190 THE WEDGWOODS. 



A group of examples of this " black ware," which I have 

 selected from the extensive collection of Mr. S. C. Hall, is 

 given in the accompanying engraving ; and later on I shall 

 have occasion to speak of other varieties of this truly admir- 



able ware, and to again refer to Mr. Hall's collection a 

 collection which is, unquestionably, one of the finest and 

 most valuable in existence. 



In 1766, the same year in which so many other im- 

 portant events connected with Wedgwood took place, he 

 determined upon the purchase of an estate, and the founding 

 of works of a commensurate character with the rapidly 

 increasing extent of his commercial transactions. Foiled in 

 his attempt to purchase the pot-works, &c., at Burslem, and 

 fully impressed with the importance of having his manufac- 

 tory close to the canal in whose formation he had taken so 

 prominent a part, he fixed his mind upon an estate in the 

 township of Shelton, two miles distant from Burslem, which 

 he considered to be the best adapted of any in the locality 



