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Title: Chats on Old Earthenware
Author: Hayden, Arthur
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Chats on Old Earthenware" ***
[Illustration:
VICAR & MOSES.
Modelled by RALPH WOOD. About 1750.
Marked R. WOOD, BURSLEM.
_At British Museum._]
CHATS ON OLD
EARTHENWARE
BY
ARTHUR HAYDEN
AUTHOR OF
"CHATS ON OLD CHINA," "CHATS ON OLD PRINTS," ETC.
WITH A COLOURED FRONTISPIECE
AND 150 ILLUSTRATIONS, AND TABLES
OF OVER 200 ILLUSTRATED MARKS
NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
1909
(_All rights reserved._)
TO
MY OLD FRIEND
WALTER EASSIE
WHOSE FINE ENTHUSIASM HAS BEEN
A STIMULANT, AND WHOSE EVER-READY
HELP HAS ADDED MANY ARTISTIC
TOUCHES TO THIS
VOLUME.
PREFACE
Five years have now elapsed since the publication of my volume, "Chats
on English China," and in the interval a great number of readers have
written to me suggesting that I should write a companion volume dealing
with old English earthenware. It is my hope that this complementary
volume will prove of equal value to that large class of collectors who
desire to know more about their hobby but are fearful to pursue the
subject further without special guidance.
It is a matter for congratulation in these days, when so many books
have only a short life for one season, to know that, owing to the
enterprise of my publisher in making the "Chats" Series for collectors
so widely known, the volume dealing with old English China still
retains its vitality, and holds its place as a popular guide to
collecting with profit.
As far as is possible in the limits of this volume, the subject of old
English earthenware has been dealt with in order to show how peculiarly
national the productions of the potter have been. The collection of
old English earthenware, in the main, is still within the reach of
those who have slender purses. English china during the last decade
has reached prohibitive prices, and there is every likelihood that old
English earthenware will in the near future become of unprecedented
value.
I have carefully refrained from confining my treatment of the subject
to rare museum examples which are unlikely to come under the hand of
the average collector. It is necessary to have the ideal in view, but
it must be borne in mind that such specimens must always be ideal to
the larger number of collectors. I have, therefore, without belittling
the old potters' art, given considerable attention to the golden mean
in the realm of old earthenware to be collected.
The two volumes--"Chats on English China," which mainly consists of an
outline history of English china, with hints as to its collection, and
the present volume, "Chats on English Earthenware," with a faithful
_résumé_ of the work of the old English potters--together form a record
of what has been done by the potter in England, and are intended to be
practical working handbooks for the collector of old English china and
English earthenware.
The illustrations in this volume have been carefully chosen to
illustrate the letterpress, and to enable readers to identify specimens
that may come under their observation.
_Lists of Prices_ accompany the various sections whenever it has been
thought that they may be of practical value. I am indebted for the
accuracy of these prices to that useful and authoritative quarterly
publication, "Auction Sale Prices," which is a supplement to the
_Connoisseur_, and forms the standard record in the collectors' world
of the prices realised at auction.
A _Bibliography_ of works on the subject has been given, in order that
those who may wish to delve deeper may consult special volumes dealing
in detail with special sub-heads of old earthenware.
I must here record my thanks for the generous aid I have received
from possessors of fine examples who have willingly placed their
treasures at my disposal, and by so doing have enabled me to present
them as illustrations in this volume. To Colonel and Mrs. Dickson
I am especially indebted for many specimens from their interesting
collection. Miss Feilden has been good enough to select some typical
examples from her fine collection of old earthenware of exceptional
interest, and they are here reproduced by her courtesy, and to Mr.
Richard Wilson I owe my gratitude for kindly allowing illustrations
of some examples of Leeds cream-ware from his remarkable collection.
Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis, with fine enthusiasm, has spared no trouble
to enable me to present some of his rare examples, and Mrs. Herman
Liebstein has kindly supplied some fine pieces from her collection. Mr.
W. G. Honey has also kindly contributed several excellent illustrations
of specimens in his collection.
The illustrations of specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum
are reproduced by permission of the Board of Education, and similar
permission has been accorded me by the authorities of the British
Museum to illustrate some of the rare examples in that collection. By
a like courtesy I am enabled to give an illustration of an exceptional
piece of marked Wincanton Delft, and some other examples from the
collection at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, of Etruria have afforded me the
pleasure of illustrating some fine specimens in their museum, including
examples of the celebrated service made for the Empress Catherine
II. of Russia. I am especially indebted to their courtesy in giving
me facilities for the reproduction of a fine series of photographs
showing the various stages in the manufacture of earthenware, which
illustrations should be of practical advantage to the student and of
no little interest to the general collector. It should be mentioned
that these illustrations have been specially selected to represent the
stages through which a piece of old earthenware passed in the hands of
the Staffordshire potters.
In regard to the illustrations of the rare examples of Leeds and other
pieces decorated at Lowestoft, and for the latest details known of
this class of ware, I have to acknowledge the particular kindness
of Mr. Merrington Smith, fine art expert of Lowestoft, who is known
in connection with the excavations conducted a few years ago on the
site of the old Lowestoft china factory, and whose detailed research
regarding that factory has dissipated many erroneous theories and
thrown so much light on its history and achievements.
To Mr. Rudd, fine art dealer of Southampton, I am indebted for a
considerable fund of information relating to some of the exceptional
examples of old English earthenware which have passed through his
hands, and I am under a similar obligation to Mr. S. G. Fenton, who has
contributed some fine pieces as illustrations to this volume.
Mr. James Davies, of Chester, has given me access to his collection,
and has added some fine examples which are here included as
illustrations. Mr. F. W. Phillips, of Hitchin, has from his fine
collection made a generous selection of noteworthy specimens.
Mr. A. Duncan, of Penarth, has included photographs of some especially
fine Swansea ware.
By the kindness of Mr. Hubert Gould, I am reproducing some typical
examples of transfer-printed jugs from his collection of old
earthenware.
To other friends who have generously forborne with my inquiries, and
lent me their practical aid in various directions in assisting me to
prosecute my researches in attempting to arrive at definite conclusions
in regard to points not hitherto determined, I tender my warm
appreciation of their kindness.
I may say, in conclusion, that a good photographer is a treasure, and
no trouble has been spared by Mr. A. E. Smith, the well-known art
photographer, to render difficult subjects pictorially attractive in
conditions exceptionally detrimental to his art.
ARTHUR HAYDEN.
_March, 1909._
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE 9
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 17
BIBLIOGRAPHY 23
GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED 27
CHAPTER
I. HOW TO COLLECT: A CHAPTER FOR BEGINNERS 33
II. EARLY WARE 83
III. ENGLISH DELFT 101
IV. STONEWARE 133
V. EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE WARE--THOMAS WHIELDON;
HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND SUCCESSORS 159
VI. SALT-GLAZED WARE, STAFFORDSHIRE 195
VII. JOSIAH WEDGWOOD 221
VIII. THE SCHOOL OF WEDGWOOD 257
IX. LEEDS AND OTHER FACTORIES 287
X. TRANSFER-PRINTED WARE 317
XI. STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES 353
XII. SWANSEA AND OTHER FACTORIES 395
XIII. LUSTRE WARE 423
XIV. LATE STAFFORDSHIRE WARE 443
INDEX 485
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FRONTISPIECE.
Staffordshire Group, _Vicar and Moses_. Modelled by
Ralph Wood about 1750. Marked R. WOOD, BURSLEM.
_At British Museum._
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--HOW TO COLLECT.
Exterior of Works, Etruria 37
A Corner of Old Etruria Works 41
Mill for Grinding Raw Materials 45
The Thrower (showing the Potter's Wheel) 49
The Oven 53
The Dipping House 57
The Enamel Kiln 61
CHAPTER II.--EARLY WARE.
Mediæval Tiles 85
Toft Dish, dated 1671; Posset Pot, dated 1685 89
Earthenware Jug (late 17th century) 93
CHAPTER III.--ENGLISH DELFT.
Lambeth Delft Jar (with Arms of Apothecaries' Company) 103
Lambeth Delft "Sack" Bottle, dated 1652 107
Bristol Delft Plate, representing Balloon Ascent 107
Lambeth Delft Candlestick, dated 1648 111
Old Dutch Brass Candlestick 111
Bristol Delft Plate and Bowl 115
Bristol Delft Dish, dated 1740 119
Title-page and Illustration, from volume dated 1638 123
Wincanton Delft Dish 127
CHAPTER IV.--STONEWARE.
Stoneware Jugs, Bellarmine and other forms 135
Dwight Bust of _James II._, and Figures of _Children
Reading_ 139
Elers Coffee Pot, Mug, and Teapot 143
Astbury Teapots 149
Fulham Stoneware Mug (dated 1725) and Jug 153
CHAPTER V.--EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE WARE.
Whieldon Ware Cauliflower Teapot 161
Tortoiseshell Ware Plate 161
Tortoiseshell Ware Teapot and Bowl and Cover 167
Group of Astbury Ware 171
Agate Cat and Salt-glazed Bear Jug 171
Whieldon Tortoiseshell Animals 175
Whieldon Group. _St. George and the Dragon_ 175
Whieldon Toby Jugs 179
Groups of Early Staffordshire Jugs 183
Early Staffordshire Jugs 189
CHAPTER VI.--SALT-GLAZED WARE, STAFFORDSHIRE.
Salt-glazed Teapots. Heart-shaped (Lovers') and Camel 197
Group of Salt-glazed Ware 201
Salt-glazed Teapot enamelled in colours 205
Salt-glazed Vase and Punch Bowl enamelled in colours 209
Salt-glazed Jug enamelled in colours 213
CHAPTER VII.--JOSIAH WEDGWOOD.
Cream Ware Dessert Basket and Centre-piece 225
Catherine II. of Russia Service--Cream Ware Plates 233
Busts of _Rousseau_ and _Voltaire_ 233
Black Basalt Teapot and Jasper Ware Tea Set 241
Jasper Vase--"The Apotheosis of Virgil" 245
CHAPTER VIII.--THE SCHOOL OF WEDGWOOD.
Turner Jasper Vase--"Diana in her Chariot" 261
Adams Blue and White Jasper Vase 261
Turner Stoneware Teapot and Jug 267
Black Basalt Teapots by Birch and by E. Mayer 271
Stoneware Jugs by Spode and by Davenport 277
Black Basalt Teapot (early 19th century) 277
CHAPTER IX.--LEEDS AND OTHER FACTORIES.
Leeds Cream Ware Centre-pieces 291
Leeds Cream Ware Group. _Basket, Candlesticks, &c._ 295
Mug and Jug. Leeds Cream Ware, decorated at Lowestoft 299
Leeds Cream Ware Plate and Mug 303
Staffordshire Jug, decorated at Lowestoft 303
Rockingham Teapot 307
Castleford Jug--Black Basalt 307
CHAPTER X.--TRANSFER-PRINTED WARE.
Salt-glazed Plate--"Hercules and the Waggoner" 319
Transfer-printed Jug--"Diana in her Chariot" 319
Transfer-printed Jugs--"Duke of York" and "Success
to Trade" 323
Group of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Plates 327
Spode Under-glaze Blue-printed Plate and Jug 331
Turner Dish with Blue-printed "Willow pattern" 331
Spode Blue-printed Ware, "Tower" pattern 335
Blue-printed Dishes by Rogers and Adams 341
Blue-printed Dishes--one with Claude landscape 345
CHAPTER XI.--STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES.
Salt-glaze Figure and Figure of _Cock_ marked R. WOOD 351
_Diana_ and Group, _Birth of Venus_ 355
Group of Staffordshire Figures (NEALE & CO.) 355
_Eloquence_, or _St. Paul Preaching at Athens_ 359
Group _Bacchus_ and _Ariadne_, and Figures of _Venus_ and
_Adonis_ 363
Busts of _Bonaparte_ and _Alexander of Russia_ 367
Figures of _Falstaff_ 371
Staffordshire Figure decorated by Absalon, Yarmouth 375
Staffordshire Figures of Musicians (various) 379
Group of Toby Jugs 383
_Cupid_ and Figures of _Flower Boys_ 387
Figures of _Fishwife_ and _Mother Goose_ 391
CHAPTER XII.--SWANSEA AND OTHER FACTORIES.
Swansea Plates and Swansea Bulb-pots 397
Cambrian Vase, painted by Pardoe 401
Swansea Jug, painted by Evans 401
Swansea Transfer-printed Ware, Group of 405
Dillwyn's Etruscan Ware, _Vase_ and _Tazza_ 405
Portland Vase in Red Ware (Isleworth) 409
Liverpool Plate and Finely Painted Mug 409
Brown Stoneware Jugs (Isleworth) 413
CHAPTER XIII.--LUSTRE WARE.
Lustre Goblets and Gold Lustre Mugs 425
Silver Lustre Figures by Wood and Caldwell 431
Silver Lustre Jugs 431
Copper Lustre Mug and Group of Copper Lustre Ware 437
CHAPTER XIV.--LATE STAFFORDSHIRE WARE.
Dessert Plates and Dessert Dish (Mason's Patent Ironstone
China) 447
Granite China Vase, marked C J M & Co. 451
Transfer-printed Plates (C. Meigh & Son) 455
Set of Staffordshire Earthenware Vases, richly decorated 455
Group of Nelson Jugs 459
Transfer-printed Plate in Colours, subject--_Steam Carriage_ 463
Old Print, _New Steam Coach_, dated 1827 463
Transfer-printed Jug, representing Stephenson's _Rocket_ 467
Cyder Mug, Transfer-printed, representing Railway Train 467
Doulton Stoneware Jug, with Bacchanalian subject 471
BIBLIOGRAPHY
GENERAL.
Catalogue of British Pottery and Porcelain. By T. Reeks and F. W.
Rudler. 1876. (Out of print.)(Formerly in the Museum of Practical
Geology, Jermyn Street.)
Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain. By W. Chaffers.
12th Edition. 1908.
Ceramic Art of Great Britain. By Llewellyn Jewitt. 2 vols. 1878.
2nd Edition. 1 vol. 1883.
English Earthenware (made during the 17th and 18th centuries). By
Professor A. H. Church, F. R. S. 1905.
History of Pottery and Porcelain. By J. Marryat. 1857.
History of English Earthenware and Stoneware (to the beginning of
the 19th century). By William Burton, F. C. S. (Cassell & Co.)
1904.
Catalogue of British Pottery, &c., at the British Museum. By R.
L. Hobson. 1903.
Art of the Old English Potter. By M. L. Solon. Folio. 2nd
Edition. 1885.
Old English Pottery. By Mr. and Mrs. Frank Freeth. (Morgan,
Thompson, & Jamison.) £2 12s. 6d. net.
Catalogue of Pottery and Porcelain. (Willett Collection, at
Brighton Museum.) 1905.
Pottery and Porcelain. A Guide to Collectors. F. Litchfield. 1900.
English Pottery and Porcelain. By E. A. Downman. 1896.
History of the Staffordshire Potteries. By S. Shaw. (Hanley.)
1829. Reissue by the _Pottery Gazette_. 1900.
The Chemistry of Pottery. By S. Shaw. (London.) 1837. Reissue by
the _Pottery Gazette_. 1900.
Catalogue of English Pottery and Porcelain. (Alexandra Palace.)
By R. H. Soden Smith. Destroyed by fire. 1873.
Transfer Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery. By William
Turner. 1907.
Examples of Early English Pottery. By J. E. Hodgkin and E.
Hodgkin. 1891.
Staffordshire Pots and Potters. By G. W. Rhead and F. A. Rhead.
1906.
Catalogue of a Collection of English Pottery Figures deposited on
loan by Messrs. Frank Falkner and E. J. Sidebotham at the Royal
Museum, Peel Park, Salford. (Manchester.) 1906.
Chats on English China. By Arthur Hayden. (T. Fisher Unwin.)
4th Edition. 1909. (The concluding chapters contain an outline
history of English Earthenware.)
PARTICULAR.
_Staffordshire._
Pre-Wedgwood English Pottery. (Solon Collection.) _Connoisseur_,
December, 1901; February, 1902.
William Adams, an old English Potter. Edited by W. Turner. 1904.
Josiah Wedgwood. By Miss E. Meteyard. 2 vols. 1865-6.
Wedgwood and his Works. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1873.
Memorials of Wedgwood. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1874.
The Wedgwood Handbook. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1875.
Josiah Wedgwood, Master Potter. By Professor A. H. Church. 1903.
Old Wedgwood (1760-1795). By F. Rathbone. Folio; 65 plates in
colour. 1896.
Catalogue of Loan Collection of Wedgwood Ware, Liverpool Art
Club. (Liverpool.) 1879.
Josiah Wedgwood. By Llewellyn Jewitt. 1865.
Handbook to the Tangye Collection of Wedgwood Ware. (Birmingham.)
By F. Rathbone. 1885.
Wedgwood, Josiah--his Catalogue of Cameos, Intaglios,
Bas-reliefs, Busts, and Small Statues, with a General Account
of Tablets, Vases, Escritoires, and other Ornamental and Useful
Articles. (London.) 1787.
Wedgwood, Josiah--his "Catalogue" (as above). Edited by Miss E.
Meteyard. 1873.
John Wesley Busts in Staffordshire Pottery. By C. S. Sargisson.
_Connoisseur_, September, 1907.
Catalogue of the Museum at the Etruria Works, Messrs. Josiah
Wedgwood & Sons, Ltd. By Frederick Rathbone. 1909.(Mr. Rathbone
has arranged the collection of Flaxman's designs, Wedgwood's
original pattern models and experimental "trials.")
_Bristol._
Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol. By H. Owen. 1873.
_Derby._
The Pottery and Porcelain of Derbyshire. By A. Wallis and W.
Bemrose. 1870.
_Liverpool._
The Art of Pottery, with a History of its Progress in Liverpool.
By J. Mayer. (Liverpool.) 1873.
The Liverpool Potteries. By C. T. Gatty. (Liverpool.) 1882.
_Leeds._
Old Leeds Pottery. By J. R. and F. Kidson. (Leeds.) 1892.
Catalogue of Exhibition of Works of Art in the Cartwright
Memorial Hall, Bradford. 1904.
Old Leeds Ware. By Henry B. Wilson. _Connoisseur_, 1904.
_Swansea._
The Ceramics of Swansea and Nantgarw. By William Turner.
GLOSSARY
=Agate Ware.=--Earthenware made either "solid" or in "surface"
decoration to resemble the veinings of agate and other natural stones.
The "solid" agate ware is produced by layers of different coloured
clays being twisted together and cut transversely. The "surface" agate
ware is splashed and grained decoration on an ordinary cream body.
=Astbury Ware.=--A generic term applied to specimens in the manner of
the Astburys, with raised floral decoration of white on a red unglazed
body.
=Basalt.=--Black Basalt, or "Egyptian" ware, is a solid black stoneware
of great hardness, made by Wedgwood and by his school of followers.
=Biscuit.=--This term is applied to earthenware and porcelain when it
has been fired once. It is after the biscuit stage that decorations in
colour are applied, and the specimen goes to the oven a second time
(see Chapter I.).
=Body.=--The body of a piece of earthenware is the clay of which it is
composed irrespective of the nature or colour of decoration applied to
its surface.
=China.=--This term is applied to porcelain of all classes, whether
true porcelain of hard paste, _e.g._, Chinese, Japanese, Meissen,
Plymouth, Bristol, &c., or artificial porcelain of soft paste, _e.g._,
Sèvres (_pâte tendre_), Worcester, Chelsea, Bow, Lowestoft, &c.
=China Clay.=--The whitest clay known. Obtained in England from
Devon and Cornwall. Used for porcelain, and also for light-coloured
earthenware.
=China Stone.=--Known also as Cornish stone; used in conjunction with
the china clay for porcelain, and employed for stoneware bodies.
=Cream Ware.=--This term applies to all light-coloured English
earthenware from about 1750 to the present day. It varied in character
from the Queen's Ware of Josiah Wedgwood, 1760, to the "chalk body"
used by Wilson at the end of the eighteenth century. Cream ware of
later date when broken shows a pure white body--a puzzling fact to
beginners in collecting.
=Delft Ware.=--A generic term given to earthenware with tin enamelled
surface. True Delft ware was made at Delft in Holland after 1600, but
it was successfully imitated at Lambeth, Bristol, Liverpool, &c.
=Earthenware.=--All ware may be termed earthenware which when in the
_biscuit_ state is too porous for domestic use but requires a coating
of glaze. As a rule, earthenware is opaque, differing in this respect
from porcelain, which is translucent.
=Enamel Colours.=--The colours applied either in painted or printed
decoration _over_ the glaze.
=Elers Ware.=--A generic term used in regard to unglazed red stoneware
with applied decoration in the style of the Elers brothers.
=Glaze.=--The glassy coating applied to earthenware and porcelain.
_Lead-glaze._--The earliest form used in England was known as
_galena glaze_, when sulphide of lead was in powder form dusted on
the ware. Later liquid lead glaze was used, into which the vessels
were dipped.
_Salt-glaze._--Common salt was thrown into the kiln, and the
resultant vapour deposited a fine layer of glaze on the ware.
_Over-glaze._--This term applies to painted or printed decoration
done _after_ the glaze has been applied to the object--_i.e._, over
the glaze.
_Under-glaze._--This applies to decoration, painted or printed,
done _before_ the glaze is applied to the object--_i.e._, when
completed the decoration is under the glaze.
=Ironstone China.=--An earthenware for which Mason took out a patent
in 1813. The body contains a large proportion of flint and slag of
ironstone.
=Jasper Ware.=--A fine hard stoneware used by Wedgwood, and imitated by
his followers. It is unglazed.
=Lustre Ware.=--Earthenware decorated by thin layers of copper, gold,
or platinum (see Chapter XIII.).
=Marbled Ware.=--Ware of a similar nature to agate ware, having its
surface combed and grained to imitate various natural marbles or
granites.
=Marks.=--In earthenware these makers' names or initials or "trade
marks" were usually impressed with a metal stamp. Obviously this must
have been done when the ware was in plastic state; therefore it is
impossible to add such marks after the ware is made, and when present
on old ware they are a sign of undoubted genuineness. Of course a copy
can be made bearing an impressed mark.
Painted or printed marks sometimes occur on earthenware usually of a
later date. Such marks may be under-or over-glaze; the former are not
likely to have been added after the piece has been made.
=Modern.=--English earthenware may be termed "modern" when it is of
a later date than 1850. Though, as is indicated in Chapter XIV., the
modern renaissance in earthenware should be of especial interest to
collectors.
=Over-glaze.=--See _Glaze_.
=Oven.=--The "oven," as the potter terms it, is a specially-built
furnace in which the "saggers" containing the ware are placed during
the firing (see Chapter I.).
=Paste.=--This is another term for the "body" of the ware.
="Resist" Pattern.=--A term in silver lustre ware. For detailed
description see Chapter XIII.
=Sagger.=--A fire-clay box in which the earthenware is placed when
being fired in the oven (see Illustration, Chapter I.).
=Salt-glaze.=--See _Glaze_, and see Chapter VI.
=Semi-china. Semi-porcelain.=--Terms applied to early nineteenth
century earthenware having a very white or chalk body, and having the
outward appearance of china or porcelain. Strongly imitative and false
to the true qualities of earthenware. It is always opaque. Sometimes it
is naïvely termed "opaque china."
=Slip.=--A thick semi-solid fluid composed of clay and water.
=Spurs. Spur mark.=--During the glazing of earthenware "spurs" or
"stilts" of fire-clay are used to support the articles and keep them
from touching each other. "Spur" or "cockspur" marks are found on the
ware where it has rested on these supports (see Chapter IX., p. 298).
=Stoneware.=--A variety of pottery distinct from earthenware, and more
nearly approaching porcelain in its characteristics. Earthenware,
as has been shown, needs a coating of glaze to protect its porous
defects. Stoneware is a hard body needing no glaze. Glazed stoneware is
frequently found, and the glaze employed is usually salt.
=Throwing.=--The art of fashioning shapes on the potter's wheel (see
Illustration, Chapter I.).
=Transfer Printing.=--Printing employed as a decoration on ware by
means of paper which had received a design from a copper-plate, and was
transferred to the surface of the ware (see Chapter X.).
=Under-glaze.=--See _Glaze_.
="Wedgwood."=--This has become a generic term for one or two classes of
ware--_e.g._, jasper and black basalt, which were made by most of the
potters succeeding Josiah Wedgwood. The word has, in common with Boule
and Chippendale become popularly and erroneously used.
=Whieldon Ware.=--A generic term covering all classes of ware of a
mottled, cloudy, or splashed character--_e.g._, tortoiseshell plates,
vases, figures, &c.
I
HOW TO
COLLECT:
A CHAPTER
FOR
BEGINNERS
Chats on Old Earthenware
CHAPTER I
HOW TO COLLECT: A CHAPTER FOR BEGINNERS
Reasons for collecting--What is earthenware?--How
earthenware is made--What to collect--Method of studying old
earthenware--Forgeries--Table for use in identifying old English
earthenware.
To attempt to advance reasons for collecting old English earthenware
is seemingly to commence this volume with an apology on behalf of
collectors. But there are so many persons ready to throw a stone at
others who betray the possession of hobbies differing from their own,
that it is necessary to state that the reasonable collection of old
earthenware is based on sound premisses.
Similar reasons may be given for the collection of old English
earthenware to those that may be advanced for the collection of old
English china. Earthenware may be approached mainly from the æsthetic
side and studied with a view to show the development of decorative
art in this country and the foreign influences which have contributed
to its evolution. The art of the old English potter is of especial
interest to students of ceramic art, as many processes were invented
in this country, and, in spite of periods of decadence, English
earthenware has won for itself a considerable reputation on the
Continent from a technical point of view.
It may be collected as an adjunct to old furniture by lovers of old
furniture who are precisians in regard to harmony in schemes of
decoration. They prefer to see china and earthenware of the same
period as the furniture. A modern set of vases adorning a Georgian
cabinet is like putting new wine into old bottles. So that concomitant
with the love for old furniture, old pictures, and old prints is the
accompanying regard for contemporary china and earthenware.
The "drum and trumpet history" relating the personal adventures of
princes and nobles, and the pomp of courts, or the intrigues of
favourites, sets no store on the apparent trivialities which mark
the social and intellectual progress of a nation. But the scientific
student of history cannot afford to ignore the detailed study of social
conditions which are indicated by the china-shelf. The due appreciation
of the development of costume, of furniture, and of the domestic arts
gives life and colour to the written records of byegone days. A mug or
a jug with an inscription may tell a story of popular party feeling as
pointedly as a broadsheet or a political lampoon.
[Illustration: EXTERIOR OF WORKS, ETRURIA: THE MARL BANK.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
The ordinary man sees in the collection of china and earthenware an
interesting hobby. He reads of the prices remarkable specimens bring
under the hammer, and he begins to think that his education has been
partly neglected since he knows little or nothing concerning these art
treasures, which seemingly are attractive to other men of culture
and means.
"Collecting for profit" is a phrase that tickles the ears of many
others. Undoubtedly there have been many who have entered the field of
collecting and regarded their purchases solely as investments. It must
be borne in mind that this class of collector is not to be despised,
inasmuch as when he has mastered his subject (and as there is money in
it he very speedily sets to work to do this) he is a very formidable
rival.
It is absurd to imagine that an amateur, after having given especial
study to a subject such as old earthenware, is not in a better position
to enter the market as a buyer or a seller than he who comes with
little or no training.
It is only reasonable that a man should take an intelligent interest in
the evolution of the ware in everyday use. But it is to be feared that
long rows of cases at the museum with specimens of earthenware behind
glass doors must necessarily be a valley of dry bones to the spectator
unless he bring the seeing eye and the understanding heart to quicken
these dry bones into life.
Enough, perhaps, has been said as a prelude to this volume to show
that various reasons may be advanced to account for the new spirit of
collecting which has become so infectious. It is the hope of the writer
that the following chapters, as an outline of the subject of collecting
old English earthenware, may point the way to a better appreciation of
what is really of value in this field, and will enable the collector
in his search to sift the wheat from the chaff, and him who already
possesses _lares et penates_ of uncertain age to identify them.
=What is Earthenware?=--To know what is earthenware always puzzles
the beginner. A rough-and-ready means of determining the difference
between earthenware and porcelain is to apply the light test. Porcelain
more nearly approaches glass and is translucent--that is, it clearly
shows the shadow of the hand holding it when placed up to the light.
