Images(3)

Oblong Dish

Dateca. 1795

Maker Ralph Wedgwood (1766 - 1837)

Maker Hill Top Works

OriginEngland, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Burslem

MediumLead-glazed earthenware (pearlware)

DimensionsOH: 15/16"; OL: 10 5/16”; OW: 7 5/8".

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, C. Thomas Hamlin III Fund

Object number2022-163

DescriptionDish: oblong octagonal dish decorated under the glaze with two-color transfer printed pattern including a border of lateral lines at the edge of the dish, a bluish-green or aqua floral motif around on the rim, and a central brown roundel from the “Etruscan Figures” series that depicts two women in classical dress. The flowers in the leafy floral decoration are hand painted with orange, blue, and yellow. All the decoration is under the lead-glaze. (This combination is TCC Pattern Name Classical Figures and Daisy #03, Pattern Number 15811.) The reverse of the rim bears three sets of triangular stilt marks. The base of the dish is impressed with “WEDGWOOD & Co.” for Ralph Wedgwood. This is a mark used by Ralph Wedgwood at his Hill Top Works pottery in Burslem, but it may have also been used at his Ferrybridge pottery in Yorkshire.
Label TextRalph Wedgwood is credited with being among the earliest potters to successfully employ bi-color transfer printing on ceramics. This dish provides the missing link in Colonial Williamsburg’s ceramics collection for explaining the history of transfer printing as it evolved by the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century. The central brown pattern is from Ralph Wedgwood’s “Etruscan Figures” series and it along with the brown printed linear edge border and the floral pattern on the rim match pulls from Ralph Wedgwood’s Shape & Pattern Book now part of the Wedgwood Collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Ralph Wedgwood was the son of Thomas Wedgwood (sometimes referred to as Useful Thomas) and Thomas was the cousin of the more famous Josiah Wedgwood. His pottery endeavors were clearly successful given the surviving output, but war with France at the end of the 18th century and then the War of 1812 disrupted his endeavors at both the Burslem and Yorkshire locations. More has been written on Ralph Wedgwood by Patricia Halfpenny in her 2020 article entitled “Useful Thomas and Ralph Wedgwood – Beginning a New Appreciation” which appears in Volume 31 of the English Ceramic Circle Transactions.
MarkingsThe base of the dish is impressed with “WEDGWOOD & Co.” for Ralph Wedgwood. This is a mark used by Ralph Wedgwood at his Hill Top Works pottery in Burslem, but it may have also been used at his Ferrybridge pottery in Yorkshire.