A One-day Symposium on Eighteenth-Century English Creamware

Saturday, April 26, 2008

In conjunction with the museum’s recent acquisition of 163 pieces of English creamware from the Alistair Sampson Collection, Historic Deerfield will hold a one-day symposium on the subject of 18th-century English creamware on Saturday, April 26, 2008.

Participants will enjoy a day of lectures, hands-on workshops, demonstrations of 18th-century potting techniques, knowledgeable discussions of creamware collecting, and potential pitfalls on the antiques market. Foremost scholars on the subject, Patricia Halfpenny, Director of Museum Collections at the Winterthur Museum;Tom Walford, Editor of Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle; and Amanda Lange of Historic Deerfield, will educate you on the evolution of English creamware, the characteristics of various English creamware manufacturers, and masterpieces from the Sampson collection. Don Carpentier, Director of Historic Eastfield Foundation, will demonstrate the tools and techniques of late 18th-century English pottery, and Amanda Lange will lead a hands-on workshop with objects from the
museum’s collection.

Enoch Booth (1717–c.1743) of Tunstall, England, invented creamware in the 1740s, but it was Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) who perfected and
successfully marketed the ceramic body. By 1762, Wedgwood’s many experiments resulted in a light, sturdy, refined yet inexpensive cream-colored earthenware body. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, this ware was often called "queensware." In 1765, England’s Queen Charlotte ordered a complete tea set ofWedgwood’s manufacture. She was so delighted with the service that she permitted Wedgwood to title himself “Potter to Her Majesty.” Wedgwood took no time in rechristening his “ivory” or “cream-colour” ceramics as the new-fashioned “queensware.” Middle-class consumers rushed to purchase creamware, bringing the popularity of tin-glazed earthenware and salt-glazed stoneware to an end.

Click here to download a pdf of the registration brochure.