This new book by Tristram Hunt, is a biography of Josiah Wedgwood, the Founder of the famous Wedgwood Pottery works, the maker of fine china for over 250 years. The book was published in fall of 2021.
Even before the current Wedgwood company was founded, the Wedgwood family had been potters for over 200 years. Josiah was born in 1730, the 12th child of his parents. His father died when he was nine. Josiah was put to work in the extended family’s business and showed an aptitude for it. He got smallpox and became crippled. But Josiah had a creative gift and drive like no one else.
He learned the craft and was wise in picking his business partners. This was during the period just before the American Revolution. Josiah was obsessed with making pottery better in terms of durability and beauty. He was also a great marketer and created a worldwide company in a time when transportation was by sailing ship and communication was slow.
Wedgwood and his partner believed in the semi-divine calling of Great Britain. Trade depended on a strong military, particularly navy, to keep the sea lanes open. The market for portraits of military heroes was strong, so Wedgwood hired sculptors. But by the 1780s, foreign sales accounted for 80 percent of production. America was one of the biggest export markets.
Josiah Wedgwood was always dismayed by the dismal work ethic of the potters and aimed to change it. This was one of his many contributions to the Industrial Revolution. Economies of scale were enjoyed by using labor specialization. Timekeeping was instituted. Wedgwood recognized the difference between fixed and variable costs and realized the expense involved in high fixed costs.
Wedgwood was mostly a proponent of free-trade and low taxes, unless it was a direct competitor, then he was happy to support tariffs, especially against cheap, Chinese imports. Wedgwood also had a conflicted relationship with slavery. While an abolitionist, even creating medallions that he distributed for free, he also benefited from the wealth earned by many families who used slave labor in the Caribbean Islands.
For all his contributions to advancing business methods, the author calls Wedgwood “the Steve Jobs of his era.” Perhaps, but I think that’s a stretch and a means of selling books. Speaking of the book, the life of Josiah Wedgwood is a great story of a very interesting man. But the author’s writing style is awfully difficult to read. There is way too much detail, too many side stories, and paragraphs that run to two pages and cover multiple topics. You’ve heard of books you can’t put down? This is a book you can put down. And leave it down for a long time.
I have an interest in china and porcelain due to family history, but I found this a tough book to get through, even though there is a great story buried in here. As far as a recommendation—don’t read it! Spend the time I just saved you with your loved ones over the holidays.
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