By Louise Irvine Raise a glass of Guinness and toast St. Patrick on March 17 as we highlight one of the earliest pieces in the collection, a creamware pitcher from the 1790s depicting Ireland’s patron saint. Creamware was developed by the Staffordshire potters in the mid-18th century and was perfect for

By Louise Irvine As Valentine’s Day approaches on February 14th, we are inundated with cards depicting Cupid armed with his bow and arrow to find his mark and inspire true love. In ancient mythology, Cupid was the Roman god of desire and erotic love. He was also known as Amor

By Louise Irvine Moving to the South Florida Design Center in Hollywood has inspired us to look at our fabulous collection of fired arts through the lens of the most important design movements of the last two centuries. In our new museum, we will be using our period furniture and

By Louise Irvine Betty Issod is acclaimed as the “Queen of Fairyland” by collectors of Wedgwood’s fabulous luster wares. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Betty sold Wedgwood ware at antique shows around the USA and became internationally renowned as an expert, collector, and dealer. Over the years,

By Louise Irvine Strange Clay, a recent exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London’s Southbank, explored the potential of this ancient material as a phenomenon in the modern art world. A visit to this amazing show featuring 23 international artists inspired this review of contemporary ceramic artists in the WMODA

By Louise Irvine WMODA was acclaimed as the “Diamond of Dania Beach” as we built the reputation of our decorative arts museum in Broward’s first city. Now we are moving nearby to the “Diamond of the Gold Coast” the name adopted by Hollywood for the city’s 50th Anniversary in 1975.

By Louise Irvine As part of the Great WMODA Pack-up, the museum team has been ensuring that every object in the collection is cataloged so that it can be tracked to its future location. This intensive research project has revealed some interesting discoveries. For example, this monumental terracotta sculpture of

By Louise Irvine Embellishing something that is already beautiful is known as “Gilding the Lily”. The saying can have negative connotations as the perfect flower does not need improvement. However, artists of the Aesthetic movement used glittering gold for dramatic effect on their wall plaques and tiles as can be

The mystery Wedgwood Blue Jasper ware object is a shoe heel! It was made for H & M Rayne, suppliers of footwear to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Edward Rayne first came up with the idea of Jasperware high heels in 1958 and they were back in vogue in 1977.

In 2023, flameworking pioneer Paul Stankard will celebrate his 80th birthday. To commemorate more than four decades at the torch, the artist joined Shawn Waggoner, host of the Talking Out Your Glass podcast, to discuss his contributions to glass and art, including his new book, Inspiration from the Art of Paul