Person    | Male  Born 1730  Died 3/1/1795

Josiah Wedgwood

Master potter. Born in Burslem, Stoke, Staffordshire, into a potters family. Married his cousin, Sally. Childhood smallpox left him with a limp. His inability to operate the potters wheel meant he turned to design and management instead.  It is said he often used his stick to smash items that he felt were not good enough. Contacted the Cherokees Indians to find a source of the whitest possible clay. His London showrooms became a fashionable place to visit. Flaxman, Stubbs and Lady Diana Beauclerk all provided designs for him. Promoter of social reform and active in the fight against the slave trade. Wedgwood is nowadays compared with Henry Ford for his innovative introduction of methods of mass production.

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Josiah Wedgwood

Commemorated ati

Josiah Wedgwood

Charming plaque, in the Wedgwood blue pottery style.

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Spirit of Soho Mural

Interesting that Coca Cola are specifically mentioned on the panel but not as...

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Other Subjects

Stella Newton

Stella Newton

Fashion designer and dress historian, who brought the history of fashion to bear on art history and the dating of paintings. She designed for the theatre and for fashion, having her own shop in the...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, History

1 memorial
John Arnold

John Arnold

Watchmaker and inventor. Probably born in Bodmin, Cornwall (his birth year is approximate). After being apprenticed to his clockmaker father, he worked in the Netherlands. He was the first to desig...

Person, Craft / Design, Netherlands

1 memorial
Duncan Grant

Duncan Grant

Painter and designer. Born Scotland but brought up in India, Burma and Rugby School. Cousin and for a time lover of Lyton Strachey, through whom he met and joined the Bloomsbury Group. He also had ...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Scotland

1 memorial
William Morris (designer)

William Morris (designer)

Designer, author and visionary socialist.  Born Elm House, Walthamstow, Essex. The family moved to Woodford Hall in 1840 and to Water House in 1848. He moved in with his friend Edward Burne-Jones f...

Person, Art, Craft / Design, Literature, Seriously Famous, Iceland / Faroe Islands

15 memorials