WEDGWOOD WORKERS PRE 1960 SOUGHT BY TV PROGRAM CREW

It appears A. N. Wilson, son of the famous Norman Wilson Wedgwood potter and manager, is working on a TV programme about Josiah Wedgwood.  Check out this article from today's UK Sentinel, especially if you know some perhaps retired potters! 

DOCUMENTARY makers are appealing for anyone who worked at the Wedgwood factory before 1960 to share their memories.
What Larks Productions is working with writer A N Wilson on a programme about Josiah Wedgwood.
Mr Wilson's family moved to Staffordshire towards the end of the 18th Century from Barnstaple, Devon.
The family were industrial potters who were inspired by Wedgwood and A N Wilson's father Norman was headhunted by the famous brand in the 1920s.
He went on to become managing director and was instrumental in developing Wedgwood's Barlaston site and moving the workforce from Etruria.
Anyone who worked with Mr Wilson is asked to email susie@whatlarks.tv or call  0203 327 2883 .

NEW A N Wilson WEDGWOOD NOVEL PUBLISHED TODAY - GREAT BOOK REVIEW

Back in February I posted a preview of an interesting sounding new book by the son of the late famed Wedgwood designer Norman. Wilson, The Potter's Hand by A. N. Wilson.  It was promised to be published by Atlantic Books today, and so it was.  Tristram Hunt, British MP, and one of my favorite living Brits, has written an excellent, detailed review of the book which appears in today's Financial Times.  I am pleased to post it here for the viewing of all Wedgwoodians.  It's a fictional work laced with a dose of reality.  Click here to go directly to Hunt's excellent review, it'll probably make you want to order this book today, I've ordered mine from Amazon.com, less than $25us including shipping from UK. [My book arrived today, 9/8, GREAT service from the Amazon seller "The Book Depository" in UK.  Shipping was only $3.99.  I can't wait to begin reading!]  HERE is another great review I just found from Country Life Bookshop in UK.  "This is the historical novel at its most ambitious."  And HERE is yet another review with interesting photos which I think our readers will enjoy ~ Wilson's own commentary on his novel is insightful as one begins to read the book.

 November 7 - I've begun reading the book and am also hearing from my Wedgwood friends around the world....the reviews of the book are less than stellar, and I'm having trouble giving the book much of my time.  I find it laborious to read and perhaps too much on the negative side to enjoy it.  Personally I am lover of historical fiction, and read quite a bit of it; however in this case, since so much is actually known about the Wedgwoods from letters, journals and other sources, this fictional story isn't seeming even plausible, let alone entertaining.  For me, to deserve my time, a book must offer me something, even if it is a fictional story to provide a bit of escape from reality.  Admittedly it's not finished yet, and admittedly I am biased in favor of the Wedgwoods,  but I'm thinking I might not allow The Potter's Hand much more of my time - perhaps unfair but it IS my time to value isn't it?  My friends' reviews are definitely coloring my opinion, so fairness would dictate my finishing the book...I'll let you know my decision!  I'd be interested in having readers comment here on how they view this book.  November 9th, I've found another review from the UK Telegraph which gives a bit of insight into the book, go HERE to read it and see a photo of the author.

WONDER HOW EMMA WEDGWOOD WOULD FEEL IF SHE READ CHARLES DARWIN'S PRE-MARRIAGE JOURNALS

WOW, I promise not to repeat myself, but here is yet another great discovery about Charles Darwin.  In roaming around the internet I have found a great blog which also links to Brain Pickings, more about Charles Darwin.  When I have a decision to make, I frequently get out my yellow pad and draw a line down the middle.  Seems Charles Darwin used a journal, and an envelope from a letter, to make his YES or NO list - to marry or not!  If all men used some of his reasoning, we'd have a good population drop, but as we Wedgwoodians know only too well, he made a great positive decision, well that's our impression anyway.  Enjoy reading this blog and Brain Pickings if you are a Darwin/Wedgwood story fan -  lots of new insight, even as we think there just can't be more!

WEDGWOOD WITH AN AUSTRALIAN CONNECTION UPDATED LIST

Our friend and colleague, Judy Jones in Sydney, has worked long and hard on a great research project begun last year and now updated this week.  We are pleased to share her comprehensive list of Wedgwood products produced especially for the Australian market.  This list represents special and limited editions, china, and many commemorative items.  She is well aware there may be more, so if you know of something that is missing, please comment and we will get the information to her for inclusion.  Judy and her husband Colin are avid Wedgwood collectors and have written articles for many Wedgwood venues, see our other posts for additional contributions they have shared with us.  Right now we only have one item from the list in stock, you can click here to go to the two thimbles we currently have for sale.  THANK YOU Judy for your valuable contribution to the world of Wedgwood collecting - in Australia and around the world.  

12/2013  Judy has just notified us of a new find to be added to this list:

‘Victoria Vase’ 1988 – pale blue jasper with white reliefs.  Presented to The State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Victoria) by The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce – 31 cm high, of ovoid shape with reliefs of Melbourne city with Princes Bridge; Victorian Coat of Arms; Australian Coat of Arms, floral swags suspended from four ram’s heads.  The body supported on a waisted socle and square base, the lid pierced.  The square base is printed in gold with details of the presentation.

