Josiah Wedgwood  when he was only twenty nine, in 1759 founded his own pottery at Burselm in Staffordshire. After five years in partnership with the Master Potter Thomas Whieldon.  He was pushed on by criticism of Staffordshire potting standards and began to experiment with ceramic bodies and their firing.

He had his first big success in the early 1760s when he introduced a fantastic clear glazed, cream coloured earthenware containing pipe clay and ground calcined flint.  This cream ware was cheap to produce and became a rival to tin glazed earthenware.

George IIIs wife, Queen Charlotte, was so delighted with her cream ware  that she let him advertise as potter to her majesty,  he then marketed his pottery as Queens ware.  Other competition produced versions of Creamware, but Wedgwood marketing and selling skills gave him the edge on the market.

An order was placed by the Empress Catharine the Great of Russia, and was to be his most challenging orders, this was a service of over 1000 pieces in 1773 and was known as the frog service.  Queens ware was a success and allowed Josiah Wedgwood to experiment with other ceramics, especially black basaltes (this is an very hard , unglazed black stoneware and a red stoneware called rosso antico) which had inspiration from ancient potteries of Italy.

Further developments and experiments led Wedgwood to the introduction of Jasper ware  in 1774, this was to but know as his best product.  Jasperware is a high fired dense white stoneware which is easily tinted and holds sharp details and can be decorated  with relief work of contrasting colour.  It was great for imitating Greek and Roman seals also cameos which where in the fashion around this time.

The use of jasper dip backgrounds was introduced in 1777.  This coated a white base  with a thin layer of base colour other than dying the clay, Various combinations where tried, of which blue and white remained the most popular, the colours perfectly suited to the fashionable classic motifs and neoclassical style introduce by Robert Adam who was an architect and designer around of this time.

Wedgwood's most striking piece was a replica of the Portland vase in jasper ware .  More affordable jasper ware from the 18th and 19th century are much sought after today,  these can sell from £100.00 but can go as high as £50,000.00 paid for the rarest and most beautiful pieces.

Warning pieces can be difficult to date, and they are easy to restore than glazed earthenware, so I advise that you examine pieces thoroughly before purchasing.  Pieces made later than the 18th century are generally courser to the touch.