From one of Britain’s leading historians and the director of the Victoria & Albert Museum, a scintillating biography of Josiah Wedgwood, the celebrated eighteenth-century potter, entrepreneur, and abolitionist Wedgwood’s pottery, such as his celebrated light-blue jasperware, is famous worldwide. Jane Austen bought it and wrote of it in her novels; Empress Catherine II of Russia ordered hundreds of pieces for her palace; British diplomats hauled it with them on their first-ever mission to Peking, audaciously planning to impress China with their china. But the life of Josiah Wedgwood is far richer than just his accomplishments in ceramics. He was a leader of the Industrial Revolution, a pioneering businessman, a cultural tastemaker, and a tireless scientific experimenter whose inventions made him a fellow of the Royal Society. He was also an ardent abolitionist, whose Emancipation Badge medallion—depicting an enslaved African and inscribed “Am I Not a Man and a Brother?”—became the most popular symbol of the antislavery movement on both sides of the Atlantic. And he did it all in the face of chronic disability and relentless pain: a childhood bout with smallpox eventually led to the amputation of his right leg. As historian Tristram Hunt puts it in this lively, vivid biography, Wedgwood was the Steve Jobs of the eighteenth century: a difficult, brilliant, creative figure whose personal drive and extraordinary gifts changed the way we work and live. Drawing on a rich array of letters, journals, and historical documents, The Radical Potter brings us the story of a singular man, his dazzling contributions to design and innovation, and his remarkable global impact.

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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922 edition. Excerpt: ...(I.e.). COFFEE POT AND TEAPOT Cream-colour Ware with printed designs Coffee Pot--Height 5 in., diameter 3 in. Teapot.--Height 5 in, diameter 4 in. Schreiber Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum. PLATE Printed in black at Liverpool Diameter 7J in. Schreiber Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum. CUP AND SAUCER Printed in purple at Liverpool Cap--Height If in., diameter 3 in. Saucer--Diameter 5 in. PLATES "Mercury and the Woodman" Cream colour framing Liverpool prints in on-glaze red with green enamelled "husks" and edging Diameter 10 in. "The Prodigal Son" Victoria and Albert Museum. CHAPTER IX THE WEDGWOOD "RUSSIAN SERVICE" THAT extraordinary and masterful woman, the autocratic ruler of a vast semi-barbaric empire, Catherine II. of Russia, appears to have ordered her life on the principle enunciated by the French marquise who said of herself: "The great God would never lightly damn a person of her quality." The ambitious statecraft and tortuous, insincere and opportunist diplomacy which Catherine displayed throughout her reign wrought untold suffering and misery among her own subjects and those of the neighbouring territories, from the Baltic to the jEgean. It is not a matter for surprise, therefore, that in her business dealings with the most renowned porcelain makers and potters of Europe, she appears to have treated them precisely as she would have behaved had they been subjects of her own dominion. Thus, she commissioned from the Royal porcelain works of Sevres and of Copenhagen the most extensive, elaborate and costly table-services that they could devise, and if we may base an opinion on the profound differences in the styles of decoration displayed on these two services, ...

The story of the innovative genius who became pottery maker to royalty—and to the world: “You don't have to know a glaze from a slip to enjoy this.” —Kirkus Reviews Born in Staffordshire, England, to a family of traditional potters in 1730, Josiah Wedgwood would grow up to revolutionize the industry, founding the company still world-renowned in the twenty-first century. When he started work, the local ware was either fairly rustic, or made to look a little more sophisticated by the addition of heavy glazes. He worked to produce a lighter colored body and to use designs made to appeal to aristocratic tastes, convinced that where they led the rapidly growing middle class would follow. The result was cream ware which, when a whole service was ordered by the royal family, was soon christened queens ware. But Wedgwood was a distinctive character for more reasons than his artistry. As a businessman, he adopted an early form of mass production, and is believed to be the inventor of many modern marketing techniques such as money-back guarantees and illustrated catalogs. He was also a passionate early abolitionist who used his company to promote the anti-slavery cause, and he pursued the study of chemistry in order to understand the science behind the potter’s art, eventually inventing a kiln thermometer. This fascinating biography brings to life a remarkable eighteenth-century figure.