Fellows and Sons | Established 1876

The History of Blue John

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Fellows’ Antiques, Silver & Collectables sale on Monday 17th February features sought-after Blue John items.

Mentions of a mineral matching Blue John can be found as early as 1671 in Webster’s Metallographia, discussing “Fluores…some the colour of amethyst” and Celia Fiennes’ 1679 Through England on a Side-Saddle who mentions the “Azure Spar in Derbyshire”. Shortly after this, Charles Leigh records the “sapphire and azure spar” in the 1700 Natural History of Lancashire, Cheshire and The Peak District. It is mentioned as ‘Blew John’ by Matthew Boulton in 1768, but there is no specific mention of the name Blue John, or any variant, prior to the 1760s. The root of the name ‘Blue John’ is still argued, with some suggesting it derives from the French Bleu Jaune (Blue Yellow), perhaps coined by Huguenot ormolu workers collaborating with Matthew Boulton, and others suggesting it was coined by miners upon accidental discovery whilst in pursuit of another mineral colloquially known as ‘Black Jack’. Neither theory has been proven…

Blue John items

The Treak Cliff Cavern is recognised as being mined as early as 1709, initially for lead, but Blue John soon proved popular and more commercially valuable. In 1748, Henry Watson opened a water-powered mill for the polishing of Ashford marble, and Blue John began to be sent there for industrial processing. With single growths of Blue John rarely more than 15cm (6″) wide, it is rare to find large seams, and so larger pieces are made either in sectional form or else via bonding of smaller nodules and samples together (originally by overnight soaking in pine resin) prior to each turning. Around 6mm can be removed per turning, meaning large or intricate pieces can take months. Being a fragile material, registering at 4 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness (Talc features at 1 and diamond at 10), this process is fraught with risk.

By the 1760s, Blue John was rapidly gaining in popularity, with fireplaces at Kedleston Hall and the Friary Hotel in Derby, and the window at Chatsworth all created using Blue John. King George III was an early patron, ordering a pair of perfume burners for the Roal Collection, as was Empress Catherine of Russia, who ordered pieces for the Imperial Palace in St Petersburg. Impressive collections can also be found further afield, such as at Derby Museum, at at Lauriston Castle in Edinburgh.