A-Z of Ceramics - Q is for Queen's Ware

Cream-coloured earthenwares, containing a combination of whitish clays and calcined flint, were made in Staffordshire from the 1740s. Josiah Wedgwood - whose extraordinary skills as a ceramic technologist were very nearly matched by his talents as a salesman and entrepreneur - made various improvements to the material during the 1760s.

Following his appointment as Potter to Queen Charlotte in 1766, he named his improved creamware 'Queen's Ware'. This did much to ensure the fashionable status of his pottery. But as the term rapidly became the generic name for creamware, it was also widely used to promote the products of his competitors. Along with transfer printing and the bone china formula, creamware was one of the major technical advances in ceramics that the British can lay claim to.

Vase, made at Josiah Wedgwood's factory, about 1765. Museum no. 3119-1853. Creamware ('Queen's Ware'), with engine turned decoration and traces of gilding. The vase is probably similar to those Josiah Wedgwood presented to Queen Charlotte shortly before renaming his creamware 'Queen's Ware' in her honour.

Vase, Josiah Wedgwood, Burslem, United Kingdom, 1764-1768. Museum no. C.2-1967. Creamware (Queen's Ware), engine-turned and gilded. The vase is a purely decorative one. It was probably intended for display in a private library or other fine room. Sets of three, five, seven or even nine vases were known as 'suites of vases' in the 18th and early 19th centuries.