A WEDGWOOD GEOGRAPHY LESSON

Some time ago I found this wonderful blog which identifies and describes the various towns which make up the oft-used term "The Potteries" sometimes also just called "Staffordshire" when discussing pottery, china, ceramics and other such terms.  When using our website for shopping or learning, you will sometimes see a reference to a place in Staffordshire, such as the name of a pottery which includes its locale.  A review of this site will probably help a student of Wedgwood and other Staffordshire potteries become much more familiar with the geography of one of the best parts of England!  Yes, that might just be a biased opinion!  One of the favorite places in Stoke for us Wedgwood collectors is the grave of Josiah Wedgwood at the Parish Church of St. Peter Ad Vincula - enjoy and think of taking your own photos in Stoke!

You might also see my post titled BURSLEM in the POTTERIES of 3/23/11 for some lovely pictures and information about Burslem, the town where Josiah was baptized.

CHARLES DARWIN, A WEDGWOOD FAMILY MEMBER, & HIS CONNECTION TO ADAM SEDGWICK

My dear friend Lord Anthony Pulford of Glencoe is a Wedgwood collector and a lover of history.  One of his favorite activities is exploring historic connections regarding all things Wedgwood.  If you have read my posts, you have seen some of his other interesting contributions to this blog.  Many of us Wedgwoodians have been interested in the Wedgwood/Darwin family story over the years, and certainly since the Darwin birthday a couple of years ago.  Sir Anthony has come up with another very interesting tale involving Charles Darwin, another geologist and Ben Nevis, the famous spot in northern Scotland near which Sir Anthony lives.  We don't often see such direct comments TO Mr. Darwin in opposition to his views, but I think you will enjoy this one.  Thank you once again Tony for contributing information of interest to our readers.

Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, England photo from the Museum website.

"The community garden on the grounds of the Kilmallie Hall at Corpach near Fort William [the town nearest to Sir Anthony] contains a stone circle made up of rocks from all over Scotland.  The circle was "opened" by Mr David Sedgwick, a surgeon at the Belford Hospital in Fort William and is dedicated to the memory of Mr Sedgwick's ancestor the Rev. Adam Sedgwick.

    It is Adam Sedgwick who is the link to Charles Darwin.  Born in 1785, the son of a Dent, Yorkshire, vicar, he was educated at Sedburgh School and Trinity College Cambridge, eventually becoming Woodwardian Professor of Geology in 1818, a position he held until his death in 1873.

   A leading geologist of his day, one of his geology students was a young Charles Darwin who, in 1831, accompanied him on a trip into Wales.  They corresponded while Darwin was on the Beagle Expedition and afterwards.  Sedgwick never accepted the case for evolution made in Darwin's book On the Origin of the Species in 1859.  After reading the book he wrote to Darwin saying;

  'If I did not think you a good tempered & truth loving man I should not tell you that.... I have read your book with more pain than pleasure.  Parts of it I admire greatly;  parts I laughed at until my sides were almost sore; other parts I read with absolute sorrow; because I think them utterly false & grievously mischievous - You have deserted - after a start in that tram-road of all solid physical truth - the true method of induction - & started up a machinery as wild, I think, as Bishop Wilkins' locomotive that was to sail with us to the Moon'.  Despite this difference of opinion, the two remained friends until Sedgwick's death.

   The Sedgwick Museum in Cambridge, opened in 1903, contains a number of Darwin artifacts including rocks collected on the Beagle voyage as well as notebooks, scientific instruments and his pistol." 

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! 

NEW information about Eric Ravilious

The most endearing facet of Wedgwood collecting may be that there is always something new, not new production, but new news, new findings, new discoveries.  Just when we think we know all about a subject relative to Wedgwood products, people and potteries, something else pops up. Click here to read an article from today's New York Times about a rare find, a book in progress by Eric Ravilious during World War II which has been lost for all these years.  He was killed before he could finish it, but it appears someone will indeed finish it for him.  Enjoy!

Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee a Wedgwood opportunity!

 The Brits will spend all weekend, and it's a four day weekend for them, watching so many activities on the local telly in honor of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee.  What an opportunity to use one's Wedgwood china for sipping a cuppa, eating scones with clotted cream and jam, flying the Union Jack in the USA to show our British roots and so much more.  The Wedgwood company, aka WWRD, has produced lovely china items in honor of the occasion, as have many of the Staffordshire potteries.  It's also a great opportunity to view your royalty commemorative collection and add items, especially if you haven't been shopping much in that arena lately.  You can click here to see our royalty commemorative offerings.  Of course, buying a piece of Wedgwood is a nice idea for the holiday weekend too!  You will find 2,000 things from which to pick at our website, www.alexisantiques.com, everything there is in stock and ready to ship.  We were fascinated to learn of the vast array of Jubilee activities in other cities ~ Naples, FL is one good example, check out the link!  Here is another great article with additional links that we in the USA can enjoy.  Enjoy the totally British weekend wherever you may be! Long Live the Queen!

Where in the World is Lord Wedgwood?

Piers, Lord Wedgwood, really gets around the world.  He's often difficult to keep up with but he was recently in New York having been a judge in the contest to choose a winning designer in the annual Josiah Wedgwood Design Award contest.  Check it out here and see the winning design ~ sleek, cool and white china for today's young entertainers and homemakers.