Show s TIm Till PRINCE OF POTTERS I In 1730 tho year In which Jo- Jo Jo Iah Wedgwood was DS as born bom the corn corn- men cont-men Ine n people had only the rough rough- rou h- h ht e It t t pot pottery potter tOIl for table tabo u e The Tho rich richhad richhad had iad co costly porcelain but ut ordinary tolk had to put up with dark elLS elLS- lly eoa-lly fly broken earthen arthon ware The potters Totters were experiment experiment- experimentIng experimenting ing lug to get a durable economical wro ro that would suit the people and save their trade In the tho midst of ot these potte a little boy was growing up He could scarcely help being a pot pot- potter pot potter ter his father and grandfather both being potters potter This little boy Josiah Wedgwood Wedgwood-Io Wedgwood lost t hi his fa ta- ta tather fa father ther when ho was nino and eft school to learn the potters posters po ter's busi busl- busi- busi business ness When Whon twelve he ho had small email smallpox pox and wa was left with a diseased kyeo That affliction put many occupation out of reckoning but It kept him faithful through years ot of apprenticeship with the Injured leg stretched before him on a 0 a pot pot- potters pot potter's ter's tro bench That gave him time timeto timeto to e think and de design lIe advanced In Ideas with years year and i-i i 1752 with only 20 pounds capi- capi capital capi capital I- I Ital tal he entered Into 1 partnership artner n with Thomas Thomos the fore fore- foremost foremost most moat potter at that time Thero Thera wore were five years of this partner partner- partner chip phlp during which much of ot wod's rodn work and ant study was done hiIe on the sick bed His next partnership was with I hl hi cou cousin Thomas Thomaa Wedgwood and lasted for 21 years The early ears ear ar were wore anxious and busy ones I there ere being little capital the tho two men doing much of ot the themselves They Thoy made mado small and necessary articles of trade and ond every Ivery bit was done with skill and taste Josiah Wedgwood was not I notI content with lees loss than 1119 ti first tint notable Improvement was wasi 11 i the tho glaze of ot the green ware waro l o n as Garden Ware devel deel- de developed el- el In shapes of ot flowers and gar gar- gar garden len den products with I leaves aves and fruits ILS as decorations Bo So exquisite andI I III beauty wore were the these e products that the demand for tor them g g In- In inCreased Creased Wedgwood formed hIs c 1 molds mixed his hia own O cia clas aM finished his pieces IlLs His work nas HUI as absolutely correct his boa hol Is sl and ond platters platter nesting 1 perfectly Wedgwood next manufactured a as an 1 s lito stoneware using It for aI I tiles lies and garden pots pote The grape l grapel on the ases ases was lS ch delicate and graceful I Ho was not satisfied with the rude Crude colored cream ware In ordinary ordinary ordinary nary use so experimented until ho he had succeeded In manufacturing a 0 beautiful grade with a 0 permanent glue These were decorated In red and black or In colors ind V 1 TO pro ro sent around the country and sold by peddlers at the rustic fairs In 1761 1161 Wedgwood presented a cream colored breakfast set sH to Icen Charlotte consort of ot George iii HI All waa WM as so ao dell delighted that full dinner sets we were o ordered and Wedgwood was commanded to call calt himself Potter to the Queena Queen A a 0 compliment to her ho named the tho ware Waco Queens Queen Ware which It been called ever since I If Hs H's productions continued to ac- ac luire ac-luire Ire a 0 ore poro artistic appearance d and his bis fame tame to other coun- coun Iros coun r s In the New nd Ing Eng nd and states hl his name namo became b Came a 11 word Ills achIevements In ba baw lt tt and his in Intention of ot jasper brought him the tho of Pott Pot ers re His cold luster ins 1 I e good and so was 1 lie Russo-Antico Russo The hl he shapes shape of his basalt prod prod- prod Lct were 9 classic the or- or or ornamentation being In Greek or figures JAr I-arr I pottery work works were wore erect erect- erected erected ed Id In Etruria where highly trained workmen I and artists were employ employ- employed employed ed d There 1 01 na a trap d door or leading from study to blUe bini and where hero here h he made mad Ills his Th That lt endea- endea endeavored ored to keep the of mak making ing a II secret Is evidenced by his writing to his partner r Mr telling of o the tho great dif dif- dif dlf difficulty he had In mixing two t tons ns of the tho material secretly Eve Even his never quite fathomed the and esen eHn to this day dllY none thel or of his successors or Imitators has his work It has hoji been ro- ro ref re referred f to as one ono ot of the lost arts jasper Is IB as ns soft and I d deep ep s ns tho the blue blua of ot the midsummer sky and the decorations have hare ca- ca liko ca liko neo outlines In the old b homes mes one on still see j ca-j a occasional jasper jug jull ju on a aC aci lonial There C IsI Is the antique market I ono lone on Only by bv Inheritance or some ome rare re chance I of fate can one acquire In the these e as aB s a genuine specimen of Wedgwood's Wedgwood's woods wood's J jasper S1 er Collectors Collector great and small hold them and the day Is dayIs not far tar away when the great museums museum will wilt absorb the collections tion In 1790 the tho firm became becam n ed Wedgwood Wedgwood wood SonjA Son 4 potter potter-Ici Although the Wedgwood potter potter- ice haH haie continued during the cen cen- cen cen t and n a halt half that h has passed and under the old flame namn nam since Jo Jo- Jo Jo lih Wedgwood's death In 1795 1796 the I ii aster spirit has been the missed missed master touch Is t lacking MRS ILits W U 11 B EDER JR |