INTERESTING NEW HONOR FOR WEDGWOOD MUSEUM

Here is an interesting article about a great new honor for the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston. Our friend Gaye Blake Roberts is quoted in the article. Thanks to Google for the link to this BBC News article! I love Google! Click the title of this post to go directly to the article.

DEATHS IN THE WORLDWIDE WEDGWOOD COMMUNITY

On a sad note, the Wedgwood world has recently lost four long-time citizens whom we should remember and thank for their important contributions to the knowledge and enjoyment of the ceramics so many of us love to study and collect. May they rest in peace and love. Thank you to Adele Barnett, editor of the Capital Wedgwoodian, newsletter of the Wedgwood Society of Washington, DC, in whose next newsletter these items will also appear. We appreciate the sneak peek since I was working on my blog today.

B. F. (Ben) Sherman, Jr. (1923 - 2011): Ben Sherman of McLean, Virginia, was a founding and active member of the WSWDC and served on its Board as a director for seven years. For decades he attended the Wedgwood International Seminar, participated in WSWDC exhibitions, and was a collector of primarily early 20^th century Wedgwood artists. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946, Ben later earned a Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Stamford University and spent his long naval career mainly in submarines. He was commander of the USS Alexander Hamilton and a submarine commodore based in Scotland. After retiring from the Navy in 1943, Ben hiked the entire Appalachian Trail before embarking on a career developing educational toys as president of Orbix Corp. Ben leaves two sons and two grandchildren. He was 87 and will be missed by many, especially those of us among the local WSWDC membership.

Ronald H. Zimmerman (1944-2011): Ron Zimmerman of Kingsville, Maryland, was also a founding WSWDC member and very much involved in its activities and exhibitions. His love of Wedgwood was eclectic, but he especially gravitated toward colorful wares of all types and Napoleon Ivy patterns (Ron’s recently deceased partner, Alex Mowery, and also a member of the WSWDC collected Napoleonic memorabilia). Before he retired, Ron’s career was mostly in the publishing business. He enjoyed traveling and was a leader in his Lutheran church. Ron’s health deteriorated rapidly after Alex’s tragic death months prior. He was 66 and left no surviving relatives. Again, another dear friend of the WSWDC who will be sorely missed.

Milton I. (Mickey) Aion (1919 -2011): Mickey Aion of Rydal, Pennsylvania, was well known in Wedgwood circles. In 1969 he founded the first Wedgwood Collectors Society in collaboration with the Wedgwood firm. A jeweler by trade, Mickey created Wedgwood cameo-mounted pieces of which virtually every Wedgwoodian has an example. He also designed for Bing & Grondal porcelain and provided services for Lenox China. Mickey commissioned, among other wares, the blue jasper tray for Philadelphia’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beth Shalom Synagogue. He was a long-time member of the English Ceramics Study Group of Philadelphia and in recent years, the WSWDC honored him with complimentary membership for all his generous donations of Wedgwood wares, books, and ephemera. Mickey as 92 and leaves a daughter, Edith Weinstein, a son, Larry, and one grandchild. The WSWDC is grateful for all that Mickey contributed to the Society. Background information provided by Suzanne Rubin

Denbeigh Garrard (1940 -2011): Denbeigh Garrard of Australia was the president of the Wedgwood Society of New South Wales and a collector of Wedgwood jasperware, stamps, and DVDs. A doctor of medicine, he served in a number of capacities to include pathology registrar, general practice, and hospital superintendent, and served as a head deacon, elder, and Sabbath school leader. Denbeigh was 70 and leaves his wife, Bev, WSNSW secretary, two children and five grandchildren. Extracted from WSNSW “The Medallion”

RUSSIAN ELLE DECOR MAGAZINE FEATURES WEDGWOOD

Through our friends Lord Wedgwood, Adele Barnett of the Wedgwood Society of Washington, DC, Judy Jones of New South Wales and Paul Thomas, editor of the Wedgwood Society of New South Wales' newsletter The Medallion, comes this wonderful pdf file of the March issue of the gorgeous Elle Magazine Russian edition. The featured item is gorgeous photos of and commentary on the antiques-filled Philadelphia residence of Lord and Lady Wedgwood. Thank you to all who made the digitized version of this sumptuous article available to on-line Wedgwood aficionados, and of course to those of us who cannot visit Philadelphia or Russia! Enjoy! Be sure to click on the little "sticky note" symbols in the captions, that is where the translations of the text are found.