But there are occasions when this test fails; for instance, a block
of porcelain may, as in a heavy figure, be so thick as to render this
experiment impossible. On the other hand, fine stoneware may be partly
translucent in the thinner parts. In early nineteenth-century days a
class of ware, such as that of Mason, is stamped "ironstone china" or
"stone china." This is earthenware of a peculiar nature, having certain
of the properties of porcelain. Similarly, at various times earthenware
has been made which nearly approaches porcelain in its constituents.
Dwight with his stoneware busts and Wedgwood in his jasper ware
produced earthenware of such character as to come close to the border
line dividing earthenware from porcelain.
The potter's art is divided into two sub-heads--porcelain and
earthenware--which latter, for purposes of simplification, includes
stoneware.
[Illustration: A CORNER OF OLD ETRURIA WORKS.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
Earthenware is of soft body, is opaque--that is, it cannot be seen
through. Its thinness or its thickness has nothing to do with its
title. Stoneware is equally opaque, but it is as hard as porcelain. It
may be as thick and heavy as a German beer-mug or a stone ginger-beer
bottle, or it may be cream in colour, and thin as a Passover cake, as
in salt-glazed Staffordshire ware, or white and heavy, as in later
stone china. Porcelain may be hard or soft and possesses properties
equally its own, but is outside the scope of this volume.
Practically earthenware is of such porous clay that when fired in the
kiln it is unfit for use, as it is still too porous until it receives
a coating of glaze. Unglazed stoneware, Egyptian black, and Wedgwood's
jasper ware differ from earthenware in this respect, as they do not
receive any glaze, since they are of dense enough body to be used in
"biscuit" or unglazed state.
_Its appearance._ In colour earthenware may be brown or white in
exterior, or brown or white in body as shown when broken. At its best
its style to the beginner may not be suggestive of great difference
between earthenware and porcelain. Similar figures were attempted
in the one material as in the other. In France at Niderviller, at
Marseilles, and at Scieux the potters deliberately set themselves to
make objects in earthenware as delicate and fanciful as were produced
in hard porcelain at Dresden or in soft porcelain at Vincennes.
Clocks, vases, sweetmeat-boxes, and elaborate dinner services lavishly
decorated in over-glaze enamels and gilded, emulated the best work of
the porcelain factories. In Staffordshire the story has been repeated.
So that form is no guide as to what kind of ware a piece may be. In
weight earthenware is lighter than porcelain as a general rule, though
variations in the body make this rule an elastic one. In stoneware, and
ware approximating to this in character, the weight is heavier than
porcelain. All ironstone ware is exceedingly heavy.
_Reasons for its appearance._ The earlier earthenware was brown in
body. The Dutch potters in the seventeenth century covered their
ware with an opaque white tin enamel to conceal the dark earthen
body and to enable them to paint on its surface in imitation of
Chinese porcelain. Stoneware, such as the jugs of early type known
as Bellarmines, is of very vitreous earthenware fired so hard as to
resist acids or the use of a file when applied to the surface. When
glazed this class of ware has salt glaze. Dwight, of Fulham, introduced
white, or nearly white, stoneware into England in his statuettes,
which induced him to claim that he had discovered the secret of making
porcelain. Cream ware followed later, and, perfected by Wedgwood, it
was adopted as the standard earthenware of Staffordshire. It was the
last note in earthenware till the beginning of the nineteenth century,
when the Staffordshire potters invented an earthenware with a white
body more nearly approaching porcelain in appearance. For fifty years
experiments had been carried on, and this cream ware was whitened by a
process called "blueing" by the use of cobalt to whiten the lead glaze.
But the final invention was by Mason with his patent ironstone china,
in which he produced a hard, white body.
=How Earthenware is made.=--A good deal of theory has found its way
into print, but it is not every one, even among collectors, who has
actually seen the various stages through which a lump of clay passes
before it finally takes its place on the table as a teapot or a
breakfast cup.
[Illustration: MILL FOR GRINDING RAW MATERIALS.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
It has, therefore, been thought of interest to illustrate a few steps
in the process of this transformation of clay into vessels of utility
and beauty. By the kindness of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, of
Etruria, this series of illustrations appears, and the subjects have
been chosen with a view to showing those processes of the potter
which are practically the same as in the days of the great Josiah.
The first illustration (p. 37) shows an _Exterior View of the Etruria
Works_, with the Cornish stone and the ball clays from Dorset and Devon
and the flints lying in heaps exposed to the sun and frost in order to
"weather." This exposure is considered advantageous, as the longer the
clay is in the open the better it will work when required for use.
The second illustration (p. 41) shows a _Corner of the old Etruria
Works_. The structure is practically the same as in the early days, and
the bottom windows on the right have remained unaltered. The farthest
at the bottom corner on the right was the room of old Josiah.
The third illustration shows the _Mill for grinding raw materials_.
The clays are put into this vat and crushed between two stones. There
is nothing different now from the early days. The old oak beams tell
their story. It is true that steam is now used, but that is all to make
this process differ from that employed a century and a half ago--first
when wind-power was used, as in flour mills, and later when a horse was
substituted.
This grinding is done with water, and the mixture comes out a thick
liquid. The mixing-tank is the next stage. These liquid constituents,
such as ball clay, china clay, flint, &c., according to the formula
of the pottery, are carefully admitted into the tank in correct
proportions and thoroughly "blended" together. The body is now in its
"slip" state, and is pressed and dried to make it more malleable when
not required for casting. In its later stage, in more solid form, it is
ready to be thrown on the potter's wheel.
=The Potter's Wheel.=--We illustrate (p. 40) the ingenious potter who
is known as "The Thrower." It is he who, on a little revolving table
between his knees pressed with his hands, magically transforms the
lump of clay into beautiful shapes. Unfortunately, modern methods are
eliminating the work of "the thrower," whose art dates back to the
remotest past in the East when man first made clay into objects of
beauty. We find the prophet Jeremiah saying, "Then I went down to the
potter's house, and behold he wrought a work on the wheel. And the
vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter, so
he made again another vessel as seemed good to the potter to make it."
Old Omar Khayyam brings a moral to bear on the potter and his wheel:
"Surely not in vain
My substance from the common Earth was ta'en
That He who subtly wrought me into shape
Should stamp me back to common Earth again."
And Shakespeare, not to miss a good simile, makes one of his characters
say, "My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel."
[Illustration:
THE THROWER.
Showing the Potter's Wheel.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
=The Pottery Kilns.=--The next stage is to convert the vessel thrown
in soft clay, and put aside to dry, into being as a piece of pottery.
There are three ovens, termed the "biscuit," the "glost," and the
"enamel." In the illustration (p. 53) it is seen how the vessels
are put into "saggers," which are boxes of fire-clay piled upon one
another. The doorway is bricked up and plastered, and gradually the
furnace is heated. Practically this "oven" illustrated is typical
of the "biscuit" or the "glost" oven, the difference being in the
temperature applied, the latter being at a much lower temperature.
It may be interesting to mention that a quick oven is three days in
firing and three days in cooling before the ware is removed. For
ornamental and important specimens of a very special nature as long a
period as a month may be taken to fire and half that time to cool. But
of course this is only in exceptional circumstances.
It conjures up a picture of the awful anxiety of some of the great
master potters at the critical moment when the doorway is pulled down
and the contents of the oven are drawn. It is here where the triumph or
the failure of the potter manifests itself.
When taken out of the first oven the ware is termed "biscuit." It is
now ready for glazing. Of course, in such ware as jasper or unglazed
stoneware, basalt, and similar kinds, the "biscuit" state is the final
one, the object being completed.
=The Dipping-house.=--In the illustration (p. 57) it will be seen that
the ware in its "biscuit" state is dipped in liquid glaze in a very
deft manner, after which it proceeds to the "glost" oven to harden this
glaze on its surface.
It is here that great care has to be exercised in keeping the pieces
from coming in contact with each other; spurs and tripods are placed
between each piece to obviate this. The "saggers" in which this
newly-glazed ware is placed are dusted with material infusible at the
lower heat to prevent the pieces adhering to these "saggers." In fact,
as is readily seen, a fine specimen may be easily ruined at any stage.
In undecorated ware, as in the cream-ware examples illustrated (p.
225), this ends the process, and they are complete. But in ware that is
to be decorated _over_ the glaze there is yet another stage before they
are finished.
It will be observed that we are alluding to _over-glaze_ decoration.
But ware may be painted before being glazed,--that is _under-glaze_.
In order, however, not to confuse the beginner at the outset, this has
been described in a later chapter (p. 326).
=The Enamel Kiln.=--After the decorations have been painted upon the
glazed ware it has to be fired in the enamel kiln. A far lower heat
than that of the "glost" oven is required; the flames do not pass
inside the kiln, as in an oven, but are led in flues all round the
kiln. We give an illustration (p. 61) of this for firing colours or
gold _over_ the glaze. As will be seen, the pieces are carefully
protected from contact with each other, and at this last stage it is
quite possible to undo all the patient labour previously employed and
irretrievably ruin a piece.
In this hasty outline of the various processes of the potter much
has been omitted; but, in the main, these illustrations should serve
to kindle a more intelligent interest, even among collectors, in the
earthenware and china which has passed through so many critical periods
in its life-history.
[Illustration:
THE OVEN.
Showing the "saggers" containing ware ready for firing.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
=What to Collect.=--This is largely a question of personal
predilection. In general the field of English earthenware may be
divided into nine classes, and the collector who wishes to specialise
will have his individual taste for one or more of these, according as
its technical or artistic qualities appeal to him. This arrangement is
mainly chronological, but obviously one class will overlap others in
point of time. These classes are further summarised in detail in the
table intended for use in identifying old earthenware given at the end
of this chapter.
I. Early English pottery.
II. Delft ware.
III. Stoneware (including Staffordshire salt-glaze ware).
Prior to the inventions of Josiah Wedgwood.
IV. Variegated ware--agate and clouded ware.
V. Cream ware--
(1) Plain.
(2) Decorated by painting.
(3) Transfer-printed.
By far the largest variety of English earthenware,
including domestic ware and figures.
Made by all potters.
VI. Classic ware--the school of which Josiah
Wedgwood is the founder.
VII. Figures (mainly Staffordshire).
VIII. Lustre ware.
IX. Opaque china }
Semi-porcelain } Nineteenth century.
Ironstone china }
=Method of studying old Earthenware.=--To those readers who peruse this
volume without any definite idea of the standpoint of the collector it
should not be left unsaid that the proper study and collection of old
English earthenware require a considerable amount of reading and, what
is of much greater importance, a very practical examination of some
hundreds of specimens. It is this practical experience which alone can
give the beginner the training he requires. It is a complex subject
bristling with unexpected difficulties in regard to technical points
and crowded with apparent contradictions. The bibliography given on pp.
23-25 will enable readers to pursue special studies in greater detail.
The next best thing to handling the actual specimens is to see them.
It cannot here be impressed upon the beginner too strongly that it is
absolutely necessary, in order to educate his eye, that the finest
known examples in the particular classes should be frequently seen.
The national museums, the Victoria and Albert and the British, in
London, both contain splendid collections classified in a very thorough
manner. In the provinces, the following museums among others contain
fine collections, often of richer interest in special subjects than the
aforementioned. For instance, the Public Museum at Liverpool contains
the most representative collection of the various classes of Liverpool
ware. The fine Art Gallery at Leeds is rich in typical examples of the
finest productions in Leeds earthenware. At the Royal Scottish Museum,
Edinburgh, and at the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, there are finely
arranged collections of pottery. At the Castle Museum, Nottingham, at
York, at Norwich, at Bath, at Bristol, at Swansea, at Cardiff, at the
Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham,
North Dorset, at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, at Maidstone, at Bury
St. Edmunds, and at Saffron Walden, there are collections which can be
studied.
[Illustration:
THE DIPPING HOUSE.
Showing how the ware is glazed.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
In the district of the Potteries itself the following museums have
representative collections of special varieties of Staffordshire ware.
At Hanley, at Tunstall, at Burslem, at Stoke-on-Trent, and at Etruria,
with its Wedgwood Museum, there is material enough to be seen, so that
it may be said that there is little need for the beginner to be
starved for want of opportunities to see fine examples.
=Hints as to Prices.=--It is impossible in such a complex subject as
old earthenware to lay down any hard and fast rules as to prices to be
paid. Specimens vary very considerably in quality, and according to
demand prices fluctuate as in other markets.
If the beginner will make a point of learning his subject and will keep
in touch with a few dealers, he will find that they will readily assist
him to identify his own specimens and systematically aid him in adding
judiciously to his collection. A great deal of offensive nonsense has
been written by fashionable lady journalists, declaiming against the
professional dealer and crediting him with every conceivable trick
under the sun. But the greatest and the wisest of collectors number a
host of dealers as personal friends. A continuous stream of good things
passes through the hands of the dealers who, by incessant handling and
practical study, are able and willing to help the collector and to
solve his difficulties.
_Dealers' prices_ are in many cases surprisingly low considering the
great trouble they have taken to acquire the pieces. It is far better
to procure bargains in this manner, with one's personal knowledge
supplemented by the friendly suggestions of one's favourite dealer,
than to attempt to obtain through private sources "great bargains" from
amateur dealers whose possessions would not, in many cases, bear the
light of day in the open market.
=Forgeries.=--There are many "faked" pieces in existence, and there
are many copies and a great quantity of productions of factories of
to-day who reproduce their old patterns made a century or more ago.
Some of this is made with intent to deceive, and much is merely a trade
movement to supply a known want on the part of the public. But it is
exactly here that the dealer who has a respect for his clients, and
being a business man naturally does not wish to ruin his reputation,
may be of inestimable value in advising the collector.
Mr. Solon, the eminent authority and a practical worker in artistic
pottery, tells in his "Art of the Old English Potter" how, when he was
searching for fine specimens to make his collection, he was deceived by
some sham old slip ware bought at a high figure in a lonely cottage in
a remote district. If the fabricator could lure so studious a collector
into his net, it goes without saying that especial precautions should
be taken by the beginner not to give large prices unless he has a
guarantee or knows the seller's reputation.
Buyers of old delft ware should be careful in examining the decoration
of their purchases. Plain ware, which is not so valuable and is
comparatively common, is decorated in blue, or a coat-of-arms and a
date added, giving a fictitious value to the piece. In fact, such
genuine dated pieces are worth ten times the plain ones. Plain jars
and jugs worth £2 or £3, with the fraudulently added word "Sack" and
the initials "C. R." in blue, may tempt the unwary collector to give
£20. It will thus be seen that this is the most dangerous of frauds,
and difficult to detect unless the collector has handled many decorated
pieces, for the delft itself is absolutely genuine.
[Illustration:
THE ENAMEL KILN.
Showing the ware after being enamelled stacked ready for firing.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
Similarly, plain pieces of genuine Staffordshire salt glaze are
enamelled in colours in order to enhance the value, owing to the
fashionable demand for coloured examples. As much as £50 has been
paid by an unfortunate collector for a teapot quite worth this if
genuine old colour work, but unhappily it was, although fine old salt
glaze, quite recently coloured, evidently with fraudulent intentions.
Staffordshire figures that are modern tell their own story, or should
do so, to the collector who has ever carefully examined the potting
and the glaze of fine old examples. Nor is there much excuse for the
blundering collector who cannot readily distinguish between the crude
modern Toby jug with its blatant colouring, so smudgy and smeary with
black stains to impart age, and its genuine prototype.
There are some fairly modelled Toby jugs, of modern origin, one in
particular seated in a corner chair, with a salt-glaze surface. Another
"fake" appeals to the lover of the Whieldon style, and has a mottled
base and hat. But they are, as the expressive term goes, "hot from the
oven." The "Vicar and Moses" was so well modelled by Ralph Wood that it
shared the fate of George Morland's pictures which were copied by his
contemporaries. Ralph Wood's "Vicar and Moses" was copied all through
the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and to-day modern
fabrications repeat the same model _ad nauseam_. Sham Voyez "Fair
Hebe" jugs, made for foolish collectors, are frequently to be seen and
avoided.
Leeds ware has engaged the attention of the imitator. Some of the ware
is made in Germany and is unmarked. But other modern productions exist
stamped "Leeds Pottery," and are imitations of the old Leeds patterns.
There is a tobacco jar in pewter having a shield with the Leeds
coat-of-arms, and raised medallions of a ship and of the patron saint
of the woolcombers. This jar has been of late years copied in cream
ware, and with its lid with twisted handle it has passed as "genuine
old Leeds." But it is nothing of the sort.
In general, earthenware comes off better in regard to forged marks than
porcelain. In the latter, of course, it is the easiest thing in the
world to add the marks, especially when most of them were _painted_.
But in earthenware the majority of marks were _impressed_ in the ware
and this cheats the "faker" of his quarry.
As a matter of fact, the mark should not lead the collector by the
nose. Before seeing any mark a collector should begin to know his
subject so well that the mark is an additional piece of information
which serves to confirm his previous conclusions as to the specimen
under examination. An unmarked example may show every evidence in
modelling, in paste, in colour, and in glaze, of having been made by a
certain potter at a particular date. The only confirmation lacking is
the mark. It is here that marked ware becomes of paramount importance
for purposes of comparison. And it is better to have a genuine marked
piece in one's cabinet, from a business point of view, than a genuine
piece equally fine that bears no signature or trade-mark. But this
craving on the part of collectors for marks has led in the field of
china to a disastrous state of things; marks of one potter have been
added to the productions of another, and no fabricated Worcester china
is worth its salt as a correct piece of forgery unless it bears the
square mark or the crescent.
Happily, in earthenware the question of marks only affects the ware
from Wedgwood's day onwards. The finest specimens of earthenware in
the noted collections throughout the country, of Elers, and Dwight and
Astbury, and Whieldon, and the whole salt-glaze school bear no mark,
for the very simple reasons that the old potters had no "marks." But
they signed their pieces all over, and the touch of these old masters
is immediately intelligible to the trained eye of the collector.
=How to identify old Earthenware.=--The following Table roughly
summarises the field under which English earthenware may be classified.
It is the hope of the writer that possessors of earthenware which
they are unable to identify will, by the help of this Table, be able
to place their pieces under the sub-head to which they belong. The
references given to the chapters dealing with the classes in detail are
intended to point the way to a more extended examination of specimens.
A good general rule for beginners in attempting the proper
identification is to commence by eliminating all the classes of ware
to which the piece obviously cannot belong. Gradually the field
becomes limited to one period, and finally it is narrowed to two or
three factories. But it is only by practice that definite and accurate
conclusions can be arrived at.
TABLE FOR USE IN IDENTIFYING OLD ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
=I. EARLY POTTERY.= Early examples of green glazed
pitchers and jugs of crude form,
=Mediæval.= 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries.
Domestic Vessels. Costrels (_i.e._, pilgrims' bottles),
flasks with holes at shoulders for
use of cord in carrying.
Ecclesiastical Tiles Ecclesiastical tiles. Incised or
(15th-16th centuries). impressed patterns, raised, inlaid,
or with slip decoration.
Floral, geometrical, heraldic
ornamentation. Figures of men
and of animals (see illustration,
p. 85).
=Slip Ware.= Loving-cups, or tygs, with several
(17th century.) handles, posset pots with spouts.
Lead-glazed, greenish in colour,
with tones varying from purplish-brown
to black (see illustration, p. 89).
Wrotham Ware Wrotham, in Kent, the seat
(1612-1717). of this ware of red body with
slip stamped decorations or incised
ornamentation. A great number of
pieces of this class bear dates covering
a century.
Toft Ware Dishes and posset pots of Staffordshire
(Latter half of origin, Thomas Toft, 1660,
17th century). Ralph Toft, Ralph Turnor, William
Chatterly, Robert Shaw, William
Tabor, John Wright, Joseph Nash,
John Meir and other names appear
on this ware, some being those of
the potters, and others the owner's
name.
(=These varieties of Early Pottery are described in Chapter II.=)
=II. DELFT WARE.= _General Characteristics of Delft
Ware._ In appearance it cannot be
mistaken for any other ware. It
has a brown or grey body, showing
at crumbled edges where the glaze
is chipped off. The surface is white,
and the painting upon it is more
coarse than Dutch examples.
English decorations are mostly
painted under glaze in blue, yellow,
or dull purple.
=Lambeth.= Dishes, plates, salt-cellars, puzzle-jugs,
sack bottles, pharmacy jars
Early examples, 1630. and candlesticks are most ordinarily
found. The enamelled surface of
Van Hamme, potter of Lambeth delft has a pinkish tint.
Lambeth, 1671.
Plates with portraits and dates
(1637-1702), Adam and Eve dishes,
of large size, painted in blue with
this and other Biblical subjects,
"The Journey to Emmaus,"
"Jacob's Ladder," or with Oriental
designs.
Earlier specimens have a purplish
or dull yellow lead glaze at back of
dish.
=Bristol.= Election and other plates dated
1740-1784. Painted tiles and plates
with landscape subjects--Chinese
figures, parrots. _Bianco sopra bianco_
white enamel on greenish ground.
Bowls with purple ground and white
reserved panels with blue decoration.
=Liverpool.= Prior to 1762 all Liverpool delft,
including tiles, was printed.
Early in 18th century,
the principal trade Delft dishes decorated in Chinese
of the city. style. Bowls with ships as decoration.
Druggists' jars.
Transfer-printed tiles by Sadler &
Green, or later by Zachariah Barnes.
=Wincanton.= Similar to Bristol in character. Up to
the present very little is known of this
factory. (See illustration, p. 127.)
(=These varieties of Delft Ware are dealt with in detail in
Chapter III.=)
=III. STONEWARE.= Mottled red-brown colour, mostly salt
glazed, pitted surface like orange skin.
Early Bellarmine Jugs. Having dates and coats-of-arms in
foreign examples; coarser style probably
English.
=Fulham.= White busts and figures. Red, unglazed
ware. Brown jugs and mugs. Marbling on
John Dwight vases and bases, and stamped ornaments
(1671-1703). in relief on teapots.
=Staffordshire.= A generic name for all unidentified
red (unglazed) ware. Teapots, &c.,
Elers Ware. with stamped ornament similar to Dwight.
John Philip Elers, _Prunus_ blossom and Chinese ornament,
David Elers in relief. Turned on lathe and perfectly
(1690-1710). finished. Spouts plain, moulded by hand.
John Astbury Red, buff, orange, and chocolate body.
(died 1743). Similar ware to Elers, with the
ornaments in relief in white pipe-clay.
Made early salt-glaze crouch ware.
Thomas Astbury Followed same style. Little to
(from 1725). distinguish his work from that of
his father.
_Astbury_ is a generic term for all
ware of this nature, with white
stamped ornaments in relief. Many
Staffordshire potters made this type
of ware in latter half of eighteenth
century, and it was imitated at
Liverpool.
=Nottingham.= As early as Dwight's day Morley made
stoneware mugs, and Nottingham ware
Early 18th century holds a high place. The jugs are
sometimes with decorative pierced work,
showing an inner shell which holds the
liquid. The glaze is decidedly lustrous
in appearance, and the colour of the
body is a warm reddish brown.
Discontinued at end of 18th century.
_Bear Jugs_ were a feature of this
factory, and cruder examples were
made at Chesterfield and Brampton.
(=These varieties are described in detail in Chapter IV.=)
=Staffordshire Salt Glaze= Finely potted thin stoneware, surface
like skin of orange, almost as
Astbury and Whieldon translucent as porcelain.
were the pioneers of
this finer stoneware. 1. Plain white or undecorated with
Most of the Staffordshire raised stamped ornament.
potters from 1725-1780
made salt-glaze ware. 2. Plain white body with incised
But this ware was ornament filled in with blue.
supplanted by Wedgwood's
cream ware, which seized 3. Enamelled in colours on a white body.
the market in the last
quarter of the 18th 4. Body colour blue (rare examples by
century. William Littler), enamelled decorations
in black, white, or gold.
5. Pierced ware with decorations in
colour, or undecorated.
6. Ware decorated by transfer printing.
7. Ware with raised ornament, touched
with colour.
Some of this salt-glaze ware is in
colour a slate grey. The sharpest
cut designs and the highest type of
the undecorated ware belong to the
period from 1725-1740. The enamelling
in colours was at its best from 1745-1760.
Salt-glaze ware, in imitation of the
Staffordshire potters, was also made
at Swansea and at Liverpool.
(=These varieties are described in detail in Chapter VI.=)
=Fulham.= Fulham has been the seat of the
(Eighteenth century.) manufacture of stoneware since the
days of Dwight.
Early 18th century. Blue and grey stoneware jugs and mugs,
with initials of Queen Anne or those of
George I., often dated.
Late 18th century. The following are typical--brown stoneware
jugs and mugs with bacchanalian subjects,
or sporting scenes, in relief, inkstands,
brandy flasks of grotesque shape.
In 19th century days "Doulton & Watts,
Lambeth Pottery," is impressed on similar
examples, and in middle 19th century
days, under the guidance of Sir Henry
Doulton, a revival of artistic stoneware
took place, which traditions Messrs.
Doulton carry on at the present day.
=IV. VARIEGATED WARE.= Marbled or agate wares (1740-1756), Dwight
(of Fulham), John Astbury. The earlier
Usually known under surface marbling or combing supplanted by
the generic term of "solid agate" ware--a blending of layers
_Whieldon ware_. of different coloured clays. Early
tortoiseshell plates made by Whieldon.
Tortoiseshell and mottled ware also made
by Philip Christian at Liverpool, at
Leeds, and at Castleford.
_Wedgwood._--Later developments of this
ware--vases and important classic pieces
in imitation of coloured marbles.
_The imitators of Wedgwood._--Palmer,
Neale, and others made this marbled
ware. Neale employed with great success
sprinkled marbling, touched with gold, on
a cream body.
Both Wedgwood and his successors made
"solid agate" and also surface-decorated
ware of cream body.
(=This ware is described in Chapter V. (Whieldon), and in Chapters
VII. and VIII. in regard to Wedgwood and later developments.=)
=V. CREAM WARE.= _Experimental Stage._--Astbury (1725),
Whieldon (from 1740), Warburton (Hot
By far the largest Lane), Baddeleys (Shelton).
variety of English
earthenware. Made _Queen's Ware_ perfected by Wedgwood
by all potters. The (1765). Wedgwood, Turner, Warburton,
standard type of all (Leeds) Messrs. Hartley, Greens & Co.,
subsequent domestic Liverpool, Swansea, Derby.
ware.
_In colour creamy or yellowish white. In
weight light._
Plain or undecorated. Many of Wedgwood's finest cream ware
pieces are undecorated, and Leeds, at
first largely imitative, developed a fine
quality in design and potting, especially
in designs after silversmiths' models.
Decorated by painting. At first painting was sparely used. The
style of enamelling used on salt-glaze
ware was modified to suit the new cream
ware. Later the colours began to emulate
those of porcelain. Spode, in particular,
copied the latter in earthenware, and
cream ware became richly painted and
gilded.
Transfer-printed. As the invention of transfer-printing and
the perfection of cream ware by Wedgwood
were contemporaneous, the Liverpool
printers decorated all the early cream
ware. But cream ware was subsequently
made as well as printed at Liverpool, and
printed as well as made in Staffordshire
and elsewhere.
=Early Cream Ware.= _Wedgwood._ Enormous variety of domestic
ware, _plain or undecorated_, as in
perforated or basket patterns, fruit
dishes, &c., _painted_ in simple border
designs, and _transfer-printed_ in
red, black, or puce, at Liverpool, for
Wedgwood.
Warburton, William Adams, John Turner,
Spode, and many others made similar cream
ware.
_Leeds._--Great variety of dishes, fruit
baskets, centre-pieces, &c., made of
undecorated cream ware. In addition
painted and transfer printed decorations
were also employed.
=Transfer-printing= _Liverpool_ made cream ware punch bowls
=in blue.= finely decorated in blue.
In imitation of Chinese _Caughley_ produced for a few years
styles, and in earthenware of cream body decorated, in
competition with the characteristic style, by Thomas Turner,
porcelain of Worcester, who introduced the willow pattern in 1780,
Bow, Plymouth, &c. which appears together with similar
Chinese subjects in his early Salopian
_porcelain_.
=Staffordshire.= John Turner (of Lane End) first introduced
(=See Chapter X.=) under-glaze blue into Staffordshire.
