Collectables
The thrill of the search for an illusive collectable must be one of the most common enthusiasms known to man. What is a collectable is a question with as many answers as there are items that are collectable. There are antique pieces, pieces designed to be collectable, pieces that become collectable by accident, through rarity or supply and demand. To paraphrase Shakespeare “some are born collectable, some achieve collectability and some have collectable thrust upon them”.
Collectors of Wedgwood are a particularly broad church, from the purchaser of an iconic Portland Vase to the keen eyed enthusiast searching through a second hand shop for a Jasper Christmas plate or the missing piece to complete a treasured Wedgwood dinner service. What makes Wedgwood so particularly collectable is its sheer longevity and breadth of product over the centuries.
Alongside the highly collectable, and often very valuable, antique Wedgwood pieces in the iconic Jasper, Black Basalt and Queens Ware that Josiah Wedgwood created in the first chapter of the Wedgwood story, there is a huge amount of equally collectable and much more accessible pieces to be found. There is bone china dinnerware by renowned ceramic designers such as Susie Cooper, commemorative pieces to mark great events, historic anniversaries or seasonal celebrations. Often a particular past design style will become collectable as a result of exposure in a film or television series and this will stimulate the collectability of pieces from one era or another of Wedgwood’s history. Whatever the starting point the choice in terms of Wedgwood collectables is tremendous and growing greater by the year.