WEDGWOOD AT VILLA FINALE IN SAN ANTONIO

The National Trust for Historic Preservation owns and runs properties around the country and most are filled with unimaginable treasures. The NTHP publishes a great blog which I follow but I'd forgotten that Villa Finale in San Antonio had been featured there in the past. Click the title of this post to check out the blogpost link. Our late dear friend Gwen Steapp was a Wedgwood "pal" of Walter's and she talked often of his mentoring her and sharing his adventures in his collecting pursuits. The pictures on the Villa Finale website give an amazingly comprehensive glimpse of what is in store when one visits. I can't help but imagine that this will be one of the stops on the Wedgwood trail followed by the attendees of the 2012 Wedgwood International Seminar in San Antonio - slated for April 25 to 28, 2012..

WEDGWOOD MUSEUM TRUST NEWS

GO HERE to see an earlier status update of the Wedgwood Museum Trust pension fiasco and learn how YOU can help. Here is yet another article. PLEASE GO HERE NOW TO SEE HOW YOU CAN DIRECTLY & POSITIVELY IMPACT THE STRUGGLE FOR THE FUTURE OF THE WEDGWOOD MUSEUM, AND PLEASE READ DR. TRISTRAM HUNT'S ARTICLE, IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST WELL-WORDED OF ANYTHING RECENTLY PUBLISHED ON THIS VASTLY IMPORTANT SUBJECT. It is not only the Josiah Wedgwood & Sons employees who beseech us to help, but also the family itself. If the Museum's treasures are sold, that will include the FAMILY correspondence and papers also, lost to them and the Wedgwood admiring public, as well as historians of ceramics, Staffordshire, the Industrial Revolution, and so many more subjects! 10/26/10, it appears the Museum is getting a bit more proactive, check out their current court plans here. And WHILE WE STILL DO NOT HAVE A COURT DATE, GO HERE TO READ SOME OF THE PUBLICITY.

SEE SAVE THE WEDGWOOD MUSEUM on FACEBOOK & see another article here. Follow the Save The Museum news blogs. Here is another article, indicating the court date now may have been moved to Spring, which as of 3/22/11 is now untrue, it's been moved again, see blogpost of this date.

Check out one other article. as yet another family member weighs in on the subject, read here what Anne Makeig-Jones has added to the volume of opinion coming forth.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2011 IS NOW THE COURT DATE! NOTHING LIKE DRAGGING IT OUT!!!

LORD WEDGWOOD, MARTHA & A GOOD WEDGWOOD HISTORY

Martha Stewart and Piers, Lord Wedgwood have become friends along their way over the years, being a good team of Josiah Wedgwood & Sons advocates. Click the title of this post to read a good and accurate (accuracy often difficult to find on-line) article about the history of the company and various Wedgwood products. If you look through our posts, you'll see other articles about Piers, and photos of him too. At our website, www.alexisantiques.com, in our Featured Items section you'll see another good article about an appearance by His Lordship on Martha's TV show which features a piece of the Frog Service Reproduction Queen's Ware series which we loaned them for the show. Martha is a Wedgwood collector so her interest in the subject is not merely one of having another subject to highlight in her magazine and on her TV show, but also one closer to her heart as a collector. 5/19/11, the Ice Pail has sold, so this featured item frame will be gone, but the link above will take you to any Frog Service items we may have in stock at any one time. Today His Lordship is in Australia at a signing event and word has it that he's with our friends Colin Jones and Lee Bradshaw helping spread the Wedgwood spirit in that part of the world. Have fun fellows!