Wedgwood Jasper Book

Jasper has been by far the most avidly collected of all Wedgwood wares from the 18th century until the present day. It is still the style by which the firm is throughout the world and it continues to be produced in the 1990S. A dense white stoneware, jasper was the outstanding invention of Josiah Wedgwood's career as a potter - and the most significant innovation in ceramics since the discovery of porcelain by the Chinese some 900 years earlier. The result of more than 30 years of research, this comprehensive study is drawn from Robin Reilly's massive and highly acclaimed two-volume history of the Wedgwood firm and its production (1989). It is now presented, in more accessible form, for a wider public as well as specialist scholars and collectors, museum auction houses. The depth of Reilly's research, his unrivalled knowledge and understanding of Wedgwood wares, his six published studies of them, and his recent biography of Josiah Wedgwood have established his reputation as the foremost authority on the subject. He provides a brief but clear narrative chronology of the firm and its principal products, followed by a comprehensive and fully documented account of every aspect of Jasper's long history. Complete with over 600 illustrations, each with a detailed description, and invaluable appendices or Wedgwood trademarks, cameos, intaglios, medals, medallions, tablets, plaques, busts and figures, this work has been published in time for a major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, to coincide with the bicentenary of Wedgwood's death in 1995.Read More