A Greek tragedy? Why ‘Dillwyn’s Etruscan Ware’ failed*

Abstract

Between 1847 and 1850, the Cambrian Pottery in Swansea made ‘Dillwyn’s Etruscan Ware’, a range of vases copying the designs of red-figure vases found in south Italian and Sicilian tombs. The vases were made for sale to ‘humble homesteads’, but they did not attract buyers and were discontinued. This article explores the economic and commercial milieu in which the Swansea ‘Etruscan’ ware vases were designed and made. It examines relationships between manufacturers’ design choices and their perceptions of the social, cultural, and political aspirations of intended buyers. It establishes the identity of the Cambrian Pottery’s intended customers and shows how practical issues, such as space, display, and utility, could influence buyers’ choices as well as design. Finally, it explores the influence of social, cultural, and religious ideals on domestic decoration in working-class households, and it offers an explanation of why ‘Dillwyn’s Etruscan Ware’ failed.