Wedgwood - where it's now made

It's confusing. Wedgwood was sold, became part of a conglomerate, smushed together with Waterford crystal and Royal Doulton. You go into a good department store, and yes, you can still buy newly produced items. They are *lovely*. They say "Wedgwood - England" on them. And NO, they are NOT made in England. Virtually all but premium manufacturing was outsourced (that must be one of the ghastliest modern terms coined) to Indonesia in 2009.

Quality is as good as anything produced in Barlaston. And yet - to mark these goods with the country name "England" is misleading.

To be clear: "Made In England" backstamped on items means the Wedgwood piece was made in England. "Wedgwood - England" is amorphous and is not an indication that it was made in the UK. For the record, Time Travelers deals only with the former, and passes on the latter. We do so primarily due to the age of the items we buy and sell. We also do it, though, in solidarity with the spirit with which the original company was founded.

Here's a link to the Wedgwood family blog, and their views on the state of what eventually befell the family business:

http://wedgwoodfamily.blogspot.com/2009/05/production-has-no-wedgwood-family.html

The photo of the lilac Jasperware 3-part tea set dates to 1959, when this delightful color was produced in limited quantities. The date stamp on the "Brewster" shape teapot is clearly marked, and makes this a desirable and unusual find. So often pale colors (in my opinion) used in Jasperware don't do the bas reliefs justice; but this is not the case with this lovely set.

A special addition to the website store

I'm very happy to add this beautiful, 1930's era Wedgwood Blue Dip tea set, in the St. Louis shape, to the Time Travelers store at eCrater. Items such as this come up rarely at auctions such as Bonhams and Sothebys, and we're thrilled to have found the set and have it on offer. It's in perfect shape and was obviously in the care of a loving collector before we came across it.

This link takes you directly to the item in the store.

Still in the process of transferring files from the eMac to the new laptop. Yesterday spent a LONG time moving all the photographs of items in the inventory over; important, because I still want links to work on tools like Squidoo and this blog, so I need the source files in the right places.

I rediscovered another resource for my Wedgwood knowledge in the course of going through my old bookmarks, too; and that's a comprehensive listing of the color names and visual representations of the Jasperware that Wedgwood has ever issued - what a wonderful tool. It's the Wedgwood Jasper Color and Date Guide, and there's the link to it.

Whew! What a lot of work for a morning - time for a cuppa tea :-)

I had a busy week!

Three sales this week - I am flush with success. Two teapots and a book, and I'm so happy that the eCrater store is truly bustling - and that the listings on Amazon have come back to life. Something having to do with the school year starting up again, I think.

I do hope that the customers are pleased with their purchases. That's the only suspense of shipping the items off - I don't get to see their happy faces when they open the boxes.

Bob came back from a business trip (er, that would be with his day job) with treasures that he found at an antique shop in Savannah that was having a moving sale. Some Wedgwood Jasperware - great! - and a pile of interesting photographs, which I'll take the time to sort through, slip into protective plastic sleeves, and leave for others to wonder just who the people in the pictures are...

Building up a store

I've got this sense of deja vue that I just can't shake - and for good reason. Taking photographs, doing research, putting items into the online store... I've been here before. Yet this time around it feels so much better. I feel so much more my own boss at eCrater, a freedom and a responsibility at the same time. I don't quite know what a metatag is, but I know it's important! And what the heck is Squidoo? Yet another form of self promotion, and it's free, so I'm going to do it.

I've begun putting some of the Wedgwood Jasperware items on the site. We have so many, it is going to be a regular department store by the time I'm done. Today's picture is of a very pretty, deep rose teapot. Yes, it's fully functional, glazed on the interior. Unusual in that it has a trivet or stand on which to place the teapot. I think we found this piece at an antique store in Tarpon Springs, long before we ever thought of having our own business.

The most famous of Josiah Wedgwood's inventions was Jasperware. The unglazed vitreous body provides the perfect background for classic scenes in bas-relief.