WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN IN THE WORLD OF WEDGWOOD DESIGN

WHAT'S OLD IS NEW AGAIN IN THE WEDGWOOD WORLD! Thanks to our friend Lord Pulford in Scotland and to The UK Telegraph we have learned of a new trend, but really it's not new. In the 1970s and 80s I decorated several dining rooms with fabric draperies and wallcoverings in gorgeous Wedgwood patterns, licensed to a famed wallcovering firm. They eventually disappeared but now check out http://www.blendworth.co.uk/wedgwood/ for some beautiful new fabrics and wallpapers reminiscent of the historic beauty of Wedgwood classical looks. (click order samples tab to see all the various patterns on offer.)

 And for a better overview of the subject of reviving older products and styles, go here to read in depth about the renaissance of home and fashion styles from the past. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/design/98075/meet-the-design-czars-turning-homeware-brands-around.html
The classic beauty of historic Wedgwood will live on in these new trends as the young forward-thinking designers look back to history for their inspiration.  What's old is indeed new again.  For a sample of the earlier version of drapery fabric, in this case the Columbia bone china pattern, see http://www.alexisantiques.com/browse/view.php?item=WW071
and yet another, albeit newer, fun home fashion accessory which matches the Wedgwood Grand Gourmet series of wine and champagne label plates, see http://www.alexisantiques.com/browse/view.php?item=WW070

Home fashion based on exquisite china patterns of old is a re-emerging trend these days; let's all be glad the younger designers are looking to the past both for marketing ideas as well as design creativity and embrace their work!

Newly renovated Barlaston Wedgwood site to reopen next month

The new Wedgwood campus with new exhibits, new displays, new activities, a new tea room and more is set to open on 17th July.  Formerly it was scheduled to open in May, but due to construction concerns that date was pushed up to next month.  Read the full article, courtesy of our ever-viligant Scottish friend Laird Pulford, who forwarded it to us today.  See the article here and thank you Sir P! 

ANNOUNCING THE NEW WEDGWOOD BARLASTON EXPERIENCE

The opening day is coming closer, and the press releases are starting to pop up.  Here is one just found today, check it out.  Let's hope they are really ready to open mid-July as claimed.  Opening was already delayed once.  Enjoy reading about what we have to look forward to!

VICTORIAN TASTE, WEDGWOOD MAJOLICA & WILLIAM THE SILENT

Here from our friend Lord Anthony Pulford of Glencoe, Scotland, is another interesting article he has shared for our enjoyment.  Thank you Lord Anthony for your continuing interest in Wedgwood and Alexis Antiques, and for your thorough and entertaining research!  Photos courtesy of the author. 

 VICTORIAN TASTE

                                                                     ---------------------

  The portrait medallion of William The Silent, Prince of Orange (1533-1584) taken from an engraving based on the painting by Michiel Mierevelt was first listed in the Wedgwood catalogue of 1788 and has been reproduced a number of times.

  The jasperware example is marked WEDGWOOD only and dates from c1860 but, by the 1870's, the Victorian taste for brightly coloured and decorative items had largely replaced the severe lines of classic jasperware.  The second example, of the same subject, dating from c1875 and also marked WEDGWOOD only, reflects this change in taste and is produced in the majolica body.  So popular did this form of decoration prove that, throughout the 1870's, almost every class of ware was made in majolica and, reportedly, outnumbered all other ornamental wares.

  By the 1880's, the number of paintresses employed had almost doubled, mainly with girls recruited from the government art schools.  They showed great skill in painting the moulded details of the piece although the same may not be said of the mould-maker who obviously had some difficulty applying the inscription.

  Majolica continued to be produced at Etruria into the 20th Century but output declined partly in response to government pressure to reduce the high lead content of the glazes used in production.

