Excerpt from Josiah Wedgwood, Master-Potter In the summer of 1739, before he had quite completed his ninth year, Josiah Wedgwood lost his father, who died, after a short illness, at the age of fifty-two. At this early age Josiah Wedgwood was removed from school and began the work of a practical potter in the factory of his eldest brother Thomas, to whom the patrimony of his father had been bequeathed. Here his nicety of eye and dexterity of hand served him in good stead, so that he soon became an expert thrower on the ...
Read More
Excerpt from Josiah Wedgwood, Master-Potter In the summer of 1739, before he had quite completed his ninth year, Josiah Wedgwood lost his father, who died, after a short illness, at the age of fifty-two. At this early age Josiah Wedgwood was removed from school and began the work of a practical potter in the factory of his eldest brother Thomas, to whom the patrimony of his father had been bequeathed. Here his nicety of eye and dexterity of hand served him in good stead, so that he soon became an expert thrower on the wheel. After the lapse of about two years he was attacked by small - pox, which assumed a virulent form, and greatly enfeebled him for some time, more particularly affecting his right knee. However, when Josiah was in his fifteenth year he was bound apprentice to his brother Thomas for a term of fiye years, dating from the eleventh of November, 1744. Unfor tunately, as it seemed at the time, he was soon compelled by the return of the weakness in his right knee to abandon the thrower's bench and to turn his attention in other directions. This necessary change in the character of Josiah's employment may not have been without its advan tages, and probably gave the youthful potter a wider insight into the practical requirements of his craft, and familiarised him with the various separate departments of the works. At this time he was engaged in moulding, and in the making, by the association of variously - coloured clays, of imitations of banded and streaked agate, in the form of knife hafts and snufilboxes these were afterwards mounted by the cutlers and hardwaremen of Sheffield and Birmingham. Towards the close of his apprenticeship Josiah seems to have developed a strong tendency to original experiment. In this direction he met with no sympathy from his master and eldest brother, who refused his proposal, when the term of his indentures was over, to take him into partnership. Josiah then agreed to a proposal made by John Harrison, a tradesman of N ewcastle, who, though apparently ignorant of the potter's craft, had invested money in the factory of Thomas Alders, of Cliff Hank, near Stoke. Thus it came to pass that a partnership was formed, of which Josiah Wedgwood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at ... This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Read Less
Add this copy of Josiah Wedgwood, Master-Potter (Classic Reprint) to cart. $15.40, new condition, Sold by Paperbackshop rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bensenville, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2018 by Forgotten Books.