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Spill vase in celebration of 1906 Etruria Museum opening - 1906

Spill vase in celebration of 1906 Etruria Museum opening, © Wedgwood Museum
    Spill vase in celebration of 1906 Etruria Museum opening
    © Wedgwood Museum

The first museum opened at Etruria in May 1906 - over a century after Josiah Wedgwood I (1730-95) wished he - ‘…had saved a single specimen of all the new articles I have made…’ A discovery of ware in a locked storeroom led to the founding of a museum and Isaac Cook became the first curator. In celebration small ornamental wares were impressed with the legend ‘MUSEUM May 1906’.

As early as 1774 Josiah Wedgwood I wished he - ‘…had saved a single specimen of all the new articles I have made, & would now give twenty times the original value for such a collection.’ His intention was not realised until over a century after his death, when the first Wedgwood museum was opened to the public on 7th May 1906. The immediate cause of the museum’s institution was the discovery of a cache of early trials and experimental wares in a locked room at Etruria. The factory was scoured for other pieces of historic interest and the nucleus of a museum was formed. Isaac Cook became the first curator and was pictured on the opening day standing by prized exhibits. In celebration of the opening a number of small ornamental pieces were impressed with the legend ‘MUSEUM May 1906’, these included miniature spill vases and portrait medallions of Josiah I himself.

  • Type of object: Useful ware/smoking set
  • Mark: WEDGWOOD MADE IN ENGLAND MUSEUM 1906 [Impressed]
  • Year first produced: 1906
  • Body: Jasper
  • Decoration: Ornamented and sprigged, jasper dip
  • Accession number: 11647
  • Dimensions: 54mm (height), 45mm (diameter)

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Related people

  • Josiah Wedgwood Subject

    Josiah Wedgwood - Subject

    Josiah was born in 1730, the youngest of twelve children born to Mary Wedgwood and her husband, Thomas. His father was a potter who lived and worked at the Churchyard Works, Burslem. This town was still connected by rough roads to the other five towns which made up the area of North Staffordshire known as the Potteries. By the time of his death, Josiah Wedgwood I not only improved the variety and quality of pottery produced, but he also opened up the area as an important centre of commerce with the rest of the world through his involvement in the development of canal and road networks. He went on to become one of the most influential ceramic manufacturers in the world, and earned the title 'The Father of English Potters'. His direct descendants are still involved in the factory which bears his name today. Much of Josiah's development as a successful businessman, philanthropist and potter can be accounted for by the ill fortunes he suffered. At the age of 9 when his father died and he had to abandon his formal school education in order to work in the family business. Then at around eleven years old he contracted smallpox and was left with a knee-infection which constricted his use of the kick-wheel on which the pottery shapes were formed. From that time onwards he focused on affecting the perfection and marketing of Burslem's main product. Another spur to Wedgwood’s success was his growing affection for his distant cousin, Sarah whom he had met at the home of his wealthy uncles, John and Thomas. Whereas Josiah came from a poor background, Richard, his future father-in-law, was a prosperous cheese-merchant from Cheshire who apparently insisted that the young potter achieved a certain level of wealth before he could marry his daughter. Wedgwood entered partnerships with other potters, most notably Thomas Whieldon, and established himself as an independent potter in 1759. He moved to superior premises at the Ivy House Works where he perfected his Queen’s ware body and then to the Brick House Works. His reputation was rapidly spreading farther afield and finally, Richard was convinced of his suitability as a husband for his daughter, Sarah. There is no doubt as to Josiah’s love for Sarah when, on the eve of their wedding in 1764 he wrote to his partner, Thomas Bentley: 'I yesterday prevailed upon my dear Girl to name the day, the blissful day! When she will reward all my faithfull services and take me to her Arms!'.

  • Isaac Cook Associated

    Isaac Cook - Associated

    When the first Wedgwood Museum opened at Etruria on 7th May 1906, former factory workman Isaac Cook was appointed its first curator. Both of Cook’s parents had worked for the factory – his father as a printer, and his mother as a transferrer – Isaac himself worked on the ornamental side of production, as a figure maker. The Staffordshire Sentinel carried a report of his death on 6th May 1916 – at the time Cook lived in Victoria Street, Basford.

  • Heritage Lottery Fund
  • Designated as an Outstanding Collection