WWRD acquired by famed FISKARS - PRESS RELEASE

We've all been waiting to see who would buy the WWRD holdings, which include Waterford and Wedgwood of course, and now the news is out.  GO HERE to see the Press Release.  Hopefully this will bring a worldwide market for great British products, time will certainly tell!  Also, we have just learned that the predicted opening of the new Wedgwood compound at Barlaston has been delayed past the original expected date.  More on that as we hear details.

WEDGWOOD INSTITUTE, BURSLEM, REFURBISHMENT BEGINS

Here is an excellent article with beautiful photos from the folks at BBC illustrating the beginning of the long-awaited refurbishment and repurposing of the well-known and loved Wedgwood Institute.  We have watched this story with great interest for a long time.  The building has many connections to Wedgwood, the man and the company, the city of Burslem, the arts in Staffordshire and much more since its original construction in 1869.  Let's hope the arts community will welcome this new venue and use it well.  Sarah Lewis, from English Heritage, said: "The Wedgwood Institute is one of the top 6% of listed buildings in the country for not only its architectural splendour but also the social history it embodies."

CURRENT WEDGWOOD EXHIBIT IN RUSSIA

There is currently a great exhibition of Wedgwood wares on display in Russia! I highly recommend visiting this site, even if for no other reason than the photos of the Wedgwood are gorgeous! The URL takes one to a video, worth the few moments it will take to watch!
http://uatoday.tv/entertainment/large-collection-of-wedgwood-porcelain-on-display-in-moscow-392382.html Of course the title of the article is incorrect, it is not "porcelain" on display, but check it out, you'll see what it is! ENJOY!  We'd love to hear from you if you are lucky enough to go to Russia to see this exhibit, we'd love to have a report from you to post for others.

LADY LEVER ART GALLERY PORT SUNLIGHT GARNERS NEW FUNDS

News of the recent award of Heritage Lottery Funds to the Lady Lever Gallery at Port Sunlight in Liverpool is most welcome to those of us who have had the privilege of visiting that wonderful gallery.  The article says it's the world's greatest collection of jasperware, which surprised me.  I can't dispute it because I do not know that statistic, but I believe other repositories likely have equally extensive collections of jasperware.  The most outstanding memory I have from my visit there were the very large oval Queensware plaques hand painted by George Stubbs.  They grace the walls of one of the galleries and it was amazing to stand in front of them and take in the beauty of Stubbs' incredible ability to portray the majestic horses.  The other amazing thing is that I am probably the only Beatles fan who went to Liverpool and saw NO Beatles sites!!!
Enjoy this article and the photos!

RARE STATUE OF JUPITER OR ZEUS BY WEDGWOOD - ON DISPLAY SOON

From one of our favorite UK publications, The Stoke Sentinel, comes an interesting article today about this statue which is very rare and beautiful.  Having visited The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, I am always amazed at their holdings, not just the Wedgwood of course, but the huge variety of ceramics in their holdings.  No trip to the Potteries should fail to include this Museum in Hanley, and if you are headed to the UK, later this month will be the time to visit The Potteries Museum.  See the article with lots of information about this gorgeous rendition of Jupiter, aka Zeus.  If any of our readers have one of these statues, we'd love to hear about it!  Send us an email!

ANOTHER REPORT ON WEDGWOOD MUSEUM SITUATION

Here is a good article from The Sentinel, one of my favorite UK publications, which explains the involvement of WWRD in the past and current situation surrounding the Wedwood Museum Trust.  It is self-explanatory and succinct.  Hope you enjoy catching up with the current status.

WEDGWOOD MUSEUM TRUST BACK IN THE NEWS - DONATIONS IMPORTANT

From the UK Telegraph comes one of the better articles I have seen in the past week or so about the new push to finish up raising the remainder of the funds needed to secure the future of the Museum treasures.  Check it out here, and make note of the beautiful illustrations.  At the end of the article is a link to a fund-raising site to help with the raising of the money. Thanks to my friend in England, Mary Beardmore, for sharing this link

with me.

