The next event of the WSB will be our annual Summer Social to be held on Saturday, July 18th at a museum in Providence, RI, where select Wedgwood objects will be presented in a special curated session. This will be followed by a luncheon. If you are not a WSB member and would like to participate in this fun-filled July event and partake of all our meetings as well as receive the bi-monthly newsletters, click on the “Become a Member” tab above.
The next lecture of the WSB will be, “Blooms Transported: Ceramic Vases & Floral Ornament” presented by Leslie Grigsby, Winterthur Senior Curator of Ceramics & Glass, Emerita’ on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Leslie will begin by hinting at the range of meanings which, throughout history, have been associated with portrayals of flowers and floral ornament. In the Asia or the West, for examples, various blooms might represent one of The Four Seasons (such as Spring) or The Five Senses (Smell). Portrayals of “Flower Sellers,” particularly those in ceramic form, were created for consumers from nearly all levels of society as were a stunning range of vase types. Some flower container shapes trace their origins to wine-related and other vessels from ancient China or classical Greece and Rome. Others, which appeared spontaneously in response to the public’s obsession with novelty, were imitated and modified for decades, only to fade into oblivion.
Leslie B. Grigsby, Winterthur’s Senior Curator of Ceramics and Glass, Emerita, was responsible at that institution for 20,000+ ceramic and glass objects. She received her BA in Art History from the University of Illinois and her Post-Graduate Diploma in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from the University of Manchester in England. She spent the 1980s as part of the curatorial staff at Colonial Williamsburg. The 1990s saw her writing books on important American ceramics holdings, including the Colonial Williamsburg, Weldon, Chipstone Foundation, and Longridge collections. She joined the Winterthur staff in 1999 and retired in 2025. Leslie has published extensively on 17th- and 18th-century ceramics, design sources, and the histories of dining and drinking and has curated numerous major exhibitions. She has lectured across the USA, Canada, the UK, China, and Australia. In retirement, she continues to teach in Winterthur’s two MA programs and to create sculptural artwork.
The ZOOM link will be sent members by email a week prior to the meeting; it can also be accessed by WSB members by clicking on the “Members Zone” tab at that time as well. If you are not already registered for the Members Zone, instructions for registering are provided when you access that page. If you are not a WSB member and would like to partake of all our meetings as well as receive the bi-monthly newsletters, click on the “Become a Member” tab above.
The next lecture of the WSB will be, “Wedgwood and Wine: From Cellar to Pantry to Table”, presented by Sandy Olubas, Wedgwood collector and historian, on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. EDST.
Don’t forget the time is now Daylight Savings Time.
Wedgwood made an amazing amount of ceramics for all types of purposes. This talk is focused on the pieces made for use with wine and related beverages. Production of these began in the 19th century and continues today. Most are made of creamware, with a few exceptions of earthenware, jasperware, and bone china. Depending on the time period and the need of the customer, the pieces vary greatly in shape, purpose, and decorative value. Sandy will explore the wonderful world of ‘Wedgwood and Wine’ from the beginning until the 21st century.
Sandy was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, graduated with a Bachelors in Information Technology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and received an MBA from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio. Sandy worked in the Information Technology at several Cincinnati companies, to include General Electric Aerospace. Collecting Wedgwood started during her first trip to England where she found a bone china dinner pattern. Sandy’s main attraction is to what she calls “utilitarian” pieces … those not used in the dining room nor for decorative purposes. She served as Treasurer for the WIS and has lectured on a number of Wedgwood related topics.
The ZOOM link will be emailed to WSB members the week prior. If you are not a WSB member and would like to partake of all our meetings as well as receive the bi-monthly newsletters, click on the “Become a Member” tab above.
The next lecture of the WSB will be, “The Art of Icing: Trailed Slip Decoration in the Work of Harry Barnard, Frederick A. Rhead, William Moorcroft.…and a Few Others”, presented by Jonathan Mallinson, Emeritus Fellow at Trinity College, Oxford. Jonathan will be joining us via video from England on Sunday, January 11, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. ET.
