Not to be outdone, Catherine the Great of Russia commissioned her own set of Wedgwood china in 1773. The queen was so thrilled with her new china that Wedgwood was given permission to call himself “Potter to Her Majesty,” and the decorative style became known as Queen’s Ware. In 1765, Wedgwood was commissioned to create a cream-colored earthenware service for Queen Charlotte, consort of King George III. The Wedgwood firm first came to prominence for its tableware, which quickly gained favor in aristocratic households throughout Britain and Europe. The best-known background hue is light blue, but Wedgwood’s iconic silhouettes also appear on green, lilac, yellow, black and even white grounds. The company is famed for its Jasperware - molded Neoclassical stoneware vases, plates and other pieces, inspired by ancient cameo glass, featuring white figures, scenes and decorative elements set in relief on a matte colored background. Links to originals here: Wedgwood plate, teapot, American pitcher.Arguably the most celebrated of all English ceramics makers, Wedgwood was founded in 1759 by Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood (1730–95). Some of it was not at all fashionable, and was much coarser or browner than the cream ceramics produced by the innovative 18th century manufacturers. By this time the names creamware and queensware were applied to a wider range of pottery. Wedgwood-style creamware continued to be popular until the mid-19th century. Many of the potters described their products as queensware, or like queensware. By the 1790s Philadelphia was a centre for manufacturing this kind of tableware. English-made for the American market, this was one of many similar exports leaving from Liverpool.Īmerica’s own creamware production started with John Bartlam in 1770s South Carolina. It was also used for commemorative items, like the pitcher, or jug, in the photo. It brought a finer kind of tableware to middle-class families, and wasn’t only for the rich. Photo by CliffĬreamware was popular for a wide range of household pottery appearing in the Georgian dining-room and on the tea-table. Creamware pitcher c1800 with transfer-printed "Apotheosis of George Washington".
Other decorative effects on creamware included piercing and embossing. This is not only cheaper than hand painting it also allows for a very detailed surface design with elaborate drawing and lettering. He soon came back into the lead with a “pearl white”, now known as pearlware.Ĭreamware lent itself to decoration with transfer printing. In the mid-1770s one of Wedgwood’s rivals got ahead with a pale “china glaze”. He described it as “quite new in appearance, covered with rich and brilliant glaze, bearing sudden alterations of heat and cold, manufactured with ease…and consequently cheap.”Ĭompetition amongst potters to produce whiter ceramics continued. Photo by Leeds MuseumsĪlthough there were other potteries making creamware, and other people also made crucial discoveries, Wedgwood got the acclaim for being the first to make a high quality pale cream earthenware. Creamware teapot made c1770 in Yorkshire or Staffordshire. So Queen’s ware, or queensware, is a kind of creamware, but not all creamware is queensware. Also important were his design expertise and the clear glaze.Īfter Queen Charlotte ordered a cream table service from Wedgwood he “branded” his cream pottery by calling it Queen’s ware, and didn’t use the name creamware himself. Part of his success depended on clay from south-west England.
One of the most successful versions of creamware came from the well-known English potter Josiah Wedgwood who managed to make paler earthenware than anyone else in the 1760s. This new creamware was developed during the mid-1700s. Others worked on more affordable earthenware, trying various clay and flint blends in the search for pale, creamy colours. Photo by Maia CĬhinese porcelain seemed fine, white and desirable to 18th century Europe, and it inspired skilled potters there to develop their own versions of porcelain.