360 MISCELLANEOUS LETTEES, 1886-1897 



Wedgwood Institute, at Burslem ; which was opened tr 

 Mundella, 1 with an oration, in which he missed what I thin] 

 the great merit of Wedgwood ware — the ' Adaptation t( 

 purpose.' I added a few words on this point — as tha 

 Wedgwood plates always had a sunk border for salt am 

 mustard ; whereas in ordinary plates, these condiment 

 shoot into the gravy. And a better example may be draw] 

 from the modern earthenware teapot ; in lifting this, th 

 first thing is that you scald your knuckles against the bod;* 

 of the pot ; secondly, the lid shoots off— example, you scaL 

 the finger of your other hand, by pressing on it ; thirdly 

 the tea shoots out and spurts out and splashes over th 

 teacup ; fourthly, the spout dribbles when you set the po 

 down. Now in a Wedgwood teapot, first there is room ii 

 the handle so as not to scald the knuckles ; secondly, the li( 

 won't fall off till the pot is held actually vertically ; thirdly 

 the handle is so placed, that by a turn of the wrist, the te* 

 leaves the spout gently, and without your having to lif 

 your elbow at all ; fourthly, there is no after dribble from th< 

 spout. I have tested these points in scores of the Wedgwooc 

 pots, and the same care in adapting to purpose is displayec 

 in every pot, jug, plate, or other article that he made. Yoi 

 may pile plate upon plate of old Wedgwood from floor t< 

 ceiling, and the whole forms a rigid column ; and you neve: 

 can spin one of his plates in another. 



Then too, Mundella made no allusion to the Medallion 

 of eminent contemporaries, of which Wedgwood executec 

 hundreds from the best medals, and sold them cheap. No: 

 to his pyrometer and crucibles, the fountain inkstand, hi; 

 glazes, colors, and use of barytes, and lots of other ingre 

 dients which he introduced into the art of pottery. In fac 

 Mundella confined his laudation to the ornamental featur< . 

 of Wedgwood wares, which are admirable adaptations o 

 classical ornamentation to his wares ; these are perfect ii 

 their way, but at best only clever adaptations especially 

 of Greek models, and rather proofs of the skill and geniu: 

 of the Italian workmen whom he employed, than of his owr 

 taste ; still this utilisation of his workmen amounted t( 



1 Anthony John Mundella (1825-97), the social and educational reformer 

 was Vice-President of the Council 1880-5, and President of the Board of Trad' 

 1886-7 and 1892-5. 



