This, it seems to me, was just what made Wedgwood what he was; he could not do that. All the work of his I have seen was done as well as it could be done. I do not mean that all his designs were good or his decorations faultless; but, as it was, it was as well done as he could do it.
Fig. 91.—Portrait of Wedgwood.
It seems to me that in his portrait ([Fig. 91]) a good deal of this robust, manly, honorable character is to be traced. I like to think that the face here, as in many cases, is a sort of promise of the man.
I cannot do better than to quote, from one of Wedgwood’s catalogues, his own words, which are better than any sermon, better than much “burnt-offering and sacrifice;” which phrase of the prophet shows that there were shabby fellows then, even in the days of God’s Jews. I quote:
“A competition for cheapness, and not for excellence of workmanship, is the most frequent and certain cause of the rapid decay and entire destruction of arts and manufactures.