Erasmus Darwin, Master of Invention and Wedgwood family member

I've said this before, but won't make you figure out where, [actually it's simple, just go to the search bar at the bottom of this page and type in the single word Darwin] it never ceases to amaze me how often we still see or read references to the Darwin family.  As a member of the Wedgwood family, of course we are interested in Charles, but maybe not everyone realizes his grandfather was the famous Erasmus Darwin, who, along with Josiah Wedgwood, was a founder of The Lunar Society, as well as inventor, botanist, poet, scientist and I'm sure other descriptions could be found.  His home in Lichfield, where he lived for nearly 25 years, is a Grade 1 listed property hidden away and open to visitors.  From now til 9 September 2012 entry to the house museum is free to the public.  The great website www.erasmusdarwin.org will give one a good deal of information.  If you are headed to the UK, [after the hubub of the fabulous Olympics and Jubilee celebrations have subsided, it might be the time to go] and are interested in the full Darwin story, the science and the beautiful historic home, you might want to visit the website for further details.  There are plenty of other things to see in Lichfield such as Tudor, Palladian, Georgian and Victorian architecture and of course there is a beautiful cathedral, and one can view the place where the last man to be burned at the stake for heresy, in 1612, met his fate.

Going here will bring up another very interesting website on the subject of Erasmus Darwin and one will discover a link to another book about him, Sex, Science and Serendipity sounds very interesting! The website and the book are brought to us by respected Oxford University Press.

In 1808 Robert Waring Darwin, Josiah's son in law, husband of his daughter Susannah,  bought a brown transferware dinnerware set in a botanical - themed pattern named Lily (sometimes seen as Lilly or Water Lily).  Thus this set has become associated with the Darwin family.  It was later discontinued in the brown colorway and produced in blue in pretty good volume.  The pattern was redesigned and reintroduced several times, as late as 1927.  To adorn your home with Darwin interest plates, try these beautiful Water Lilly plates, available for sale from our website at http://www.alexisantiques.com/browse/view.php?item=WWL705A.  There are a number of versions of this plate, it was produced in light blue on cream, and a gorgeous polychrome version which is a stunning plate in browns, oranges and yellow.  The black and cream Queensware plates we have on offer at present would be a gorgeous addition to many decorative schemes, and certainly in an environment of botanical or scientific interest they could anchor a beautiful wall display.  These black and gray on cream plates are a bit more rare than the other colorways, we rarely see this version on the market or in Wedgwood reference books.  Enjoy exploring the Darwins, their connection to the Wedgwoods and the world of science in which they played such important roles.  We have other blog posts about the Darwin and Wedgwood families, maybe a good scroll through our posts would reveal some other information that you haven't seen before.  Enjoy and let us know if we can be of service to you!