Cup Of Delight

I’ve had an unhealthy interest in china tea cups since I was a tot and was pleased to read the latest Wedgewood news in The Independent’s business section.  That, however, is not so interesting but this is: it is hardly known that the original founder of the pottery company, Josiah Wedgewood, was one of the first active supporters in favour of abolishing slavery in Britain.

Josiah Wedgewood produced an anti-slavery medallion ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’ bringing the attention of the public to the horrors of the slave trade.  Unfortunately Mr Wedgewood died before seeing the end of slavery but he even sent a medallion to Benjamin Franklin, hoping to invoke his conscience.

The company was bought out of receivership by an American private equity company in 2009 and their major markets are now the USA and Japan even though some pottery work is still carried out in the UK.  I wonder if the company still participate in social causes…I don’t see why pottery and social activism can’t still be friends.

Bubbly

Tags: abolish slavery, activist, ani-slavery, Anti-slavery medallion, Benjamin Franklin, china, England, English heritage, Japan, Josiah Wedgewood, KPS Capital Partners, Politics, pottery, slave trade, social activist, tea cup, the independent, USA, Wedgewood