Rescuing Waterford and Wedgwood

It is Three or More Tuesday, graciously hosted by Tam at The Gypsy's Corner. Click here to visit and read more Tuesday tales. Thanks, Tam.


What to share? I considered my big white ironstone pitchers -- I have three -- but two of them are 'way up high on a breakfront, and I don't feel like clambering up to get them, so it's Wedgwood today.

I love dishes. One cannot have too many of them; who knows when 683 people will show up on your doorstep, and clamor for their chili to be slung out onto pretty plates?

I have, I think, 7 sets of dishes, not counting my Christmas china, and not counting this sweet but very incomplete set of Wedgwood, a gift from my in-laws some years back:


It's the Patrician mold, which is not too hard to find, but until today I haven't found it with just this exact floral design. Found it today on Ebay! (Wish me luck; I'd love dinner plates in this pattern.) I don't have much of this pattern so far:

I've got a small platter . . .

Six luncheon, or dessert-sized plates. . .

And six cups and saucers. . .

These pieces are not valuable, but they charm me, and that's what counts.

Wedgwood is an endangered species; its parent company, Waterford, is bankrupt and looking for a Sugar Daddy to rescue it. Waterford owns not only Wedgwood but Royal Doulton as well (oh dear, what would Hyacinth Bucket say?).

Thomas Wedgwood (yes, one of those Wedgwoods) fished the loose coins out of his sofa cushions, intending to make an offer to buy back the family biz, but a U.S. private equity fund nipped in ahead of Mr. Wedgwood and is closer to sealing the deal. Waterford, Wedgwood, and Royal Doulton, soon to be owned by a company from the upstart colonies.

Royal Worcester and Spode are in the same boat, also having filed for bankruptcy protection. Why? It seems that today's young buyers just aren't interested in fine china and crystal, and don't buy much of it. At least, that's what the news reports say. Too bad. Waterford went belly-up in the 1850s but returned a hundred years later to dominate the cyrstal field, but Wedgwood has been around for 250 years.

I'd love to buy it myself, but we're cutting back on our purchasing this year. :-P

Let's keep our fingers crossed for these venerable companies, and their many employees. I don't want to turn over my next piece of Wedgwood and read "Made In China."