The Company: Wedgwood Group
The Wedgwood Group makes fine bone china giftware and tableware under the aegis of multinational corporation Waterford Wedgwood, which also operates the Waterford Crystal Group and cookware company All-Clad, among others. Wedgwood was founded by Josiah Wedgwood of Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire, in 1754. As a brand, it is practically synonymous with fine English craftsmanship. For centuries, Wedgwood has catered to an elite clientele including royalty around the world. Eighteenth-century monarch Queen Charlotte so favored Wedgwood the company started the Queen's Ware line in her honor.

While the company's highest-end products are still hand-cast, much of the manufacturing is now assembly-line drudgery performed by working-class laborers. Few of the factory workers can afford to have the items they manufacture in their homes -- talk about alienation from the means of production!

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