On offer here is a ‘pair’ of Jackfield cow creamers. Jackfield wares were originally produced in the mid-eighteenth century in the village of Jackfield, which is set on the south bank of the River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge. Jackfield earthenware used a purplish-black clay which was covered in a glossy black glaze – giving rise to alternative names such as jet ware, or japanned ware. It was also produced in Staffordshire by Thomas Whieldon, Wedgwood and others. The pieces made by Whieldon have a more reddish coloured body.
Unfortunately, the term ‘Jackfield’ now tends to be applied to any earthenware cow creamers that have a shiny black glaze. Add to this the fact that they were produced in large numbers, in a wide variety of styles, over a period close to 200 years and are almost always unmarked, and the collector has a problem. Accurate dating is extremely difficult – anywhere between 1750 – 1870!
The two cow creamers on offer are not identical, with slight differences in size, position of the tail, shape of the opening/lid, shape of the horns and degree of gilding. In both creamers, the udders lack teats, and the cows stand on shallow, stepped oval bases.
The cow creamer shown on the right in my photographs, has been made using a dark reddish-brown clay (as shown on the underside of the lid); however, the small chip to the base of this creamer (not shown well in the photos) is definitely purplish-black. So, this gives rise to questions: is this a Shropshire or a Staffordshire Jackfield creamer, and/or might the lid be a ‘marriage’?
The lid belonging to the left-hand creamer is certainly a reddish colour, so without further evidence I would suggest that this is a Staffordhire creamer, possibly of the Whieldon type.
The gilding on both creamers shows some rubbing. Despite this, I believe these two cow creamers are good examples of the Jackfield style. However, please use these notes, plus the photographs, to decide for yourself whether they are indeed collectable examples of this ‘breed’ of cow creamer.