WINNER OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC CIRCLE AWARD 2021 A fascinating exploration of the inspiration behind, and development of, classically inspired sculpture and other ornamental wares in black basalt, the famous stoneware perfected by Josiah Wedgwood in 1768. Wedgwood, with prescience, said of his new creation: 'Black is Sterling and will last forever.' This volume presents approximately 120 examples of ornamental black basalt, including portrait busts, statues, and vases, ewers, and other fully three-dimensional, ornamental forms. Works in low relief include tablets, plaques, medallions, and cameos. The volume also features essays by renowned subject specialists and individual, fully illustrated catalogue entries which will be grouped into three chapters and organized according to the era-Classical Antiquity, 16th- and 17th-Centuries, 18th Century-of the design sources used by Wedgwood and his contemporaries to create their basalt wares.

The Ceramics Reader is an impressive editorial collection of essays and text extracts, covering every discipline within ceramics, past and present. Tackling such fundamental questions as "why are ceramics important?", the book also considers the field from a range of perspectives - as a cultural activity or metaphor, as a vehicle for propaganda, within industry and museums, and most recently as part of the 'expanded field' as a fine art medium and hub for ideas. Newly commissioned material features prominently alongside existing scholarship, to ensure an international and truly comprehensive look at ceramics.