The 18th century was taken solely as an inspiration.
#WHAT IS CREAMWARE UPDATE#
Edme was however not just an update of an earlier design. For example, a late 18th century teacup would have been much smaller, as tea in those days was very expensive and drank as a luxury, in the early 20th century tea was a much cheaper commodity, meaning cups were larger and used at different moments in a different manner. He was, however, also very well aware of the taste and needs of the day, which he incorporated into the design. Goodwin was well aware of Wedgwood’s history and based Edme on neo-classical designs of the late 18th century. One of them was called Edme Pannier, he gave its name to the form he commissioned from Wedgwood in 1908. The brothers operated as retailers and interior designers. In 1908 it was ran by two brothers and, considering it won a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, it had lost none of its acclaim. The company had gotten acclaim back in 1800 as L’Escalier de Cristal, winning many prizes for it’s opulent crystal and bronze and later also Japonistic designs. The French market had become very important to Wedgwood, and therefore Goodwin was often commissioned by French retailers to make exclusive designs, a practice that was very common in those days and that I discussed in this earlier blog post: link Of the many forms and patterns he introduced Edme was to be the largest success. Goodwin was very good at making timeless designs, not overly reflecting the fashion of the day and modest in expression. Instead he shifted the designs more towards the 18th century successes Wedgwood was still esteemed for. John Goodwin took over the artistic direction from Leger in 1904, he continued the rationalisation by discontinuing many Victorian style wares. Names of shapes and patterns were often French and the taste and preferences of mainland Europe were taken into account. Leger, a French designer, was attracted to Wedgwood in 1898 to ‘rationalise’ the production, meaning simpler wares that were more economic to produce. The company decided to focus more on mainland Europe as a result. The American-Spanish and the Boer war had a strong negative effect on existing export markets, leaving Wedgwood in a position where new markets needed to be found in order to safeguard its existence. The factory did not have the success and esteem it had in the late 18th century, but Etruria was still an important and well staffed center of ceramic production. Much later, during the late 19th century Wedgwood’s production leaned on opulent Victorian designs that were not only sold in Britain but exported all over the British empire and America. Wedgwood named his factory ‘Etruria’, after the Etruscan capital, for that reason. Scholars of those days mistakenly thought that the unearthed artifacts were of Etruscan origin. England’s elite built homes in the palladian style and filled them with Wedgwood’s wares. Wedgwood brilliantly managed to invent a few types of pottery that fitted in perfectly, not only Creamware, but also for example Black Basalt and Jasperware. This hype was helped by the age of enlightenment, which called for simpler, more rational designs than the opulence of Rococo in the first half of the 18th century. After the subsequent discoveries of Herculaneum (1738) and Pompeii (1748) and during the slow process of unearthing their treasures in the subsequent decades the whole of Europe fell under a classical hype. In the second half of the 18th century there was a real rage for everything Roman. It is called ‘Queens Plain’ and can be found here: link Queen Charlotte’s service was a form which is also still made. This commission cemented Wedgwood’s reputation and made creamware the most popular type of pottery in Britain. Wedgwood’s first creamware was commercially somewhat successful, but it only became truly popular after Queen Charlotte ordered a tea set in 1765. It is made of white clay with a white lead glaze. Creamware is not porcelain, the source material and process are very different, as is the final product. By doing so, he was looking to compete with European porcelain production. Creamware was not invented, but certainly perfected and popularised by Josiah Wedgwood in the mid 18th century. The origin of Creamware and a fascination with all things classicalĮdme is made of creamware or queensware, the names most commonly used in English for cream coloured earthenware, we will stick with creamware.
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