Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term
Italy
skilled in books translation
Native in: Italian 
Works in: English to Italian, German to Italian, French to Italian, and 4 more.
fl
Thanks a lot!
f
Jan 15, 2009 14:27: Tony M changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
PRO (2): d_vachliot (X), Polangmar
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Responses
floruit
Not an acronym but abbreviated Latin: means 'flourished' or 'was flourishing' and indicates that the person in question was active on that date (esp when exact dates of birth & death are not known - though this is unlikely to be the case with Wedgwood).
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d_vachliot (X)
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Peter Skipp
56 mins
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Armorel Young
59 mins
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Derek Gill Franßen
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Christopher Crockett
: No dout about it. Denotes the artist's/craftsman's period of greatest activity --frequently a range of dates, rather than a single year./Yes about both uses. And most definitely *not* initials. Duh.
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It seems to be used in two ways - to indicate a point at which the artist was active (i.e. producing any work at all) if birth/death dates are unknown, or to indicate when he/she was most active. However, the asker seems convinced that these are initials.
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Natalie Koshman
: exactement!!
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Tony M
2 hrs
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United Kingdom
BA(Hons) FITI MCIL CL ISO 17100:2015
Native in: English 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
it's the period when a particular trend/person/style etc. was in its hay-day
Check this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FL
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Note added at 6 mins (2009-01-15 12:10:16 GMT)
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Actually, it's 'fl' in English too, of course, from the latin original.
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Suzan Hamer
: Well, you beat me by a minute; your link explains "floruit (Latin, "flourished"), used to indicate periods when a person, organization, or species was influential." Guess I'm a pretty good guesser . . .
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I guess so! Thanks Suzan!
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Peter Skipp
58 mins
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Thanks, Peter
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Armorel Young
: maybe horses have hay-days (equine equivalent of a duvet day?) but surely trends and fashions have a heyday
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Then there is an alternative spelling, because 'hayday' gets plenty of relevant hits.
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Christopher Crockett
: As Angela says, it's the abbreviation (and therefore should have a period after it) for "floruit." Pronounced FLOR-u-eat. Usually read as simply "flourished."
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Thanks, Christopher
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Tony M
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Netherlands
Fussy editing for fussy people.
Native in: English (Variant: US)
Works in: English, Dutch to English
flourished
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Peter Skipp
57 mins
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Thank you, Peter.
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Christopher Crockett
: In English, yes. Latin for "floruit," as Angela says.
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Thank you, Christopher.
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date code
f may be the month and l the day 6/12 1821. It seems Wedgwood used the alphabet like this for a long time.
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Christopher Crockett
: A good guess, but not this time.
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Tony M
: Sorry, but this is a bog-standard abbreviation used in this sort of field, like c. for 'circa' etc.
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M.A., Ph.D. Historian/Art Historian
Native in: English
Works in: French to English, English
Abbreviation for the Latin, floruit --as Angela says
It's a frequently used (in historical and art historical writing) abbreviation for the Latin "floruit," definitely not "initials."
Here's the definitive Oxford English Dictionary on the subject:
FLORUIT
[Latin, 3rd sing. perf. indic. of _florere_ to flourish. ]
Occasionally used for: The period during which a person ‘flourished’.
1843 LIDDELL & SCOTT Greek-Eng. Lex. Pref., The date of each Author's ‘floruit’ is added in the margin.
1882 SAINTSBURY Hist. Fr. Lit. Pref. 9 The Index will..be found to contain the date of the birth and death, or, if these be not obtainable, the _floruit_ of every deceased author of any importance.
1890 H. W. WATKINS Bampton Lect. ii. 100 Professor de Groot puts his life at A.D. 65-135, and his _floruit_ in the reign of Trajan.
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Fl.
= L. floruit he flourished (FLOURISH v. 4).
1879 LEWIS & SHORT Latin Dict. p. xi/1, F. Vegetius Renatus, writer on the art of war, fl. A.D. 386.
1905 F. H. COLLINS Author & Printer 124/1 fl., floruit (flourished).
1959 Webster's Biogr. Dict. 808/1 Kay.., John. fl. 1733-1764. English inventor of flying..shuttle.
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FLOURISH
4. To be at the height of fame or excellence; to be in one's bloom or prime. Also in weaker sense, used in pa. tense of a person to indicate that his life and activity belong to a specified period (cf. FLORUIT).
1387 TREVISA Higden (Rolls) IV. 173 In his tyme Plautus Latinus..florische at Rome.
1550 VERON Godly Sayings Aij, Origene..did florysshe in the yere of our lorde cc.lxi.
1661 BRAMHALL Just Vind. i. 3 His most renowned Ancestours..flourished whilest Popery was in its Zenith.
1700 DRYDEN Pref. Fables (Globe) 494 Spenser and Fairfax both flourished in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
1820 W. IRVING Sketch Bk. I. 189 James flourished nearly about the time of Chaucer and Gower.
1855 TENNYSON Brook 11 In our schoolbooks we say, Of those that held their heads above the crowd, They flourish'd then or then.
Discussion
by J.T. Wedgwood, published by W. Walker, after John Thurston line engraving, published 1 September 1821. Archive Collection · NPG D15329 ...
www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp53097&role=a...
Sir Cloudsley Shovel, Rear Admiral of England. Engraved by J T ...
Engraved by J T Wedgwood from the original in the Hampton Court Collection ... Wedgwood, John Taylor [engraver]. Made:. Technique: engraving, stipple ...
www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/prints/viewPrint.cfm?ID=PAD2694
An engraving by J.T.Wedgwood (fl 1821) of the Jacobite general Thomas Foster is inscribed ‘from a miniature by Rosalba. Painted at Venice’ (Witt Library, London).
This is not about pottery, it's about an engraver called Wedgwood.