Enoch Wood (1759–1840) was an English

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

and businessman, from one of the major families in

Staffordshire pottery The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ce ...

. Starting as a modeller, he established a successful business in

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. T ...

in the

Staffordshire Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of cer ...

, from 1790-1818 trading as Wood and Caldwell. In the 18th century they produced many Staffordshire figures, which Wood modelled himself, and other types of

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

and

stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refracto ...

. After 1818 his company, now Enoch Wood & Sons, produced large quantities of blue and white transfer-printed tableware in earthenware, much of which was exported to America.

Life

He was born in 1759; his father Aaron Wood (1717–1785) was a highly regarded pottery modeller ( mould maker), and his uncle

Ralph Wood The Wood family was an English family of Staffordshire potters. Among its members were Ralph Wood I (1715–1772), the "miller of Burslem," his son Ralph Wood II (1748–1795), and his grandson Ralph Wood III (1774–1801). Ralph I was the brot ...

I (1715–1772), also a potter, became famous for producing well-modelled figures.Enoch Wood & Sons
Patriotic America. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
www.thepotteries.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.Wood and Sons
Grace's Guide to British Industrial History. Retrieved 21 September 2018. Enoch Wood studied drawing and anatomy with his relatives the Caddick family in Liverpool, and was apprenticed to Humphrey Palmer, an

manufacturer in

Hanley Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the ...

. He became a skillful pottery modeller.Enoch Wood (1759–1840)
thepotteries.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018. He began a business in

in 1783 with his cousin Ralph Wood II, as an earthenware manufacturer; the two were the leading pottery modellers of the period. In 1790 he went into partnership with James Caldwell (1759-1838), a local lawyer, as Wood and Caldwell, and a new factory was built at Fountain Place in Burslem, which produced a wide range of earthenwares. The company also had mining interests: the Bycars Colliery in Burslem provided fuel for the factory. The partnership was successful, and continued until 1818, when Wood bought out Caldwell and Wood's three sons became partners, the firm becoming Enoch Wood & Sons. The new company produced a large quantity of blue

transfer-printed Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Fleming, John & Hugh Hon ...

earthenware, like other large potteries largely abandoning the figure market. A substantial amount of the wares were exported to America, where trade in earthenware increased after the end in 1815 of the Anglo-American war; Wood designed a range of items particularly for America. Enoch Wood died in 1840, and the business closed in 1845; finances were affected by a loss of trade with America, and by his children claiming their legacies. File:Plaque MET DP-1372-001 (cropped).jpg, Plaque, before 1800, 21.9 cm File:Wood - Bust of Minerva 1 CAC.JPG, Bust of Minerva, c. 1790 File:George Whitefield MET 122701.jpg, Bust of the Methodist preacher

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at th ...

(d. 1770), c. 1790, 12 1/2 in. (31.8 cm) File:Figure group (AM 1968.9-1).jpg, Madonna and Child, c. 1800, 34.5 cm File:George Washington bust, Enoch Wood Factory, Staffordshire, c. 1818, enameled earthenware - Winterthur Museum - DSC01481.JPG, Bust of

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, c. 1818. Wood originally modelled this bust for Wedgwood many decades before. File:Fountain Place 1, Burslem.jpg, Frontage of the former Fountain Place Works in Burslem, built by Enoch Wood. A Grade II listed building.Former Fountain Place Works

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...

, retrieved 21 October 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Enoch 1759 births 1840 deaths People from Burslem English potters Staffordshire pottery English sculptors