Josiah Spode introduced "willow pattern"
into Staffordshire, 1784.
William Adams (of Greengates), 1787, fine
under-glaze blue.
Thomas Minton, 1793, fine under-glaze
blue. Apprenticed to Thomas Turner (of
Caughley).
Adams, Warburton, Spode, and other
Staffordshire potters engaged largely in
this deep blue printed ware.
_Swansea_ had a similar cream ware, which
had painted designs or blue-printed in
imitation of Chinese style, with pagodas,
&c. (See illustration, p. 405.)
=VI. CLASSIC WARE.= =Wedgwood.= _Red ware_ in imitation of
Elers ware, chocolate ware with black
Josiah Wedgwood (born, ornamentation in relief. _White fine
1730; died, 1795). stoneware_ used as plinths of marble ware
and agate vases; this was the experimental
Thomas Bentley, stage of Wedgwood's celebrated _jasper_
in partnership with ware. _Black basalt_, or Egyptian ware,
Wedgwood (1768-1780). fine unglazed stoneware, sometimes used
for tea services, but mainly for busts,
medallions, and vases. _Jasper ware._
Wedgwood's crowning invention. A fine,
unglazed stoneware, white throughout.
Produced either "solid" or "jasper dip,"
in blue (various tones), sage green,
olive green, lilac, pink, yellow, and
black. Used in classic vases, and on
cameos, plaques, &c., with a ground of
one of these colours and relief ornament
in white.
(=See Chapter VII.=)
William Adams (or =Contemporaries of Wedgwood.= Adams,
Tunstall), pupil of Turner, Palmer, Neale and Mayer, all made
Wedgwood (1787-1805). ware of a similar nature to above; all of
fine quality.
Benjamin Adams John Turner's "jasper" was really a
(1805-1820). semi-porcelain.
John Turner (of Lane End) Other potters whose stoneware in jugs and
(1762-1786). Pottery vases, &c., carried on the traditions of
continued by sons. Wedgwood (though in the second flight),
{ H. Palmer (of Hanley), were Birch, Keeling, Clews, Hollins,
{ from 1769. Steel, Myatt, and many others, whose names
{ Neale (1776-1778) are found impressed on ware, betraying the
{ R. Wilson (1778) influence of Wedgwood.
{ Neale & Co.
{ (1778-1787). (=See Chapter VIII. for detailed list.=)
Jacob Warburton (of The _Castleford Pottery_, near Leeds
Cobridge) (1786-1826). (1790-1820), David Dunderdale
(D. D. & Co.) made black basalt ware in
similar style.
(=See Chapter IX. for details.=)
At _Swansea_ (1790-1817) basalt figures
of fine style were made. Etruscan Ware
(Dillwyn & Co.), 1845.
(=See Chapter XII. for marks.=)
=VII. FIGURES.= The body of Staffordshire figures by Ralph
Wood, Neale and Palmer, Walton, Enoch
(Mainly Staffordshire.) Wood, Salt, and other potters, is of cream
ware.
_Leeds_ figures are similar, and
are of the same body as the dessert
centre-pieces and other cream ware.
Most of the Staffordshire figures are
unmarked, but they can be identified
as belonging to one of the following
schools, by comparison with similar
marked examples.
=Salt-glazed Figures.= A class by themselves. Mainly small in
size, and no marked specimen is known.
Bears, cats, birds, and miniature figures
of men, chief designs, and the kneeling
camel modelled as teapot.
=Whieldon School.= Artistic blending of colourings and
(1740-1780.) glazings. Animals, birds, sometimes
classic figures, _e.g._, Diana, Venus,
and Madonna and Child. Miniature
musicians, and satyr head moulded in form
of cup. Early form of Toby jug. (See
illustration, p. 179.)
=Ralph Wood School.= This represents the high-water mark of
Staffordshire figures. _Vicar and Moses_
Ralph Wood (died 1772). group, _Toby Jug_, _St. George and
Dragon_, _Haymakers_, _Charity_,
Ralph Wood, jun. (born, _Neptune_, _Summer_, _Old Age_, &c., all
1748; died, 1795). remarkable for fine modelling and delicate
colouring.
=Wedgwood School.= Many large figures, such as _Ceres_,
_Diana_, _Juno_, _Prudence_, _Fortitude_,
Josiah Wedgwood. _Charity_, _Venus and Cupid_, &c., in
{ Neale and Palmer. cream ware delicately coloured.
{ Wilson.
{ Neale & Co. Other subjects of less classic taste
were produced at Etruria, _e.g._,
Voyez, as a modeller, _Sailor with Cutlass_,
employed at Etruria, and _Girl playing Mandoline_, _Sailor's
by Neale and Palmer. Farewell_ and _Return_ (a pair), _The Lost
Piece_ (after the Ralph Wood model), and
Lakin and Poole. _Elijah and the Widow_, a popular
scriptural subject (a pair). _Fair Hebe_
group modelled as a jug.
=Wood and Caldwell= _Eloquence_ (or _St. Paul preaching at_
=School.= _Athens_), _Descent from the Cross_, and
Enoch Wood other fine pieces display the powers of
(1783-1840). Enoch Wood at his best as a fine modeller.
Wood and Caldwell Other figures, some marked, are
(1790-1818). _St. Sebastian_, _Britannia_, Quin as
_Falstaff_, _Antony_ and _Cleopatra_,
Enoch Wood and Sons reclining figures (pair), _Fire_, _Earth_,
(1818-1866). _Air_, _Water_ (set of four), _Diana_
(similar to Wedgwood); group, _The Tithe
Pig_ (parson, farmer, and his wife and
baby and pigs), with tree and foliage
as background; _Leda and Swan_, _Jolly
Traveller_ (man, dog, and donkey),
_Hurdy-Gurdy Player_, _Sportsman and
Dog_, _Old Age_ (pair), _Lovers_ on
garden bench, tree background, _Tailor
and his Wife_, riding on goats (after
the Dresden model). Busts were also a
noteworthy production of this School.
_Wesley_, _Whitfield_, _Wellington_,
_Emperor of Russia_, _Napoleon_, _Miss
Lydia Foote_, and several marked silver
lustre busts and figures, _e.g._, _Mater
Dolorosa_, _Boys Reading_, &c.
The _Vicar and Moses_ group and other
earlier models were duplicated by this
school, and many _Toby Jugs_ were produced
of bright colouring.
=Walton School.= Continuing the traditions of the Wood
School, Walton and others produced a great
John Walton (of Burslem) number of _Toby Jugs_, following the Ralph
(1790-1839). Wood model, but growing more debased in
form and colouring. _Girl_ with lamb,
_Boy_ with dog, and simple figures
largely made for popular markets.
=Ralph Salt School.= Great fondness shown for village groups,
with figures with tree background
Ralph Salt (of Hanley) (imitation of Chelsea style). In character
(1812-1840). the work of this School differs little
from that of Walton.
(=See Chapter XI. for detailed description.=)
=Leeds School.= Some of the Leeds figures are marked,
(1760-1825.) _e.g._, _Venus_, delicately coloured,
slight oil gilding. Busts were made
such as _Wesley_, and _Rhytons_, or
drinking cups, in form of fox's head.
Rustic figures of _Children_, and other
miscellaneous subjects. _Lion_ couchant,
_Snuff bottle_ in shape of Lady's head.
=Liverpool School.= Largely imitative of Staffordshire
figures. Some excellent busts and figures
Herculaneum were produced. Busts of _Wesley_,
(1794-1841.) _Admiral Duncan_, and Mask Cup moulded
with portrait of _Admiral Rodney_. _Toby
Jug_, man standing upright holding jug of
ale. _Lady_ with bulldog at her feet.
=Salopian.= Earthenware figures of fine modelling are
attached to Caughley, but are unmarked.
Thomas Turner _Prudence_ and _Fortitude_ (large size),
(of Caughley), _Antony_ and _Cleopatra_ (recumbent),
about 1774. _Ceres_ and _Apollo_, and others.
A figure of _Jacobin Pigeon_ sitting
on nest in shape of sauceboat has
the impressed mark =S=.
=Swansea.= _Cows_ and other small figures were
typical of Swansea, but a recumbent
figure of _Antony_ is marked "G. Bentley,
Swansea, 22 May, 1791."
=Sunderland School.= Figures of _Seasons_, set of four female
figures marked "Dixon, Austin & Co."
_Shepherds_ and _Shepherdesses_ and _Bull
Baiting_ groups were also made here. The
potting and colouring are crude, and the
figures are of no artistic interest.
=VIII. LUSTRE WARE.= =Early Copper Lustre.= Richard Frank at
Brislington, near Bristol, crudely
decorated in simple ornament.
=Gold Lustre.= Gold-purple or pink in
colour. Wedgwood used this lustre in
mottled and veined ware with rich effect.
_As an adjunct to other decoration_ this
lustre has been widely used, crudely as
at Sunderland, and with fine effect by
Spode and other Staffordshire potters.
Swansea employed it with great artistic
skill.
=Silver Lustre.= _Plain._ Late 18th
century. Thomas Wedgwood, E. Mayer,
Spode, and others in imitation of silver
designs.
_Decorated._ 1. Silver lustre decorations
painted on other coloured grounds in
combination with subjects in colours,
birds, foliage, &c.
2. Silver lustre as a background with
white, blue, or canary-coloured design.
This unlustred ground, used as a pattern,
is known as the "resist" style, and some
of the most artistic effects are found in
this, and in combination with painting in
colours.
=Copper Lustre.= _Plain._ Early 19th
century. Early and best style thin and
well potted.
_Decorated._ Red or blue or green in
embossed floral design in combination
with copper lustre frequently found.
(=For details of makers and marks see Chapter XIII.=)
=IX. NINETEENTH CENTURY= _Early Experiments._
=DEVELOPMENTS.=
Wedgwood's semi-porcelain, used at first
for the plinths of his variegated vases.
His _Pearl Ware_.
Spode's Felspar China, _Nineteenth Century._
1805.
Spode's Stone China. Josiah Spode the Second in 1805
introduced an opaque porcelain of
ironstone body, which he termed
Haynes' Opaque China _Felspar China_, _Stone China_, and on
(Swansea), invented some of his marks, _New Fayence_.
end of 18th century.
Spode's new ware received rich decorations
Mason's Patent Ironstone in colour, in imitation of Derby and other
China, 1813 porcelains.
Riley's Semi-China. Haynes, of the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea,
invented a similar opaque china at the end
Minton's Stone China. of the 18th century.
Meigh's Stone China. At the Cambrian Pottery in this new hard
white earthenware, floral painting by
trained artists was done in excellent
style on enamelled grounds of chocolate.
Mason, with an earlier softer body, had
followed the Japanese colours in his
jugs, but when Charles James Mason, in
1813, patented his ironstone china, the
jugs took a new form, becoming octagonal,
and their corners were not easily broken
as in the chalkier body.
Long dinner services of a great number of
pieces were made in this ironstone china
richly decorated.
Other Staffordshire makers made stone
china, including Minton, Meigh, Riley,
Clementson, Ridgway, Adams, Davenport,
and many others.
By the time the middle of the century
had been reached, English earthenware
had cast off its own characteristics and
become what so many people to-day believe
it to be--a poor imitation of porcelain.
(=For details and marks see Chapter XIV.=)
II
EARLY
WARE
CHAPTER II
EARLY WARE
Mediæval Tiles (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries)--Slip
Ware--Wrotham (Kent) (1656-1703)--Staffordshire Makers
(1660-1700)--Prices of Early Ware.
As will be seen from the table at the end of the preceding chapter, the
main body of English earthenware to which collectors can give their
attention, belongs chiefly to the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries. The beginnings of pottery and the first steps towards
perfection in art are always interesting, but in the realm of English
pottery the beginner had better push forward as the subject is a very
complex one, and the general collector is perforce obliged to confine
attention to the later periods.
It will therefore suffice if a hasty survey be made of the chief
earthenware prior to the eighteenth century.
=Mediæval Tiles.=--From the thirteenth century to the dissolution of
the monasteries the ecclesiastical tiles used in England were of a
particularly noticeable character. The tiles vary in size, the earlier
ones, as at Chertsey Abbey, were not more than three or four inches
square. The earlier the tile, as a rule, the smaller is its area. The
tiles were ornamented in various ways. They had incised, raised,
inlaid, or painted patterns. The incised and relief tiles are the most
uncommon, probably being the earlier. The designs are very numerous,
and vary in character in the different abbeys at which they originated.
Specimens have been found at Great Malvern, Denny Abbey in Norfolk,
Castle Acre Priory, Jervaulx Abbey, Lewes Priory, St. Alban's Abbey,
and at Chertsey Abbey, which latter had "one of the finest, if not the
finest, inlaid tile pavement in existence" (Hobson). The Chertsey tiles
are of different shapes, sometimes being round or half-circular to meet
the exigencies of the design, and in general they are very quaint and
original in their conception. The British Museum has some fine examples
of these Chertsey tiles in composite pictures made up of many tiles.
The designs found on mediæval tiles consist of the figures of animals,
mythical and heraldic, of birds, of human heads and grotesques, as
well as conventional, floral, and geometric patterns. They are highly
artistic and of great technical excellence.
It is generally believed that the monks made these tiles themselves
in the great religious houses, and possibly some of them may have
had foreign inspiration or have been made here by foreigners. But as
the tiles at Malvern and at Chertsey are finer than any found on the
Continent it opens up a field for conjecture. Mr. Solon says, "I have
often thought that considering the French pavements of the earliest
periods have mostly been found in the provinces then under English
domination, it would be worth while inquiring whether the art of
tile-making had not been imported from England--a point which has never
yet been sifted."
[Illustration:
MEDIÆVAL TILES.
TILE FROM CHAPTER HOUSE, WESTMINSTER.
Probably of the reign of Henry III. (Thirteenth century).
TILE FROM VERULAM ABBEY.
Bearing arms and initials of Sir Nicholas Bacon (1510-1579).
(_By the courtesy of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)
TILE FROM MALVERN ABBEY.
(English, fifteenth century.)
TILE FROM WHITMORE PARK, NEAR COVENTRY.
(Early fourteenth century.)]
So here, then, is a subject ready to hand for the collector willing
to specialise in a branch of ceramic study and collecting not greatly
inquired into, and the way has already been pointed out by experts.
There is every reason why these ecclesiastical tiles should be studied
with as much assiduity as are the Bristol delft painted tiles and those
of Liverpool.
=Slip Ware.=--This ware is peculiarly English and owes little or
nothing to any foreign influences, as no ware like it has ever been
made on the Continent. White or light-coloured clay was used in
the form of "slip," that is, a mixture of water and clay of such
consistency as to be dropped in fanciful pattern upon the darker body
of the ware much in the same manner as the confectioner ornaments his
wedding-cakes with sugar. Candlesticks, cups, tygs (drinking vessels
having several handles for use in passing round), posset-pots, jugs,
besides the large ornamental dated dishes by Toft and others were all
made of this slip-decorated ware.
=Wrotham, in Kent=, claims superiority in the manufacture of this ware,
of which many pieces exist. The earliest Wrotham specimen is dated
1656 (Maidstone Museum). There are other dated pieces, one as early as
1621, of red clay with more elaborate slip decoration than is found
in Staffordshire and elsewhere, and in some cases with fine incised
decoration cut through the white dip and exposing the red body beneath.
But considerable doubt exists as to whether to ascribe some of this
slip ware to Kent or to Staffordshire. It is probable that it was made
at many other places, certainly in Derbyshire, in Wales, and in London.
As some undoubted Wrotham pieces betray a slightly advanced type of
decoration although prior in date to other pieces made elsewhere, it
has been fairly conjectured that the style originated in Kent, and was
brought thither by some foreign refugees from the Continent. But as
it became practised more generally in England it assumed a national
character entirely its own, and took to itself a quaint humour racy of
the soil.
[Illustration:
TOFT DISH, DATED 1671.
(_In the Grosvenor Museum, Chester._)
_By permission of the Proprietors of the "Connoisseur."_]
[Illustration:
POSSET POT, STAFFORDSHIRE, DATED 1685.
Decorated in slip ware, yellow ground, with brown ornament.
Inscribed "William Simpson. His cup."
(_In the collection of Dr. W. L. Glaisher, Cambridge._)]
=Toft Ware.=--The names of Ralph Toft and Thomas Toft appearing on
certain large dishes, usually about eighteen inches in diameter,
decorated in slip in a somewhat crude manner, have given the name to
this class of ware, which at best is peasant pottery. The Tofts had
their works near Shelton in Staffordshire. Similar dishes were made at
Derby and at Tickenhall. The following names occur on examples in the
National and other collections with dates, Ralph Toft, Thomas Toft,
1671; Robert Shaw, 1692; William Chaterly, 1696; Ralph Turnor, 1681;
William Talor, 1700; John Wright, 1707; initials S. M., 1726, _Dublin
Museum_ (possibly Samuel Mayer, of Derby); John Wenter, 1686; I. W.,
1706. The manufacture of this slip ware continued, in more or less
spasmodic manner, throughout the eighteenth century. Pots and jugs had
illiterate inscriptions on them in halting verse, or pious mottoes.
Toft ware, that is, the large dish form, apparently was made solely for
ornament. There is a remarkable Toft dish in the Grosvenor Museum at
Chester, having the inscription in Toft's peculiar orthography, "Filep
Heues, Elesabeth Heues" (Philip and Elizabeth Hughes), signed Thomas
Toft and dated 1671. This is evidently a marriage plate. There is the
royal arms above, a favourite design in Toft ware, probably copied from
some of the more elaborate foreign Bellarmine jugs. The slip potters
had a fondness too for royal portraiture which ended lamentably in
becoming dreadful caricatures of the subject. As many as nine crowned
heads are found on one dish by Ralph Toft, signed "Ralalph To." These
have as much art as the Stuart stump-work pictures in needlework, which
were contemporary with them, in which kings and queens were represented
in no more pleasing manner than on a pack of cards. In speaking of
Toft's portrait dishes in general, and of the Grosvenor Museum example
in particular, Mr. Frank Freeth, no mean connoisseur, says, "It must
not be forgotten that these dishes were ornamental, and intended to
occupy a conspicuous place in the homes of loyal citizens, just as
oleographs of the King and Queen, that one often sees in country
cottages, are made for the purpose in the present day. The same idea
has remained; but the form of its expression has changed."
Looking at slip ware as a whole, one must not be too critical in
regard to its somewhat inartistic appearance. It certainly has a charm
about it which cannot be denied. It is native to the soil, and this
peasant industry (if one can appropriately term it such), is chiefly
to be regarded from the standpoint of what might have been if it had
been allowed to develop on natural and untrammelled lines. But it was
pressed on the one side by stoneware, such as the Bellarmine jugs
and mugs imported from Germany, and it finally succumbed to foreign
delft, which was largely used here prior to the Englishman's determined
attempt, at Lambeth, at Bristol, and at Liverpool (where it was the
staple industry for some time) to make his own wares.
It is the same story with the fine stoneware, the salt glaze of
Staffordshire, which was a magnificent outburst of English art of the
highest order, which fell before the cheapness of Wedgwood's and other
cream ware, after a heroic struggle in its enamelled stage with the
coloured ware of the new English china factories. These precedents
might be continued further up to the present day, when German,
Austrian, and Japanese competition have driven English potters into the
position of attempting to hold their own against foreign art.
It is the opinion of the present writer that the coats-of-arms on the
Toft dishes were a deliberate attempt to copy those frequently found
on the belly of the Rhenish stoneware jugs. From the days of Elizabeth
coats-of-arms and heraldic devices were a feature in these jugs used in
this country. Among those at the British and the Victoria and Albert
Museums, and in the fine collection at the Guildhall, the use of crests
is seen to be a striking characteristic (see illustration, p. 135). As
a conclusive proof that the maker of earthenware had his eye on these
stoneware models, we give as an illustration a jug in _earthenware_
(not stoneware) of Bellarmine form made in England, undoubtedly by an
English potter. The arms on it are those of the Earl of Dorset, not
improbably those of the sixth Earl, Charles Sackville, who lived from
1637 to 1706, and was the author of the well-known song, running--
"To all you ladies now on land
We men at sea indite;
But first would have you understand
How hard it is to write"--
written in 1665, when he attended the Duke of York as a volunteer in
the Dutch war, and this song he composed when with the fleet on the eve
of battle.
[Illustration:
EARTHENWARE JUG.
Copy of Rhenish Bellarmine or Greybeard form.
With the arms of the Earl of Dorset.
(Late seventeenth century.)
(_At the British Museum._)]
There is a sort of heraldic touch about some of these Staffordshire
dishes of the Toft class. The same idea seems to have possessed
the workers of the Stuart stump-pictures in needlework, which
were contemporary with these dishes. Coins and medals and Stuart
marriage-badges are evidently the source from which Toft and his school
on the one hand, and the gentle needlewoman on the other, derived their
inspiration in design. Various animals and birds are used symbolically
with great freedom. The caterpillar and butterfly nearly always
accompany needlework portraits of Charles I., and the unicorn was the
device of his father James I. There seems some similarity to this idea
in the use of the _Mermaid_ in the dish by Thomas Toft. Another dish of
his, entitled "The Pelican in her Piety," depicts that bird with her
young, the idea being that the pelican used to feed her brood with her
own blood. The Latins called filial love _piety_, hence Virgil's hero
is always termed _pius Aeneas_. "Ralph Simpson" is another name found
on this pelican dish.
We give an illustration of a fine posset-pot of Staffordshire origin,
dated 1685, in slip ware, with yellow ground and conventional ornament
in brown, with dotted work. It is inscribed, "William Simpson, His
Cup." It has three handles and three loops, and is quite a typical
piece of this class of ware. It recently sold for fifty-five pounds (p.
89).
_Metropolitan Slip Ware._--There is a slight distinction between pieces
made in London and found during excavations, and those discovered
elsewhere. The slip decoration is lightly done and there is a tendency
to incised decoration of conventional floral design. One noticeable
feature in this type of ware is its inscriptions, written in doggerel,
always of a pious nature. "When this you see, Remember me,--Obeay
God's word"; or "Drink faire, Don't sware"; or "Be not hyminded but
feare God, 1638." This class of ware savours strongly of the Puritan
influence, and it is evident that the potters who made these pieces
were of the "Praise God Barebones" order of visionary, not uncommon
at a time when books with titles like the following appeared, "Some
fine Baskets baked in the Oven of Charity, carefully conserved for
the Chickens of the Church, the Sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet
Swallows of Salvation."
It seems absurd in regarding the productions of this school of English
slip workers, from middle Stuart days down to the early years of
the eighteenth century, to consider that Vandyck had painted his
galleries of beauties; that Hollar, with his etching needle, had
drawn a long procession of figures in costume, thousands of etchings
which surely must have caught the eye of some Toft or some Simpson.
There was Grinling Gibbons working his artistic profusion in wreaths
of flowers and fruit carved in wood, and there were the treasures
of the silversmith, to say nothing of the sumptuous furniture that
was beginning to make its way in England. But these slip ware dishes
seem to stand somewhat like the Jacobean chairs made in Yorkshire and
Derbyshire, of the same date, apparently unaffected by any of the
æsthetic movements of the period. Simply and naturally, and, be it
said, crudely representing the artistic aspirations of the ordinary
craftsman when he was left to himself, it is _naïve_, standing as it
does for English native art at a time when Bernard Palissy, the French
potter, had been dead a hundred years.
EARLY WARE PRICES.
WROTHAM WARE. £ s. d.
Loving cup, four handled, fine specimen,
decorated in slip; initials W.L.R. and
H.I.; dated 1656. Sotheby, January, 1906 56 0 0
Wine jug, brown with yellow slip,
inscribed Samuel Hugheson and dated 1618;
8 in. high. Sotheby, June, 1906 10 0 0
Cradle, with inscription, "Mary Overton,
Her cradle, 1729." Puttick and Simpson,
May, 1908 17 0 0
TOFT WARE.
Plate (17 in. diameter), with figure of
soldier, in relief, with sword in each
hand; trellis border; dated 1677. Warner,
Leicester, March, 1906 86 0 0
SLIP WARE.
Brown posset-pot, two handled with lid,
inscribed "William and Mary Goldsmith,"
date incised "June ye 7th, 1697"; 9 in.
high. Bond, Ipswich, April, 1906 15 0 0
Dish, bearing royal arms of England,
inscribed "G. R. 1748"; 18-1/2 in.
diameter. Sotheby, June, 1906 21 0 0
Posset-pot, three handled, inscribed
"Robert Shaw." Sotheby, June, 1906 35 0 0
Posset-pot, larger, inscribed "God save
the Queen 1711." Sotheby, June, 1906 26 0 0
Posset-pot, two handled, inscribed "Iohn
Taylor, 1690." Sotheby, November, 1907 12 15 0
Dish, slip decorated and salt glazed,
inscribed on rim, "Joseph Mosson, the
Best is not too good for You 1727."
Sotheby, May, 1908 13 10 0
Dish, trellis pattern, on rim in brown
and yellow slip, portraits of Charles
II. and Catherine of Braganza; inscribed
with maker's name "George Taylor";
17-1/2 in. diameter. Sotheby, May, 1908 53 0 0
Posset-pot, yellow ground, conventional
ornament in brown, with dotted work,
inscribed "William Simpson, His Cup."
Dated 1685. Sotheby, December, 1908
(see illustration, p. 89) 55 0 0
III
ENGLISH
DELFT
CHAPTER III
ENGLISH DELFT
What is Delft?--Its foreign origin--Introduction into
England--Lambeth Delft--Bristol Delft--Liverpool Delft--Delft
Tiles printed at Liverpool by Sadler and Green--Wincanton
(Somerset)--Prices of English Delft
Delft, of all earthenware, is, so to speak, the most earthen, and
presents an object lesson to the student. It accurately conforms to
the technical definition as to what constitutes the difference between
earthenware and porcelain. It consists of a porous body (in the case
of Dutch delft very porous, as we shall see later), covered by a thick
coating of white, opaque enamel.
The porous nature of its body makes it light in weight, and the tin
enamel which covers the brown body enables the potter to paint upon
this white surface designs, usually in blue. This decoration is over
the enamel, if it were under this opaque enamel, that is, on the brown
underneath body of the ware, the coating of this white enamel would
obliterate the designs. After a piece has been fired to the biscuit
state and dipped in white enamel and painted upon when dry, it is, to
preserve the painting, fired a second time, when it receives a thin
surface of transparent lead glaze.
=Its Foreign Origin.=--Its name is derived from the town of Delft in
Holland. It was about the year 1602 that Dutch potters invented this
class of ware in their attempts, in common with all the other European
potters, to produce some ware as decorative as the porcelain which had
been brought to Europe long before by the Portuguese traders, and now
was being largely imported by the East India Dutch merchants.
This first employment of a white enamel on a brown earthenware was
clearly due to the very natural desire on the part of the potter to
procure some surface upon which his decorations in colour would show
well in contrast. All primitive potters have passed through several
stages of evolution. Brown ware was at first plain, then it received
scratched or incised decoration. Searching for greater contrast the
potter applied his ornament in relief in white, as in slip ware, or he
added coloured glazes, as in the Tudor miniature jugs.
But it seems that sooner or later the light background for the painted
decoration must have become an ideal to strive for. It is, in effect,
the same necessity which induces the signboard painter to cover his
brown panel with a white background prior to painting in letters of
red or blue some attractive announcement. But with the models of the
Chinese potter now constantly before him the Dutch potter commenced at
once to imitate them.
[Illustration:
LAMBETH DELFT JAR.
Painted in blue, with arms of Apothecaries' Company with crest
mantling and supporters. Motto--Opifer: Quæ: per: orbem: dicor;
oval shield below with arms of City of London.
(11 inches high, 27-1/4 inches greatest circumference.)
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
But pleasing as is the Dutch delft in its fine colours, incorporated
as they are with the enamel and glaze and giving the rich tone so much
admired by collectors, and faithfully copying the form of the Nankin
models, it falls short of these Oriental prototypes in many important
respects. It is admittedly an imitation of the _appearance_ of
porcelain, and not an imitation of the qualities peculiar to porcelain.
The Dutch potter in his delft did not, as in the case of other European
potters, essay to copy the body of porcelain, and arrive at true hard
white paste, as did Meissen. Apparently he took his earthenware,
and with the limitations in technique in its working he produced a
colourable imitation, in appearance only, of his blue and white Chinese
models, and very fine some of these early seventeenth century Dutch
delft pieces are, and highly prized by collectors.