Metropolitan Museum of Art holds interesting Wedgwood source documents

THIS LINK will lead our readers to an interesting drawing by John Flaxman, a source document for a Wedgwood tile decoration.  Click on the two links below the main display (object information) to see further information.  This drawing was donated in 1961 to The Met.  A shame that it wasn't donated to the Wedgwood Museum, as that would be the best place for source documents of Wedgwood designs to accumulate in this student's opinion, however, we all know donors can donate where they wish.  Unfortunately the person who annotated the drawing was afflicted with that stubborn, seemingly incurable disease we call "can't-read-or-spell-itis" - 'Wedgwood' contains that dratted incorrect, annoying extra E!  The RELATED OBJECTS tab will show the reader several more similar tiles after John Flaxman.  Wouldn't it be wonderful to see the fireplace around which these tiles resided????

BEAUTIFUL VIDEO SPANS THE CAREER OF PIERS, LORD WEDGWOOD OF BARLASTON

Presented by Waterford, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, this video was created upon the occasion of their Memorial Service for Lord Wedgwood.  Enjoy the beautiful photos... Piers loved bright, but elegant clothing, and had a wonderful sense of humor...his beautiful smile accompanies many images of his life of service to his family and family's historic company.  Enjoy the video!

UK SPCA BADGE OF OFFICE SURFACES at WEDGWOOD, BARLASTON

 

Staffordshire Parish Councils Association

             

    Established in 1939 just before the outbreak of war, the SPCA is believed to be the senior County Association of Local Councils in England.  The aim was to be a source of up-to-date information for Parish Councils and Town Councils to promote good local government and grassroots democracy.  It also provided a network of communication and lobbied on behalf of Parish Councils to represent their interests and offered free legal and financial advice.

   In 1998, a decision was made to commission two badges of office from Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, one each for the President and Chairman.  The badges, in Teal Green Jasper, feature a modified logo with the letters SPCA replaced on the scroll with the office-holder's title in gold.  The example illustrated is the President's badge of office and was discovered at Barlaston during an office clear out.  Further enquiries established that the office-holders are in possession of their badges and that this badge is a duplicate, either made as an insurance against accidents in firing or, possibly, not meeting the required standard (it has a minute chip on the reverse edge).  Whatever the reason, it was put away and its existence forgotten until now.

  With thanks to Mr Andrew McRae, CEO of the SPCA, for kindly providing information.

 

Thank you to Lord Anthony Pulford of Glencoe, Scotland for the research on this interesting Wedgwood item, and for allowing us to publish it here! 

PRINCE CHARLES TRUST HELPING SAVE A STOKE ON TRENT TREASURE

One of my favorite Staffordshire buildings is the Wedgwood Institute in Burslem, and here we learn that Prince Charles is helping to save this wonderful, historic building.  Check out the news here:  http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Prince-s-Regeneration-Trust-transform-Burslem-s/story-21266600-detail/story.html
If one googles around, a great deal of information about this building and its history and architecture is available.  Enjoy!

WEDGWOOD FAMILY HAD OTHER STARS - THOMAS' PHOTOGRAPHY

Most of us Wedgwood students know that Thomas Wedgwood is considered an important pioneer in the early discovery and development of photography, writing with light, but many others may not know this.  From yesterday's Birmingham (UK) Post comes an interesting article about Tom's early discovery and a story about the original photo he took.  The article is not too long and very enlightening, pardon the pun!

One can easily Google around to learn more about the early history of photography and the Wedgwood name will frequently appear.  We all know Josiah was a man of science but many may be surprised to learn his son Thomas was as well.

WEDGWOOD PRODUCES LORD WEDGWOOD PORTRAIT MEDALLION

From the Wedgwood & Sons Facebook page comes this lovely photograph of the commemorative Portrait Medallion produced to celebrate the life of the late Lord Wedgwood, Piers Anthony Weymouth Wedgwood, 4th Baron Wedgwood.  Should you be interested in purchasing this medallion, please contact airwedg@aol.com for information.  The company will be offering them for sale also, but we do not know exactly when or where, watch their Facebook page.

