Basalt Ware

Basalt Ware

Sometimes called Black Basalt, (also spelled Basaltes). It is a hard black vitreous stoneware, named after the volcanic rock basalt and manufactured by Josiah Wedgwood from about 1768.  Wedgwood's black basalt ware was an improvement on the stained earthenware known as "Egyptian black" made by other Staffordshire potters.

Wedgwood's basalt, a hard, black, stonelike material 
known also as Egyptian ware or basaltes ware,
 was used for vases, candlesticks, 
and realistic busts of historical figures.

The fine-grained basalt stoneware reflected Wedgwood's Neoclassicism: its dense, uniform surface, requiring no glaze, was polished to a dull gloss; the ornament was usually intricate and well-defined, often in complex geometric designs and either moulded and applied or incised by turning on a lathe. Early productions included "bronze Etruscan" vases with faint gilding and copies of Greek vase painting in mat red and white encaustic enamels on the black ground.

Classical relief medallions, cameos, and plaques were imitated in black basalt, and even tea and coffee sets were made; small statues were fashioned as well as important life-size "library" busts of classical and modern philosophers and authors. Some basalt ware is essentially severe, with no decoration or added ornamentation.

Wedgwood Art Deco Basalt Skeaping Kangaroo figure, c:1930. Measures 7 3/4" high, 7 3/4" long, is impressed WEDGWOOD MADE IN ENGLAND and has the J Skeaping signature.

WEDGWOOD BASALT SMALL FOOTED BOWL, WITH ACANTHUS LEAF DECORATION. 4.75" DIAMETER, 3.0" HIGH. IMPRESS MARKS; WEDGWOOD MADE IN ENGLAND; 93, (1993)

questions / comments? email Steve Birks steveb@netcentral.co.uk