Wedgwood – Bone China

Wedgwood played catch-up to the other Staffordshire potters in the manufacturing of a form of porcelain known as Bone China. Composed of china clay, feldspathic rock and bone ash (calcined animal bone), this porcelain was first introduced in 1799 by Josiah Spode. Bone china was a purer white in color, lighter in weight and less brittle than its oriental and continental European counterparts.

Although factories at Chelsea, Derby and Lowestoft had been making a variant of bone china for at least twenty to forty years, the Wedgwood factory first introduced it in 1812 under the guidance of Josiah II. There were problems in production and it was discontinued in 1822. This “first period” bone china was marked WEDGWOOD in underglaze blue or onglaze red, purple, black or gold, sometimes with the pattern number onglaze in script.

The “second period” for Wedgwood bone china began in 1878 and continues to the present day. In addition to various forms of WEDGWOOD, all second period bone china marks include a Portland Vase mark (the corporate logo) underglaze. The most collectible ware in this body is Fairyland Lustre, produced in the early part of the 20th century.