Wedgwood Drabware Plate

Regency

Circa first quarter 19th century, 1800–1825 | England

An exceptionally rare early nineteenth century antique Wedgwood plate moulded in low relief with overlapping geranium leaves laid on a wickerwork plate in the highly coveted drabware glaze (see The Gen).

DIMENSIONS: Diameter 19.8 cm.

SIGNATURES, MARKINGS & INSCRIPTIONS: Impressed WEDGWOOD, O and cypher.

CONDITION: The plate is in excellent condition with wear consistent with an antique age and use. There is no evident restoration.

REFERENCES: For an example of a similarly modelled plate see Victoria & Albert Museum, Accession Number 2457-1901. For a cup made in a similar drabware colour see Victoria & Albert Museum, Accession Number WE.3763-2014. For an example of a vase held at the Wedgwood Museum see Wedgwood, The New Illustrated Dictionary, Robin Reilly, Antique Collectors Club, 1995, p. 140.

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THE GEN

“The Drab can sometimes confuse collectors as it was produced in two different forms: Stoneware and as glazed earthenware. Drab tableware was introduced in 1820 as a stained earthenware. The colour was closer to brown than to the olive of Drab Stoneware. The look and feel closely resembles the Creamware of the time and shared similar composition. Drab can be referred to as a type of stained Creamware, often referred to as drab Queen’s Ware. The earliest examples are closer to brown in colour, with the same delicate lightweight feel as early Creamware. Drab tableware ceased sometime in the 1860s due to a movement towards whiter tableware.” (Wedgwood Ceramics, Daniel J. Keefe III, Schiffer Publishing Limited, 2005, p. 191)

“‘Drab’ is the name given to a distinctive greenish-brown ware made by Wedgwood in two different bodies: a stoneware and a stained earthenware…The stoneware was sometimes produced as a dry body, but usually with a smear-glaze, from about 1819. A beautiful saltglazed drabware has been made in Staffordshire from about 1720. Wedgwood’s early-19th century drab body was a stained version of the white stoneware body described as ‘porcelain’ and the drab body was therefore called ‘drab porcelain’ to distinguish it from the similarly stained coloured body.” (Wedgwood, The New Illustrated Dictionary, Robin Reilly, Antique Collectors Club, 1995, p. 140)

“Drabware is a ‘coloured body’ — the ceramic has been coloured by mixing the clay with minerals or metal oxides so that it is coloured throughout, rather than only glazed with a surface colour. This category includes Wedgwood’s jasperware, black basalt, caneware, and the drabware. Josiah Wedgwood I made some experiments with drabware, but there is no evidence it was produced as a product during his lifetime. By 1812 there was a regular production of tea, coffee and breakfast sets in the body" Read more about Wedgwood drabware at the V&A museum. 

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