Inkstand

Introduced around 1768, this refined stoneware was named black basaltes by Wedgwood. It was often used for wares in the Neoclassical style, here an ancient Egyptian barge ornamented with scarab beetles, lotus flowers and hieroglyphs serves as an inkstand. Emperor Napoleon's campaigns in Egypt in 1798 spurred an intense European interest in Egyptian forms and motifs.

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.