Vase

The black stoneware and what Wedgwood called "encaustic" (pigment mixed with wax) decorations of this vase were inspired by the red figure decoration on black ground ceramics of ancient Greece. In fact, Wedgwood's decoration was enamel and slip (liquid clay).

Hailed as the father of English potters, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) augmented his third-generation potter's experience with artistic creativity, innovative marketing, progressive manufacturing techniques and astute business acumen to become the leading potter of the late 18th century. Wedgwood began a partnership with Thomas Whieldon and then in 1759 established his own business, which has survived as an international company to the present day. Although Wedgwood is chiefly known for his 1775 development of jasperware-refined stoneware of solid color with molded, applied decoration-the objects in this case attest to the wide variety of Wedgwood ceramics, whose popularity has endured for more than two centuries.