In his early twenties, Wedgwood began working with the most renowned
English pottery-maker of his day, Thomas Whieldon. There he began
experimenting with a wide variety of pottery techniques, an experimentation
that crossed in his mind with the burgeoning early industrial city
of Manchester, which was nearby. Inspired, Wedgwood leased the Ivy
Works in his home town of Burslem and set to work. Over the course
of the next decade, his experimentation (and a considerable injection
of capital from his marriage to a richly endowed distant cousin,
Sally Wedgwood) transformed the sleepy artisan works into the first
true pottery factory.
Marriage
and Children
Wedgwood
married Sarah Wedgwood (a third cousin). Together they had children:
Susannah Wedgwood (1765–1817) (mother of the English naturalist
Charles Darwin)
John Wedgwood (1766–1844)
Josiah Wedgwood II (1769–1843)
Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805) (no children)
Catherine Wedwood (1774–1823) (no children)
Sarah Wedgwood (1776–1856) (no children)
Mary Anne Wedgwood (1778–1786) (no children)
Wedgwood's work was of very high quality, and by 1763 he was receiving
orders from the highest levels of the British nobility, including
Queen Charlotte. Wedgwood convinced her to let him name the line
of pottery she purchased "Queen's Ware", and trumpeted
the royal association in his paperwork and stationery. As a burgeoning
industrialist, Wedgwood was a major backer of the Trent and Mersey
Canal dug between the River Trent and River Mersey, during which
time he became friends with Erasmus Darwin.
Later that decade, his burgeoning business caused him to move from
the smaller Ivy Works to the newly-built Etruria Works, which would
run for 180 years. The factory was so-named after the Etruria district
of Italy, where black porcelain dating to Etruscan times was being
excavated. Wedgwood found this porcelain inspiring, and his first
major commercial success was its duplication with what he called
"Black Basalt". Not long after the new works opened, continuing
trouble with his smallpox-afflicted knee made necessary the amputation
of his right leg.
In 1780, his long-time business partner Thomas Bentley died, and
Wedgwood turned to his friend Erasmus Darwin for help in running
the business. As a result of the close association that grew up
between the Wedgwood and Darwin families, one of Josiah's daughters
would later marry Erasmus' son. One of the children of that marriage,
Charles Darwin, would also marry a Wedgwood — Emma, Josiah's granddaughter.
Essentially, this double-barrelled inheritance of Josiah's money
permitted Charles Darwin the life of leisure that eventually led
to the formulation of his theory of evolution.
In the latter part of his life, Wedgwood's obsession was to duplicate
the Portland Vase, a blue and white glass vase dating to the first
century AD. For three years he worked on the project, eventually
producing what he considered a satisfactory copy in 1789. After
passing on his company to his sons, Wedgwood died in 1795.
Wedgwood's company is still a famous name in pottery today, and
"Wedgwood China" is the commonly used term for his jasper
ware, the blue (or sometmes green) china with overlaid white decoration,
still common throughout the world.
He was an active member of the Lunar Society and is remembered on
the Moonstones in Birmingham. |
