Pair of Wedgwood Dark Blue Jasperware Salts with Silver Collars, 1907

A pair of Wedgwood dark blue jasperware salts or salt cellars, with silver collars by Richard Owen Williams, stamped for Birmingham, 1907. The bottom of the salts are stamped Wedgwood, England, T. The applied reliefs show putti with a dog and the triumph of Cupid on a lion-drawn chariot.

The blue of the jasperware has been imprecisely applied in places and the silver collar has a couple of dents. There is a small gap between the collar and the white glaze on the inside of one of the salts.

Jasperware was first developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s. Usually described as stoneware, it has an unglazed matte ‘biscuit’ finish. Named after the mineral jasper for marketing reasons, the exact Wedgwood formula remains confidential, but analyses indicate that barium sulphate is a key ingredient. The fired body is naturally white but usually stained with metallic oxide colours; its most common shade is pale blue, but dark blue, lilac, sage green, black and yellow are also used. Relief decorations are produced in moulds and applied to the ware as sprigs.