But delft in comparison with porcelain may be said to be very similar
to veneered furniture in relation to solid specimens. The veneer in
the one case and the enamel in the other disguises something inferior
beneath.
=Introduction into England.=--There is no doubt that, prior to its
manufacture in this country, a great quantity of Dutch delft was
imported and in general use in the middle years of the seventeenth
century. In dealing with delft ware, in connection with the various
types of earthenware at different periods of the history of the
potter's art it must be borne in mind that delft was entirely of
foreign origin. It owed everything to the inventiveness of the Dutch
potters, and it gained very little when it became acclimatised in
England, although it was manufactured here until the closing years of
the eighteenth century, when Wedgwood's cream ware drove it off the
market as a cheap and serviceable ware.
Naturally the close connection of the royal house of England with
Holland accelerated the fashion of storing delft in closets and making
considerable use of its rich colours as a decorative effect on
sideboards and buffets. The lac cabinets and the fine blue and white
delft jars at Hampton Court testify to the influence that the advent of
William of Orange had on the taste of the country from the memorable
year of 1688, when he landed at Torbay.
Delft was presumably being made in this country fifty years before that
by Dutch refugees, but the thirties of the seventeenth century was
not a very happy time to inaugurate the birth of a new branch of art
in England. The rumblings of the civil war were in the air. It was in
1642 that Charles precipitated matters by going with an armed force to
the House of Commons to arrest five members; and seven years later he
lost his head in Whitehall. It is not until the last years of Charles
II. that there appears to be any documentary evidence connected with
the actual manufacture of delft in England. John Ariens van Hamme,
evidently a Dutch refugee, a potter working at Lambeth, took out a
patent for making "tiles and porcelain after the way practised in
Holland." The word "porcelain" was used somewhat indiscriminately at
this date and apparently meant anything having the appearance of the
wares coming over in large numbers from the East, imported by our East
India Company.
[Illustration:
LAMBETH DELFT WINE BOTTLE.
Inscribed "SACK WKE 1652."
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
BRISTOL DELFT WARE.
(About 1784.)
Representing balloon ascent, two figures in car, with
Union Jack flying.
(_In the possession of Mr. W. L. Yeulett._)]
=Lambeth Delft.=--To Lambeth must be accredited the best results of
English delft ware. The glaze is thinner and whiter than is used
elsewhere and the tone of the blue is less crude. It is difficult to
differentiate between the work of Dutch refugees and of English born
potters. Drug pots and sack bottles formerly imported from Holland
began to be made at Lambeth. Some of these bottles are dated and
the dates upon them range from 1649, the year of the execution
of King Charles I., to 1664, during the early years of the reign of
Charles II., the year in which New York, then New Amsterdam, a Dutch
settlement, was surrendered to the English.
There are not a great number of these authentic dated sack bottles
known. Lambeth must also be credited with the series of plates having
dates and initials, and with some of the "blue dash" chargers or
dishes. These are usually decorated with blue dashes clumsily applied
round the edge, sometimes brown is used instead of blue. In the centre
of the dish is generally a figure, often on horseback, and the foliage
of the trees in the background is done with a sponge hastily applied.
The range of colours used is not great--blue, green, orange, puce,
and brown. Sometimes four colours are found on one dish, but not
infrequently the decorator has been content with two, in addition to
blue, which is nearly always present.
The following are among the subjects found on these dishes, which are
usually about thirteen inches in diameter:--Charles I., Charles II.,
James II., William and Mary, William on foot or on horseback, Queen
Anne, the Old Pretender, Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Monmouth, and
the celebrated Adam and Eve dishes, in which Eve was represented as
Queen Mary giving a kingdom to her husband, represented by an orange as
a pun on his royal house. Although portraits of Charles I. appear in
this series, they are not contemporary, and were probably not made at
Lambeth until after about 1670, and their manufacture continued for a
little over a quarter of a century, that is, until the opening years of
the reign of George I.
That delft was made in England a little earlier than 1672 is proved
by the fact that in that year a royal proclamation forbade the
importation of "painted earthenware" to compete with the same
production "but lately found out in England." Here is an instance of
trade protection, but it should be borne in mind at that date we were
at war with the Dutch, who were in that year defeated off Southwold Bay.
Something should be said about the characteristics of this Lambeth
delft. The body is fairly hard and the tin enamel or glaze is often
found on the back of the piece; when this is not the case the back has
received an application of yellowish lead glaze. The English clay being
less spongy than that of Holland, did not take the enamel well, and
often shows the colour of the body in pink lines through the glaze.
English delft, owing to the glaze not being incorporated, is crazed on
the surface. In regard to dated sack bottles, great caution should be
exercised in buying them, as genuine examples of plain undated bottles
have been skilfully redecorated by fraudulent hands, and the words Sack
or Canary, together with a date, added.
There is an element of doubt about much of the Lambeth delft ware,
as it is certain that some of the patterns were copied by the
Staffordshire potters, and some of these copies are so faithfully done
as to puzzle experts, but many of the cruder dash series of dishes and
platters may safely be attributed to Staffordshire.
[Illustration:
CANDLESTICK, LAMBETH DELFT.
Inscribed W E 1648.
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
[Illustration:
OLD DUTCH BRASS CANDLESTICK.
(Seventeenth century.)
(_In the collection of the Author._)]
In the illustration of a dated candlestick, with the initials W.E.
and coat of arms, and dated 1648, from the National collection at
the Victoria and Albert Museum, it will be seen that the authorities
attribute an earlier date to the manufacture of delft at Lambeth
than the above-mentioned royal proclamation in 1672 would seem to
warrant. But so learned an authority as Professor Church is of the
opinion that "a considerable manufactory existed there at least as
early as 1631." It is interesting to compare the style of this delft
candlestick with a brass one of early Dutch manufacture, which at any
rate shows that the design, as well as the method of manufacture, was
derived from Holland.
Pharmacy jars, decorated in blue and plain white delft, were also
made at Lambeth; of this latter there are many small jugs and puzzle
jugs, and a variety of fancy pieces. We give an illustration of a very
interesting Pharmacy Jar with the arms of the Apothecaries' Company,
and with motto inscribed. A shield below has the arms of the City of
London.
=Bristol Delft.=--There is no doubt that the delft of Bristol has not
yet been thoroughly exploited. Farther removed from the influence of
a constant stream of Dutch examples, the potters took some of their
designs straight from Oriental models. Richard Frank and Joseph Flower
are two potters who had works at Bristol. They are known to have
manufactured delft as early as the opening years of the eighteenth
century, contemporary with Lambeth, when the industry at this latter
place was in full swing, and delft was made at Bristol until the
middle of the reign of George III., after which delft was no longer
fashionable.
It is not easy to distinguish between the productions of Frank and
Flower, nor is it less difficult in some instances to state definitely
whether a piece is Bristol, or Liverpool, or Lambeth, and we might add
Staffordshire. There is a very interesting delft plate decorated in
blue, representing a balloon ascent. In date this is about 1784 and it
may be attributed to Bristol or Liverpool (see illustration, p. 107).
But as a rule it is held that Bristol delft is bluish in tint, and has
a more brilliant and even surface. The ware is decorated with Oriental
landscapes, and a considerable number of tiles were made and painted
for use as pictures in the fireside in old Bristol houses a century
and a half ago. Bowen, John Hope, Michael Edkins, and Thomas Patience
are some of the painters who worked at the Frank pottery. There is one
subject picture representing Hogarth's _March to Finchley_, and it was
certainly executed more than once as there is one set consisting of
forty-two tiles and another of seventy-two tiles of the same subject.
A peculiarity of some of the Bristol delft is the ground of powdered
purple or brown with white panels, having a decoration in blue. We
illustrate a bowl of this type of ware, which, although not having the
white panel, is representative of this class as the fish is on a white
ground with outline decorations in blue (see p. 115).
Another fine style of decoration is that known as _bianco sopra
bianco_, that is, a pattern of foliage or sprays of flowers enamelled
in white upon a dull, greenish-white ground (see illustration, p. 115).
[Illustration:
BRISTOL DELFT PLATE.
Decorated in blue in middle and _bianco sopra bianco_ around border.
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
[Illustration:
BRISTOL DELFT BOWL.
Ground of powdered purple. Decorated with fishes in white and blue.
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
There are many dated pieces of Bristol delft with initials, bowls,
marriage and election plates, and sometimes tile pictures. At the
Victoria and Albert Museum there is a fine plate with the initials
E.M.B., and dated 1760, the initials being those of the painter,
Michael Edkins, and his wife Betty. This was made at the factory of
Richard Frank, and was presented to the National collection by the
grandson of the painter.
In the collection of pottery at the Bristol Museum there is an example
attributed to Brislington which in colouring is slightly duller than
the Bristol examples. Connoisseurs of Bristol delft divide the ware
into the earlier period prior to 1735, when the decoration followed
Dutch prototypes, and they attribute much of the thinner or finer
potted examples to Joseph Flower, but after that the Bristol potters
struck out for themselves, and imparted more originality in their ware.
Landscapes appeared on the ware, but not seen through Dutch eyes, and
a slight variation was given to the form of the bases of the bowls and
plates, falling into line with typical shapes employed by other English
potters.
We illustrate a very remarkable piece of Bristol delft which is dated
1740, and bears the initials I.F., which may probably stand for Joseph
Flower, whose factory was on the quay at Bristol. This plate, which
is 13-1/2 inches in diameter, has a painted illustration with the
inscription in a medallion, "A Voyage to the Moon, by Domingo Gonsales
from the Ile of Tenerife."
We do not know what is the particular story connected with the making
of this plate, nor why such a subject should have been chosen. But
there is no doubt that the painter of the plate took his design from
a book entitled "The Man in the Moone, or a Discourse of a Voyage
thither, By Domingo Gonsales, The Speedy Messenger." We give a
facsimile of the title-page. This was a romance written by Francis
Godwin, bishop of Hereford, and in the second edition of 1657, the
title-page has the addition, "By F.G.--B. of H." There were many
editions of this book, which became very popular. A French edition
under the title of _L' Homme dans La Lune_, is dated 1671, and has the
same illustration as the first English edition, with the exception of
the inscription on the medallion.
This is not the place to give details of this interesting volume,
which describes in language as faithful as that of Defoe, the voyage
of Domingo Gonsales, a shipwrecked Spanish adventurer, from Teneriffe
to the Moon in a car he invented, which was carried by a flock of wild
geese he had trained in his solitude. After a stay of a year in that
country, and meeting with adventures with the inhabitants of that
kingdom, he sets sail for the earth and lands in China. He by great
fortune hears of some Jesuit fathers hidden away in Far Cathay, who
welcomed him, "much wondering to see a lay Spaniard there," and by them
his story is committed to writing.
Written in 1638, the following sentence in the _Preface_ sounds quite
modern, "That there should be Antipodes was once thought as great a
paradox as now that the Moon should be habitable. But the knowledge of
this may seem more properly reserved for this, our discovering age."
There is no doubt that the book had a very considerable circulation,
and it is not improbable that Swift knew of it and incorporated some of
the ideas of the author in his "Gulliver's Travels," which appeared in
1726. But it is not easily explained why this delft plate, dated 1740,
bears the inscription and illustration of a volume published nearly a
century earlier.
[Illustration:
BRISTOL DELFT DISH.
Inscribed "A Voyage to the Moon by Domingo Gonzales from the Ile of
Tenerife."]
[Illustration:
REVERSE OF DELFT DISH.
Marked I F and dated 1740. (Diameter 13-1/2 inches.)]
(_In the collection of Mr. W. C. Wells._)
=Liverpool Delft.=--Collectors of Liverpool delft would like to ascribe
many pieces to that city. But, unfortunately, the difference between
this and the other English delft is not so defined. One has to take
the style of subject largely as a guide for the origin. There is a
large punch bowl at the Victoria and Albert Museum which may certainly
be attributed to Liverpool. It was painted by John Robinson at Seth
Pennington's factory. A similar bowl is in the Mechanic's Institution
at Hanley. It is painted in blue with a three-masted man-of-war inside
the bowl. The flag is touched with red. The exterior shows an array
of military trophies. It is somewhat confusing to collectors to know
that the fine punch bowls of Seth Pennington, with his renowned blue
colouring, are of delft, earthenware, and of _china_. These latter are
of great rarity and value.
Another maker of delft punch bowls was Shaw, but it is not easy to
determine with exactitude to which factory to ascribe some of these
delft bowls, and there is room for considerable inquiry and exhaustive
research to be made into the early history of the Liverpool potteries
in general, as much information is needed to settle controversial
points.
=Delft Printed Tiles.=--It is here that Liverpool stands pre-eminent
in the transfer printed delft tiles. As early as 1750 Sadler and Green
discovered the transfer printing by means of adhesive paper placed
on previously inked copper-plates and laid on the earthenware as a
decoration in black or in red, and sometimes puce. The signature of
the engravers appears on some specimens, _J. Sadler, Liverpool_; _J.
Sadler, Liverpl._; _Sadler, Liverpool_; _Green, Liverpool_; or _Green_.
The invention was invaluable as a decoration for china and earthenware
in lieu of painting. The following affidavit was made in 1756 by John
Sadler and Guy Green that they "without the aid of or assistance of any
other person or persons, did, within the space of six hours, to wit,
betwixt the hours of nine in the morning and three in the afternoon
of the same day, print upwards of 1,200 tiles of different patterns
at Liverpoole aforesaid, and which, as these deponents have heard and
believe, were more in number, and better and neater, than one hundred
skilled potmakers could have painted in the like space of time in the
common or usual way of painting with a pencil, and these deponents say
that they have been upwards of seven years in finding out the method of
printing tiles, and in making tryals and experiments for that purpose,
which they have now, through great pains and expense, brought to
perfection."
There is no doubt that this invention revolutionised the decoration
of all wares. In regard to the controversy which has arisen as to the
prior claims of Battersea for its transfer decorated enamels, and of
Worcester for similar decorations by Hancock, the whole matter has
been exhaustively dealt with by Mr. William Turner in his "Transfer
Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery," in which the case for
each claimant is minutely analysed.
[Illustration:
TITLE PAGE AND ILLUSTRATION.
From volume, "The Man in the Moone," published in 1638.
(_In Library at British Museum._)]
Sadler and his partner Green conducted a large business in this
transfer printing for other factories as well as, of course, for the
Liverpool delft and other wares. Sadler apparently left the partnership
somewhere between 1769 and 1774, so that the signature on the tiles by
him gives the date of their printing. Green carried on the business
until 1799, and so great was the fame of the firm that cream ware was
sent from Etruria and by other Staffordshire potters to be printed at
Liverpool, and up till 1799 Wedgwood's successors still continued the
practice of having their cream ware printed by Green.
Liverpool tiles obviously differ from Bristol tiles inasmuch as
the former were printed after 1756, but of course before that date
Liverpool delft tiles must have been painted as they were elsewhere.
There are many series of the Sadler and Green period, one notable one
being a number of actors and actresses, including Garrick, Foote, Mrs.
Abington, Mrs. Yates, and others, in character.
Fable illustrations from Æsop and others were largely printed, and some
of Wedgwood's plates have been decorated in red, with fable subjects
some five inches square, which, in spite of the festoons in which they
are set, cannot escape from seeming what they are--square tile-subjects
applied to the decoration of a round plate--and the result is not
pleasing.
Among the signed pieces of Sadler and of Green, if any difference in
style can be discerned in the results, it is indicated by the subjects
they chose. Sadler's name appears on pastoral subjects with luxurious
foliage and with dainty rustic scenery, while Green seems to have had a
fondness for Oriental groups with a framework of fantastic furniture.
The best collection of Liverpool delft in this country is in the museum
at Liverpool.
At this museum may be seen the printed work on delft tiles of a later
Liverpool potter, Zachariah Barnes, who was only twelve years of age
when Sadler and Green commenced their tile printing, but who lived till
1820, and had a considerable business in printing wall tiles of fine
character.
=Wincanton Delft.=--A delft factory existed at Wincanton (Somerset),
and recent excavations have brought to light material proving the class
of ware made there. Nathaniel Ireson is believed to have started
the works about 1730. There are examples of this delft bearing the
name "Wincanton," and dated 1737. One specimen has the name Nathaniel
Ireson, and is dated 1748. One of these dated plates is in the National
Scottish Museum at Edinburgh, which we are enabled to reproduce as an
illustration. It is decorated in blue, with the arms of the Masons'
Company, and inscribed "Js. Clewett," and dated 1737. At the back of
the dish are painted sprays of blossom, and it is marked "Wincanton."
This is a remarkable specimen.
=Tudor Jugs.=--Though earliest in date, we mention this last, as the
ware is not true delft. This is a class of Elizabethan ware, mostly
small jugs some five or six inches in height, of brown-and-blue mottled
surface. The exterior has all the appearance of Cologne stoneware, but
the pieces bear a closer relationship to delft; they have a tin glaze,
whereas the stone Cologne ware has a salt glaze. They are exceedingly
rare and valuable, and some of them are mounted with silver bearing
Elizabethan hall-marks. They are disclaimed by continental authorities,
who refuse to acknowledge them as belonging to their factories, and
they apparently were made in England. A great deal of mystery surrounds
their origin, and no doubt further research will at some future date
determine the history of these specimens which, under various fancy
names, such as "Tiger" pattern, due to their peculiar mottling, bring
considerable prices under the hammer.
[Illustration:
WINCANTON DELFT DISH.
With arms of Masons' Company. Inscribed "Js. Clewett 1737."
BACK OF DELFT DISH.
Showing the mark "Wincanton."
(_At the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh._)]
To bring the story of English delft to a conclusion, it may be said
that it had an ephemeral life as a ware for domestic use, until it was
dethroned by Staffordshire salt glaze ware, which held the field until
Wedgwood's cream ware drove this latter from the market.
DELFT PRICES.
LAMBETH. £ s. d.
Dish, octagonal, decorated in blue and
white, bearing arms of Routledge family,
with motto, _Verax atque probus_,
dated 1637. Sotheby, February, 1906 7 0 0
Coronation mug, 3-1/2 in. high, portrait
of Charles II., inscribed and dated "C.
2nd R., 1660." Bond, Bristol, April, 1906 38 0 0
Set of six plates inscribed "What is a
Merry Man," &c., all dated 1734. Sotheby,
June, 1906 41 0 0
Vessel modelled in form of cat, painted
in blue, dated 1657. Sotheby, June, 1906 20 0 0
Plaque, with arms of Apothecaries' Company
in blue. Christie, November, 1906 9 19 6
Wine bottle, inscribed "Sack, 1650," in
blue. Sotheby, May, 1908 15 15 0
Plate with blue decoration on border, and
C
initials A E, 1698. Sotheby, April, 1908 3 3 0
STAFFORDSHIRE.
Delft dish painted with tulip and with
blue dash border, 13 in. diameter; another
with head of Charles II., and inscribed
"The Royal Oak"; another inscribed G L.
1680. Sotheby, December, 1908 1 12 0
BRISTOL.
Plates, small, ordinary style, from 7s. 6d.
to 1 0 0
Dishes, larger size, ordinary style,
from £1 to 2 0 0
Plates, small, with initials and dated,
from £1 10s., upwards.
Dishes, larger size, with initials and
dates, or of especial interest, from £2
to £5 and upwards.
LIVERPOOL.
(Similar prices to those of Bristol.)
Puzzle jug painted in blue, with verse.
Puttick and Simpson, December, 1905 3 12 6
TUDOR JUGS.
These jugs vary in character, but are
always of some rarity, and range in
value from £10, as a minimum price,
upwards. With hall-marked silver mounts,
in date from 1530-1600, they are greatly
sought after. The West Malling Jug is the
most famous specimen that has been sold
of recent years.
The description is as follows,--
Fulham delft or stoneware, splashed
purple, orange, green, and other
colours. With silver mounts, having
London hall-mark, 1581. Height, 9-1/2
in. Strong probability that it is
nothing more than an old sack-pot.
Sold at Christie's, February, 1903 £1,522 10 0
IV
STONEWARE
CHAPTER IV
STONEWARE
Cologne Ware and Bellarmines--John Dwight of Fulham
(1638-1703)--The Brothers Elers, working in Staffordshire
(1690-1710)--John Astbury (1679-1743)--Thomas Astbury--Fulham
Stoneware--Nottingham Stoneware--Prices of Stoneware.
Stoneware in point of date is prior to delft in its beginnings, and
it had in its subsequent development a longer life than delft. It has
already been shown (Chapter II.) how broken is the history of the
evolution of the potter's art in England in the Middle Ages. There
are great gaps which divide the period of the mediæval tiles from the
more or less peasant pottery known as slip ware. It is not until the
seventeenth century had well advanced that the manufacture of stoneware
took its place as an industry.
To the beginner it should be explained that stoneware is coated with a
glaze by means of common salt. It is extremely hard, and has a surface
in old and admired specimens like the skin of an orange being pitted
with minute depressions, or in finer and thinner ware being like the
surface of leather or chicken skin. The ordinary ginger-beer bottle
is stoneware, and although serving in a humble capacity, is often
found to be perfect in the technique of salt glazing. In old jugs of
seventeenth-century manufacture, the mottled colouring and distinctly
pleasing surface varying in tone from warm brown to reddish-yellow, is
exceptionally attractive to collectors who import a love for technique
into their hobby.
Undoubtedly the Bellarmine, or Greybeard, jug was in use in this
country for a considerable period. References abound in old plays.
Ben Jonson, in his "Bartholomew Fair" (Act IV.), makes Captain Whit
say, "He has wrashled so long with the bottle here, that the man with
the beard hash almosht streek up hish heelsh," in simulation of the
speech of a man who has well drunken. But it must be concluded that
this stoneware, or Cologne ware, was largely imported, and was never
greatly made in this country until John Dwight, of Fulham, took out his
patent in 1671. There are pieces bearing Elizabethan dates and coats
of arms, as, for instance, the small brown cruche in the Schreiber
Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with the initials "E. R."
and the date 1594; and the fine Bellarmine jug in the British Museum,
with the arms of Queen Elizabeth, and dated 1594. We illustrate a fine
stoneware Bellarmine jug, of the late sixteenth century, having a coat
of arms with crown and Tudor roses. The character of some of these
jugs differs from continental examples. This may have been due to a
desire on the part of the consumer for vessels of that type, but there
seems some likelihood that the commoner sorts were made here, and it is
conjectured that Fulham was the chief place of their manufacture.
[Illustration:
STONEWARE JUG. BELLARMINE OR GREYBEARD.
Having arms with Tudor roses. (Late sixteenth century.)
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
STONEWARE JUGS WITH ROYAL ARMS AND
PORTRAIT MEDALLIONS OF WILLIAM AND MARY.
The left-hand jug with portrait of Queen Mary is attributed to Dwight.
(_In the collection of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
In the group of fine Bellarmine jugs illustrated, the characteristics
of the ware are shown. The decorations begin to assume a national
feeling, and the jugs differ in form from the continental type. The
fine specimen of grey stoneware with the portrait medallion of Queen
Mary is attributed to Dwight. The inscription runs "Maria. D. G. Mag.
Brit. Franc, et. Hib. Regina." The right hand jug in the group has a
raised medallion portrait of William III.
The Bellarmine, or Greybeard or Longbeard, is so called from the head
which appears on the neck of the jug, which mask is always referred
to in a satirical manner as being the likeness of Cardinal Robert
Bellarmin, who rendered himself obnoxious by his opposition to the
reformed religion in the Low Countries.
These old examples of foreign stoneware, miscalled _grès de Flandres_,
are known to have been made at Raren, at Siegburg, at Grenzhausen, near
Coblenz, and later in the seventeenth century they were made at Namur.
The fact that they were imported and not made here appears from the
petition of William Simpson, merchant (_Lansdowne MSS._) to Queen
Elizabeth: "Whereas one Garnet Tyne, a strainger living in Acon, in the
parte beyond the seas, being none of her Majestie's subjects, doth buy
up all the pottles made at Culloin called Drinkynge Stonepottes & he
onlie transporteth them into this realme of England & selleth them; It
may please your Majestie to graunt unto the sayd William Simpson full
power & only license to provyde, transport, & bring into this realme,
the same or such like Drynkynge pots"; the petitioner adds that "no
Englishman doth transport any potte into this realme," he also gives a
promise "as in him lieth" to attempt to "drawe the making of such like
potte into some decayed town within this realme, whereby many a hundred
poore men may be set a worke." Thirty years later Letters Patent were
granted to Thomas Rous and Abraham Cullyn in 1626 for the sole making
"of the stone pottes, stone juggs, & stone bottles, for the terme of
fourteene years for a reward for their invention."
Here, then, are sufficient facts to show how largely the importation
and manufacture was in foreign hands, and the finer specimens must
undoubtedly be assigned to foreign potters.
=John Dwight.=--In 1671 a patent was taken out by John Dwight for
"the mistery of transparent earthenware, commonly knowne by the names
of porcelaine or China and Persian ware, as alsoe the misterie of
the stoneware vulgarly called Cologne ware." It appears from this
patent that he had "invented and sett up at Fulham, several new
manufactories." There is no doubt that John Dwight was one of the
greatest, if not the greatest of English potters. His magnificent
life-size bust in stoneware of Prince Rupert, now in the British
Museum, excites the wonder and admiration of modern potters. The
technical excellence he displays in his fine stoneware, which is of a
grey-white or pale fawn colour, and is salt glazed, is as remarkable a
triumph of modelling as it is of skill in potting. To quote Professor
Church in regard to Dwight's busts and figures, "They stand absolutely
alone in English ceramics. They are the original and serious work of an
accomplished modeller. The best of them are instinct with individuality
and strength, yet reticent with the reticence of noble sculpture."
[Illustration:
STONEWARE BUST OF JAMES II.
By Dwight, of Fulham. (About 1686.)
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
[Illustration:
DWIGHT STONEWARE FIGURES.
Children reading.
(_At British Museum._)]
The illustration of the bust of _James II._ (p. 139) is not so well
known as the famous _Prince Rupert_, nor is it of the same superlative
power; but it is a fine example of stoneware.
The two figures illustrated of _Children Reading_ have just been added
to the national collection, and exhibit the mastery of Dwight over his
medium.
There is no doubt that John Dwight is coming into his own. Among the
fathers of English pottery there are Dwight and Elers, and Astbury
and Whieldon, and Josiah Wedgwood, and the greatest of these is
unquestionably Dwight. Dr. Plot, in his "History of Oxfordshire,"
published in 1677, passes this eulogy upon him: "He has so advanced
the _Art Plastick_, that 'tis dubious whether any man since Prometheus
have excelled him, not excepting the famous Damophilus and Gorgasus
of Pliny." And yet this Dwight is reported to have destroyed most of
his formulæ and many of his papers connected with his inventions in
the hope that his descendants would not engage in so unprofitable a
business.
It is not known when Dwight was born; 1638 is the conjectured date.
He was M.A. and B.C.L. of Christ Church, Oxford, and was secretary to
the Bishop of Chester. Between 1671 and 1676 he settled at Fulham. It
appears that he had previously established a factory at Oxford with
considerable success. He died in 1703, and the pottery was continued
by his son Samuel, who died in 1737. The works were carried on by his
widow, and subsequently by William White, who married her, and the
pottery remained in the hands of the White family until 1862.
Of his portrait busts and statuettes, the Victoria and Albert Museum
and the British Museum have about thirteen examples, and there is a
fine statuette of _Jupiter_ in the Liverpool Museum. Besides this
class of ware, he certainly made stoneware jugs of the Cologne type,
and red-ware teapots. He was known to use small raised ornaments on
this ware, produced by the use of metal stamps. His vases have marbled
decorations, and he was fully aware of the use of pounded flint, which
gave his ware a porcellanous character, "a discovery which was not
apparently known to the Staffordshire potters until about 1720."[1]
[Note: 1 "Guide to English Pottery and Porcelain in the British Museum," R.
L. Hobson.
In relation to Dwight and his patents, new light has been thrown
upon the originality of the work of the Brothers Elers in their
secretly-guarded factory at Bradwell Wood. All earnest students are
indebted to Professor Church for his recent researches to establish
Dwight's reputation, which go a great way towards dethroning the two
Dutch brothers Elers, who have been hitherto regarded as the pioneers
of Staffordshire fine pottery.
[Illustration:
COFFEE POT, ELERS RED UNGLAZED WARE.
