Unboxing BIZARRE Wedgwood Collectibles You've Never Seen Before | Vintage Phone, Heels & Jewellery

Hi, I'm Michael, I'm Assistant Creator at the V&A Wedgwood Collection. Today we're going to unbox a Jasperware heel, tricolour Jasperware, a blue Jasperware biscuit barrel and this pink Jasperware telephone. That's a really satisfying noise. Today we're down in the V&A Wedgwood Collection storeroom which is just below where the Wedgwood factory currently makes Jasperware. We are down here because it's part of a larger project of us unpacking over 65,000 objects and putting them online for the general public to enjoy. So Jasperware is a ceramic body that's made up from something called stoneware. This stoneware can be coloured through different metal oxides. The body is actually fired up to 1250 degrees centigrade which makes it impervious to liquids and the body itself can be cut and polished just like a mineral is named after. We think Jasperware was invented in about 1775 by Josiah Wedgwood. Now Josiah was a man of great ambition, ability and energy. He established his ceramic company in 1759 at a time of a huge consumer and industrial revolution in Europe and he's well known for changing the British ceramic industry from a cottage craft to a global recognisable industry and he set up his factory in Staffordshire which became known as the Potteries. We know it took several years for him to develop his Jasperware. It took more than a thousand trials such as the ones I have in front of me to make sure that his Jasper body was absolutely perfect and to his specifications. I have one of Josiah Wedgwood's original trial trays. Now each trial is individually numbered and each has individual symbols on and they're all differently glazed and some have enamels painted on them so you have a fire in the kiln. Today we're focusing on Jasperware itself. From the outset Jasperware was available in blue which we commonly know as Wedgwood blue, yellow, lilac or pink and white and eventually black. So this is a cobalt trial so the more famous Wedgwood blue is represented here. So this is a Jasperware body which has been stained with a metallic oxide called cobalt. So this trial is a white Jasperware. The numbers at the top represent the amount of trials that Josiah was conducting to perfect his Jasper body. Just below is the letters TTBO. Now these were instructions for the ovenmen on where to place each trial. So TTBO means tip top on the biscuit oven and just below that we can see sort of the rainbow enamel colours. Now these would have been placed on to see how different enamels reacted to being placed on the Jasper body. There was other decorations that could enhance the aesthetic of the body. The main technique was what we call ornamentation which involves really small raised reliefs that are really carefully moulded and then individually placed on the Jasperware body by the skilled craftspeople and these reliefs fitting that sort of neoclassical taste at the time are always sort of influenced by Greek and Roman figures and symbols. So one of the more bizarre partnerships that Wedgwood has, Wedgwood is known for partnering with many different companies and artists in order to find success was H&M Reign in the late 1950s and early 1960s. H&M Reign, they were a luxury British shoemaker and they wanted Wedgwood to make a Jasperware heel which would be fully wearable and fully durable and so here you can see a yellow version of a Jasperware heel, real Jasperware and it's embellished with this wonderful white replied relief depicting a female version of Zephyr, the personification of the west wind. So even though we've got the reins here we do have right at the bottom of the shoe another impression which shows Wedgwood made in England which was essentially made in the factory just above us and to ensure the durability of the heel and to make sure it never falls off there is a uneven interior cavity which is used as a key for a filler which enhances the heel strength. Now with this very large box we're going to unpack a very bizarre Wedgwood telephone. So this, your eyes don't deceive you, this is a pink Jasperware telephone with a rotary dial. It's fully functional so it's not just a decorative Jasper piece and this was made in the late 1970s by Wedgwood in partnership with a telecommunications company called Astral who are also based in Stoke-on-Trent. Now Astral were known for making these speciality phones out of faux hardwood and faux marble but obviously on this occasion they wanted to use Jasperware. Now one of the really cool things is the fact we've got the rotary dial so really old-fashioned and it makes a great noise and the handset is quite large but it's also got a floral motif to the handset as well as the pink Jasperware and around the edges we still have that neoclassical taste where the reliefs depict an offering to peace. Here's the module plug that connects it to the landline networks. It could be used in Britain and North America and Astral actually gave a 12 month guarantee so they were pretty confident these phones could work just like an all handset. So this item wrapped up here is from the late 18th early 19th century. So this is what we call a brooch or a cameo brooch. Now here it's what we call tri-colour Jasperware where three colours have been combined so sort of a lilac, a white and a blue to create a very intoxicating colour combination to attract consumers but what's most beautiful is the white apply relief that almost appears translucent. This depicts Apollo the Greek and Roman god of light and the sun on a chariot and following Phosphorus who is the god of Venus known as the light bringer and for those interested in astrology around the outside of the border we have all 12 of the signs of the zodiac. So the next item is from a bit later so it's the 19th century now and this again is using a similar tri-colour Jasperware. So this Jasperware is a pendant it's got faux pearls to embellish it but again now we see those three different colours of Jasperware used here as a combination placed into the metal mount. Now what's most impressive is just how minute and detailed the neoclassical scene is with the cupids playing instruments. And lastly we have a much more modern piece of Wedgwood jewellery. This is from the 1980s and it's from a collaboration between Wedgwood and a renowned jewellery designer for Wendy Ramshaw. Now Ramshaw was already working with ceramic bodies when she asked Wedgwood to see whether she can work with Jasperware and other Wedgwood bodies in production at that time. Now here she's obviously using very sort of geometric conical but also spherical forms in order to decorate the necklace which is on a silver wire and also a silver drum clasp as well. We're going to move to some home comforts now by looking at a Jasperware biscuit barrel. So this beautiful object is a blue Jasperware biscuit barrel, quite a small biscuit barrel for sort of modern day standards but this is from the late 19th century so talking about the Victorian period and what is quite unique and amazing about this biscuit barrel is the quality of the reliefs to the exterior. So you have these ram's heads that are interlinked to these amazing garlands of fruit that also are interlinked to ribbons and there's this amazing floral motif that runs around the outside as well and then you have these amazing little pink cameos that are added as well and these again have got tiny little reliefs on them showing neoclassical scenes that are taken usually from engraved Roman gems. Well today we've unpacked seven Jasperware objects. Now bearing in mind we've only unpacked 20,000 objects so far and we probably expect to unpack another 50,000 and within that 50,000 we expect to find more beautiful, bizarre, wacky but also stunning Jasperware objects. If you like this unboxing video you can see plenty more on our channel if you like and subscribe.