Wedgwood ware

Wedgwood ware

Wedgwood jasperware vase, Staffordshire, England, c. 1785; in the Victoria and Albert …

(credit: Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; photograph, Wilfrid Walter—EB Inc.)

English stoneware made by Staffordshire factories originally established by Josiah Wedgwood. Creamware appealed to the middle class because of its high quality, durability, and affordability. Black basaltes (from 1768), unglazed stoneware of fine texture that was ideal for imitating antique and Renaissance objects, appealed to antiquarians. Also in the Neoclassical tradition was jasperware (from 1775), a white, matte, unglazed stoneware that could be stained. White ornaments were applied to the coloured body, achieving the look of an antique cameo. With the help of such artists as John Flaxman, Wedgwood copied many antique designs. Production of fine Wedgwood ware continues to the present day.