MUG, RED UNGLAZED WARE, PROBABLY MADE BY ELERS OR DWIGHT.
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
ELERS RED WARE TEAPOT.
(_In the collection of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
=Elers Ware (1690-1710).=--There is a great deal of mystery surrounding
the name and fame of the two Dutchmen, John Philip Elers and David
Elers. They came to this country as did so many of their countrymen in
the latter part of the seventeenth century. Earlier, Dutch refugees
had fled hither on account of religious persecution, and later, when
William of Orange came over, his court attracted many of his countrymen
of distinguished birth. Martin Elers, the father of our two Dutchmen,
had been ambassador to several European courts. John Philip his son
was "the godson of the Elector of Mentz, after whom he was named, and
was held at the baptismal font by Queen Christina of Sweden."[2]
[Note: 2 "Staffordshire Pots and Potteries," G. W. and F. A. Rhead.]
There is no reason to believe that they had any patronage from the
court themselves, but their sister was granted a pension of £300 a year
by William, and she subsequently became the second wife of Sir William
Phipps, founder of the house of Mulgrave, the title of Earl of Mulgrave
is now borne by the Marquis of Normanby, whose family name is Phipps.
However aristocratic they were, it is certain that they had
considerable practical knowledge in order to embark in business and
carry on a pottery.
They prepared the red clay of Bradwell in a far more scientific manner
than had any Staffordshire potters prior to that date, and by the lathe
they turned forms far thinner than could be done on the wheel. Wherever
they had gained their technical skill, they placed for the first time
the wares of Staffordshire on the same plane as Böttcher's work of
Meissen, or the models of the old Chinese potters.
We have already shown that they engaged some of Dwight's workmen from
Fulham, and that they infringed Dwight's patents in respect to the
Cologne jugs and red teapots. This does not accord with the fables
hitherto industriously repeated in every succeeding volume dealing
with china, that the Elers employed imbeciles in their factory, in
order that their trade secrets might be jealously guarded. It is true
that Twyford and John Astbury learned all that they wanted to know
by gaining employment at the Elers pottery at Bradwell, and there is
little doubt that in so doing they simulated a stupid indifference as
to the new methods of stamping china ornaments by metal stamps and of
the lathe work employed on the red teapots.
Both black and red teapots were made by Elers and ornaments in Chinese
style added in relief. These ornaments were stamped with a metal die
and laid on the vessel, several dies were used for portions of the same
teapot. The connecting portions such as the stalks between two sprigs
were finished by hand. This red ware was unglazed. As most people are
familiar with Wedgwood's black, basaltes ware, it is useful to know
that, except in colour, the wares are almost identical in point of
external appearance and to the sense of touch. Some of this red tea and
coffee ware or "old china," as it was called, is marked with a seal in
imitation of Chinese marks. The red teapots of small dimensions sold
for ten to twenty-five shillings apiece, and David Elers had a shop in
the Poultry in Cheapside, where he sold them.
The Elers left Staffordshire in 1710, so that their pottery lasted only
twenty years. In view of the fact that Dwight complained about their
manufacture of stoneware jugs and mugs as being subsequent to his, it
would seem doubtful if they can still be accredited with the invention
of this old ware or with the introduction of salt glaze into England.
Undoubtedly this early class of hard red stoneware, almost approaching
porcelain in character, will have to be thoroughly reviewed with the
object of assigning to Dwight what is his, and to the Elers, and to
Aaron, Thomas, and Richard Wedgwood what is theirs, to say nothing of
Richard Garner, and of John Morley, of Nottingham, who confessed to
copying Dwight's "browne muggs."
The subsequent history of the Elers may be interesting in passing. John
Philip is believed to have been in some way connected with the foreign
glass works at Chelsea, established by Italian workmen, under the
patronage of the Duke of Buckingham, as early as 1676. He afterwards,
with the assistance of Lady Barrington, set up as a glass and china
merchant in Dublin, and became successful. David Elers remained in
London.
=John Astbury.=--We have seen that the Elers' secret became known in
Staffordshire to Twyford, and to John Astbury, and this latter together
with his son carried on the same style of manufacture. As a general
rule it is held that the ware of the earlier Astbury is not so sharp in
its details as was the careful work of the Elers. His ware is of red,
fawn, chocolate, and orange colour. His ornaments followed the style
of Elers in being stamped, but he made them of Devon or pipe-clay,
which has a cruder effect in white upon the darker grounds. He died in
1743. His son Thomas Astbury commenced potting in 1723, and his work
is so similar to that of his father, that considerable doubt exists as
to which pieces may safely be attributed to the father. It is certain
that the son experimented with the bodies of clays until he produced a
"cream colour," afterwards improved by Josiah Wedgwood in his renowned
cream ware. We illustrate (p. 149) an Astbury teapot in date about
1740, with an orange-coloured glaze body having design in relief in
white. The other Astbury ware teapot is of slightly later date, and has
a coffee-brown body with white and green floral ornaments in relief.
The Porto Bello bowl in the British Museum, of red clay with white
stamped ornaments in relief of a group of miniature ships in battle
array, made to celebrate the capture of Porto Bello by Admiral Vernon
in 1739, is held to be a typical example of the work of the elder
Astbury.
As a rule, black or red specimens having the name of Astbury impressed
upon them are attributed to Astbury the second. But it must be borne in
mind that for want of more exact knowledge, all red ware with stamped
ornaments applied in relief and with indications of plain engine
turning has been generically termed _Elers ware_, and it is quite
certain that later than Astbury junior's day red ware with wavy lines
was made. Similarly the type of ware with white applied ornament in
relief has been termed _Astbury ware_. The elder Astbury, in addition
to the stoneware, made crouch ware, a term employed for the earlier
forms of the fine delicate stoneware known as salt glazed. The younger
Astbury introduced the use of flint into his ware in or about 1723.
Collectors should be cautioned not to assign plates and dishes marked
ASTBURY, to Thomas Astbury. They are cream ware, and decorated in blue
with Chinese patterns, and belong to a much later period.
Mention should be made of Ralph Shaw, of Burslem, who made brown or
chocolate ware dipped in white pipe-clay, which afterwards was worked
upon with a tool to display the dark body beneath. There is a jug in
the British Museum (Franks Collection) which is thus decorated with
birds and foliage. Twyford, the colleague of Astbury the elder, when
with the Elers, seems to have applied himself to the use of white
decoration, sometimes the red and brown ware is wholly coated inside
with pipe-clay, and this is supposed to be his work.
[Illustration:
ASTBURY TEAPOT.
Orange glazed body, pattern in relief. (About 1740. Height 4 inches.)
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
ASTBURY WARE TEAPOT.
Coffee brown body, white and green floral ornament in relief. (About
1750.)
(_At British Museum._)]
With the advent of Josiah Wedgwood came the strong classic influence
upon his plastic art, and in his various classes of stoneware (dealt
with in Chap. VII.) considerable variety was introduced both in
design and in colouring. Among the most notable of the contemporaries
and successors of Wedgwood who successfully produced high-class
stoneware, the following may be mentioned: William Adams, Turner,
Elijah Mayer, Neale, Palmer, Birch, Keeling, and Toft, Hollins, Wilson,
Spode, Davenport, and Dunderdale of Castleford, and the Leeds Pottery
and the Swansea Pottery both made basalt in black ware (see Chap.
VIII., The School of Wedgwood).
=Fulham Stoneware.=--In the eighteenth century Fulham became noticeable
for a type of mug similar to that illustrated (p. 153), bearing the
initials "W.G." and the date 1725. Another series made at Fulham are
the jugs usually marked with the initials "A.R." and "G.R." belonging
to the days of Anne and of George I. A great many exist of the
fuller-bodied shape, with initials inscribed "G.R." Formerly on museum
shelves these were attributed to Fulham, but it is now generally held
that this form was imported from the Continent, and belongs to the
_Grès-de-Flandres_ class. The true Fulham contemporary form is that
which we illustrate (p. 153).
The manufacture of stoneware continued for a century, and in the
nineteenth century many fine specimens were being made by various
potters, and Messrs. Doulton, of Lambeth, still continue to make
stoneware vases and jugs and other vessels of an ornamental character.
=Nottingham Stoneware.=--John Morley, of Nottingham, was cited in 1693,
as one of the persons who infringed Dwight's patent for stoneware.
Evidently the same family of potters carried on the business, for in
1726, Charles Morley was a maker of brown stoneware jugs and mugs.
There is a brown bowl at the Victoria and Albert Museum bearing this
date. The Castle Museum at Nottingham possesses some fine examples
of brown stoneware. The dates of jugs and mugs vary from as early as
1700 to the last quarter of the eighteenth century. Nottingham ware is
smoother in its surface than old Staffordshire, only slightly showing
the orange skin texture so noticeable in the other stoneware. It is
rich warm brown, sometimes inclining to red and sometimes to yellow in
colour. Bear jugs are a feature of Nottingham stoneware, but they are
not peculiar to that pottery, as they were also made in Derbyshire and
Staffordshire. The Nottingham stoneware is excellently potted and, of
course, is salt glazed, the glaze having a slightly lustrous appearance.
The examples most familiar to collectors belong to the late eighteenth
and early nineteenth centuries. The bear jugs may be either of plain
surface or may have the rough grained exterior formed by minute
particles of clay. They frequently have a collar around the neck, and a
chain to which is attached a rattle. A rarer form represents a Russian
bear hugging Bonaparte, who wears a big plumed hat. Puzzle jugs with
incised ornament, and tall loving-cups of large size, are another
noticeable production; many of these are inscribed with names and dates.
[Illustration:
FULHAM STONEWARE MUG.
(Dated 1725. Period of George I.)
With embossed ornament of dogs, &c., and medallion portraits.]
[Illustration:
FULHAM STONEWARE JUG.
Raised medallion with crown and G.R. (Period of George I.)
Incised decoration filled with blue.]
STONEWARE--PRICES.
BELLARMINES. £ s. d.
The prices of this class vary in ordinary
examples, plain, or of slight decoration,
from 15s. to 1 10 0
Bellarmines with English arms of especial
interest are of considerably greater
value, though not always of English
origin. Exceptional pieces bring exceptional
prices.
DWIGHT.
All specimens of Dwight are extremely
rare. It is impossible to say what a
Dwight stoneware figure or bust would
realise at auction, but certainly a very
high figure.
ELERS.
Elers teapots, &c., are rare. The smaller
lighter coloured teapots of the true
Elers ware are worth as many half-sovereigns
as the later coarser examples
are worth shillings.
ASTBURY.
A similar difficulty arises in attempting to
state prices for Astbury stoneware.
Fine examples rarely come into the
market.
FULHAM.
G. R. jugs ascribed to Fulham may be
bought from 15s. to £1 10s., according
to condition and decoration. The
large jugs and mugs with medallion
busts of William and Mary, inscribed
and dated, vary in price from £3 to
£5 and upwards.
NOTTINGHAM.
Bear jugs of coarse type may be procured
from £1 10s. to 2 10 0
Tall Loving Cups, inscribed with name and
date, vary from £2 to 5 0 0
The Russian Bear model hugging Bonaparte
is worth £5 or more.
Nottingham ale jugs, dated and inscribed,
have realised £12 under the hammer.
V
EARLY
STAFFORDSHIRE
WARE
THOMAS
WHIELDON:
His Contemporaries
and his
Successors
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
XVIIITH CENTURY.
_Anne_ 1704 Gibraltar taken by Sir George Rooke.
(1702-1714) Marlborough gained victory of Blenheim.
1711-1714 Addison published the _Spectator_.
_George I._ 1715 Rebellion in Scotland.
(1714-1727) The Old Pretender landed at Peterhead.
1715-1719 Pope translated Homer's _Iliad_ into
English verse.
1719 Defoe's _Robinson Crusoe_ published.
1721 The South Sea Bubble burst; thousands of
families ruined.
_George II._ 1742 Fielding's _Joseph Andrews_ published.
(1727-1760) 1748 Richardson's _Clarissa Harlowe_.
1749 Gray's _Elegy in a Country Churchyard_.
1750 Fielding's _Tom Jones_ published.
1755 Dr. Johnson's Dictionary published.
1757 Clive laid the foundation of the Indian Empire.
_George III._ 1759-67 Sterne's _Tristram Shandy_.
(1760-1820) 1766 Goldsmith's _Vicar of Wakefield_.
1768 Sir Joshua Reynolds first president of the Royal
Academy.
1775 The American War.
1777 Sheridan's _School for Scandal_.
1779 Gainsborough at the height of his fame.
1782 The Independence of the United States recognised.
1786 Gillray's caricatures commenced to appear.
1790 Burke's _Reflections on the French Revolution_.
1791 Burns's _Tam O' Shanter_.
1792 Thomas Paine's _Age of Reason_.
1795 War with Holland. Capture of the Cape of
Good Hope.
1801 Union of Great Britain and Ireland.
CHAPTER V
EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE WARE
THOMAS WHIELDON:
HIS CONTEMPORARIES AND HIS SUCCESSORS
The forerunners of Whieldon--The position of Staffordshire
Ware--Whieldon as a potter--Early Staffordshire Art--The rivalry
with salt glaze--Form _versus_ Colour--The last years of the
Eighteenth century--The English spirit--Prices.
"Early Staffordshire" is a generic term used to include much of the
unknown ware of the early period between about 1720 to 1760. It is not
early enough to go back to the butter-pot days of Charles II. nor to
include the school of Toft and his contemporaries, with their quaint
native humour. But it is an important period when earthenware was in a
transitional stage. It is, in fact, the period when Staffordshire may
be regarded as the great nursery of potters in swaddling clothes who
came into their majority later with full honours.
The chronological table at the head of this chapter shows the great
events that were shaping the destiny of this country, and, in politics,
in art, and in letters, it must be admitted that the age of Anne and
the first two Georges was prolific enough in incident. It was during
the greater portion of the first half of the eighteenth century that
English earthenware was finding itself. Attempts at classification
nearly always leave the borders overlapping. In trying to gather in our
net a band of representative potters with work peculiarly illustrative
of this period which was essentially English--as English as Toft--but
progressing towards something that should stand as worthy of our art,
several great potters, such as the Woods, have escaped, and will be
treated separately later. It must be granted that the influence of
the Whieldon school was not obliterated even by the great rise of the
classic school of design as exemplified by Wedgwood, Turner, and Adams.
The strong English robustness and the national insularity of design
never wholly died out in the eighteenth century. It was eclipsed by
classic frigidities from across the Alps, and it suffered discomfiture
from the rococo insipidities from France first naturalised at Chelsea
and at Derby. But it lingered in the hearts of the common people like
the tunes of some of the old ballads in spite of the fashions of Gluck
and of Handel. Thus it comes to pass that, side by side with the
Iphigenias, the Andromaches, the Venuses, the Minervas, and the other
esoteric personages from among the gods and goddesses of Olympus,
with their accompaniment of foreign fauns and satyrs, there were the
very English (founded on Gillray and Rowlandson), almost Rabelaisian,
grotesques in the army of Toby Jugs and the sporting, rural, nautical,
historic, commemorative, and satiric jugs and mugs and figures, with
English doggerel and with idiosyncrasies enough to make our earthenware
essentially national.
[Illustration:
WHIELDON WARE CAULIFLOWER TEAPOT.
With vivid green and yellow colouring.
TORTOISESHELL WARE PLATES.
Richly glazed, producing clouded and mottled effects.
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
Unfortunately in the early days it is impossible with any degree
of certainty to assign many of these older pieces to any particular
potter. The collector can only lament "the iniquity of oblivion blindly
scattering her poppy," as Sir Thomas Browne puts it. It is without
doubt rightly believed that Thomas Whieldon had a great and lasting
influence upon the potters of his generation, but his own actual work
has been swallowed up by the covering phrase "Whieldon ware," which,
like "Elers ware" and "Astbury ware," has come to mean a good many
things, and these are names of types rather than persons.
=The forerunners of Whieldon.=--It is necessary briefly to recapitulate
the events immediately from the commencement of the eighteenth century
to the day when Whieldon established his status.
There was a continuous chain of potters working in Staffordshire from
the days of the Elers (1690-1710), to the period when Josiah Wedgwood
became a master potter on his own account in 1760; he was then thirty
years of age.
Wedgwood's own estimate of the Elers is interesting. Speaking of what
Elers did for Staffordshire he says, "It is now about eighty years
since Mr. Elers came amongst us ... the improvements made (by him) in
our manufactory were precisely these--glazing our common clays with
salt which produced _Pot d'grey_ or stoneware, and this after they had
left the country was improved into white stoneware by using the pipe
clay of this neighbourhood and mixing it with flint stones calcin'd and
reduced by pounding in to a fine powder."
There is not a word about Dwight in all this; evidently Josiah seems
not to have known of the legal action against Elers and one of his
own kinsmen amongst others. The invention of flint is an allusion to
Thomas Astbury about 1720, but Dwight also knew of this formula as his
recorded notes prove.
To continue, "The next improvement by Mr. Elers was the refining of
our common red clay by sifting and making it into tea and coffee ware
in imitation of the Chinese red porcelain by the casting it in plaster
moulds and turning it on the outside upon Lathes, and ornamenting it
with the tea branch in relief, in imitation of the Chinese manner of
ornamenting the ware. For these improvements--and very great ones they
were--we are indebted to the very ingenious Messrs. Elers, and I shall
gladly contribute all in my power to honour their memories and transmit
to posterity the knowledge of the obligations we owe to them."
This is in respect to a jasper medallion portrait of John Philip Elers.
Wedgwood is wrong in one or two particulars. The salt glaze question
is open to doubt, and most certainly Elers never used moulds for their
ware.
We give this as showing the continuity which existed between Elers
and Wedgwood, the latter certainly owed his application of the
ornamentation in relief to the method which Elers had introduced into
Staffordshire. We do not say invented, because there is always Dwight
standing in the background.
To give Elers his due he certainly set Staffordshire talking and
wondering, and he unwittingly filled Twyford and Astbury with new ideas
which they were not slow to adopt. Astbury comes as the echo which
Elers left behind in Staffordshire, a substantial enough echo, for
Astbury took his master's ideas and created a ware with white stamped
ornaments in relief, to which his own name is given as a generic term.
John Astbury the elder died in 1743, and Thomas, his son, commenced
potting as early as 1723. And the Astburys rub shoulders with Thomas
Whieldon, whose apprentice and sometime partner (1752-1758) was Josiah
Wedgwood.
It will thus be seen that Thomas Whieldon (1740-1780) came upon the
scene in the history of the Staffordshire potteries when the art was in
a somewhat transitional stage. New fields were opening and new ideas
developing that were shortly to bring English pottery into line with
that on the Continent.
=The position of Staffordshire Ware.=--It is necessary to show the
stage at which English pottery had arrived in order to place Whieldon
aright and to show the various impulses which led to the outburst of
potting which stirred Staffordshire. Stoneware in crude form or in
highly finished foreign style in Cologne ware had been gaining ground
since Tudor days. Later the use of delft had won favour and was still
in full swing at Lambeth, at Bristol, and at Liverpool when Whieldon
commenced potting. It had also become acclimatised in Staffordshire.
Toft's and other slip ware was contemporary with delft as a native art.
And now, looking forward, we see the oncoming triumph of stoneware, in
its finely potted and highly artistic Staffordshire form, which was
to overthrow delft and slip ware, and in turn be stamped out by the
utilitarian cream ware of Whieldon's apprentice, Josiah Wedgwood, who
built up his fortune at Etruria on this domestic ware.
The Whieldon period (1740-1780) was an important one in ceramic events.
In 1744 Bow commenced to make porcelain. In 1745 is the earliest dated
piece of Chelsea porcelain, the year that the Pretender won the battle
of Preston Pans, near Edinburgh, and invaded England, bringing his
army as far as Derby. In 1750, Derby made earthenware, and in 1751
commenced to make porcelain, which is the same year in which Worcester
commenced a glorious record in the making of porcelain. Longton Hall,
Bristol, and Liverpool continued the same story, and transfer-printing
was practised at Worcester by Hancock on porcelain, and at Liverpool on
delft tiles by Sadler and Green. Lowestoft opened a kiln in 1756. Leeds
ware was made in 1760, and, finally, Wedgwood's queen's ware in 1762,
and four years before Whieldon gave up his work Wedgwood had invented
his jasper ware.
=Whieldon as a potter.=--Not a great deal is known of Whieldon's
personality. He must have commenced in a small way of business as he
tramped from place to place with specimens of his wares on his back in
pedlar fashion. But he became of considerable importance as he held the
office of High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1786, some six years after
he retired from his pottery. Whieldon numbered among his apprentices
some young men who afterwards became famous. There was Josiah Wedgwood,
who became his partner from 1753 to 1759, Josiah Spode, and William
Greatbach, Edge, Heath, Marsh, and there was Aaron Wood, who was
employed at Little Fenton for some time. On account of his apprentices
having become famous, it has been suggested that he was probably
indebted to them for much of his fame. On reflection it may possibly be
seen that the opposite conclusion may very well be true, and it is not
improbable that Wedgwood and Spode and Greatbach and the others owed a
considerable debt to Whieldon for having received a highly technical
training at his hands.
[Illustration:
TEAPOT, TORTOISESHELL WARE.
Embossed with hawthorn pattern.
(_At the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh._)]
[Illustration:
BOWL AND COVER, TORTOISESHELL WARE.
Embossed with floral pattern.
(_At the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
In regard to cream ware, undoubtedly this was in an experimental stage,
and Whieldon in common with Astbury made those queer little figures
with yellow heads and red or yellow bases, but the tortoiseshell flown
colouring apparently denotes some of the specimens made by Whieldon.
He made salt glaze, he made tea and coffee pots with the Astbury
decorations, but with a strong leaning to the earlier Elers style in
his avoidance of too strong contrast between white pipe-clay ornament
on a dark body. Whieldon toned his ornaments with touches of his own in
green and yellow and brown. His solid agate ware and his tortoiseshell
and clouded wares, and his cauliflower ware have become so memorable in
the cabinets of collectors that they have won him fame, and he has in
consequence been credited with all specimens of these classes of ware.
We illustrate (p. 161) an example of the Whieldon _Cauliflower Teapot_
with vivid green and yellow colouring.
Of this early period, the fine group we illustrate (p. 171) with
a _coffee-pot_ of glazed red ware, a kaolin of deep cream colour
decorated in red, may not unreasonably be attributed to John Astbury,
while the little _Figure_ of flown colouring, with red base and brown
shoes, may be either by Whieldon or possibly by Thomas Astbury.
The "solid agate" of Whieldon is something far more artistic than the
combed ware of earlier days or the very rough attempts at solid agate
made by clumsier hands than his own prior to his experiments.
Surface decoration in imitation of agate had been produced by employing
two different coloured clays on the surface of a vessel, and when in a
wet state combing them to represent the desired veining of the stone
to be simulated. "Solid agate" is another process of placing layers of
clay of different colours and cutting them in section to show the bands
of colour. In Whieldon's hands the layers were thin and the waves and
twists, cut off the clay with a wire like cheese is cut, showed in the
finished result something more artistic than had ever been attempted
before. He made jugs and sauceboats, teapots, teapoys, and other table
utensils of this ware, including knife handles. No two pieces are
exactly alike, and there is a considerable variety in the breadth of
the veining and in the ware, some being intentionally coarser in order
to suit the subject potted.
There is no doubt that this ware, standing in a measure in a _cul
de sac_ of ceramic art, is highly effective, and Wedgwood used with
great skill both the solid agate and the surface colour for his
ornamental pieces and vases of classic type, in imitation of granite,
Egyptian pebble, jasper, porphyry, and several kinds of agate. His
range of colour was more extended than that of Whieldon, but there is
little doubt that he gained his first knowledge of the properties and
possibilities of this variegated ware when he was with Whieldon.
Casting about for something equally effective with possibly less
technical difficulties, Whieldon evolved his celebrated clouded wares.
Here he took advantage of the new cream ware as a body, the surface
of which is splashed or sponged with various tints in imitation of
tortoiseshell, although many of the colours introduced depart from
tortoiseshell tones and introduce something fresh and original in
earthenware decoration.
[Illustration:
GROUP OF ASTBURY WARE.
KYLIN. Chiefly red and deep cream colour.
COFFEE POT. Glazed red ware.
FIGURE. Flown colouring, red base and brown shoes.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
[Illustration:
AGATE CAT. (4 inches high.) Grey, with brown solid marbling,
and splashed with blue on body and ears.
SALT-GLAZED BEAR JUG. (Height 3-1/8 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
There is the patent taken out by Redrich and Jones, Staffordshire
potters in 1724, for "staining, veining, spotting, clouding, or
damasking earthenware, to give it the appearance of various kinds of
marble, porphyry, and rich stones, as well as tortoiseshell." And
Ralph Wood, of Burslem, made variegated ware of a particular kind
which may well be termed "tesselated," as small pieces of tinted clay
were affixed or inlaid on the surface of vessels to be decorated, and
subsequently glazed. This mosaic work in imitation of granite was
employed also at Leeds.
To return to Whieldon. There is no doubt that he found this variegated
ware in a somewhat inchoate state in regard to technique, and the more
scientific exactitude which he employed has gained for his wares their
fame. We illustrate (p. 167) two fine examples of tortoiseshell ware, a
_Teapot_ embossed with hawthorn pattern design, and a finely decorated
_Bowl and Cover_ having a running floral pattern in relief.
The many coloured dessert plates, sometimes of octagonal shape, made
by Whieldon in this later mottled manner, in which the surface only is
decorated, are well known to collectors. In Whieldon's own examples the
potting is more perfect than in those of other potters. His plates are
to be recognised not only by their colour, but in the very subtle way
he has handled it. The deft touch of blue or yellow or green, has in
other hands become a patch of obvious crudity, striking a discordant
note at once. The deep grey octagonal plates by him are loved by
connoisseurs as exhibiting his subtlety at its best. We illustrate two
examples of this class of Whieldon tortoiseshell plates with rich brown
colouring flecked with green and yellow (see p. 161).
The mechanical mottling by his imitators, seemingly dabbed on in spots
by a sponge, should not be easy to distinguish after having seen one
of his best examples. In regard to the potting, Whieldon ware plates
have a flat broad rim, which almost invariably has a border of applied
strips laid crosswise.
But it must not be forgotten that, when once the fashion for "Whieldon
ware" became general, other potteries came into line. At Liverpool this
class of mottled and clouded ware was made, and also at the Castleford
pottery, near Leeds, and consequently many unmarked examples may be
attributed to these potteries. Some of the Castleford tortoiseshell
plates are impressed "D.D. & Co."
=Early Staffordshire Art.=--Among the earlier figures of the Astbury
pottery the elder Astbury worked from 1736 to 1743, and his son
continued his traditions later. There are a number of quadrupeds and
birds which are assigned by collectors to the elder Astbury, which
are, although crude, extremely interesting as showing the experiments
in coloured clays and in lead glazing. Agate figures of cats of
intermingled clays, and diminutive figures of men, some six inches
in height, with splashed or clouded decoration, all come into this
indeterminate period. The figure in the group (p. 171) already referred
to is a case in point.
In the illustration of a fine specimen of an agate cat, in height only
4 inches, the body colour is light grey with dark brown solid marbling,
and the front and ears are splashed with blue. Another miniature animal
figure belonging to this period is the salt-glaze jug in form of a
bear, only 3-1/8 inches high (see illustration, p. 171).
[Illustration:
WHIELDON TORTOISESHELL ANIMAL.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)
SPLASHED CREAM WARE ELEPHANT.
(Staffordshire, about 1750. Height 3-3/4 inches.)
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
WHIELDON GROUP.
ST. GEORGE AND THE DRAGON. Knight in green and cream;
horse and base tortoiseshell.
EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES. Old Women Hucksters.
(_In the collection of Mr. James Davies, Chester._)]
We illustrate two animals, one of the tortoiseshell variety, a beast of
formidable appearance and having considerable power in the modelling
and strongly suggestive of the jaguar, but it must be remembered that
beasts as depicted in contemporary books have an inclination towards
heraldic monsters such as "never were on land or sea." The splashed
cream ware elephant, only 3-3/4 inches in height, is fairly well
modelled. But these, in common with the many diminutive figures of a
like nature, belong to a period when Staffordshire was endeavouring to
found an English school of potters, blindly groping along in almost
untutored fashion--lame in design and feeble in inventiveness. From out
of this chaos it seems impossible that there should arise soul enough
to set the fashion later--nearly fifty years later--to the continent of
Europe, and make English earthenware the formidable rival in point of
cheapness, and often in point of beauty, to anything produced on the
Continent. But the earthenware of Staffordshire was able to teach new
points in technique concerning body and glaze to the continental potter.