WEDGWOOD BUTTONS, FASCINATING FASTENERS

A recent article in the Webster-Kirkwood (MO) Times, the local paper of the town where I grew up, prompted me to search in my library for my books on buttons.  I once inherited a collection of old buttons from an elderly dressmaker here in St. Louis, but other than that have never been a collector of buttons. I have had in my own collection, and bought and sold in my business, many of the Wedgwood jasper buttons given out over the years as the attendance favor at Wedgwood International Seminars.  The WKT article tells about Missouri collectors and the Missouri State Button Society which can be reached at www.missouristatebuttonsociety.org.  The article relates some of the interesting history of buttons, a needed tool we pretty much take for granted in today's sophisticated high-tech world! Go here to read the article in full and see more illustrations.

While buttons began in use long before the 1700s, relatively few existing today are much over 300 years old.  Early buttons were used by men as personal adornment, limited only by their means.  Wedgwood jasper buttons certainly would fill that bill!  Until about 1840, women's clothes were fastened with hooks, laces and ties.  Men's buttons were made of metal, shell, cut stone, porcelain, wood, glass and leather.  Since the end of the Civil War button manufacturing in USA became a more important business since by then buttons were considered ornamentation for women's clothing as well as for men's. Women's buttons were, and in some cases are still, made of mother-of-pearl, shell, china, horn, bone and ivory.  During Victorian times small black glass buttons were very popular with women, in imitation of the black 'jet' worn by Queen Victoria after Albert's death.  There is a National Button Society, organized in 1938 and today has over 3300 members. [Thank you to St. Louis area button collector Shirley Case who furnished some of the information for this post and for bringing her buttons to the talk at which I met her.]

The February 1964 edition of The American Wedgwoodian, a publication of the Wedgwood International Seminar, has a very well-illustrated and informative article specifically about Wedgwood buttons by the authors of The Button Sampler by Lillian Smith Albert and Jane Ford Adams.  Another book which offers sections on Wedgwood buttons is The Collector's Encyclopedia of Buttons by Sally C. Luscomb, with Wedgwood buttons illustrated on the cover as well as in the article.  If you are a novice Wedgwood collector or experienced button collector, or somewhere in between, and buttons and Wedgwood interest you, these publications would be worth finding. Contact us through our website for a copy of the TAW article mentioned here. And a hint for you jewelry buffs, the WIS buttons make up as spectacular jewelry when mounted in interesting custom settings!

Photo courtesy Mrs. Sara Branton, buttons, private collection.

WEDGWOOD INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR HELD IN U. S. CAPITAL

Here is the recent POST SEMINAR PRESS RELEASE giving great information about the recent event in the Washington, DC area and how to join in the learning and fun of WIS at future Seminars.  The Publicity Chairman is our great friend Adele Barnett, Founder and former President of the Wedgwood Society of Washington, DC.

May 2014
Wedgwood – A Capital Affair
For the 59th year, Wedgwood enthusiasts gathered for the annual international conference
in late April, and as always, it did not disappoint. Held in Alexandria, Virginia, just
across the river from the U.S. capital city, attendees from all over America, Canada and
Australia enjoyed the wide range of activities the Wedgwood International Seminar
had to offer. The word “seminar” might illicit images of an academic setting – but it’s
somewhat of a misnomer these days. Indeed, these conferences offer lectures from
curators, professors, and other scholars, but there are equally as many presented by
collectors and students of Wedgwood. And there is much more that comprises the fourday
program as well, all of which makes the event appealing to a wide audience.
The 2014 agenda provided talks on subjects that ranged from the ancient Etruscan
influence on Wedgwood to life at the potteries in the 18th century to Wedgwood wares at
the World’s Fair to lamps from oil to light bulbs, and more. Also among the highlights of
the seminars are tours of public and private collections on display. This year two
members opened their homes for viewing of spectacular Wedgwood. The range of wares
demonstrated the wide appeal and reach of Wedgwood – from hundreds of plaques
decorating walls, to curios holding thousands of jasper objects, to smalls comprised of
tobacciana, mugs, and decanters to royalty wares, tiles, and magnificent planters.
This year’s seminar also paid tribute to the late Lord Wedgwood who passed away early
in the year and who was a supporter of the WIS and other Wedgwood-related
organizations. There was sufficient time built in for visits to sites in Washington, Mount
Vernon, and other museums and landmarks. Also of particular note was the fabulous and
abundant food at the lunches, breaks and dinners at the host hotel. And lastly, to satisfy
that buying itch, each night four dealers offered for sale virtually every type of
Wedgwood imaginable from prices that attracted the novice, as well as lured the
seasoned collector.
What sets Wedgwood apart from most other collectibles and artifact categories is the vast
range of wares from 18th century to current production, from highly decorative to useful,
and from price points of under $5 to more than five–figures. There is truly something for
everyone, regardless of one’s tastes, area of interest, collecting sophistication, or budget.
And the WIS caters to all these groups.

