First we define and study the exponentiation of a cellular algebra by a permutation group which is analogous to the corresponding operation (the wreath product in primitive action) in permutation group theory. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the resulting cellular algebra to be primitive and Schurian are given. This enables us to construct infinite series of primitive non-Schurian algebras. Also we define and study for cellular algebras the notion of a base which is similar to that for permutation groups. We present an upper bound for the size of an irredundant base of a primitive cellular algebra in terms of the parameters of its standard representation. This produces new upper bounds for the order of the automorphism group of such an algebra and in particular for the order of a primitive permutation group. Finally we generalize to 2-closed primitive algebras some classical theorems for primitive groups and show that the hypothesis for a primitive algebra to be 2-closed is essential.