Trailed slip was a feature of much art pottery decoration at the turn of the twentieth century. Used at Doulton Lambeth in the 1890s, where it was likened to cake icing, it was widely developed in Staffordshire in the following decades. The introduction of the ‘squeeze bag’ is credited to Harry Barnard, who came to the Burslem firm of James Macintyre & Co. from Lambeth in 1895, and who moved in 1897 to Wedgwood, where he remained for more than thirty years.
This talk will consider Barnard’s designs of the 1890s, and the evolution of trailed slip decoration in the work of two artist-potters whose lives intersected with that of Barnard in different ways: Frederick Alfred Rhead, who recruited Barnard’s team of decorators for his own slipware designs, following the latter’s transfer to the Wedgwood tile department in 1899; and William Moorcroft, who succeeded Barnard as Director of Ornamental Pottery at Macintyre’s, and whose innovative experiments in the use of trailed slip were a hallmark of his pottery. The influence of their work can be traced in pottery design throughout the interwar years. This is a story of three designers and a technique, but it is the story, too, of a mode of decoration whose association with pre-industrial Staffordshire slipware and its adoption by designers influenced by European art nouveau, sheds light on the significance of national identity, craft and individuality in ceramic art of this time.
Jonathan Mallinson is Emeritus Fellow in French at Trinity College, Oxford, where he specialized in the prose fiction, comedy and satire of early-modern France. He has devoted his retirement to the study of British art pottery, and is the author of William Moorcroft, Potter: Individuality by Design, published by Open Book Publishers in 2023, and freely accessible at https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0349
The ZOOM link will be emailed to WSB members the week prior. If you are not a WSB member and would like to partake of all our meetings as well as receive the bi-monthly newsletters, click on the “Become a Member” tab above.
19th Century Majolica: It’s all About Fashion
The next lecture of the WSB will be, “19th Century Majolica: It’s All About Fashion” – the story of invention, industry, marketing and fashion in the 19th century, presented by Nicolaus Boston, ‘The Majolica Guru’, ceramics expert, author, curatorial advisor, and dealer. Nick will be joining us via video from London on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. ET.
The 19th century was the beginning, the blueprint for how we live today, and Majolica is a wonderful vehicle to discuss that blueprint. Wedgwood was amongst the top producers of Majolica and compared to others, was sophisticated, of the highest quality and the brightest of glazes. They were prepared to pay the services of top designers such as Christopher Dresser to insure ground breaking and unique majolica shapes.
Unlike most companies at the time, Wedgwood survived the downfall of “Majolica mania” and moved on successfully, relying on the tried and tested production of Jasperware and reinvention of ranges such a Fairyland Lustre. But overall Majolica was a truly 19th century pottery phenomenon in invention, industry, and marketing with plenty of whimsy and wonder, but most of all, just like today, Majolica was all about fashion.
This event will be opened to the public at no charge and the ZOOM link will be published a couple weeks in advance. If you are not a WSB member and would like to partake of all our meetings as well as receive the bi-monthly newsletters, click on the “Become a Member” tab above.
Bits & Pieces
The next event of the WSB is the ever-popular annual Bits & Pieces, when members will share images and descriptions, as well as ask questions of their favorite or recently acquired piece of Wedgwood. This is a virtual session to be held on Sunday, September 14, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. ET. Participants are asked to email images in advance to Peggy Kerner at wsbkerner@gmail.com by September 8. If you are not a WSB member and would like to join in on this meeting, click on the “Become a Member” tab above. The Zoom link will be emailed to all members several days prior to the event.
