He is excellent at articulating the situation and the ramifications of an incorrect decision. Go to http://www.savewedgwood.org/ to make yur voice heard on the subject!

(1/27/80) Here is a quote from the UK Telegraph on the Museum situation: "Threat to Wedgwood

SIR – I am fully aware of the Wedgwood Museum’s unfortunate situation (report, January 22) and recognise the implications for the people of Stoke-on-Trent, the Wedgwood family and part of the nation’s heritage.

My department has given full assistance to the museum, including grants of over £275,000 and ongoing expert advice. I have also written to the new owners of the Wedgwood company to stress the national importance of the museum’s collection.

Like all concerned, I must now await the outcome of the court case to establish whether the museum may be liable to pay Wedgwood’s pension debt. If the courts decide against the museum, I will do all I can to bring the cultural sector together to attempt to secure the collection for the nation."

Ed Vaizey MP (Con)
Culture Minister, London SW1

WEDGWOOD PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS

In the course of preparing an appraisal on a gorgeous old portrait medallion of Erasmus Darwin, I was sent an interesting article about portrait medallions of members of the Royal Society. If you go here you can read the article and see some examples of old Wedgwood portrait medallions. If you click the title of this post, you'll see what we have in stock, which isn't a great deal right now. The portrait medallions are highly sought after by certain collectors who select a particular occupation or other category to collect. We have sold many over the years and the buyers are nearly always enthusiastic about their hobby as well as interested in some particular subject that the medallions represent. They can be a fun sub-category of Wedgwood collecting.
This Beethoven medallion is one of my favorites, even with the rather busy frame, which I normally don't like, but this one is very regal. The rust color is velvet, the gold is wood. You can go here and here to see another article about Portrait Medallions, this one specifically about royalty medallions. Enjoy!

WEDGWOOD AND WORLD WAR II

Some of you know I am a magazine addict, especially magazines with Wedgwood articles, ads and photos. I have collected a few issues of The Magazine Antiques from the World War II era which contain Wedgwood articles or references. One day it occured to me that the world was a black place in the months in which these issues, all sporting gorgeous covers, were published. It also occured to me to wonder how the world, those not directly fighting in or running the war, could go so blythely about their business, studying Wedgwood pots for heaven's sake, during such a time! I'd considered the question before, but the reality of the magazine covers struck some sort of chord that I couldn't ignore. One particular article, 'Sources of Wedgwood's Child Motifs', in the September, 1944 issue was written by the late Elizabeth Chellis who was an important contributor to Wedgwood scholarship for many years; her library is now held in the Birmingham (AL) Museum of Art, a vast and valuable resource for collectors, and her legacy to scholars for generations to come. I began to write a review of the article for the newsletter of the Wedgwood Society of Boston, in which Elizabeth and her family were and are active members, but couldn't get past the War; couldn't seem to get interested in reviewing the content of the article. I realized the title itself would tell collectors what the article contained, thus my musings became my article, trying to make sense of the context of the magazine in the world around my parents and grandparents, and all those others who were indelibly affected by the situation of the home front in September of 1944. The review was written nearly five years ago and in the interim I have begun transcribing my paternal grandfather's life-long diaries. I've been working on the World War II years for ages, I keep finding information, photos, cards, internet sites and other things to illustrate grandpa's world. In going through a magazine box recently I rediscovered these 1940s Antiques magazines, and now they are more relevant to me than ever. I am indeed transcribing the detailed minutiae of my grandparents' lives, set against the backdrop of The War. And the same musings keep falling into my brain! How could grandpa record the fact of my uncle's being with Bradley in France in 1945 in the same paragraph as saying that the refrigerator repairman failed to appear as appointed? Lives had to go on, life had to go on, war production and support efforts certainly occupied many minds and hands, but then there were the rest of the hours of the day and night. The Magazine Antiques certainly continued to forge ahead, announcing all the regular antiques shows, running the regular dealers' ads, and presenting great articles on varying subjects of interest to antiques aficionados. I am going to use some of the covers to illustrate the diary entries, perhaps others will let musings along these lines pop into their brains too! Here is the article I wrote, and I highly recommend if you are interested, try collecting some of these back issues from the 1940s! The covers are gorgeous and the early take on the antiques world is interesting too!

CLARE LEIGHTON ON WEDGWOOD GETTING MORE ATTENTION

Clare Leighton's New England Industries plates have been receiving quite a bit of press recently, perhaps because The Yale Center for British Art, in New Haven, CT, does such a great job of letting the world know about its holdings. Long a center for things British, as their name suggests, The Yale Center now contains the extensive archive of her prepatory work for the N E Industries series of Queen's Ware plates. There are many drawings for each scene, all of which characterize the various activities and enterprises undertaken in New England such as farming, grist milling, tobacco growing (who knew tobacco was grown in CT and VT?) and of course sugaring and others. This month's The Magazine Antiques, now in the mailboxes of subscribers, offers a very well illustrated and informative article on the subject of Clare's plates which begins on page 184. For Wedgwood collectors and Leighton fans, the article is well worth the price of the magazine on the stands if one doesn't subscribe. As an added bonus, the magazine also contains a splendid article on transfer printed wares, also well illustrated. On the back cover is a Jeff Bridgman ad for a splendid Civil War Flag and an ad from Stephen Score for a hand pieced appliqued cotton quilt called the Freedom Quilt, c1880. It is a magnificent quilt whose message is as vibrant today as when it was made! Both of these ads include gorgeous full color pictures of the items described. Enjoy this issue and learn so much about Clare and her prints & plates. I have received an inquiry from a lady who has a set of New England Industries plates for sale, just email me!
Here is a website if you can't wait to learn about Clare or don't have access to the magazine.