In the illustration showing the group of _St. George and the Dragon_
it will be seen that the modelling begins to assume a more pretentious
character. The prevailing colours of the knight are green and cream,
the horse and the base of the group are of the familiar tortoiseshell
colouring. Beside this St. George are two early Staffordshire
figures representing two old women as hucksters. Here the feeling
is instinctively English, as national as are the Dutch beggars of
the seventeenth-century Dutch etchers. Pity it is that this class
of figure, recording national and local types, did not develop on
uninterrupted lines. It is true, and of these we shall speak later,
that the family of Wood in their types carried on the tradition, but
the unfortunate classic influence monopolised the talents of the best
modellers.
We illustrate two fine examples of _Toby Jugs_ belonging to the
Whieldon period. There is a strong family likeness between the two. The
left-hand one is richly glazed and mottled in tortoiseshell markings.
The other has the fine translucent colouring and glazing so noticeably
prominent in this school. They are both remarkably good specimens of
the Whieldon manner, and of unusual interest, as they represent the
Toby jug in its earliest form.
=The rivalry with Salt-glaze.=--This "Whieldon ware" (of course it must
not be forgotten that Whieldon made salt-glaze too) was contemporaneous
with undecorated salt-glaze ware, which at its best exhibited in no
small degree a complete knowledge of the strength and beauty of form
unaided by colour. But in this school of Whieldon there is a distinct
appeal to colour as a leading feature of the ware as opposed to form.
There is a fine artistic blending of the colours and the variation
of the glazes which palpitate with life and give extraordinary
power to pieces possessed of the "Whieldon" touch. Not only on flat
surfaces such as the well-known octagonal plates, but in figures
and groups such as we have illustrated, these colour effects were
employed with considerable dexterity. So that, in the contemplation
of black-and-white illustrations of "Whieldon ware," everything is
lost which gave the beauty and richness and mellowness which have an
irresistible charm to those collectors who confine themselves to this
early school of colourists.
[Illustration:
WHIELDON TOBY JUG.
Richly mottled and glazed.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
[Illustration:
WHIELDON TOBY JUG.
Fine translucent colouring and glazing.
(_In the collection of Mr. A. H. Baldwin._)]
=Form _versus_ Colour.=--The salt-glaze potters, when they left
their ideals of form and essayed to become colourists as well, made
this attempt chiefly for two reasons.
(1) They had a very laudable desire to emulate the coloured porcelain
made at Worcester, Bow, Chelsea, and Derby, which had become a serious
competitor in their markets.
(2) They recognised a certain weakness in their ware in regard to its
inapplicability to figures and groups. Unless the modelling is of the
highest order the salt-glaze figures are insipid.
With regard to enamelled salt-glaze in general this is dealt with
in another chapter, but it may here be remarked as touching the
second point--the salt-glaze figure--that the salt-glaze potter
brought himself directly in comparison with the figures and groups of
earthenware of the later Whieldon school. Realising that if he must
stand at all as a figure potter his modelling must be superlative, we
find the salt-glaze figures, which are mainly small in size, taken
direct from the antique or from porcelain models. But feeling the
lack of colour he added touches here and there by applying reliefs of
different coloured clays to heighten the effect. The salt-glaze potter
rarely enamelled his figures in colours. In the illustration of a
salt-glazed figure (p. 351) there are slight touches of blue.
So that in the contest between salt-glaze (the pre-eminent art of the
Staffordshire potter in early eighteenth-century days) and its two
great rivals, English porcelain and Staffordshire coloured earthenware,
in other words--Form _versus_ Colour--the first fall it received was
at the hands of "Whieldon ware." The coloured and exquisitely clouded
tortoiseshell plate, with its fine gradations of tone throbbing
with colour, more than holds its own with the salt-glaze plate, even
although its clear-cut arabesque designs and intricate patterns exhibit
the excellence of its potting.
=The Last Years of the Eighteenth Century.=--Enough has been said to
show that this typically English school had firmly established itself
in Staffordshire. Whieldon, Dr. Thomas Wedgwood, Aaron Wood (block
cutter to Whieldon), Josiah Spode the first, Greatbach, Enoch Booth,
and many others, firmly adhered to their love of colour and their
desire to see cream ware triumphant. The struggle for the supremacy
of earthenware over English porcelain was still waging. And Wedgwood,
with his marvellous invention of jasper ware and his equally stupendous
innovation in the introduction of severe classic ornament, did not
impose his style on all Staffordshire. We shall see in a later chapter
how he had a crowd of followers and imitators, but at the same time
many, very many, productions were potted contemporary with him that
owed nothing in design to him, and on the face of them bear no traces
of the classic influence.
It is this overlapping period, during which so many examples are
unmarked, which is so puzzling to the collector. "Old Staffordshire,"
they certainly are, "Early Staffordshire" they may not be, but they
exhibit a national and original feeling which it is impossible not to
recognise and value.
[Illustration:
GROUP OF EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE JUGS.
1. Jug. Pencilled floral decoration in blue. Inscribed "William and
Mary Harrison. One Nother and Then."
2. Jug. Panel with _Miser_ each side in relief.
3. Jug. Heart-shaped panel in low relief, _Children at Play_.
4. Jug. Panels of _Peacocks_ in relief.]
[Illustration:
GROUP OF EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE JUGS.
1. Finely mottled granite jug.
2. Whieldon jug. Figures in coloured relief.
3. Jug. Moulded in form of satyr's head.
(_The above groups are in the collection of Mr. James Davies,
Chester._)]
We illustrate two groups of jugs which belong to this period. In
the top jug of the upper group, which is pencilled with blue floral
decoration, the spout betrays a trace of Worcester and a tinge of
classicism in the acanthus leaf ornamentation at its base. But the
inscription drops at once into the homely vernacular, "William and
Mary Harrison One Nother and Then." The quaint phonetic spelling tells
its own story of the mission of the ale-house jug, with its invitation
to another burst of hospitality.
The three jugs below are of the same species. The handles vary
slightly, showing the inclination to adopt silver models. The left-hand
one has a panel with figure of Miser in relief each side. The middle
jug, with the heart-shaped panel, is decorated in relief with group
of Children at play. Such subjects had not appeared on jugs before
Wedgwood's day, but the idea might easily have been derived from
contemporary prints of the pretty school of Bartolozzi and Angelica
Kauffman. The right-hand jug, with its Peacocks in relief, is evidently
derived from the exotic birds of Worcester.
In the other group of jugs, the uppermost betrays in the spout and neck
distinct traces of its indebtedness to classic forms. It is translucent
green in colour, and with coloured figures in high relief. At the
front is Shakespeare, with figures of _Miser_ and _Spendthrift_ each
side. Between these (one is just visible in illustration) are classic
medallions. This is an incongruous style of decoration, and shows how
little the Staffordshire potter who made it understood the meaning of
ornament. He realised that the classic style was becoming popular,
and so he half hesitatingly affixed two cameos to his otherwise
harmonious production. The granite-ware jug, finely mottled, with two
black-and-white bands as ornament round body, is the newer development
of the early variegated ware. The right-hand jug is, in its gnarled
and bulgy protuberances, known as the crabstock variety, the moulding,
in the form of satyr's head crowned with vines, is an addition and is
extraneous to the usual crabstock form. Obviously this is a welding
together of the English and classic grotesque, and the combination is
not too harmonious.
The early Staffordshire potters, apart from the splashed and variegated
ware associated with Whieldon, made a variety of ware in pre-Wedgwood
days and in the late eighteenth century. Obviously such a jug as
that illustrated (p. 189) is an Oriental design taken straight from
the contemporary English porcelain, or even from the actual Chinese
original. But the Staffordshire potter was conservative in his shapes.
Similarly, such jugs as that illustrated (p. 189) with the rustic
design in crude painting, or seemingly in parts applied with a sponge,
must have been general in the latter half of the eighteenth century.
The scene is suggestive of Herrick and maypoles and haywains and rustic
junketings, and such early cream-ware cider-mugs and ale-jugs are not
uncommon. The _Mug_ (illustrated p. 189) shows distinctive qualities.
It is by Enoch Wood. It is decorated with translucent bands at top and
base, and ornamented with a diaper-pattern stamped and coloured brown,
with alternate lines of grey. These jugs and mugs are here illustrated
to impress upon the reader the fact that in the Whieldon period
(1740-1780) other forms than variegated ware were being made, and much
unidentified early Staffordshire ware belongs to the later years of the
eighteenth century.
=The English spirit.=--These forms--and the field is a great one for
detailed study--were growing up in spite of foreign and un-English
fashions, and long after Wedgwood's day they existed. It seems as
though it was a dogged and obstinate attempt on the part of the
potter to ignore classic models, and produce something "understanded
of the people." Obviously such ware did not rise to elaborate
ornamental vases, but confined itself to mugs and jugs and useful
articles in common use. So that, in spite of the enormous influence
of Wedgwood, both in technique, but more especially in decoration,
upon his contemporaries and his successors, it would seem that there
was always an undercurrent of pottery which, even if crude, was
extremely national. It appealed to no cosmopolitan _clientèle_, and
the potters who made it were not important enough to issue price lists
in three or four languages. Their message--as conveyed by their quaint
inscriptions, "One Nother and Then," "I drink to you with all my hart,
Mery met and mery part," and a host of other naïve sentiments--comes
direct from the heart of the potter to his friend and neighbour who
bought his wares. In a word, we may say that much that is native, much
that is racy of the soil, in the long line of queer Staffordshire
figures of animals and birds and of homely individuals, grotesque in
their diminutive personality, owe direct kinship to Whieldon and the
pre-Wedgwood school of potters, forgetful of the cold classic day,
and, in the words of William Blake, snug by the glad sunshine of "the
Alehouse so healthy and pleasant and warm."
[Illustration:
CREAM WARE JUG.
Painted decorations in under-glaze colours. Typical example of
Oriental influence on earthenware.
(_In the possession of Mr. W. L. Yeulett._)]
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE CREAM WARE JUG.
Crudely painted in colours with English subject. Typical of
earthenware of latter part of eighteenth century.
(_In the collection of Mrs. M. M. Fairbairn._)]
[Illustration:
BARREL-SHAPED MUG BY ENOCH WOOD.
Decorated with translucent green at top and base. Diaper pattern
stamped and coloured brown, and alternate lines of grey.
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)
PRICES--EARLY STAFFORDSHIRE WARE.
WHIELDON. £ s. d.
Teapoy, square, cream coloured, splashed
with green, having female embossed
figures, and inscribed "Abraham
Randell, Alice Randell 1779," 5-1/4 in.
high. Bond, Ipswich, April, 1906. 7 10 0
Plates, pair, foliage in blue on mottled
ground, inscribed "LBC 1739."
Christie, June, 1906 14 3 6
Teapot, agate ware, modelled with shells.
Christie, June, 1906 12 1 6
Figures of musicians (three). Christie,
November, 1906 13 2 6
Plaque. Portrait of Sarah Malcolm
Saunders, executed in 1733 (very
rare), taken from picture by Hogarth.
Sotheby, November, 1906 2 10 0
Teapot and cover and milk ewer and
cover, mottled. Puttick & Simpson,
November, 1906 4 4 0
Figure of "Hope," with splashed and
mottled base. Sotheby, February,
1907 1 15 0
Toy Teapot and cover, with vine-leaves
and grapes in relief, decorated in rich
translucent colours. Sotheby, February,
1907 2 18 0
Teapot and cover, agate ware, modelled
with shells. Christie, April, 1907 5 15 6
Teapot, with roses in colours on blue
ground, and another with rosebuds
and strawberries on pink ground.
Christie, April, 1907 27 6 0
Teapot, teacup, and two saucers, with
flowers in colours in Chinese style.
Christie, April, 1907 11 0 6
Group of two birds in tree, translucent
colours. Sotheby, July, 1907 2 18 0
Teapot and cover, with peasant figures in
colours. Christie, July, 1907 13 13 0
Figure of _Stag_ at rest, mottled brown
and white, on green pedestal
(10-1/2 in. high). Christie, November,
1907 10 10 0
Group of _Lovers_, pair, with birdcage,
lamb, and dog (10 in. and 11 in.
high). Christie, January, 1908 22 1 0
_St. George and Dragon_ figure (11 in.
high), and group nearly similar.
Christie, January, 1908 10 10 6
Figures, pair, Peasant Boy and Girl,
emblematic of Autumn and Winter,
on octagonal plinths (7-1/4 in. high),
and a Figure of _Man with Bagpipes_
(8-1/4 in. high). Christie, January,
1908 13 13 0
"King David" Figure (12-1/2 in. high), and
"Neptune" (11-1/2 in. high), on square
pedestals, with medallions in relief.
Christie, January, 1908 14 3 6
Cauliflower-pattern Teapot, cream-jug,
and canister. Christie, February,
1908 11 0 6
Teapot and cover, solid agate ware, very
large size. Sotheby, May, 1908 10 0 0
Teapot and cover, formed of leaves, with
rabbit on cover. Sotheby, May,
1908 4 4 0
ASTBURY WARE.
Teapot and cover, dark buff body, decorated
in relief with grapes, tendrils,
and leaves in cream colour. Sotheby,
November, 1907 3 10 0
Teapot and cover, brown hexagonal shape,
with panels of Chinese subject in
relief, lid surmounted by rabbit.
Sotheby, November, 1907 3 15 0
Astbury and early Whieldon figures, which are of small size as a rule,
range in price from £4 to £10. Exceptional examples command much higher
prices.
VI
SALT-GLAZED
WARE--STAFFORDSHIRE
CHAPTER VI
SALT-GLAZED WARE--STAFFORDSHIRE
The originality of English Salt-glazed Ware--What is Salt
glaze?--Early Salt-glaze--The classes of Salt-glaze--Its
decadence and its extinction--Prices of Salt-glazed Ware.
The fine salt-glazed stoneware of Staffordshire which was made during
the greater part of the eighteenth century is something in art of
which the English potter may very justly be proud. It is remotely
derived from the fine Flemish and Rhenish decorated stoneware, but
the connection ends with the common qualities of being glazed with
salt and of being extremely hard, almost so hard as to resist a file.
But in the Staffordshire salt-glazed ware the body became almost of
a porcelain-like quality. It was able to be made as thin as stamped
silver, and in the thinnest portions of the pieces it is translucent
like porcelain. Indeed, since the days of Elers (whom Dwight termed a
silversmith) earthenware, or rather stoneware, took some of its details
in form and in ornament from the worker in silver.
The applied ornament of Elers stamped with a brass die suggests the
metal worker, and, with the models of the school of Astbury before
them, Staffordshire potters followed the same methods. It is not
astonishing to find the moulded designs with their intricate patterns
in the newer school of potters of salt-glaze ware--which in its best
period (1720-1740) relied solely on form and not on colour, being a
dull, creamy white--emulating the fine work of the silversmith. It
was only a natural striving in the new generation of potters of the
Whieldon school, with fresh inventions in clays and glazes and moulds,
to cast about them for better and worthier ideals than Toft had, and
fresher models than stoneware Bellarmines which had been in circulation
in the country since Tudor days.
Silver models provided many a fine shape for Wedgwood, his cream
ware and his basalt teapots are bodily taken from Sheffield. But
imitativeness has always been the curse of English potters. Wedgwood
copied in jasper ware the cameo work of the classic world, and the
whole of Staffordshire to a man commenced to pot on similar lines.
Through the last decades of the eighteenth century, and well into the
nineteenth, thousands of vases and jugs were turned out as echoes of
Etruria in Staffordshire which, as its name denotes, was but an echo
of something centuries earlier. Bow called itself "New Canton," and
Worcester slavishly copied Chinese mandarins and exotic birds, coined
in the brain of some Oriental potter. Chelsea copied Dresden, and
Lowestoft copied the Bow and Worcester copies of Chinese originals, and
the list could be prolonged _ad nauseam_.
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED LOVERS' TEAPOT.
In the shape of a heart. Floral decoration slightly gilded.
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED TEAPOT.
In the form of a camel.
(_In the possession of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
Indeed, this curse lies very heavy on the collector who has to devote
a great portion of his energy to research in order to determine who
first made certain models. This, unfortunately, tends to divert the
study of old earthenware, its artistic qualities and its technical
triumphs, into channels more or less contentious. The literature of
English ceramics is rapidly becoming like many of the editions of
Shakespeare, where a few lines of text stand as an oasis in a desert of
commentators' controversial opinions.
It is, therefore, refreshing to find, as one does undoubtedly find in
Staffordshire salt-glazed ware, one of the most remarkable and original
outbursts in English art pottery that has taken place. This delicate
stoneware is as thin as some of the Oriental porcelain, and possesses
a grace and symmetry peculiarly its own. In some of its decorations
it bears a likeness to Chinese work. This does not detract from its
high place as a ceramic record. On the contrary, this similitude is a
tribute to pay to its artistic excellence, for there is very little
earthenware that came out of Staffordshire that will bear comparison
with the work of the Chinese potter.
=What is Salt glaze?=--We know that many of the stoneware Bellarmines
and Rhenish jugs were glazed with salt. It was a process known on the
Continent at a very early date, some authorities place it as early
as the twelfth century. But it was not until the second half of the
sixteenth century that German and Flemish potters used this salt glaze
to any great extent. We have seen, in the chapter on stoneware, that
the appearance in the mottling and in the orange-skin-like surface is
due to the action of salt glaze.
To cover pottery with an outer surface has been practised from earliest
times either by the use of some glassy material or by powdered lead.
Glazing with common salt was quite a new departure by the English
potters. In order for this salt glaze to be used there must be a very
high temperature, so high, as a matter of fact, that it would melt or
soften in the kiln most English earthenware. This is where stoneware in
its body differs from earthenware; it is what is termed "refractory,"
that is to say, it is not readily fusible. Stoneware is not always
glazed. Elers did not glaze his red ware, and Wedgwood did not glaze
his basalt or black ware. Stoneware can also be glazed with other
processes than the salt glaze, but, as a rule, stoneware is associated
with salt glaze.
Without entering too tediously into the exact steps by which salt
glazing is performed, it may be roughly described as follows. Other
glazes, such as lead, are applied to the surface of the ware prior to
its entry into the kiln for firing, but in salt glaze the glaze is
incorporated with the ware while it is actually in the kiln. Towards
the end of the firing common salt (chloride of sodium) is thrown into
the kiln, which is packed with the ware, through apertures in the kiln
which has to be specially designed for salt-glaze use. At the high
temperature of the kiln (about 2,190° Fahr.) the salt is volatised
and its vapour penetrates the saggers (that is, the earthen vessels
containing the pieces being made), which have perforated sides to
enable this vapour to form on the surface of the pieces being fired.
This vapour chemically unites with the silica largely present in the
body of the stoneware, and forms a silicate on the surface of the ware.
That is to say, the stoneware becomes coated with a thin layer or glaze
of sodic silicate or soda-glass.
[Illustration:
GROUP OF SALT-GLAZED WARE.
Jug enamelled in colours. Teapot blue enamel by Littler.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
This chemical action taking place simultaneously with the final firing
of the ware before its removal from the kiln incorporates the
glaze with the body of the ware itself. It is this combination which
causes the minute depressions or tiny pin-holes in all stoneware from
Bellarmines down to the finely and nearly translucent salt-glazed
Staffordshire ware which has a surface like that of leather. The same
multitudinous pin-hole surface is characteristic of Oriental porcelain,
which like stoneware is fired at a very high temperature, and the glaze
and the body completed at one firing in the _grand feu_. Though, of
course, this is not salt glaze, nor is the surface other than as smooth
as glass to the touch, although under a strong glass or even to the
naked eye these pin-holes are easily discernible.
At the present day salt glaze is mainly used for such ware as ink-pots,
drain pipes, insulators for telegraphic instruments, and common
ginger-beer bottles. The connection between John Dwight, of Christ
Church, Oxford (Master of Arts), the creator of the magnificent bust
of _Prince Rupert_, the glory of the ceramic collection at the British
Museum, and between John Philip Elers, godson of Queen Christina, and
this sad array of utilitarian nondescripts, is not a pleasing subject
for reflection. It is sad to think that these triumphs have been
won in vain by the genius of the old potters over the plastic clay.
What an ignoble ending to the long chain of experiments! When Dwight
destroyed his secret memoranda it is as though he foresaw the era of
the drainpipe.
=Early Salt-glaze.=--The early stages of the manufacture of salt-glazed
ware were crude and experimental. There is some connection between the
finely potted lustrous stoneware of Nottingham and "Crouch ware," the
undeveloped form of the later phase of finely-potted Staffordshire
salt-glaze ware. This "Crouch" ware represents the transitional
stage between the ordinary brown stoneware and the later drab or
greyish white examples. Crouch ware at its earliest was not made in
Staffordshire till 1690, and there is presumptive evidence to show
that salt-glaze brown ware was made at some pot-works at Crich, near
Matlock, Derbyshire; and that the same or similar clay was used by the
Staffordshire potters who gave it that name, and there is proof that
the Crich pottery existed as early as 1717, and Nottingham has dated
pieces as early as 1700.
On the face of it, in spite of Josiah Wedgwood's letter in connection
with the medallion to John Philip Elers, there is little evidence to
go upon to credit the Elers with having made salt-glaze ware at all.
Excavations on the site of their factory at Bradwell Wood have only
resulted in the discovery of fragments of their unglazed red ware, "red
porcelain" as it was called, and experts have pronounced their oven as
being unfitted for salt-glaze operations.
On the whole, therefore, in accordance with the latest research, one
is inclined to come to the conclusion that the Brothers Elers did not
invent Staffordshire salt-glazed ware. If they made it at all, they
made very few examples. The red ware is theirs as far as Staffordshire
is concerned, although Dwight had something to say on that score when
he charged them and Nottingham potters and others with infringing his
patents.
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED TEAPOT.
Enamelled in colours. Marked "John Toft."
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
Among the early makers of salt-glazed ware were Astbury and Twyford,
and Thomas Astbury, son of the former, being associated with the
introduction of ground flint into the body in 1720. Thomas Billing
in 1722, and Ralph Shaw in 1732, made further improvements in the body.
Dr. Thomas Wedgwood and Aaron Wood, and Thomas Whieldon and Ralph
Daniel, of Cobridge, were all well-known makers of this ware, the
latter having introduced plaster-of-paris moulds in lieu of alabaster,
and being further notable for his enamelled decorations in colour, in
the period 1743 to 1750, which attempted to vie with the contemporary
coloured porcelain. William Littler, of Longton, used a similar blue to
that which he used on the porcelain at Longton Hall.
At this date the ware became white in colour, and took its pleasing
forms so dear to connoisseurs.
=The Classes of Salt-glaze.=--In its various styles salt-glazed ware
may be roughly divided into periods. The experimental stage was over in
1720. From 1720 to 1740 the undecorated or white examples were made,
depending on form for their beauty. These had applied ornamentation
stamped with metal dies, or made in separate moulds and affixed to the
body to be decorated (similar to the Elers style). It is during this
period that some of the finest pieces were made with sharp, clear-cut
designs. Later, when moulds were made of plaster-of-paris in place of
alabaster, the design became blurred.
Among the most beautiful designs in this plain white ware having raised
ornament are sauceboats, pickle trays, sweetmeat dishes, teapoys or tea
canisters, and teapots; these latter are of a great variety of shapes,
many having shell ornament, very exquisitely moulded, and others being
of hexagonal shape divided into compartments. There is, too, a trace of
the grotesque discernible in some of these teapots and a subtle humour
too rarely found in English pottery. There are those of the camel
form, such as the specimen illustrated (p. 197). The peculiar handle
made by hand is very noticeable, usually such handles are snipped off
at the end. Others are of the shape of a house, and many types of this
design occur. Some are in the form of a squirrel. Then there are the
heart-shaped teapots with the spout incongruously representing an arm
resting on the neck of a swan. These teapots were supposed to have
been made for lovers. We give an illustration (p. 197) of one of these
heart teapots, and it will be seen how a slight touch of gilding has
been added to heighten the effect on the embossed portions showing the
fruit. Of course the cauliflower teapot exhibits a touch of humour,
too, but this form is rarely found in salt glaze. The bright natural
colours of that interesting vegetable were reproduced by Whieldon, who
made this type as well as melon and pineapple teapots and coffee-pots.
The vivid green and yellow glaze of this cauliflower ware is of the
period when Josiah Wedgwood was with Whieldon and is held to be young
Josiah's invention. He afterwards made similar ware himself.
The next stage was the slight use of colour in what is termed
"scratched" blue. This style of decoration is the opposite of the
relief ornaments. The pattern was incised with a sharp instrument on
the piece, in the lines thus cut cobalt blue was applied with a sponge.
Birds and foliage are the typical form of decorations to pieces of this
style from 1740 to about 1750.
From 1745 to 1750 William Littler introduced his cobalt blue ware over
which decorations in black or white were enamelled or gilded, and such
pieces are rare. (See illustration p. 201.)
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED VASE.
Enamelled in colours--turquoise blue, yellow. (Height 5-3/4 inches.)]
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED PUNCH BOWL.
Enamelled in colours, with portrait of the Young Pretender. (Diameter
10 inches.)
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
Then comes the period in which colour was in full swing. From 1740 to
1760 enamelling in colours was extensively used. It was employed on
plain surfaces, or as a touch of colour to ornaments in relief. There
is no doubt that some of these coloured examples are very beautiful.
It is not necessary to dethrone the plain white ware from its place of
honour. With later developments it was found that colour could be used
with artistic advantage, nor is there any deterioration of the ware
from an æsthetic point of view in this colour work when in the hands of
skilled craftsmen.
Similarly transfer-printing was recognised as a suitable means of
decoration, and pieces are found with printed designs of black or red
or puce. The head of the King of Prussia is found on some specimens
of this type. Of course this is later in date, and must have been
subsequent to 1760, when Sadler and Green invented transfer-printing
at Liverpool. Doubtless these pieces entered into competition with the
new colour ware then in vogue, which drove the salt-glaze ware from
the market, and killed the most artistic and original productions the
English potter had ever made.
The industry had by this time grown to great dimensions, and apparently
the Staffordshire potters were turning out this salt-glazed ware as
fast as they could, no very good sign that good work was to last much
longer. Nor is all the enamel work English; two Dutchmen were secretly
employed at Burslem to do this enamelling in colour. But the secret
spread, and we find two Leeds painters, Robinson and Rhodes, doing
enamelling on the salt-glazed ware for the Staffordshire potters.
We are enabled to reproduce a very fine example of enamelled
salt-glaze ware having the inscription "James and Martha Jinkcuson,"
and dated 1764. It stands as a fine specimen of its class. The colours
of the flowers and insects are very rich, being, as is usual, enamelled
over the salt-glaze ground. Dated salt-glazed ware is always uncommon,
and an example of such fine colouring in such perfect condition stands
as a rare and splendid specimen.
There is yet another style in salt-glaze in which the whole surface
of the piece to be decorated is coated with a slip of another colour,
and the decoration cut through it to show the white body beneath. This
belongs to the last period, 1760 to 1780, as also does the basket work
for which Aaron Wood, and R. J. Baddeley, of Shelton, are noted for
their fine patterns. Incised work in imitation of Japanese work was
also prevalent during the last period of salt-glaze work.
We illustrate another very important salt-glazed piece, a teapot
enamelled in colours having what is known as a "crabstock" handle,
spout, and lid. It is remarkable as being incised with the name "John
Toft" (see p. 205). Undoubtedly this is a member of the celebrated
Toft family, whose dishes, marked "Ralph Toft" and "Thomas Toft"
in slip-ware, gave the generic name to a class of ware. It is not
improbable that one of the Tofts modelled the celebrated salt-glaze
"pew group" in the Victoria and Albert Museum. It exhibits the
peculiarly quaint doll-like faces with beady eyes associated with Toft
dishes.
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED JUG.
Richly enamelled in colours, and inscribed 'James & Martha Jinkcuson
1764.'
(_In the collection of Mr. Frederick Rathbone, South Kensington._)]
In the group illustrated (p. 201) there is one enamelled jug. The two
dishes show another type of plain salt-glaze. The teapot shows incised
work on the broad band around it, but no indication of colour. The
coffee-pot is the well-known squirrel form, and the dark teapot on
left is enamelled in blue by Thomas Littler, and is a rare example.
