For some time i have wanted to talk about blue and white wares and their importance in the collecting field as they seem to be once again highly collectible.
Actually blue and white wares have alwys been extremely popular and collectible so anyone putting a good collection together will never look back as the collection will certainly grow in value and also derive great pleasure from the large variety of patterns that were produced by the many companies in 1740 to 1850 and later.
The one i would like to bring to your attention is the famous factory of Josiah Wedgwood who started working in a factory at the young age of 11 years old and later left to go and live with a wealthy and respectable tailor, a Mr Daniel Mayer.About this time aged 23 he entered into a partnership short lived but a few years later he worked for the highly talented Thomas Wieldon,some of the finest Staffordshire pottery manufactured in the mid-eighteenth century,then entering a partnership with Wieldon for a period of five years. Wedgwood was at this age an important potter in Staffordshire.
Wedgwood foresaw the coming of industrailization and set about experimenting with new clays and techniques as their main prodution was no longer that desirable and there was a large drop in sales.
About this time Wedgwood had decided to enter into a partnership with his cousin Thomas Wedgwood but still keeping a good relationship with Wieldon and yet engaging another superb modeller Mr.Greatbatch.
It was in 1774 that Wedgwood wrote."From several late series of experiments i have no reason to doubt being able to give a fine white composition any tint of fine blue."From these experiments he was able to create the now famous...Wedgwood cameos and intaglio items that we all know and recognise today and some of his best work.
Trying to do justice to this wonderful creator of fine porcelain and potter i will have to give u a link that tells the full story to this great factory.This link is an excellent one providing all the marks and other revelant links to a great factory.
Josiah Wedgwood link ..here http://www.thepotteries.org/potters/wedgwood.htm