Partridge Pie, pattern no. M2681

Founded in 1759 by ceramic innovator and businessman Josiah Wedgwood I (1730–1795), the Wedgwood company enjoyed great success under his direction and into the early nineteenth century, but the venerable British firm was struggling by the 1840s. The leadership of Francis Wedgwood (1800–1888) and his three sons, Godfrey (1833–1905), Clement (1840–1889), and Lawrence (1844–1913), gradually shifted the pottery’s fortunes in the decades that followed. One key advance was the development of a superior line of majolica, which Wedgwood introduced in about 1860 and continued to produce until 1918. During the peak years of its production, from 1865 to 1890, the ware formed a substantial percentage of the firm’s output, and by the 1870s, Wedgwood was manufacturing more majolica than any other kind of ornamental pottery.

Wedgwood engaged leading artists and designers of the day, both as company staff and on a freelance basis, to realize distinctive wares of the highest quality. Its brilliant glazes and the precision of its modeling were celebrated not only at home but also abroad—indeed, the firm enjoyed a substantial export market. Although Wedgwood produced a few grand exhibition pieces in the brightly glazed earthenware, it was first and foremost a pioneer in the manufacture of majolica tableware and other household items, which it sold at prices accessible to the growing middle classes. Wild game – including pheasant, partridge, goose, pigeon, grouse, and hare – was a culinary luxury in nineteenth-century Britain and, in the homes of the wealthiest, often featured as a separate course of a formal dinner. In the context of a less elaborate meal, game meat retained its special status when incorporated into a pie served in an elaborate majolica dish like this one.

By the late 1870s, the taste for brightly colored majolica was beginning to wane. Wedgwood responded in 1878–79 by introducing Argenta, a style of decoration characterized by pale, usually white or ivory grounds, and subdued colors, often in shades of gray and green. Argenta wares were soon selling so well that other potteries in England and the United States adopted a similar palette for their majolica. The Argenta palette was applied by Wedgwood to older models to create more options that might appeal to a wider range of tastes. We see this here in the “Partridge Pie” dish–the model was first introduced in 1868, but this example in Argenta colors was made in the late 1870s or the early 1880s.

Wedgwood often chose to copyright new designs by registering models with the British Designs Registry. This government entity was created by the United Kingdom’s 1839 Designs Registration Act, which protected manufacturers from unauthorized copying of “ornamental” designs that were registered. As part of submitting a design for registration, a manufacturer had to include a “representation” of the design, often a drawing or as time went on, a photograph. The representation for this model, filed on February 12, 1868, also preserves Wedgwood’s original title for the shape: “Partridge Pie.”

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Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Sale, Majolica Auctions by Michael G. Strawser, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 3 April 1998, lot 590; purchased by Deborah and Philip English, Baltimore, 1998; given to the Walters Art Museum, 2024.