Pottery & Porcelain maker
Wedgwood marks
Josiah Wedgwood set up on his own at Burslem in 1759 and moved to his new Etruria works around 1769, the same year he went into partnership with Thomas Bentley for ornamental wares.
- Active
- 1759–present
- Based in
- Burslem, then Etruria, then Barlaston, Staffordshire, England
- Marks listed
- 10
- Typical pieces
- jasperware, black basalt, Queen's Ware creamware, bone china tableware
The marks, by date
Each mark’s wording is written out as a transcription: the words and line breaks, not a picture of the mark. Where a source describes a mark instead of quoting it, the description is shown in italics.
Where: underside
Basic impressed name mark in capitals with serifs; on early pieces the letters were stamped individually and can be uneven or curved.
Where: underside
Also 'W&B'. Used on ornamental basalt, jasper and marbled wares, in impressed, raised or script forms. Circular versions on otherwise unmarked pieces may be forgeries.
Where: underside
Upper-and-lower-case version used after Bentley's death.
Where: underside
'ENGLAND' added from 1891 to meet U.S. import rules.
Where: underside
Appears on some wares from 1898 but in general use from about 1908–1910.
Where: underside
Sans-serif lettering replaced the serif impressed mark.
Where: underside of bone china
Printed picture of the Portland Vase above the Wedgwood name, used on bone china after it was reintroduced in 1878. No stars under the vase on this version.
Where: underside of bone china
Portland Vase mark with three stars added beneath the vase; 'ENGLAND' or 'MADE IN ENGLAND' added according to period.
Where: underside, with the Wedgwood mark
The later use appears together with 'ENGLAND'.
Where: underside, with the Wedgwood mark
Sometimes added after the move to the Barlaston factory.
History
The firm became known for creamware (Queen's Ware), black basalt and jasperware, and it reintroduced bone china in 1878. Production moved to a new factory at Barlaston around 1940; the company merged with Waterford in 1986, went into administration in 2009, and was bought by Fiskars in 2015.
Dating clues
- From 1860 many pieces carry an impressed three-letter code: first letter = month, second = the potter, third = year (O = 1860). The year letters cycle, so the same code can mean two years; 'ENGLAND' beside it means 1891 or later.
- From about 1907 the month letter was replaced by a '3', and from 1924 by a '4'. From about 1929–1930 the year is shown by its last two digits (30 = 1930).
- 'ENGLAND' alone suggests 1891–c.1908; 'MADE IN ENGLAND' suggests 1908 or later (occasionally from 1898).
- 'FABRIQUE EN ANGLETERRE' or 'FABRICATION ANGLAISE' were used on some wares for the French market, c.1900–1910.
- Printed marks first appear around 1812; before that, Wedgwood marks are impressed.
Look-alikes and reproductions
- 'Wedgewood' (with an extra E), 'Vedgwood' and 'J Wedg Wood' were used by other makers on unrelated, usually lesser wares.
- 'Wedgwood & Co' belongs to Ralph Wedgwood (c.1790–1796) and later to Enoch Wedgwood (from 1860), not Josiah Wedgwood's firm.
Other names on the marks
Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd; Wedgwood & Bentley; Waterford Wedgwood; WWRD
Where sources disagree: Start of general 'MADE IN ENGLAND' use: 1908 (thepotteries dating page), c.1909 (Etruria Antiques) or 1910 (thepotteries marks page). The ® after WEDGWOOD is dated 1940 by one source and 1975 by another, so it is left out of the mark list.
Sources
Marks help identify a maker and a date range, but they can’t prove a piece is genuine. Reproductions and later reissues can carry old marks. This entry isn’t an appraisal.