What does jasperware mean?
Jasperware is a type of opaque, unglazed pottery valued for its smooth, stone-like appearance and raised decoration. Its colors—especially the deep blue known as “Wedgwood blue”—and white relief figures are strongly associated with the Wedgwood factory, which developed the ware in the eighteenth century. Jasperware is therefore both a broad description for a kind of ceramic and a term closely linked with historically important decorative pottery. Objects made from it may be vases, plaques, figurines, table ornaments, or other decorative pieces. Today collectors use the word particularly for Wedgwood examples and for pieces made in the same tradition by later manufacturers. Its name comes from jasper, a mineral whose appearance the colored ceramic was designed to imitate.
nounA type of opaque, unglazed pottery, often colored and decorated with raised designs, especially the celebrated Staffordshire ware associated with Wedgwood. The name refers to its resemblance to jasper stone.
- An opaque, unglazed ceramic material, often colored and ornamented with raised designs; the term is especially associated with Wedgwood pottery.
"The museum displays a fine example of blue jasperware decorated with white relief figures."
"A nineteenth-century jasperware vase won a prize at the Great Exhibition."
"She bought a small jasperware relief at the antique market."
The plural is used when referring to multiple objects or types of jasperware.
"Several Victorian jasperwares were displayed at the exhibition."
Jasperware turned a useful stone into a famous ceramic illusion: vivid blue or green clay was made to look like the polished mineral jasper.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does jasperware come from?
The word was formed in the eighteenth century from “jasper,” referring to the mineral whose colors and markings the ware imitates, and “ware,” meaning a type of manufactured material or pottery. Jasperware became especially associated with Staffordshire pottery after Josiah Wedgwood developed and popularized colored jasper-bodied wares with contrasting relief decoration. The name was later applied more broadly to similar ceramic objects produced by other makers.
How jasperware is actually used
The word is most strongly associated with the pottery produced by the Wedgwood firm in Staffordshire. It is usually used for decorative or collectible ceramic objects rather than ordinary tableware.
Easily confused with jasperware
Jasper is a naturally occurring mineral or stone, whereas jasperware is a manufactured ceramic material named for its resemblance to it.
Stoneware is a broad category of durable, vitrified pottery, while jasperware is a specific opaque, usually colored and relief-decorated variety.