British Ceramics

British ceramics at the MFA range in date from the 17th to the 20th century. Early slipware and tin-glazed earthenware ("delftware") are well represented by a variety of large dishes intended for display. Thanks to abundant local clay and coal, England's Staffordshire region became a leading center of industrial manufacture, with hundreds of firms producing earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain for global markets. London factories at Chelsea and Bow produced the first English porcelain around 1745; the MFA has one of the finest collections of these early wares outside England. Toward the end of the 18th century, Josiah Wedgwood developed new clay bodies that imitated Greek and Roman pottery, helping define a pan-European taste for neoclassical design. Historical revival styles inspired by cultures from ancient Peru, China, Japan, and elsewhere dominated the 19th century. Works from the 20th century represent the revival of craft traditions as well as the emergence of modernism.