Josiah Wedgwood was the youngest child of Thomas Wedgwood III and Mary Wedgwood and survived a childhood bout of smallpox to serve as an apprentice potter under his eldest brother Thomas Wedgwood IV. Smallpox left Josiah Wedgwood with a permanently weakened knee, which made him unable to work the foot pedal of a potter's wheel. As a result of this Wedgwood concentrated from an early age on designing pottery rather than making it.

Wedgwood . . . always of very high quality

Wedgwood's work was always of very high quality. When he visited his workshop and saw a vessel that failed to meet his standards, he would smash it with his stick, exclaiming, "This will not do for Josiah Wedgwood”. Wedgwood was also very interested in the scientific advances of his day and did much to revolutionise the quality of Wedgwood pottery. The unique Wedgwood glazes began to distinguish Josiah's wares from anything else on the market.

Wedgwood Pottery

His experimentation with a wide variety of pottery techniques and a considerable injection of capital from his marriage to Sarah Wedgwood transformed the former working environment into the first true pottery factory.

Wedgwood China

Wedgwood belonged to the fourth generation of a family of potters whose traditional occupation continued through another five generations and Wedgwood's company is still a famous name in pottery today. In recent years Wedgwood has merged with the famous crystal company, Waterford (see Waterford Crystal).

Wedgwood China is the commonly used term for his Jasperware, which is the distinctive blue, or sometimes other colored fine stoneware china, with overlaid white decoration that is based on the ancient Greek reliefs on the Parthenon, which is still instantly recognisable throughout the world today.