A fine earthenware with a thin purplish to gray
body covered with a lustrous black glaze. Often decorated with molded
designs and gilding.
Jackfield developed in the 1740s and was most
popular in the 1750s and 1760s,
but "degenerate" versions continued to be made in small
amounts into the 19th century (Barker
and Halfpenny 1990:34-35). In the 1870s and 1880s, a revival of
the Jackfield-type glaze occurred, this time on a terra cotta or
white earthenware body. It is sometimes known as Jet Ware (Lewis
A dense, homogenous earthenware body, gray to purplish-black in
color. Jackfield produced by Thomas Whieldon, however, had a more
reddish colored body (Noël Hume 1970:123).
Thin, glossy black lead glaze.
Vessels could be plain or decorated with white sprig - molding,
and occasionally were enamel painted or oil gilded. Enamel painted
and oil gilded decorative motifs included floral designs, cartouches
with initials, and heraldic devices (Barker and Halfpenny 1990;
Noël Hume 2001:277).
This ware was made primarily in tea and coffee service forms. Vessels
are typically thin-walled.
Barker and Halfpenny 1990; Lewis
Hume 1970, 2001.
Although associated with the town of Jackfield in Shropshire, this ware was also commonly produced in Staffordshire by potters such as Thomas Whieldon. Therefore, the use of the term
"Jackfield-type" or even "blackware" is preferred
(Barker and Halfpenny 1990).