My much esteemed friend,
If you will give me leave to call you so,
& will not think the address too free...
(Taken from a letter by Josiah Wedgewood to Thomas Bentley 15 May 1762).
With changes in architectural styles and the rise in popularity of Neo-classical styles of interior decoration, Josiah Wedgwood began a series of experiments to create a new ceramic material that would complement the new fashions. Thousands of meticulously recorded experiments were carried out to make a stoneware body that was capable of taking a mineral oxide stain throughout. The search for the Jasper body absorbed much of Wedgwood’s energy and time, the result being his most important contribution to ceramic history.
For more than 200 years Wedgwood has been making its unique Jasper ware - fine stoneware decorated with classical bas-relief figures and cameos. After thousands of recorded experiments and trials, Josiah Wedgwood FRS (1730-95) perfected his Jasper ware in 1774 and announced it to be particularly fit for cameos, portraits and all subjects in bas relief.
Many of the bas relief subjects are based on Greek or Roman mythology. Some are individual figures or group taken from large plaques. The first models were mainly drawn from the antique, but contemporary artists were engaged to design fresh subjects.Wedgwood wrote his partner Thomas Bentley: "I think, with you, we should take all good things we can get as we are forming a collection for ages to come."
This heritage has been enriched by the work of artists in successive generations. Today, the traditional Jasper body is used for numerous commemorative items, and skilled modellers produce bas-reliefs of coat-of arms, portraits, insignia, and a variety of other subjects from designers' drawings. These are then reduced to the required size and pitcher (fired clay) moulds are made from which the figures and cameos are produced in clay.
GREAT JASPER WARE DEPICTING GREEK AND ROMAN MYTHOLOGY / FOLK LORE. VERY IMPORTANT IN ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE LATE MIDDLE AGES AND THE COLONIAL PERIOD.
