search  current discussion  categories  techniques - misc 

old wedgewood technique

updated thu 14 jan 99

 

Vince Pitelka on sat 9 jan 99

> Does anyone know about the surface technique on old Wedgewood ware? Did
they
> press mold the white decoration and then slip it on to the colored surface of
> the ware? Does it have a special name? Any info would be appreciated.....

While I was on Christmas break up in St.Louis I could read my messages but
could not respond to Clayart, and wanted to comment on this thread. This
ware, when done by Wedgewood (beginning in the mid 18th century) is called
Jasper ware. The technique is actually an adaption of the French
"pate-sur-pate" (paste-on-paste) technique, which is in itself an adaption
of ancient Roman Barbotine slip-relief techniques. In the Barbotine ware,
slip was trailed on the surface of pots in such a way as to produce very
fluid raised-relief imagery - folliage, leaping rabbits and dogs, etc., and
the terra sig was applied overall, giving a monochromatic surface with
raised sculptural relief. It is beautiful stuff. In the French
pate-sur-pate technique, slip was trailed or painted on to a contrasting
colored clay surface, and then very carefully carved to give the desired
relief imagery. Similarly, early Wedgewood Jasper ware was created by
building up contrasting slip on the colored clay surface, and then carving
back into it to give the finished relief surface. Some of the most famous
Wedgwood Jasper ware pieces, like the white-on-black "Portland Vase", are
immitations of Roman glass pieces, where the black glass was cased in a
white layer, and then the imagery was carved through the white layer. Makes
the ceramic technique seem pretty easy.

The Jasper-ware using appliques is a later Industrial Revolution adaptation
of the technique. The pieces using appliques are very clearly inferior to
the earlier carved pieces. But it is my understanding that even among the
later applique work, some of the finer pieces received a lot of detail
carving after the imagery was applied to the surface.
- Vince

Vince Pitelka - vpitelka@DeKalb.net
Home 615/597-5376, work 615/597-6801, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166

Richard Gralnik on wed 13 jan 99

I was in the Potteries once more years ago than I like to ponder
and got to take a tour of the Wedgwood factory. They had an
area set up where you could watch the machines and craftsmen
at work. I'd never seen a machine throw a plate before and
watched it over and over again.

The appliques are made by pressing white clay into a plaster
mold. They are carefully lifted out with a needletool, slipped
with just a bit of water and carefully placed on the piece. For
patterns that encircle a piece, the appliques are sized to just
fit. If they're place well you can't tell where one begins and
the next ends.

I also watched one person paint the raised relief over a decal
with a single-hair brush, another applying the gold luster lines
on cup edges and handles, and another putting together the
parts of various slip cast sculpture.

It was interesting to watch, but it really showed how our art
and craft can be turned into monotonous assembly line work.

Richard
who caught a Mr. Rogers segment the other day on how toilets are
made. Fascinating. Really.

At 12:58 PM 1/9/99 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>> Does anyone know about the surface technique on old Wedgewood ware? Did
>they
>> press mold the white decoration and then slip it on to the colored
surface of
>> the ware? Does it have a special name? Any info would be
appreciated.....
>