Wedgwood continues its long tradition of innovation with the introduction of a new collection by artist Robert Dawson producing a 21st century reinterpretation of archetypal English china patterns.

Using modern technology to distort & subvert the familiar imagery, Dawson gives a contemporary resonance to a rich tradition and reinvents them for a modern age.

After Willow

Believed to have originated at a Shropshire factory in about 1780, this pattern is an English adaptation of the river scenes commonly depicted on porcelain exported to Europe from China in the 18th century. Copied and modified by migratory engravers, the design was quickly distributed through the earthenware factories of Staffordshire. The Wedgwood version was engraved by J Mollart in 1806 and first produced in 1818.
This romantic oriental tale is about a pair of star crossed lovers whose union is denied, only to be circumvented by death, when their souls rise together as two birds.

After Landscape

Such idealised Italianate landscapes were popular from the early 19th century onwards when engravers derived many of their pictorial subjects from scenes associated with the Grand Tour, frequently combining elements from different views in one Elysian scene. The Wedgwood landscape is one of a number of different scenes enclosed within the same floral border, engraved by Allen Hordley in 1832 and used periodically ever since in a variety of colour combinations.