In 1774 Josiah Wedgwood master craftsman possessed with a burning scientific vision embarks upon the thousand piece Frog Service for Catherine the Great. Josiah's nephew Tom journeys to America to buy clay from the Cherokee for this exquisite china. Tom is caught up in the American rebellion & falls for a Cherokee woman who will come to play a crucial role in Josiah's late great creation: the Portland Vase. As the family fortune is made & Josiah's entrepreneurial brilliance creates an empire that will endure for generations it is his daughter Sukey future mother of Charles Darwin who bears clear-eyed witness. A novel of epic scope rich in warmth intellect & humanity The Potter's Hand explores the lives & loves of one of Britain's greatest families whose travails are both ordinary
- births deaths marriages opium addiction depression
- & utterly extraordinary.