Jackfield pottery is a type of earthenware known for its lustrous black lead glaze similar to Japanese black lacquer pottery. It is named after Jackfield, a town in Shropshire, England, where a pottery factory founded by Richard Thrufield produced remarkable pieces of earthenware, glazed in black and decorated with oil or gold paint in 1713. Thursday was succeeded by his son , Mauricio, under whom the best examples of crafts were made between 1760 and 1772.
Early examples of Jackfield pottery with Jacobite inscriptions can be found due to the fact that Shropshire was a place of refuge for worship.
During the 18th century, Jackfield pottery was also manufactured in several other well-known pottery centers, such as Staffordshire, by other great names in pottery history such as Thomas Whieldon and Josiah Wedgwood. It was Whieldon who was credited with advancing the manufacture of Jackfield products. In Staffordshire, Whieldon was known to have developed the art of making Jackfield pottery, producing it using a red variety of clay and a glaze with a more lustrous luster. Production of black enameled tableware was soon also started in Namur, Belgium.
Jackfield pottery is a dense, highly vitreous, high-fired dinnerware that generally has thin walls. It is usually glazed both inside and outside. Dating back to its beginnings in Jackfield, it was originally made from gray to purplish-black clay. Sometimes, in examples of pottery with a lid, the color of the clay used can be glimpsed. The usual motifs used for decoration were moldings of white twigs, flowers, and scrolls (scrolls often bore initials). Jackfield dinnerware first became popular as drinking cups in pubs. Other common examples of Jackfield pottery are coffee or tea cups and pots, mugs, and saucers.
Jackfield pottery was also highly sought after during the Victorian era, between 1837 and 1901. When Queen Victoria wore black items to mourn the death of her husband, Prince Albert in 1861, the black sheen of Jackfield items became became fashionable. It was then that Jackfield items became popular as gifts and souvenirs. They were usually marked in gold with the donor’s name on the left side of the item and were marked with three bars that looked like a fleur-de-lis on the right side.
Jackfield pottery was also known by many other nicknames such as Jackfield black, Jackfield-type, jet ware, Victorian jetware, blackware, and Japanese items. Although the quality and production of these types of items were said to decline after the 1760s, their style was revived in the late 1800s and became popular in tea and kitchenware.
