Josiah Wedgwood's jasper was the triumphant outcome of more than 5,000 experiments. Jasper was his most important contribution to ceramic art, and ranks among the most significant innovations in ceramic history since the Chinese invention of porcelain nearly a thousand years earlier. The physical qualities which made jasper especially suited to applied Neoclassical ornament helped Wedgwood achieve an unwavering mass popularity in the late 18th century, which continues today. No other ornamental style has attracted such a popular market over so long a period of time.