In addition to learning about and viewing Wedgwood, attendees enjoy the interaction and reunions with
the friendly and inviting fellow-collectors, both old- and first-timers. The WIS extends an invitation to
join its organization. In addition to access to the seminar, the annual $35 membership fee ($50 for family)
covers the WIS Proceedings – an annual publication of all the lectures delivered that year. One also may
wish to explore the several regional Wedgwood societies who conduct meetings 6-12 times per year at
their local venues. Check the WIS website links page for the list by visiting:
www.wedgwoodinternationalseminar.org.

The 60th Wedgwood International Seminar will be held April 22-25, 2015, at the Birmingham (Alabama)
Museum of Art, which houses the largest collection of Wedgwood outside the UK. Again, check the WIS
site for more information as it unfolds. This seminar is shaping up to be one of the most memorable.
Wedgwood International Seminar
INCORPORATED
Officers
President
Cyndi Andrews, CA
First Vice President
Mickey D. Hightower, TX
Second Vice President
Ellis F. Rubin, PA
Treasurer
Michael T. Smith, CA
Recording Secretary
Anne Forschler-Tarrasch, AL
Board of Governors
Adele I. Barnett, VA
Alan Erickson, MO
Jeffrey Hoffman, MA
Lorraine C. Horn*, MA
Edward L. Knowles, MD
Paul H. Lauer, CT
Sandra Olubas, OH
Nancy Ramage, NY
Robert J. Reichner, IL
Gaye Blake Roberts, UK
Stuart Slavid, MA
*******
Director of Seminars
Mickey D. Hightower, TX
Proceedings Editor & Archivist
Anne Forschler-Tarrasch, AL
Public Relations Chairman
Adele I. Barnett, VA
Curatorial Consultant
Gaye Blake Roberts, UK
Webmaster
Alan Ericson, MO
Honorary Board
Daisy Wade Bridges*, NC
Earl L. Buckman*, TX
Frank Coleman, NC
Alvin Kanter, IL
Keith McLeod*, CAN
Muriel D. Polikoff*, PA
* Past President

EXCELLENT NEW WEDGWOOD EXHIBIT IN FLORIDA

One of my all-time favorite Wedgwood Majolica pieces is his huge Swan vase.  See it in the flesh from now until 12/31/14 at the Plant Museum in Tampa, Florida.  This is a rare opportunity to see some of the finest Wedgwood examples in this hemisphere!  Our friend Anne Forschler Tarrash will be presenting there in May.  If you are going to be on the West Coast of Florida, DO NOT miss this exhibit!  Check out the website for all the latest information on the exhibit and the museum.  http://www.plantmuseum.comThe exhibit is called The Pottery of Wedgwood, a fabulous opportunity for us in the USA to see great Wedgwood.  For those elsewhere in the South, the Birmingham Museum of Art, from whom some of the objects at the Plant are on loan, houses the largest collection of Wedgwood outside England, worth the trouble to visit again and again, you never see the same things twice, because it is so difficult to take it all in!