The Third Annual WSB Summer Social
This year’s members summer event will be held in Mystic, CT, on Saturday, July 19th. The program includes lunch at a local restaurant and viewing of a spectacular Wedgwood collection at a member’s home. There will also be a special private showing for WSB of Wedgwood and related material at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, on Friday, the 18th
If you are not already a WSB member, we invite you to become one in time to attend these two Wedgwood-filled days. Simply click on “Become a Member” to join. You will then receive an email detailing the events.
On Sunday, May 18, at 2:00 p.m. ET, the WSB, in conjunction with the WSWDC, will welcome Michael Ruddy, Assistant Curator at the V&A Wedgwood Collection in Barlaston, England, who will present part-two of his lecture on “Unpacking the V&A Wedgwood Collection”. The lecture is an opportunity to see and learn about the amazing discoveries made during the unpacking and cataloguing of the 65,000 objects currently boxed away in the V&A Wedgwood Collection storeroom.
Michael joined the V&A in 2022 and was promoted to his current position in 2023. Prior to, he held positions at the Arts Council England, the Leonard Cheshire Archive, and the Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust. He earned his BA in history from the University of Derby and his MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leicester.
This meeting is our annual Elizabeth Chellis Memorial Lecture and will include the AGM. The event will be presented via ZOOM and WSB members will receive a link the week prior to the meeting. The link will be posted also on this WSB website’s members only zone. If you are not a WSB member and would like to enjoy our 6 events and newsletters per year, click onto the Become a Member tab above.
Join us for the next ZOOM lecture of the WSB to be held Sunday, March 16, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EDST, when Ben Miller, ceramics curator, will present, ‘Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: The Wedgwood Collection at The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.’ The origins of the ceramics collection at this museum in Stoke-on-Trent, England, are as fascinating and varied as the ceramics themselves. Its collection of Wedgwood wares is no exception. Amassed over 3 centuries through bequests, gifts and purchases, the Wedgwood collection helps to tell the story of the Father of the Potteries and his company over its 266-year existence.
Ben Miller, Ceramics Curator and Programme Manager for Stoke Museums Service has worked with ceramics collections since 2012 starting his career as Assistant at The Wedgwood Museum during which time he was able to research a wide variety of topics across the Wedgwood collection and archive. In 2015 he joined the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery as Assistant Curator of Ceramics and has since worked on a number of exhibitions and given talks to collectors’ societies. In 2022 he became Ceramics Curator and Programme Manager for Stoke Museums Service with responsibilities across the services’ four museums. Ben holds a BA from Keele University and a MA from Birmingham University’s Ironbridge Institute.
Members will receive the ZOOM link a week prior to the meeting. If you are not a WSB member and would like to join, click onto the Become a Member tab above.
The next lecture of the WSB takes place on Sunday, January 12, 2025, at 2:00 pm EST, via ZOOM, when Harwood (Woody) Johnson will present his talk on, “All Eyes Were Fixed on the Vases: A Gift of Wedgwood Jasper for the Emperor of China in 1793″. In 1793, King George III sent Lord Macartney, ambassador to China, on an embassy to the Qianlong emperor to negotiate more favorable trade relations between the two countries. The embassy’s ships included a 64-gun warship and Macartney took extravagant gifts for the emperor, including the most technologically advanced weaponry, scientific and mechanical instruments, and the latest and most fashionable British manufactures, all intended to impress the Chinese and foster desire for British goods. Among the gifts was an array of Wedgwood’s jasper. Surviving records in the Chinese and British archives allow us to picture the Wedgwood jasper presented to the emperor, and to imagine the entire scene. In the end, the Chinese do not seem to have been impressed with the latest and most dazzling examples of British ingenuity – with a single exception, the Wedgwood vases – upon which all eyes were fixed.
A collector and scholar, Woody Johnson became interested in Wedgwood more than 50 years ago. He operates circa1775, which offers fine eighteenth-century Wedgwood pottery. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Members will receive the ZOOM link a week prior to the meeting. If you are not a WSB member and would like to join, click onto the Become a Member tab above.
