When I first started collecting, I really didn't give a hoot whether a figure was marked or not. As long as I found it aesthetically pleasing, that's all that mattered. Fortunately, that was the best approach for me then because if I had only wanted marked figures, I would have struggled to assemble a collection. Fast forward 30 plus years, and I place extraordinary value on a maker's mark. It embodies with it a wealth of information, not to mention the potter's history.
The Wedgwood mark that we find on about two dozen figure models is far from common. Surprisingly, it is not the mark of the famous Wedgwood manufactory. Rather, it is the mark of Ralph Wedgwood, who was active as a potter from 1788 to 1800. This mark enables us to date marked Wedgwood figures within a fairly narrow time frame.
I spent last week proofing Volume 4 of Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, and, in so doing I noticed again that there are no less than THREE models of Venus with the Wedgwood mark. The first, the figure of Venus below, stands with Cupid. This is a fairly traditional/ordinary model, of the sort that several pot banks made. Ralph Wedgwood was a skilled plagiarist, so it comes as no surprise that he too copied this model. As on all his marked figures, the mark is impressed in small uppercase letters on the back of the base.
The Wedgwood mark that we find on about two dozen figure models is far from common. Surprisingly, it is not the mark of the famous Wedgwood manufactory. Rather, it is the mark of Ralph Wedgwood, who was active as a potter from 1788 to 1800. This mark enables us to date marked Wedgwood figures within a fairly narrow time frame.
I spent last week proofing Volume 4 of Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, and, in so doing I noticed again that there are no less than THREE models of Venus with the Wedgwood mark. The first, the figure of Venus below, stands with Cupid. This is a fairly traditional/ordinary model, of the sort that several pot banks made. Ralph Wedgwood was a skilled plagiarist, so it comes as no surprise that he too copied this model. As on all his marked figures, the mark is impressed in small uppercase letters on the back of the base.
The second Venus with the Wedgwood mark is quite different. You see her below, with VENUS impressed on the front of the base and WEDGWOOD on the back. This model is far from common., but I think I have seen it in a Pratt palette.
Photograph courtesy of The Potteries Museum.
The first two figures are of a similar sort, and it is not a stretch to think that they originated from the same pot bank. The third marked figure, however is quite different in both concept and execution--and it is B-I-G. Below, we see a 29.4-inch figure of Venus holding a dove. The figure is not titled, but the dove is Venus's attribute, and other figure models also show her holding a dove. Look at that dress pattern. What a stunner! I don't collect figures of this scale, but how could I fail to be bowled over by this figure's beauty?
Photograph courtesy of Skinner. Inc.
You can read all about Ralph Wedgwood in Staffordshire Figures 1780-1840, Vol. 1, but he really was a remarkable man who was way ahead of his time. He is credited with inventing carbon paper (does the younger generation even know what that is?) To top it, by 1815, he had invented the telegraph! Shocking, there was no commercial interest in his invention then, and the British government decreed that Britain's victory at Waterloo that year (decisively ending a long period of war with France) made improved long-distance communication unnecessary. Seems that Wedgwood as both a scientist and a potter struggled to find commercial success, but his figures are extraordinary reminders of both the man and his times.
