jasperware

jasperware — noun

1. a kind of hard decorative pottery, usually pale blue or green and covered with r

1.nounC2
Definition

a kind of hard decorative pottery, usually pale blue or green and covered with raised white patterns, first produced by Josiah Wedgwood.

Example

The museum case held blue jasperware with white flowers around the lid.

collocation: blue jasperware

Elise bought a small jasperware vase at the market in Bath.

collocation: jasperware vase

Common collocations
  • blue jasperware
  • piece of jasperware
  • jasperware vase
  • jasperware box
  • white figures on jasperware
Synonyms
  • stoneware

    broader term for high-fired pottery; not all stoneware is jasperware

  • porcelain

    usually glossier and more delicate, without the same matte raised decoration

  • pottery

    general everyday word for clay objects, much broader in meaning

Grammar Patterns

piece of jasperware

blue jasperware

jasperware vase

Usage Note

Usually uncountable when it names this pottery style or material. For one object, English more often uses a phrase such as 'a piece of jasperware' or names the object directly, as in 'a jasperware vase'.

Common Mistakes

She bought a jasperware.
She bought a piece of jasperware.
this word is usually uncountable when you mean the pottery style or material.

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Stoneware' is the broad technical word for strong pottery fired at a high temperature. 'Jasperware' is one special kind of stoneware, known for its smooth coloured body and raised white decoration, especially in pieces linked with Wedgwood. 'Porcelain' is also hard and fine, but it is usually glossier and more translucent, so it does not create the same matte look. 'Pottery' is the everyday umbrella word and can refer to many clay objects. 'Ceramics' is broader still because it also includes artistic and industrial pieces. A museum label may call an object stoneware, but a collector will often choose 'jasperware' when the blue-and-white Wedgwood style is the important detail.

stoneware ↗porcelain ↗pottery ↗ceramics ↗

Etymology

English

The name joins 'jasper', the stone whose look inspired the effect, with 'ware', a word for manufactured goods or pottery. In English it came to mean the special decorative stoneware first produced by Josiah Wedgwood in the eighteenth century.