John Baskerville

Although Baskerville was as important a japanner as he was a printer, this aspect of his work has been largely overlooked. As one of the earliest japanners in Birmingham he played a crucial role in establishing the English Midlands as a leading centre for the manufacture of japanned goods. He produced high quality decorative wares which, appealing to a fashionable market, provided a lucrative income without which he could not have indulged his primary interest in printing. None of his japanned ware is known to have survived but from the detail of his patent of 1742 – the first ever granted in respect of japanning – and from contemporary records left by those who visited Birmingham to see the wonders of its new factories and industrial processes, it is evident that many fine examples of japanned iron made between c1738 and c.1773 and found in public and private collections today may, indeed, have been made in Baskerville’s workshops.