Description
Vintage Wedgwood Blue Jasperware Cherub Dome Clock
This Vintage Wedgwood Blue Jasperware Cherub Dome Clock combines one of Wedgwood’s most recognizable ceramic traditions with a practical quartz timepiece. Made in England and dating to approximately the 1980s, the clock features the classic matte blue Jasperware body decorated with finely modeled white applied reliefs.
Its architectural form resembles a small arched or domed mantel clock. A circular clock movement occupies the upper portion, while a lively procession of white classical figures decorates the front beneath the dial. The combination of pale blue Jasperware, crisp white relief and restrained gold-tone clock bezel gives the piece an elegant neoclassical character.
Cherubs and Classical Jasperware Decoration
The principal decoration depicts a group of putti, or cherubs, at play across the lower front of the clock. A seated figure appears beneath a small tree playing a stringed instrument, while four additional putti form an animated group alongside it. Their white relief stands prominently against the blue ground and gives the relatively small clock an unusually detailed appearance.
Wedgwood continued the decoration around the sides rather than limiting it to the front. One side features a classical female figure holding a lyre, while the opposite side carries a symmetrical floral and foliate ornament. These additional reliefs make the clock attractive when viewed from several angles.
Wedgwood Blue Jasperware
Josiah Wedgwood developed Jasperware during the eighteenth century after years of experimentation with ceramic bodies and colors. Introduced in the 1770s, the material became closely associated with Wedgwood and with the growing European taste for neoclassical design.
Blue became its most immediately recognizable color, particularly when paired with contrasting white relief decoration inspired by ancient Greek and Roman art, mythology and ornament. Wedgwood adapted this visual language to an enormous range of decorative and functional objects over subsequent generations.
This clock represents a much later interpretation of that tradition. Rather than simply reproducing an eighteenth-century object, Wedgwood incorporated its historic Jasperware vocabulary into a useful twentieth-century decorative accessory.
A Wedgwood Quartz Dome Clock
The white clock face carries black Roman numerals and traditional black hands. WEDGWOOD appears prominently beneath twelve o’clock, with QUARTZ below the center and MADE IN ENGLAND printed along the lower edge.
A narrow gold-tone bezel surrounds the dial and provides a warm contrast with the cool blue and white Jasperware. The removable clock movement fits into the circular opening in the ceramic body, allowing access to the mechanism from behind.
The clock stands approximately 4 3/4 inches (12.1 cm) tall and measures approximately 4 1/4 inches (10.8 cm) across its base. At approximately 1 5/8 inches (4.1 cm) deep, it has a compact freestanding form suitable for display on a mantel, shelf, desk, bookcase or bedside table.
Made in England
The reverse bears an impressed WEDGWOOD / MADE IN ENGLAND mark. No separate date mark is apparent, so the dating comes from the original ownership history rather than an attempt to assign a precise year from the impressed mark.
The clock was purchased during the 1980s and was never put into regular use. It remained primarily stored in its original Wedgwood box with its original tissue paper, providing unusually clear provenance for a vintage decorative object of this period.
Unused with Original Wedgwood Box
The Vintage Wedgwood Blue Jasperware Cherub Dome Clock remains in excellent vintage condition. The blue Jasperware body and contrasting white relief decoration retain a clean and attractive appearance, while the clock face and gold-tone surround present beautifully.
The piece has remained unused and comes with its original Wedgwood box and original tissue paper. The quartz movement has not been tested, so no representation is made regarding its current operation. The original packaging will accompany the clock.
A Modern Expression of a Wedgwood Tradition
Although produced approximately two centuries after Wedgwood developed Jasperware, this clock demonstrates the remarkable longevity of the company’s neoclassical design language. Its blue ground, white classical reliefs and carefully balanced composition make its Wedgwood identity immediately recognizable.
The compact scale also makes it an appealing collectible for someone who appreciates Wedgwood but wants a functional decorative object rather than conventional tableware. Its unused condition, original packaging and documented 1980s ownership history add further interest to this distinctive English Jasperware clock.