In colouring the salt-glazed vase in bright turquoise blue and pink and
green, with its Oriental design, strongly suggests the enamel work of
Limoges (see p. 209). It stands in the eighteenth century in the same
relationship to the metal enameller as does a modern French factory at
Bordeaux, Messrs. Viellard & Cie., whose work in coarse earthenware
simulates the _cloisonné_ enamel.
The punch bowl illustrated has a portrait of the Young Pretender. In
date it is, of course, not earlier than 1745, the year of the Rebellion
in Scotland on behalf of the Pretender, and when his son Charles Edward
landed and defeated the royal forces near Edinburgh. This punch bowl
tells its story of stirring days, when Jacobites secretly met at night
in quiet manor houses and drank a toast to the Stuart claimant. In
public by a kind of subtle jest when they were driven to drink the
health of "the king," they by a specious mental reservation flourished
their glasses over any water on the table, the hidden meaning being
"the King--over the water." But here is a punch bowl which was probably
brought out for the sworn partisans to drink to the pious memory of the
exiled Stuarts. There was always, even when the Stuart cause was a lost
one, a tender recollection of "Prince Charlie," the "Young Chevalier."
The lilting lines of Bobbie Burns in the last quarter of the eighteenth
century, always awaken romantic associations, and bowls such as this
were relics of something that had been, and without doubt in its day
this same bowl has filled the glasses of a loyal company who drank the
health of his Gracious Majesty George the Third.
As we have pointed out in the introductory note there are many
monuments in clay on the collector's shelf which punctuate the sonorous
phrases of the historian. Such pieces are exceptionally interesting in
aiding the reflective mind to recreate the events of a former day which
touched the life roots of the nation.
PRICES.
SALT GLAZE. £ s. d.
Teapoy, square shaped, decorated with
scratched flowers in blue. With
female half-length figure (within a
Chippendale frame), inscribed "Martha
Saymore September ye 25th 1770"
(5-1/4 in. high). Bond, Ipswich, April,
1906 11 0 0
Bowl and cover and milk jug decorated,
rich blue ground. Sotheby, June,
1906 26 0 0
Teapot, brilliantly enamelled in colour
with roses, auriculas, &c., with turquoise
handle and spout. Sotheby,
June, 1906 50 0 0
Teapot, crimson ground, with white panels
with flowers in colour. Sotheby,
June, 1906 26 0 0
Teapot and cover, modelled as house with
royal arms over door. Sotheby,
February, 1907 5 12 6
Teapot and cover, modelled as a camel.
Sotheby, February, 1907 6 6 0
Jug and cover, hexagonal, with subjects
in relief. Sotheby, February,
1907 4 4 0
Teapot, enamelled in colours, with portrait
of Frederick King of Prussia; on
reverse, spread eagle holding ribbon
with inscription, "Semper Sublimis."
Sotheby, March, 1907 21 10 0
Milk jug and cover, enamelled in colours
in a continuous landscape with castle,
obelisk, and other buildings. Sotheby,
March, 1907 7 15 0
Vessel, modelled as a _Bear_, head
forming cup. Sotheby, March, 1907 4 4 0
Basin with raised subjects in panels.
Sotheby, July, 1908 13 5 0
Teapot and cover, enamelled in colours,
with roses, &c. Sotheby, July, 1908 8 0 0
Teapot and cover, dark blue ground.
Sotheby, July, 1908 8 5 0
Coffee-pot and cover (small), decorated in
enamel colours with Chinese figures.
Sotheby, July, 1908 14 15 0
VII
JOSIAH
WEDGWOOD
CHAPTER VII
JOSIAH WEDGWOOD
1730-1795
Josiah Wedgwood's place in the ceramic world--His business
abilities--Josiah Wedgwood's wares--Cream Ware and its
invention--Jasper Ware and its imitation--The influence of Josiah
Wedgwood--Wedgwood Marks--The Prices of Wedgwood.
The time is now ripe to form a mature judgment as to the exact niche in
the temple of fame which Josiah Wedgwood is to occupy permanently. His
immediate successors were in too close proximity to his own day to form
an opinion as to his life-work in relation to what had gone before and
what has succeeded him.
The inquiry into the origins of certain inventions attributed to him
have been pursued of late years with a scientific thoroughness, and
many facts have come to light which tend to raise the reputation of
other lesser known potters who immediately preceded him or were his
contemporaries.
John Dwight (of Fulham) has come into his own. The Elers (of
Staffordshire) have been dethroned from the unique position they
occupied as pioneers of salt-glaze ware. In regard to the Astburys,
father and son, credit has been given them for great work, and Whieldon
is held to have had an immense influence on his contemporaries. During
the great outburst in salt-glazed ware, cream ware, its later rival
and conqueror, was in a transitional stage. This transitional period
embraces a great field of pioneer workers who experimented unceasingly
with clays and glazes. The days of salt-glaze were drawing to a close,
it had many obvious defects; the ware would not readily stand hot
liquids--and this in an age when tea drinking was becoming fashionable.
The artistic side for the moment was cast aside in these experiments,
the uppermost question in the Staffordshire potters' minds was the
invention of some ware that could hold its own against the competition
of the new English porcelain factories.
It thus came about that this period of great technical activity
(1720-1740) was immediately succeeded by an almost simultaneous
exhibition of work, suggesting a renaissance of earthenware in England
(1740-1800) and establishing the European reputation of Staffordshire.
Josiah Wedgwood with John Turner, of Lane End, and William Adams, of
Greengates, stand as a trio of master potters who developed the classic
spirit in jasper and kindred ornamental ware. In regard to developing
the manufacture of cream ware and stone ware for domestic use, and in
building up a continental and American trade which won for British
earthenware the supremacy of the world's trade in pottery, Josiah
Wedgwood takes an equal prominence together with Warburton and the
Baddeleys and the Adamses and Turner.
In roughly detailing the stages which led up to the manufacture of the
main classes of ware for which Wedgwood was famous, it will be shown
how with a masterly mind for realising broad results he combined the
patient industry of a practical potter. He commenced with a capital of
twenty pounds and died worth half a million. In spite of his ill-health
and the loss of his leg, his unflagging energy and his keen foresight
enabled him to build up an important business which is still carried on
by his descendants. His love of organisation and the system of control
which he exercised over his own enormous output had a lasting effect on
the methods of the Staffordshire potteries.
The genius of Josiah Wedgwood has won the continued admiration of
succeeding generations. It may be that he has somewhat overshadowed
many of his contemporaries, and his successors have been termed
imitators. In order to adjust matters there is a tendency in some
quarters to belittle the work of the great Josiah. But surely the
pendulum has swung too far the other way when it is advanced that
"Wedgwood himself was no artist, he was a tradesman pure and simple."
This is not the opinion of critics with nicer balanced judgment and of
cosmopolitan taste. The epitaph upon his monument in the parish church
of Stoke-upon-Trent, which bears the inscription that he "converted
a rude and inconsiderable Manufactory into an elegant Art," has been
assailed in order to prove it to be a "travesty of the fact," and to
state that "what he _really_ did was to convert an Art--rude it may
be, and inconsiderable, but still an Art--into a manufacture. In other
words, he inaugurated an entirely new order of things in the production
of pottery, and a less desirable one."
The truth is that it is not necessary to belittle Wedgwood in order to
put his great contemporaries in the order of their merit. The later and
more corrected opinion may be arrived at quite judicially by crediting
them with some of the artistic impulses he possessed. While he lived he
worked harmoniously and in close friendship with his fellow potters,
and a century after his death it should not be difficult to determine
their relative positions without bespattering his epitaph with mud.
=Wedgwood's business abilities.=--He was undoubtedly a keen man
of affairs. When in partnership with Whieldon he had travelled to
London, to Manchester, to Birmingham, to Sheffield, and to Liverpool,
which brought him into touch with silversmiths and metal workers in
connection with the agate knife-handles and similar Whieldon ware. He
evidently realised that Staffordshire was behind other districts in
many respects. Although only a young man, he interested the influential
people in the neighbourhood of the potteries and the roads were
improved and water transit provided as an outlet for goods. He cut the
first sod of the Trent and Mersey Canal.
In 1759 he was master potter, but he made most of his own models,
prepared his own mixtures, superintended firing, and was his own clerk
and warehouseman. Less than ten years afterwards, on the advice of the
Duke of Marlborough, Lord Gower, and Lord Spencer, he opened showrooms
in London in Newport Street.
A year after this the demand for his fine jasper ware and expensive
ornamental productions had so increased that he found the greatest
difficulty in finding sufficient workmen.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD CREAM WARE DESSERT BASKET.
Showing fine pierced work.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD CREAM WARE DESSERT CENTRE-PIECE.
Designed from Josiah Wedgwood's collection of shells.
(_In Museum at Etruria._)
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
His catalogues were printed in several languages, and he had the shrewd
common sense to add some forewords of his own to indicate the lines
on which he was working as a potter and to bring the attention of
likely buyers to his ware.
=Wedgwood as a potter.=--There is no doubt that Wedgwood always had in
view the improvement of whatever ware he engaged to make. When with
Whieldon he perfected the green glaze in the cauliflower and kindred
ware, and when he became a master potter in 1759, he produced pieces
which were eminently remarkable for their fine technique. There is
no doubt that his connection with silversmiths induced him to follow
their designs. Some of his early ware, such as teapots, have punched
perforated ornament in the rims for which he invented tools. In the
museum at Etruria are some six thousand trial pieces, some few inches
in length, covering a wide period when Josiah was pursuing his way
towards his crowning achievement, the invention of his jasper ware.[3]
[Note: 3 These have been recently arranged and catalogued by Mr. Frederic
Rathbone.]
He claims credit for great improvements, both as an inventor and as
a ready and masterly adapter, quick to seize the salient points of
a half-perfected ware and by a few touches of genius make it his
own. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society for his invention of
a pyrometer, an instrument for registering high temperatures in the
kilns. His experiments led him into new fields in connection with
bodies, glazes, and colours, and he introduced for the first time in
pottery certain minerals such as barytes in his pastes.
=Josiah Wedgwood's wares.=--It will be seen, in the enumeration of the
various classes of ware which were produced by him, in what respect he
added improvements which in their turn were improved upon by later
potters, and to what extent his productions were entirely original,
adding a new note in English pottery, creating an entire school, and
leaving the mark of his genius on his successors for nearly a century.
_Variegated ware._--The agate, the cauliflower, and melon ware, the
clouded and mottled glaze, and the various imitations of marbling, came
into vogue in the days of Whieldon. But Wedgwood was more ambitious
in his designs. We have already seen, in dealing with Whieldon ware,
how the "solid" agate ware was produced by means of fine layers of
clays of different colours, which after careful manipulation produced
a series of waves resembling the natural ornamentation of the stone.
Wedgwood also employed "surface" colouring for this variegated ware,
the body being of the common cream-coloured earthenware and the
veining and mottling being applied to the surface. In such pieces the
handles and the plinths were usually oil gilded; later he used a white
semi-porcelain for plinths of such ware.
Two agate vases and ewers marked "Wedgwood and Bentley" belong to the
period 1768 to 1780. The plinths of the agate vases show the white
undecorated body. Wedgwood imitated Egyptian pebble, jasper, porphyry,
and various kinds of granite speckled with grey, black, white, or
green. Much of this is a flight higher than the agate ware.
_Black basalt Ware._--In this ware, which was termed "Egyptian black,"
Wedgwood triumphed over his predecessors. We know the black ware
made by Elers and by Twyford (two fine black Twyford teapots are in
the Hanley Museum), but the ware into which Wedgwood infused his
genius is worthy to be called what he termed it--"black porcelaine."
With its rich black, smooth surface it was capable of varied use,
including useful as well as ornamental ware. In the former, we find
tea services and coffee or chocolate pots strictly adopting the severe
Queen Anne silver shapes, and in vases he followed bronze prototypes.
See illustration (p. 241) of two _Black basalt Teapots_. It was used
in fine manner for life-size busts and for medallion portraits of
"illustrious Ancients and Moderns."
This basalt ware Wedgwood further used in combination with other
processes. He imitated the ancient Greek vase paintings by decorating
the black surface with unglazed colours, or he had ornaments in relief
in red. Another replica of classic art was his simulation of bronze,
and this black ware formed the groundwork to which he added the bronze
metallic colouring in his rare bronze examples.
The two black basalt ewers, entitled _Wine_ and _Water_, designed
by Flaxman, are well known. It is at once evident that they owe no
inconsiderable debt to the metal worker. It requires no great stretch
of imagination to believe them to be in bronze. Technically, as
specimens of earthenware, they are perfect, but it is open to question
whether the potter has not trespassed on the domain of the worker in
metal. There are canons which govern the art of pottery; form and
ornamentation strictly appropriate in metal are utterly unfitted for
the worker in clay. Branched candelabra are false in porcelain though
extremely beautiful in silver. In passing this criticism, which applies
to some of Wedgwood's work, we are incidentally brushing aside the
contention of those critics who find him unoriginal. As a matter of
fact he was so original and so responsive to the suggestion of allied
arts that he often undertook the creation of pieces in his kilns the
like of which no potter had ever attempted before.
_Red Ware._--It is not to be supposed that Wedgwood would allow the
fine red Elers ware to stand as representative of the uttermost that
Staffordshire had produced without attempting to emulate this early
ware. Accordingly, we find in what he terms his _rosso antico_, a red
ware of extraordinary beauty. Some of the engine-turned pieces of
this red ware are exceptionally fine. There is in the Hanley Museum
a coffee-pot of great technical and æsthetic value. Wine-coolers and
other useful creations, with classic ornamentation in relief, show
the wide range of this red terra-cotta or unglazed ware. The Elers
style was simple, with applied stamped ornament of small dimensions
and Oriental rather than classical in _motif_. The red stoneware
of Böttcher, of Dresden, was by this time fairly well known, and
Wedgwood had both Elers and Böttcher to serve as models, although he
does not seem to have employed this red ware to any great extent. Nor
did Wedgwood confine himself to red in this type of ware; he made
chocolate-coloured examples, and in his cane-coloured and bamboo ware
he made articles for domestic use, such as tea and coffee services
as well as mugs and jugs of this type, which differed from the black
basalt inasmuch as the basalt was an especially hard body, whereas
these others were porous and soft. As was usual with Wedgwood, not only
did he have a series of wares of different colours, but he often worked
with a combination of these colours in the same piece.
=Cream Ware.=--Something must be said concerning the development
of cream ware before it can be accurately determined how much
Staffordshire was indebted to Wedgwood for its development. At the
outset it must be granted that he did not invent the ware. But he
improved it. Similarly it was further improved subsequent to his day by
other potters who made it finer and whiter.
But to this day, a hundred and fifty years after the introduction of
this cream ware, his descendants, still trading under the name of
Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, produce this cream ware exactly as
it was then produced. Dinner services are made with Flaxman's designs
on the border, essentially English in character and feeling. Last year
Messrs. James Powell and Sons, of the Whitefriars Glass Works, near
the Temple, which were flourishing in 1710, and still continue to
produce the finest glass in England, held an exhibition of Wedgwood
ware. Considerable interest was drawn to the subject of this revival
of the old patterns of 1775 from the designs of Josiah Wedgwood's
band of artists. Those connoisseurs who love old furniture and old
eighteenth-century glass ware, as made by Messrs. Powell, welcomed the
Wedgwood queen's ware designs as being something eminently fitted to
strike the right note of harmony, and accordingly, by arrangement with
the firm at Etruria, some of the finest patterns of the old ware are
exclusively made for Messrs. Powell. The English dinner table may now
be as English as it was in Georgian days, and, happily, this æsthetic
revival has met with a warm response by the patronage of the royal
family, the nobility, and by all those who love the old-world charm of
the domestic art of our forefathers.
Before Wedgwood's day cream ware was made. Astbury used an addition of
white clay and flint to his bodies about 1720. In 1726 the grinding of
flint stones into powder for the potters' use became so important that
Thomas Benson took out a patent for a machine to do this. In 1750 we
find cream ware being largely made. Aaron Wedgwood and William Littler
introduced about this time a fluid lead glaze instead of the old manner
of using powdered galena (native sulphide of lead). Body and glaze were
at this period fired at one operation. Enoch Booth improved this by
revolutionising the method of glazing. He fired the pieces to a biscuit
state and then dipped them in this fluid lead glaze (ground flint and
white lead), and refired them at a lower temperature. At this date
two other potters, Warburton (of Hot Lane) and Baddeley (of Shelton),
followed Booth's practice, and cream ware may be said to have been in a
fairly flourishing condition.
These facts are all important and cannot be ignored in arriving at a
satisfactory conclusion. Wedgwood commenced as a master potter in 1759,
that is, about nine years after the latest inventions in cream ware had
brought the ware into something more than an experimental stage. In
1761 Wedgwood's cream ware, both by its variety of beautiful form and
its finer glaze and body, had surpassed that of his rival potters.
In 1762 Wedgwood presented to Queen Charlotte a caudle and breakfast
service of the ware; this was painted by Thomas Daniel and David
Steele. The Queen and the King were so pleased with the ware that
complete table services were ordered, and Wedgwood received the Queen's
command to call himself "Potter to Her Majesty" in 1765, and from that
date he termed the ware "Queen's Ware."
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD CREAM WARE PLATES.
Painted with English scenery. From service made for Catherine II. of
Russia, 1774. Having green frog in reserve on each plate.
(_In Museum at Etruria._) (_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD BUSTS OF ROUSSEAU AND VOLTAIRE.
Enamelled in colours. (Height 6-1/2 inches and 6 inches.)
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
Though the invention of cream ware may not be his, there must have been
something essentially more pleasing in his productions to have made
such strides in so short a time. Perhaps Wedgwood, "the tradesman pure
and simple," had something to do with this achievement, but we prefer
to think it was the master hand of Wedgwood the potter and Wedgwood the
artist.
We cannot leave this _cream ware_ question without referring to an old
legal controversy. This brings us down to the year 1775 when Wedgwood,
in company with John Turner (of Lane End) journeyed to Cornwall and
jointly leased some clay mines. The reason for their visit was that
the whole of the Staffordshire potters were up in arms. Salt glaze was
coming to an end in spite of the enamelling in colours in emulation
of English porcelain. And now Cookworthy, the potter of Plymouth, the
maker of the first hard porcelain in England, had sold his patent
rights to Champion of Bristol, who, in 1775, applied for a further
patent for fourteen years to use certain natural materials for making
porcelain. The Staffordshire potters elected Josiah Wedgwood and John
Turner as their representatives and petitioned against the granting of
this patent, and Wedgwood urged that
"the manufacture of earthenware in Staffordshire has of late
received many essential improvements, and is continually
advancing to higher degrees of perfection; that the further
improvement of the manufactory must depend upon the application
and the _free use_ of the various raw materials that are the
natural products of this country."
He further adds that "the natural productions of the soil ought to be
the right of all."
Incidentally, this controversy throws light on the position of Wedgwood
as a maker of cream ware, and it had a lasting effect, as we shall
show in the improvement of cream ware itself and upon the class of ware
turned out in Staffordshire.
Champion, in his reply to the Staffordshire outburst in petitioning
parliament not to grant his patent, pays Wedgwood a great compliment:
"Mr. Champion most cheerfully joins in the general praise which
is given to Mr. Wedgwood for the _many improvements which he has
made in the Staffordshire earthenware_, and the great pains and
assiduity with which he has pursued them. He richly deserves the
large fortune he has made from these improvements."
Champion goes on to make a most vital point in upholding his claim to
protection that he
"has no objection to the use which the potters of Staffordshire
may make of his or any other raw materials _provided earthenware
only, as distinguished by that title, is made from it_."
Here, then, is the reason of the visit of Wedgwood and Turner to
the West, in search of the natural earths that half the potters in
Europe had been hunting for since Böttcher, of Dresden, made his great
discovery of white clay.
But the story of _cream ware_ is not ended. Wedgwood to this printed
"Reply" by Champion entered the lists with some printed "Remarks,"
which he circulated to members of parliament. In this--and we must bear
in mind that he was holding a brief on behalf of all the Staffordshire
potters--we find the following statement:--
"_When Mr. Wedgwood discovered the art of making Queen's Ware_,
which employs ten times more people than all the china works
in the kingdom, he did not ask for a patent for this important
discovery. A patent would greatly have limited its public
utility. Instead of one hundred manufactories of Queen's Ware
there would have been one; and instead of an exportation to all
quarters of the world, a few pretty things would have been made
for the amusement of the people of fashion in England."
In spite of the opposition of Staffordshire, the Bill enabling Champion
to obtain his patent rights passed both houses of parliament, and in
the last stage a clause was inserted throwing open the free use of raw
materials to potters for any purpose _except for the manufacture of
porcelain_; practically this patent was to be enjoyed by Champion for
nearly twenty-two years.
Two extraordinarily important effects upon the pottery industry
in Staffordshire were the result of this controversy: (1) The
Staffordshire potter confined himself to earthenware. (2) Growan stone
and Cornish Kaolin were added to the cream ware body, which enabled
earthenware to compete successfully with china.
It may have struck an inquiring spirit as singular that the
Staffordshire potters as a body were content to imitate English
porcelain and compete with it. At first, of course, the remoteness of
the Potteries from the West accounted for this, but clay was brought
by sea from Bideford to Chester and carried overland to Staffordshire,
but not the growan stone nor Cornish kaolin. Chelsea and Bow did not
have natural earths to hand. But the additional reason seems to be
the one we have given--that practically Champion's patent precluded
them from making porcelain. When, in or about 1769, cream ware was
perfected there was no need to cast about for new bodies. Staffordshire
earthenware had found itself, and all other improvements after that
date, for fifty years, until early nineteenth-century days, mainly
concerned enamelling, printing, glazing, and the _exterior_, or
developments in mechanical production, or attempts at higher artistic
effects.
In the illustrations we give of cream ware it will be seen that it was
of varying form and it received a variety of decoration.
It was _plain or undecorated_, relying chiefly on its symmetry of
form as an artistic asset. The cut and pierced designs and many other
shapes followed those of the silversmith, and in dessert dishes and
centre-pieces considerable beauty was exhibited in modelling--a style
which was closely followed by the Leeds potters, who made excellent
cream ware.
A beautiful example of the perforated basket ware is illustrated (p.
225). It is a dessert dish of most pleasing shape, and is a rare
specimen of the pierced work in Wedgwood's cream ware.
Wedgwood, as early as 1775, still experimenting with a view to make his
cream ware better, determined to make a whiter body by the addition
of more china clay and flint and to kill the yellow tone by the use
of blue (oxide of cobalt). This later white ware he termed "Pearl
ware." Among the most noticeable productions in this whiter ware are
the dessert services modelled from shells. We know that Wedgwood
had a collection, although he was not a conchologist, yet it is not
improbable that the contemplation of these beautiful forms suggested
ideas and he derived many of his artistic shapes from the forms of
shells. The use of shell forms was not unknown. Salt-glaze pieces
repeatedly show the pecten shell design, and Plymouth porcelain had
adopted shell designs in salt cellars and similar pieces. We illustrate
(p. 225) a remarkable example of a centre-piece in the form of a
nautilus shell. Some of the shell dishes have a faint wash in pink,
and yellow radiating bands, hardly perceptible, but conveying the
suggestion of the interior of the shell.
Queen's ware, when decorated, was of two classes: (1) painted; (2)
transfer-printed in red or puce or black.
It is not necessary to go into details in regard to these two forms of
decoration. It is interesting in regard to the enamelling in colour to
know that Wedgwood sent his ware to Mrs. Warburton's factory at Hot
Lane to be painted. He also employed a band of enamellers at Chelsea
who had been trained in the china factory. We reproduce an illustration
(p. 233) of two painted queen's-ware plates from the celebrated service
executed for Catherine II. of Russia. The enamel painting of the views
and borders cost Wedgwood over £2,000. In the centre of each piece is
a scene representing some place of interest in the country. Each view
in this series of British scenery is different, and there are some
twelve hundred. The body is in pale brimstone and the view painted in
a brownish purple; the border was a wreath of mauve flowers and green
leaves, and, as will be seen in the illustrations, each plate has a
green frog in a reserve. This design has puzzled many writers, but as
the Messalina of the North intended to place this service in her palace
of La Grenouillère, near St. Petersburg--Grenouillère meaning a marshy
place full of frogs--explains the whimsical design of the frog on each
plate.
This dinner and dessert service was completed in 1774 at a cost of
about £3,000. It was exhibited in London, and set the town agog
with amazement. The rooms in Greek Street, Soho, were thronged with
fashionable people, and, as may be imagined, it gave a great impetus to
the manufacture of Wedgwood's ware.
The other decoration employed by Wedgwood on his cream ware was
transfer printing. He availed himself at once of the new style of
printing by Sadler and Green on the glazed surface of his ware, which
was periodically sent to Liverpool to be so decorated. In the earlier
pieces the tile design is evident, quite unsuitable for a round plate,
in spite of Wedgwood's addition of wreaths and ribbons in enamel
painting to help out the incongruity. In early books illustrated by
Bewick with square woodcuts a similar use of garlands and ribbons as an
ornamental border is observed.
Nor was the cream body confined to strictly domestic ware. Among his
multifarious productions Wedgwood made some fine coloured figures,
remarkable for strong modelling and subdued and harmonious colouring.
The large figures, such as Fortitude, Charity, Ceres, Juno, Prudence,
and many others, are not always marked. "Fortitude" and "Charity" both
bear the impressed mark WEDGWOOD, the latter belonging to the series
Faith, Hope, and Charity designed for Wedgwood by Mrs. Landré, and
a marked example is in the Willett Collection. Many small coloured
cream-ware busts were made. We illustrate two typical examples (p. 233)
of Rousseau and Voltaire. They were evidently intended for the French
market, and are very dainty though somewhat highly-coloured likenesses
of two great Frenchmen. Jean-Jacques is portrayed in Armenian costume,
after the well-known portrait. The coat is a chocolate brown and the
stand is marbled. Voltaire has a blue surcoat, a terra-cotta cloak, and
lilac vest.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD BLACK BASALT TEAPOTS.
WEDGWOOD JASPER WARE DICED PATTERN TEA SET.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
=Jasper Ware.=--As early as 1773 Wedgwood was experimenting with a
view to producing jasper body. It is here that his greatest triumph
in the ceramic art was won. Nothing like it had ever been seen in
pottery before, and the ware he produced in an endless variety of forms
which were termed "ornamental" by him to distinguish them from the
queen's ware, or "useful" ware. About 1775--a great date in Wedgwood's
history--the jasper ware was perfected, and from 1780 to 1795 is the
period when it was at its best, when he poured forth from Etruria, then
filled with a highly-trained body of workmen and artists, his jasper
ware, exquisite with grace and beauty of form and fascinating in its
charm of dainty and subtle colour.
The spirit of classicism was in the air in the days of Wedgwood. Dr.
Johnson had imposed his ponderous latinity on the world of letters.
Alexander Pope was still writing when Josiah was apprenticed and
known already as a "fine thrower." Homer's _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_ had
appeared in many editions just prior to Wedgwood's manhood. The statues
of naval and military commanders in Westminster Abbey were in Roman
costume. The Brothers Adam were in the heyday of their popularity. From
sedan chairs to silver-plate their style was the vogue. The classical
mouldings, capitals, and niches, the shell flutings and the light
garlands in the Adam style are welcome sights in many otherwise dreary
streets in London. In furniture, the Adam style is as severe as the
French prototypes which had absorbed some of the ancient spirit of
Rome and Greece. As early as 1763 Grimm wrote, "For some years past we
are beginning to inquire for antique ornaments and forms. The interior
and exterior decorations of houses, furniture, materials of dress,
work of the goldsmiths, all bear alike the stamp of the Greeks. The
fashion passes from architecture to millinery; our ladies have their
hair dressed _à la Grecque_." Men of thought joined in clamouring for
simplicity, and Diderot lent his powerful aid in heralding the dawn of
the revival of the antique long before the France of Revolution days.
But eyes other than French were fixed on the remote past. The
excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii had given a new stimulus to
archæological research. In this country Sir William Hamilton, as early
as 1765, promoted the publication of the magnificent work, "Greek,
Roman, and Etruscan Antiquities," illustrated from his collection.
