- Josiah Wedgwood
- Unnamed (Japanese Landscape), 1880
- Earthenware
- 9.25 x 9.25 in (23.5 x 23.5 cm)
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Not For Sale
Plate, 9.25 inches diameter. Brown transfer with polychrome clobbering. Impressed maker's mark for Josiah Wedgwood. Red painted pattern number "A2709." The "A" prefix in the painted pattern number is a reference for Queensware. In 1871, Wedgwood began to add prefix letters to pattern numbers to categorize the different classes of ware. Queensware dinnerware is Wedgwood's name for cream-colored earthenware. In this pattern, the round center cartouche is divided into two parts. The upper part contains a landscape of mountains and trees with several oriental buildings. The lower part of the cartouche includes three contrasting geometric patterns. Stylized flowers and ribbons extend from the cartouche, encircling the center scene. The border includes five unique stylized floral and ribbon motifs, alternating with five unique Asian medallions or symbols.
Josiah Wedgwood was born in Burslem, Staffordshire, on July 12, 1730, into a family with a long tradition as potters. At the age of nine, after the death of his father, he worked in his family's pottery. In 1759 he set up his own pottery works in Burslem. There he produced a highly durable cream-colored earthenware that so pleased Queen Charlotte that in 1762 she appointed him royal supplier of dinnerware. From the public sale of Queen's Ware, as it came to be known, Wedgwood was able, in 1768, to build near Stoke-on-Trent a village, which he named Etruria, and a second factory equipped with tools and ovens of his own design. At first only ornamental pottery was made in Etruria, but by 1773 Wedgwood had concentrated all his production facilities there. During his long career Wedgwood developed revolutionary ceramic materials, notably basalt and jasperware. After Wedgwood's death in Etruria on January 3, 1795, his descendants carried on the business, which still produces many of his designs.
- Subject Matter: Aesthetic (Japonesque)
- Collections: Aesthetic Transferware, Josiah Wedgwood