Wedgwood | Light Blue Jasperware | Kidney-Shaped Trinket Box | 20th Century

Wedgwood | Light Blue Jasperware | Kidney-Shaped Trinket Box | 20th Century

Josiah Wedgwood developed Jasperware in the 1770s, and its essential character has remained unchanged ever since — a design language that found permanence rather than evolution.

Wedgwood’s Etruria manufactory in Staffordshire, established in 1769, became the centre of this development, with Jasperware emerging after years of experimentation into a fine unglazed stoneware coloured throughout the body. Introduced in 1775, it quickly became the firm’s defining material. The pale blue ground — now universally recognised as Wedgwood Blue — formed the most enduring expression of the range, while applied white relief ornament drew heavily on neoclassical sources and the design vocabulary associated with artists such as John Flaxman. Small Jasperware boxes of this kind were made in a range of shapes through the twentieth century.

This example is of kidney form with a fitted domed lid and flat unglazed base. The body is finished in even Wedgwood Blue throughout. The lid carries a central applied white sprigged scene depicting classical figures with a winged putto, enclosed by a continuous fruit-and-flower garland in relief. The sides of the box are decorated with four framed classical figural panels, separated by applied anthemion motifs, all executed in crisp white relief against the blue ground. The interior is plain and unadorned.

The piece is in excellent condition. The relief decoration is sharp and complete throughout, and the surface is clean with no staining or wear. There is a very small manufacturing inclusion to the base — a natural void within the body of the jasperware — which is consistent with production and not the result of damage.

Key Details

• Maker: Wedgwood
• Form: Kidney-shaped trinket box with fitted lid
• Body: Jasperware (unglazed stoneware)
• Ground colour: Light blue
• Decoration: White sprigged classical figures, fruit-and-flower garland, anthemion dividers
• Backstamp: Impressed “WEDGWOOD / MADE IN ENGLAND”
• Height: 5.2 cm
• Width: 7.5 cm
• Weight: 167 g
• Condition: Excellent

Collector Appeal

The putto scene on the lid and its fruit-and-flower garland are crisp and complete, and the four side panels are equally well preserved.

More Wedgwood Jasperware from the shop: Wedgwood Jasperware collection.

Wedgwood Blue is one of the few colours in the decorative arts that functions simultaneously as material, brand language, and cultural memory — which is a considerable achievement for a piece of coloured clay.