On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Vase

1764-1768 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
The vase is a purely decorative one. It was probably intended for display in a private library or other fine room. Sets of three, five, seven or even nine vases were known as 'suites of vases' in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were commonly set out on mantelpieces, with the largest one in the middle, much as today. This piece was made just before vases in the Neo-classical or 'antique' style became enormously fashionable for use in interior decoration. The Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was quick to see the commercial potential of this fashion. In 1769, shortly after this piece was made, he boasted of his ambition to become 'Vase Maker General to the Universe'.

Materials & Making
Both the decoration and colour of this vase indicate that it is an early example of Wedgwood's creamware, a type of pottery made from a mixture of clays from South-West England combined with calcined flint. Wedgwood perfected his recipes for glazed creamware in the mid-1760s, when it had the deep cream colour visible here.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Creamware (Queen's Ware), engine-turned and gilded
Brief description
C
Physical description
CREAMWARE VASE
Dimensions
  • Height: 19.4cm
  • Approx. width: 8.47cm
Dimensions checked: Registered Description; 01/01/1998 by KN. Measurements scaled from photograph
Gallery label
  • British Galleries: Creamware was one of the principal products of the Staffordshire potteries between about 1760 and 1810. This vase by Wedgwood is similar to those he presented to Queen Charlotte, in whose honour he renamed his improved creamware 'Queen's Ware'. In 1763 Wedgwood introduced a lathe for decorating pottery with engine turning.(27/03/2003)
  • Vase made at the factory of Josiah Wedgwood, Etruria, Staffordshire, 1765-70 Cream coloured earthenware with traces of gilding C.2-1967(23/05/2008)
Object history
Made at Josiah Wedgwood's Brick House pottery, Burslem, Staffordshire
Summary
Object Type
The vase is a purely decorative one. It was probably intended for display in a private library or other fine room. Sets of three, five, seven or even nine vases were known as 'suites of vases' in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were commonly set out on mantelpieces, with the largest one in the middle, much as today. This piece was made just before vases in the Neo-classical or 'antique' style became enormously fashionable for use in interior decoration. The Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) was quick to see the commercial potential of this fashion. In 1769, shortly after this piece was made, he boasted of his ambition to become 'Vase Maker General to the Universe'.

Materials & Making
Both the decoration and colour of this vase indicate that it is an early example of Wedgwood's creamware, a type of pottery made from a mixture of clays from South-West England combined with calcined flint. Wedgwood perfected his recipes for glazed creamware in the mid-1760s, when it had the deep cream colour visible here.
Collection
Accession number
C.2-1967

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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