Designs of the times

Wedgwood has produced thousands of pieces over the years. Here are five notable designs

“TRAVEL”

Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) was one of the most renowned designers for Wedgwood. Travel was designed in 1938 but was not put into production until 1953, when it was printed.

Other designs included Persephone, designed in 1938 and used on the Queen’s Coronation Banquet service in 1953.

Ravilious, a prolific artist, was appointed an official war artist in 1939 and he was lost in the autumn of 1942 while flying with an air sea rescue on a mission off Iceland. He never knew how successful his designs would become.

THE WHITE HOUSE SERVICE

The White House Service was ordered in 1902, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The design was by John Goodwin at Etruria. It was based on a colonnade border pattern printed in gold with a polychrome enamelled presentation of the Grand Seal of the US on each piece.

MAJOLICA CENTREPIECE

Majolica was a high Victorian style of pottery, notable for its over-the-top glazes in vibrant colours and patterns. It was produced at Wedgwood from 1850 until 1910. But it was first produced by rival pottery Minton, where it got a rapturous reception among the newly wealthy middle classes.

Wedgwood turned to this over-thetop style about 10 years after its introduction. This centrepiece has had pretty much everything thrown at it including dolphins, shells, vibrant glazes in teal and green. The piece dates from around 1865.

THE FROG SERVICE

The dinner and dessert service was made for Catherine II of Russia in the 1770s. She wanted different scenes of Britain painted on each plate. The set was for 50 people and consisted of 944 pieces painted with 1,244 different views. You can still see this service in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

“I had quite a few enquiries at the tri-centenary of the birth of Capability Brown. A lot of his landscapes are featured on this dinner service and many Victorian ‘improvers’ have changed those landscapes,” Lucy says.

The museum has a collection of dessert plates which are “mistakes”.

“They painted the wrong border, so as a result these have languished in the factory and then, when the museum was built in 1906, they were given to the museum.”

21ST-CENTURY WEDGWOOD

This is almost a contemporary update of Jasper ware, designed by Wedgwood’s artist in residence, Hitomi Hosono, who did an internship at the company while studying for an MA at the Royal College of Art in London. It’s easy to see the inspiration from the archives and the results are very 21st century.

The Kasumi vase, which has a limited edition of five, retails for an astonishing £15,000. It takes a craftsman two days to apply some 1,150 individual daisies to the rim and to spill down the sides of the vase.

Art pottery at its finest.