Jasper Blues

My focus of research within ceramic design has been to explore the creative potential for cutting through coloured, laminated clay bodies to reveal the subtle patterning arising from irregularities in form. As a result I was commissioned by Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. to develop a prestige collection of ceramics based on their iconic blue Jasperware. The research entailed developing what was essentially a studio-based one-off process into a method applicable to factory production. The work extended into three collections, which were intended to demonstrate that the traditions of Jasperware could be expressed to develop unique and contemporary outcomes. The work produced was initially exhibited at the V&A, London, in four vitrines in the Rotunda entrance. Under the banner of ‘Extending Traditions’ a title coined by Paul Greenhalgh, Head of Research at the V&A, the work was shown alongside Wedgwood objects from the V&A collection, revealing a contextualised continuity of production and process. Josiah Wedgwood has a rich tradition of collaborating with designers and artists over the past 200 years and is an international company with outlets for its high quality ceramics in most major cities, including New York and Tokyo. Following the preview at the V&A the collection was subsequently launched at a showpiece exhibition of contemporary Wedgwood collaborations over the past ten years, in the Galleria, at Ambiente in Frankfurt in 2002. (Ambiente is the world’s largest tableware and interior design fair.) During Design Week in Tokyo the collection was again presented in their flagship store. The largest part of the original collection was bought by American collectors, and has recently been the subject of research there into designer collaborations with Wedgwood