Josiah Wedgwood

Josiah Wedgwood, who lived from 12 July 1730 to 3 January 1795, was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist who founded the Wedgwood pottery company in 1759 and became the leading figure in the industrialization of European pottery manufacture through systematic experimentation with improved pottery bodies. He timed his business to the renewed classical enthusiasms of the late 1760s and early 1770s, selling expensive goods to the upper classes while using emulation effects to market cheaper versions of the same designs to the rest of society, and every new technique he introduced, including green glaze, creamware, black basalt and jasperware, was quickly copied by rivals across Europe. Wedgwood is credited as a pioneer of modern marketing for practices he introduced well ahead of his time, including direct mail, money-back guarantees, self-service, free delivery, buy-one-get-one-free offers and illustrated catalogues, along with showrooms in London where the public could view his complete range of tableware, and he was an early adopter of transfer printing, which achieved effects similar to hand-painting at far lower cost. A prominent abolitionist, he is remembered for commissioning the Am I Not a Man and a Brother anti-slavery medallion for the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade, and he was a member of the Darwin-Wedgwood family, serving as grandfather to both Charles Darwin and Charles's wife Emma Darwin.