Wedgwood Loss

Another slice of British history hits the skids. Waterford Wedgwood plc, which owns the historic brand names Wedgwood, Royal Doulton and Waterford Crystal, has called in the receivers (title link). Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) set up his pottery firm 250 years ago. Although he served as an apprentice potter under his brother, childhood smallpox had damaged his right knee and eventually the leg needed to be amputated. Unable to use a potter's wheel, he turned to design, experiments, innovation and industrialization. His Jasperware copy of the Portland vase is a landmark in English pottery (above). He was also a leading abolitionist, promoting the case against slavery with mass-produced cameos showing the seal for the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade: "Am I not a man and a brother" (above). To cap it all, he was the grandfather of Charles Darwin, whose musings on the origins of species wouldn't have been possible without the financial security afforded by the wealthy Wedgwood and Darwin families. The world owes Wedgwood a lot more than it realizes! (CLICK to visit the Wedgwood Museum.)