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Mythical beasts in 22k gold prowl the dark border of Wedgwood's Florentine Dark Green. In 1773 Catherine the Great gave her Frog Service commission to the storied English house. Read its story.
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The empress had the great service in hand by 1774, and each piece carries a green frog. In time the house gave Florentine a menagerie of its own, griffins and winged dragons said to take their spirit from the art and architecture of Florence. Wedgwood is thought to have first set the design on bone china in 1931.
In essence the pattern is a heraldic bestiary, its beasts set among medallions and acanthus scrollwork, all of it rendered by hand. Bands of black enamel give the design a formal, architectural edge.
Fantastical Renaissance flora winds among the creatures, and by candlelight the gold glows richly against the deep green. From the opening course to the last cup of tea, every place at the table shares one glinting ring of gold.
Wedgwood was born of one man's ambition. In 1759 Josiah Wedgwood opened his works in Burslem, in the heart of Staffordshire. He soon bought a great estate and renamed it Etruria, making it both his home and his factory, the place where English earthenware would be raised into an art.
Royalty soon took notice. After Wedgwood supplied Queen Charlotte, she gave permission to call its cream-colored ware Queen's Ware. Catherine the Great commissioned the Frog Service. The storied English house went on to create Jasperware in the spirit of ancient cameo glass.
That royal favor carried into modern times. In 1995 Queen Elizabeth II granted Wedgwood a Royal Warrant. At Barlaston, the World of Wedgwood is home to the house's treasures, in the collection of the V&A. Its wares now grace homes around the world, chosen by collectors with an eye for enduring craft. They know each piece bears a name once trusted by an empress and a queen.
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