Nautilus cream bowl, cover & stand - 1790
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Nautilus cream bowl, cover & stand
© Wedgwood Museum
Josiah Wedgwood had many interests - but conchology, or shell-collecting, really fired his imagination. His close observations of these natural forms directly inspired him, and later generations, to produce shapes and surface decoration inspired by what he called these '...beautiful mansions.' Some of these shell shapes have been in production for nearly two and a half centuries.
During his lifetime Josiah Wedgwood amassed a large collection of shells that he left to his sons. His ongoing interest in nature’s works of art or ‘those beautiful mansions’ as he described them, were reflected not only in the ceramic forms he produced such as these Nautilus dessert wares, but also in the surface patterns he evolved. Josiah was proud of his working knowledge of shell names and he declared himself to his partner, Thomas Bentley, to be ‘…in imminent danger of becoming a connoisseur.’ He even asked Thomas to take time-out on his honeymoon in Margate to look for interesting shells to add to his ever-growing collection!
- Type of object: Dessert ware/bowl
- Mark: WEDGWOOD B [Impressed]
- Year first produced: 1790
- Body: Queen's ware and cream-coloured earthenware
- Glaze: Clear glaze
- Material: Ceramic
- Decoration: Hand-enamelled
- Accession number: 5166
- Dimensions: 150 mm (height), 235 mm (width), 153 mm (depth)
