Heritage Products - Page 2
Queen Charlotte
Second daughter of the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Charlotte Sophia was the wife and consort of George III. Josiah Wedgwood was not only a masterly ceramicist but also an astute businessman, realising well the potential benefits to his company of royal patronage and approval.
In 1765 Wedgwood sought a commission from Queen Charlotte to supply a complete tea and coffee service in earthenware, which was decorated with a gold ground, with flowers raised on it in green.
So impressed was Queen Charlotte with Wedgwood's work that she gave Royal Assent for Wedgwood to name his newly developed cream ware body 'Queen's Ware' and she also allowed Josiah to style himself 'Potter to her Majesty'.
The Husk Service
The Husk Service, made in 1770, was Josiah Wedgwood's first major order from Catherine the Great of Russia. A dinner and dessert service for 24 people, it was to be made of Queen's Ware. The dinner service was enamelled in rose-purple with a decorative border of husks (hence the name) and some flowers, while the dessert service was enamelled with sprays of flowers.
Josiah well recognised the potential of this order to increase his trade with Russia and more particularly with the Russian Court. Consequently he 'trembled for the Russian service', worrying about the short time in which the service had to be completed, and about the quality of the hand painting. That the 'Husk Service' met with the Empress' approval was demonstrated all too clearly by the arrival of yet another and even more valuable order from Catherine the Great in 1773.
The Catherine Service
If the production of the Husk Service gave Josiah Wedgwood cause for concern, the prospect of creating a unique 952-piece Queen's Ware service, painted by hand with 1,244 views of Great Britain for Catherine II, Empress of Russia, was an unprecedented and daunting challenge.
Wedgwood received news of the commission in March 1773, and wrote to Bentley, 'I have no idea of this service being got up in less than two or three years if the Landskips & buildings are to be tolerably done, so as to do any credit to us, & to be copied from pictures of real buildings & situations... Why all the Gardens in England will scarcely furnish subjects sufficient for this set, every piece having a different subject'.
Despite Josiah's misgivings, the service was in fact completed in less than a year. As befitted the stature of the commission, a new shape, the 'Catherine' Shape, was modelled and several new tableware pieces were designed. The most time-consuming and labour-intensive work lay in decorating almost 1,000 pieces by hand with exquisite scenes in dark mulberry enamel. Almost 30 painters were entrusted with the task, using mainly engravings and prints for reference, although some paintings were lent to the company, and sketches were produced by artists expressly for the purpose. Josiah Wedgwood wrote to Mrs Talbot in December 1773 - 'Madam: We are now executing a commission for the Empress of Russia. It is for a table service of near 2,000 pieces upon each of which is to be a real view from English Gardens and pleasure grounds painted in enamel and we are to number each piece and send a catalogue to the Empress saying from whose seat each view is taken, may I beg the favour, Madam, of enriching our collection with a few of these views from your beautiful park and gardens'.
The popular name 'Frog' Service comes from the green frog crest that appeared on every piece. The frog was chosen to represent the new palace being built by Catherine the Great at the time the service was commissioned; the site of the palace was Kekerekeksinensky or 'La Grenouillère' (the frog marsh) near Petrodvorets.
The 'Catherine' Service was a unique piece of work and a masterpiece of English ceramics as had ever been produced in Britain.
