"From Wedgwood to Wash Basins: Exploring 18th-Century English Pottery" Museum Course

Click here to download an information and registration form.

Almost everyone is familiar with the term “Wedgwood”—to some it represents an English china company and to others a fashionable blue and white pottery.  Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795)—the man behind the name—is less well known to a modern audience, but in the 18^th century he was one of the most influential ceramic manufacturers in the world. 

In Spring 2012, Amanda Lange, Curatorial Department Chair and Curator of Historic Interiors at Historic Deerfield, will offer a three-week course introducing the new collector, student, or the curious to the fascinating area of 18^th-century English earthenwares and stonewares.  Ms. Lange has specialized in the study of English ceramics, and is the author of Delftware at Historic Deerfield (2001) and Chinese Export Art at Historic Deerfield (2005). 

Participants will explore together how English ceramics were created in the 18^th century and the early types of ceramics that proceeded Wedgwood’s production.  We will also trace the rise of the Five Towns of North Staffordshire as they became the center of the world’s potting industry.  The class will learn how Josiah Wedgwood revolutionized the ceramic industry, invented new types of earthenwares and stonewares, and created marketing methods that we would find familiar today.   Finally, the class will conclude with a survey of influences on ceramics in the 18^th century from Asian inspiration to Neoclassical design.  Each class session will feature an illustrated lecture and access to objects from the Historic Deerfield collection.

The cost for this museum course is $105 ($95 for members).  Special early bird registrations save $10 by March 21. Pre-registration is required by April 4. For more information and registration, please contact Julie Marcinkiewicz at 413-775-7179 or events [at] historic-deerfield [dot] org