It was a specially valuable exposition of the system and methods
and æsthetic value of classic art, especially plastic art; and in
promulgating this sumptuous illustrated disquisition on the ancient
potter's art Sir William Hamilton laid modern workers in the same field
under a heavy debt. Incidentally it may be mentioned that Sir William
was the husband of the beautiful Lady Hamilton.
So that in the midst of this eighteenth-century classic revival Josiah
Wedgwood was but the child of his age, and, associated in partnership
with Bentley, a man of refined and scholarly tastes, he entered into
the new spirit with willing mind. Adroitly seizing classic models,
Wedgwood in his art adapted all that was most suited to modern
requirements. Pope translated Homer into English verse, and Wedgwood
translated classic designs into English pottery.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD JASPER VASE.
Subject--representing the Apotheosis of Virgil; surmounted by Pegasus
cover.
_By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons._]
Wedgwood's jasper ware is of various colours--blue in various tones,
sage-green, olive-green, lilac, pink, yellow, and black, and, of
course, white, which is its natural body without the addition of
metallic oxides. It is capable of taking a polish on the lapidary's
wheel. In use it was mainly employed for ware of a highly ornamental
character, though it was also employed for utilitarian objects, such
as tea and coffee services, dishes, and flower vases, and in plaques
it was used as interior decorations in fireplaces and in furniture. We
illustrate (p. 241) a jasper ware diced pattern _Tea Set_, which shows
how wide a field Wedgwood covered with his new ware.
It is usually found with a ground of one colour, such as blue, lilac,
_et cetera_--one of the seven--and the ornament applied in relief is,
as a rule, white. It was Wedgwood's appreciation of antique gems that
suggested the idea of reproducing them in earthenware, and in the
period prior to Bentley's death, in 1780, cameos, portrait medallions,
and plaques were mostly made.
There are two classes of jasper ware--_solid jasper_ and _jasper dip_.
The difference is similar to that between solid agate and surface
agate. Solid jasper is coloured throughout. That which is coloured only
on the surface is jasper dip. This latter gives more delicate effects,
and was employed, after 1780, in the important series of classic vases
which required translucency and greater delicacy in the white reliefs,
which is especially effective in the filmy garments and flowing
draperies of the classic figures.
Considerable progress had been made in Staffordshire since Elers left
in 1710, but it is the Elers method of stamping the ornaments and
applying them to the body of the ware that Wedgwood adopted. But there
was more than enough originality of invention in this jasper ware to
carry his fame to the confines of Europe. Blue and white porcelain
in imitation of his jasper was made at Sèvres, and other continental
factories, such as Meissen, Furstenburg, and Gros Breitenbach, made
similar echoes of this wonderful English jasper ware of Josiah Wedgwood.
No illustrations can do justice to the charm and tender colour of some
of the finer examples of this Wedgwood jasper ware, varying from pale
lemon colour to delicate mauve as a ground, and having translucent
diaphonous draperies in white standing in relief in the groups of
figures.
To the sense of touch fine old specimens of this jasper ware are as
soft as satin. Usually the dull matt surface of this ware is left
without polish, though it is so dense and hard as to receive a high
polish, which was occasionally employed in the inside of basins and
cups and on the bevelled edges of some of his cameos.
His classic subjects were no feeble echoes of ancient art, but were
executed from designs by a band of great artists working together
and saturated with the spirit of the new classic revival. John
Flaxman, James Tassie, John Bacon, William Hackwood, Thomas Stothard,
George Stubbs, William Greatbach, were all employed by Wedgwood. And
distinguished amateurs such as Lady Diana Beauclerk and Lady Templeton
supplied him with designs, and it is interesting to note that Mrs.
Wilcox, an accomplished painter of figures and borders on his Etruscan
ware, was a daughter of Fry, the mezzotint engraver and founder of the
Bow porcelain factory.
We illustrate (p. 245) a fine jasper vase representing _The Apotheosis
of Virgil_, the cover surmounted by a Pegasus. The square pedestal has
griffins at the corners. A companion vase, _The Apotheosis of Homer_,
changed owners at eight hundred guineas, and is now in the possession
of Lord Tweedmouth.
Wedgwood himself regarded his copy of the celebrated Barberini vase,
which was lent to him by the Duke of Portland, as his masterpiece.
This vase is a cameo glass vase, which was discovered in the middle
of the seventeenth century in a marble sarcophagus on the road to
Frascati, two miles from Rome. This vase belongs to the early part of
the third century. It was bought by Sir William Hamilton for £1,000,
and subsequently purchased by the Duke of Portland. This vase, of rich
dark blue glass, almost black, is decorated with opaque white enamel
cameos in relief cut with the most extraordinary skill, and it stands
as a superb example of classic art. Strictly speaking, Wedgwood's copy
of this was at best a copy in one material of the technique of another.
But if it be not the highest art to copy thus in intricate detail, yet
it must be admitted that such masterly elaboration had never before
been attempted by the potter, and the early copies of Wedgwood (he set
out to make only fifty) stand unequalled as specimens of potting by the
hands of trained workmen directed by genius.
=Wedgwood and his influence.=--As a final word on Wedgwood and his
influence, something should be said as to the charge laid against him
that he inaugurated the factory system as applied to pottery. There
is no doubt that he organised what was before his day a somewhat
chaotic industry. And it is certain that he trained his workmen to
become specialists, and that the system of the division of labour
was the order of the day at Etruria. But how else could such an
output as his be handled? It has been advanced that the quaintness
of the peasant potter and his later development was submerged, and
that all individuality was lost under the new system. There was a
growing tendency to develop mechanical perfection and to introduce
labour-saving appliances, but this was the spirit of the oncoming
modern age. Other factories, his contemporaries, were adopting the same
principles, and those who think Wedgwood unoriginal or uninventive are
quite willing to credit him with all the inventiveness and originality
necessary to overturn the old system. The truth lies between these two
extremes. Wedgwood, in common with his contemporaries, not unwillingly
embraced all the newest devices known. It was Sadler and Green, of
Liverpool, who together in one day by their invention printed as many
tiles as it would have taken a hundred painters to do in the same
time. Similarly all over the country artisans in the china trade were
becoming specialised. There were the enamellers at Chelsea and other
places, and a little examination will show that Wedgwood did not
inaugurate this modern factory method, but without doubt, in common
with all other master potters, he had to go with the times. Trade
rivalry was very strong, and competition was not unknown when every
potter in Staffordshire was jealously watching the latest improvement
of his neighbour. But to saddle Josiah Wedgwood with the responsibility
of stamping out original talent is beside the mark. His life-work
stands impregnable against petty assault. "In a word, no other potter
of modern times has so successfully welded into one harmonious whole
the prose and the poetry of the ceramic art."
WEDGWOOD MARKS.
[Illustration: wedgwood]
1.--This mark occurs upon a very early specimen of "Queen's Ware,"
a teapot, painted with flowers, &c., supposed to have been made by
Wedgwood at Burslem: each letter apparently stamped singly with
printers' type.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD
WEDGWOOD
Wedgwood]
2, 3, 4.--These marks, varying in size, were, it is thought, used by
Wedgwood up to the accession of Bentley as his partner, 1768-9, and are
found upon specimens said to have been purchased about that period.
[Illustration: WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY]
5.--The circular stamp, without the inner and outer rings, and without
the word Etruria, is doubtless the earliest form of the Wedgwood and
Bentley stamp, and is found upon a set of three early painted vases, in
imitation of natural stone, with gilt serpent and scroll handles. No
other example of this mark is known: it may have been an experimental
one, afterwards changed for No. 6, and never in general use.
[Illustration]
6.--This mark, with the word Etruria, is made upon a wafer, or bat, and
fixed in the corner, inside the plinth of old basalt vases, reversing
for candelabra and some large specimens; it is sometimes found on the
pedestal of a bust or large figure.
[Illustration]
7.--The well-known circular stamp, with an inner and outer line, always
placed round the screw of the basalt, granite, and Etruscan vases, but
is never found upon the jasper vases of any period.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY
WEDGWOOD & BENTLEY
Wedgwood & Bentley
Wedgwood & Bentley]
8, 9, 10, 11.--These marks, varying in size, are found upon busts,
granite, and basalt vases, figures, plaques, medallions, and cameos,
from the largest tablet to the smallest cameo for a ring (the writer
has one, only half an inch by three-eighths of an inch, fully marked);
also found upon useful ware of the period.
[Illustration:
Wedgwood
& Bentley
356]
12.--Marks upon the Wedgwood and Bentley intaglios, with the catalogue
number, varying in size. Very small intaglios are sometimes marked W. &
B. with the catalogue number, or simply with number only.
[Illustration: Wedgwood & Bentley.]
13.--This rare mark is found only upon chocolate and white seal
intaglios, usually portraits, made of two layers of clay; the edges
polished for mounting.
It may be noted that the word "and" in every Wedgwood and Bentley
mark is always contracted "&," that no punctuation or other points,
excepting those in marks No. 5, 6, 7, and 13, are ever used.
[Illustration:
Wedgwood
Wedgwood
Wedgwood
WEDGWOOD
WEDGWOOD
WEDGWOOD
WEDGWOOD]
14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.--Marks, varying in size, attributed to
the period after Bentley's death, and probably used for a time after
Wedgwood died. These marks and others were used by chance--a small
piece often bearing a large stamp, and a large one a minute stamp.
[Illustration: WEDGWOOD & SONS]
21.--This rare mark exists upon some large square plateaux in
cane-coloured jasper. It may have been one adopted upon the change
of partnership in 1790, but little used. The circular announcing
the change says: "The mark 'WEDGWOOD' will be continued without any
addition."
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD
ETRURIA
WEDGWOOD
ETRURIA
Wedgwood
Etruria]
22, 23, 24.--These marks rarely found upon pieces of very high
character--usually upon dark blue stoneware, vases, and glazed ware.
Adopted about 1840, but soon disused.
[Illustration: WEDGWOOD (_in red, blue, or gold_)]
25.--The mark upon Wedgwood PORCELAIN made from 1805-1815. Always
printed either in red or blue, sometimes in gold. An impressed mark
cannot be used with certainty upon soft-paste porcelain, being so apt
to diffuse out in firing.
[Illustration:
WEDGWOOD
WEDGWOOD ]
26, 27.--These marks, varying in size, are still used at Etruria for
the modern jasper and useful ware of all varieties.
[Illustration: WEDGWOOD]
28.--The manufacture of fine porcelain was revived at Etruria, 1878,
and is still continued. This mark, _printed_ in black and other
colours, is used.
[Illustration: ENGLAND]
29.--The word ENGLAND was added to the mark WEDGWOOD in 1891, to comply
with the new American Customs Regulations, known as the McKinley Tariff
Act.
The occurrence of three capital letters, ANO, REP, &c., in addition to
name appears on ware after 1840. The first two letters are workmen's
marks, and the third is a date letter, _e.g._, O = 1855, P = 1856, and
so on, as in hall-marks on silver.
PRICES.
WEDGWOOD. £ s. d.
Oval. Ganymede feeding Eagle (6-1/4 in.
by 5-1/4 in.), marked Wedgwood & Bentley
Christie, June, 1906 40 19 0
Oblong oval. Marriage of Cupid and
Psyche (6 in. by 7-3/4 in.), marked
Wedgwood & Bentley. Christie,
June, 1906 54 12 0
Busts, _Minerva_ and _Mercury_,
black basalt, 18 in. high. Christie,
November, 1906 16 16 0
Oval portrait, in jasper, white on blue
ground, of Captain Cook (10 in. by
8 in.), marked Wedgwood & Bentley.
Sotheby, February, 1907 16 16 0
Jasper vase, blue, with Venus and Cupid
in relief, handles coiled with serpents.
Christie, February, 1908 33 12 0
A pair of splashed mauve Nautilus Shells,
marked Wedgwood. Sotheby, December,
1908 3 10 0
The above prices are for ordinary collectors' examples of old Wedgwood.
But exceptional pieces bring exceptional prices. The largest known
example of a blue and white jasper plaque (11 in. by 26 in.) sold for
£415 at Christie's in 1880, and the fine jasper vase _The Apotheosis of
Homer_ (now in the Tweedmouth Collection) realised 800 guineas.
VIII
THE
SCHOOL
OF WEDGWOOD
CHAPTER VIII
THE SCHOOL OF WEDGWOOD
1760-1810
William Adams (of Greengates) (1789-1805)--John Turner (of Lane
End) (1739-1786)--The plagiarists of Wedgwood--The Wedgwood
influence--The passing of classicism--Table of Marks--Prices.
Potters who followed Wedgwood may be divided into three classes. Men
such as John Turner and William Adams, who were competitors with him in
friendly rivalry, each striving to emulate the successes of the other,
and each doing original and independent work. Indebted, and greatly
indebted to Wedgwood as these potters were, they produced work equal
with his in technique. The blue jasper of William Adams, if anything,
is rather finer than that of his master. John Turner, of Lane End, made
jasper from a different formula to Wedgwood, being more porcellanous in
character. These men, his friends and intimates, and Palmer, of Hanley,
who was first to apply bas-reliefs to his black vases, in 1769, may
be said to represent original research, as compared with uninventive
copying.
The second class, which includes contemporaries such as Elijah Mayer,
and Palmer, of Hanley, who must be included here (in spite of his
streak of originality above alluded to, and his fine use of gilding to
granitic ware), and Neale, his brother-in-law, and Voyez, the modeller,
and Hollins, may all be said to be plagiarists who lived largely on
Wedgwood's jasper and basalt ware, as well as several schools such as
Hartley Greens (of Leeds), and Swansea and Spode, and many others who
followed his cream-ware designs. In regard to Palmer and Neale and
Voyez the case is very strong, as they are stated to have forged the
mark "Wedgwood & Bentley" in some of their medallions; but against the
others the case must not be pressed too closely, as they undoubtedly
displayed a fertility of invention and an originality after they had
once learned the Wedgwood manner. Leeds, in particular, having caught
the spirit that Wedgwood had transplanted from the silversmith to his
dessert services, produced cream-ware rivalling that of Etruria.
Tennyson had a set of verses which illustrate this situation. He tells
of him who "cast to earth a seed" which grew so tall "it wore a crown
of light."
"But thieves from o'er the wall
Stole the seed by night."
Sown far and wide in every town, it won universal admiration, and,
says the poet--who, by the way, was thinking of plagiarists of his own
style--
"Most can raise the flowers now,
For all have got the seed."
We must make one other point; it was Wedgwood who lighted the way even
to his source of inspiration. He made no secret of his indebtedness
to the art of the silversmith, and in recognising in the antiquarian
works of Count Caylus and Sir William Hamilton a new field, he left
it open for others to go to the same original sources, nor were his
contemporaries slow in doing this. So that, in a measure, this second
class of potters may be exonerated from the charge of plagiarism when
we find them striking out for themselves.
Chippendale, when he promulgated his "Director" giving designs for
furniture, straightway started a school of cabinet-makers, who
worked after his designs in every locality in England. These early
pioneers in art--Chippendale, the masterly adapter of all that was
best on the Continent, and Wedgwood, translator of classicism into
English pottery--worked with broad and generous spirit, and their
contemporaries and those who came immediately after them helped
themselves liberally to the overflowing profusion of ideas.
The third class is the great crowd of lesser men, potters who claim
little attention for original work, but who are remembered as
producing, as an echo to the great classic revival, designs and shapes
and copies of Wedgwood's ware, sometimes in stoneware for jugs, and
more often in cream-ware, without an added touch of originality. In
this decadent period, when not only in Staffordshire but in other parts
of the country this was being largely done, and not always done well,
though there are exceptions to which we shall allude later, one is
reminded of the pregnant words of Goethe: "There are many echoes, but
few voices."
=William Adams (1745-1805).=--The Adams family are renowned in
Staffordshire as being among the oldest potters in the country.
In connection with classic ware William Adams, of Greengates, is
pre-eminent. At his death, in 1805, the works were carried on by
Benjamin Adams till 1820. There is considerable confusion between
contemporary members of this family, both of the same name, William
Adams (of Cobridge), William Adams (of Greenfield), and the subject of
the present remarks, William Adams, of Greengates, who commenced as
master potter there in 1789. There were other firms, such as J. Adams
& Co., or Adams & Bromley, who made jasper ware between about 1870 and
1886, and who stamped their ware "ADAMS," or "ADAMS & CO." This, of
course, does not come into the realm of collecting, and this latter
firm has nothing to do with the old-established family of Adams. But
collectors cannot be too careful when auction catalogues describe such
ware as "Adams."
The beautiful Adams blue which is of a violet tone is much admired, and
in the finely-modelled classic reliefs the style is less frigid than
Wedgwood, as William Adams drew his inspiration more from Latin than
Greek models. As a rule his jasper is a trifle more waxen than that
of Wedgwood, but never glossy. William Adams was a favourite pupil of
Wedgwood, and was doubtless indebted to him for the guidance that set
the young potter to work in friendly and amicable rivalry with his late
master.
[Illustration:
BLUE AND WHITE JASPER VASE.
Impressed mark TURNER.
Subject--Diana in her Chariot.
(John Turner, of Lane End, 1762-1786.)
BLUE AND WHITE JASPER VASE.
Impressed mark ADAMS.
(About 1790.)
(William Adams, of Greengates, made jasper 1787-1805.)
(_At British Museum._)]
As a modeller he was of exceptional merit, and it is known that he
designed, himself, several of his finest pieces, such as the _Seasons_,
his _Venus Bound_, and _Cupid Disarmed_, his _Pandora_, _Psyche trying
one of Cupid's Darts_, and the _Muses_. Monglott, a Swiss artist, was
employed by him on jasper vases, and it is believed that Enoch Wood is
responsible for designing the hunting scenes which appear on the
fine stoneware jugs and tankards similar in style to the Turner jug
illustrated (p. 267). Many of his jugs had silver mounts.
In regard to marks, that usually found is ADAMS impressed. Sometimes,
though rarely, the mark is ADAMS & CO.; and later his son, Benjamin
Adams, had the impressed mark B. ADAMS, which appears on stoneware and
blue printed ware.
To those who desire to familiarise themselves with the genius of
William Adams, there is a special volume by Mr. William Turner,
entitled "William Adams, an Old English Potter" (Chapman & Hall, 1904),
which is a full and learned monograph, dealing in thorough manner with
the productions of William Adams and of his kinsfolk, the Adams family
of potters.
We illustrate one of a pair of jasper vases in blue and white by Adams,
in date about 1790. The classic figure subjects, as will be seen,
display a simplicity and exquisite grace of modelling and arrangement
not surpassed even by Wedgwood (see p. 261).
=John Turner, of Lane End (1739-1786).=--Wedgwood and Turner were
intimates, and in considering Turner we must regard him as a friendly
neighbour, as well as a rival potter. He made some remarkably fine
jasper, though it differed in its body very greatly from that of
Wedgwood, being more closely allied with porcelain. It contained no
barytes in its composition. In design Turner, though not imitative,
followed the Greek school and produced, as a modeller himself,
some exquisitely proportioned pieces. We illustrate a fine vase in
blue-and-white jasper which is especially graceful in design, the
severity being relieved by the delicacy of the fine subject in relief
of _Diana in her Chariot_ drawing a pair of goats and accompanied by
flying cherubs (see p. 261). This subject, it will be noticed, is
reproduced in a transfer-printed jug illustrated in a later chapter (p.
319).
But it is in the unglazed stoneware that he surpassed anything his
contemporaries had done. It was about 1780 that he discovered, after
hunting for clay even so far afield as Cornwall, the precise earth he
wanted in his own neighbourhood at Longton. In colour it was a warm
biscuit tone, and it was capable of being modelled with exactitude into
fine sharp designs in relief. In stoneware jugs with classic figures
in relief he set the fashion for half a century. His teapots and
coffee-pots are models of graceful design. We illustrate a fine example
of a _Teapot_ (p. 267), with the lid perfectly fitting, made to slide
in a groove, and showing in clear relief the style of ornamentation
for which Turner became so renowned. The other illustration, on the
same page, of an equally perfect _Stoneware Jug_ with metal mounts,
shows a slight departure from classic ornament. The figures are in
old English costume, and are engaged in archery. It will thus be seen
that even in the early days there was exhibited a tendency to depart
from classic figure design and turn to equally graceful but homelier
subjects. Possibly this influence may have been due to Enoch Wood, who
is believed to have been employed by Turner as a modeller; but accurate
information regarding Turner's modellers is not known.
Besides the above-mentioned wares, Turner also made black basalt of
very high quality, being preferred by some connoisseurs to that of
Wedgwood. He also was the first to introduce under-glaze printing into
Staffordshire, and although he did not introduce the "willow pattern"
(Spode brought that from Caughley), he made ware with this pattern
printed in under-glaze blue, and his plates and dishes have perforated
borders. We illustrate a fine example of this ware (p. 331).
=The Plagiarists of Wedgwood.=--We have seen that John Turner, of
Lane End, that William Adams, of Greengates, came under the strong
influence of Wedgwood, but were no more imitators, in the broad sense,
than Gainsborough and Romney may be said to be imitators of Sir Joshua
Reynolds. It must be allowed in art that a school may arise under the
guidance of some remarkable genius who tinges the originality of his
contemporaries with his own master mind. Wedgwood had the inspiration
to transplant classic decoration into Staffordshire--the rest was easy;
having shown the way, crowds of lesser men seized the new ideas with
avidity.
Chief among the direct copyists was Henry Palmer. He had a spark of
originality, as we have seen, anticipating Wedgwood by some five
years in applying bas-reliefs to his black vases, and the sprinkled
marbled ware touched with gold was another success of his, but here his
ingenuity ended. He must have been a great thorn in Wedgwood's side,
for he is said to have procured every new pattern on its appearance
and copied it. Voyez, who was a modeller and not a potter, assisted in
this nefarious traffic; but Voyez, in spite of his rascality, was a
clever modeller, and struck out a new line in his rustic or "Fair Hebe"
jugs. He was employed at one time by Wedgwood, and probably by Ralph
Wood. Voyez specialised on the intaglio seals, and added Wedgwood
and Bentley's names to his handiwork. On other intaglios, equally
imitative, and on vases is the name PALMER or the initials H. P.
Wedgwood himself--as do collectors nowadays--was obliged to acknowledge
the fine quality of the work of Palmer and of Neale, for he admitted to
Bentley that they were "serious competitors," and he evidently feared
their activity, as he says, "We must be progressing or we shall have
them treading on our heels."
The sagacity of Wedgwood's remark is obvious, for an examination of
the Neale-and-Palmer jasper and other ware reveals an amazing mastery
of technique. It is finely potted and well balanced in ornament and
design. If it were not for the impressed mark such vases might readily
pass as Wedgwood. It is not improbable that in the middle nineteenth
century the names both of Adams and Palmer and Neale were ground out of
the bases of some of their finer vases by ingenious persons, who passed
them off as the work of Wedgwood.
[Illustration:
TURNER STONEWARE TEAPOT, UNGLAZED.
With ornament in relief and classic figure subjects.
Mark impressed TURNER. (Height 4-1/2 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mrs. L. Scott._)]
[Illustration:
TURNER STONEWARE JUG, UNGLAZED.
With decoration in relief of archery. Silver lid and rim.
Mark impressed TURNER. (Height 9 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. John Watson Bradley._)]
=Marks--Palmer, Neale, Wilson.=--In regard to marks, H. PALMER or
PALMER. HANLEY is the earliest--sometimes only the initials H. P.
About 1776 he entered into partnership with his brother-in-law, and
sometimes the mark NEALE alone is found and often NEALE & CO. These
marks are usually in circles; on one piece appears I. NEALE, with the
word HANLY (spelt wrongly) beneath. About 1778 Robert Wilson joined
the firm, and after 1788 his name alone appears. Stoneware jugs--drab
ground with cupids in relief--baskets, and cream-ware are often found
marked WILSON surmounted by a crown with the letter C above. Sometimes
this is present without the name. Wilson, too, is remembered for
having introduced chalk into the body of his cream-ware, which was of
exceptional value in whitening the ware and rendering it more adapted
for under-glaze printing. At Wilson's death, in 1802, David Wilson
succeeded to the pottery, and the firm shortly after became D. Wilson &
Sons. These Wilsons made pink lustre, similar to that of Wedgwood, and
also silver lustre, upon some of which the name of Wilson is impressed.
This brings the factory down to 1820, when it passed into other hands.
We have seen that Adams and Turner and Palmer and Neale came more or
less into touch with Wedgwood as contemporary rivals. Before coming to
the crowd of lesser men, or lesser-known men, we must not omit Josiah
Spode, who was a colleague of Wedgwood under Whieldon; Elijah Mayer,
whose black basalt was almost equal to that of Wedgwood, and whose
enamel cream-ware stands artistically very high; and Samuel Hollins, of
Shelton, with fine red or chocolate ware, having as dense a character
as Wedgwood's imitations of the Elers ware, and Hollins in his jasper
produced some fine examples with original combinations of colours.
=Josiah Spode= the First (there are three potters in succession of
that name) made, in common with other potters, the black basalt ware
from 1770, when he commenced as potter, and he produced stoneware
jugs similar in character to those of Adams and Turner, following the
sporting subjects in relief and departing from the ultra-classical
subjects of Wedgwood. This class of jug and mug was made by many
potters--its character was English, and it was evidently popular. An
illustration of the type appears on page 277. Davenport, of Longport,
made the same pattern; it was made at Castleford, near Leeds, and
Hollins and others adopted the design in relief of a fox-hunt, with
horsemen dismounted preparing to join others at the "kill," which
is shown on the reverse. In fact, it was almost as much copied in
stoneware as the "willow pattern" was in blue-printed ware.
But Josiah Spode is best known as devoting considerable skill in
the improvement of under-glaze blue-printing cream-ware. In 1783 he
brought two workmen into Staffordshire from Caughley, where under-glaze
blue-printing under Thomas Turner was in full swing. Spode was not
the first to introduce under-glaze blue-printing into Staffordshire;
this is due to John Turner, of Lane End (whom we have described, maker
of the fine jasper-ware and stoneware teapots and jugs), not to be
confounded with Thomas Turner, the maker of porcelain at Caughley,
who introduced the "willow pattern" in 1780, which same design was
introduced into Staffordshire in 1784 by Spode--a year after his two
men came over from Caughley. But this and blue transfer-printing is
dealt with in a subsequent chapter.
Something should be said of Josiah Spode the Second (1797-1827),
who continued the blue-printed ware, and produced a great number of
stoneware jugs with decoration in relief similar to those we have
alluded to, and produced jasper ware in blue and white with the
familiar subjects of Wedgwood's day. To him must be given the credit
of introducing colour into Staffordshire earthenware, colour such as
it had never before attempted. His fine imitations of the Derby-Japan
porcelain designs mark a new era in Staffordshire earthenware.
[Illustration:
BLACK BASALT TEAPOT, UNGLAZED.
Impressed mark E. MAYER. (1770-1813.) (About 1786.)
(_At British Museum._)]
[Illustration:
BLACK BASALT TEAPOT, UNGLAZED.
Impressed mark BIRCH. (About 1802.)
(_In the possession of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
These illustrations show the imitativeness of this school of potters
and the difficulty of identification.
The Spodes brought something new into Staffordshire earthenware.
The elder Spode evidently had a strong love for Oriental subjects, as
in the "willow pattern," which he "lifted" from Caughley porcelain. He
broke away--and others followed him readily enough--from the cupids
and psyches and gods and goddesses of the old world, and followed the
newer-imported ideas in Chinese taste, now the fashion at Worcester,
Bow, and other china factories. Leeds and Swansea were not slow in
snatching at this new Oriental style of decoration.
In the Staffordshire cream-ware jug we previously illustrated painted
in under-glaze colours, somewhat brown owing to the imperfect knowledge
of the Staffordshire potter in under-glaze work submitted to great
heat, we see an example of painted design in Oriental style, which
came shortly to be more perfectly done in under-glaze blue, as in the
painted plate of Leeds ware illustrated (p. 303).
But much in the same manner work such as the painted scenery on
services like that made by Wedgwood for Catherine II. was shortly
supplanted by black and purple and red transfer-printing done at
Liverpool, so the short-lived under-glaze blue painting on earthenware
was quickly killed by Spode and the other Staffordshire potters when
they rapidly developed the under-glaze transfer-printing in blue.
It was quite an original departure, and owed nothing to Josiah
Wedgwood (who never employed transfer-printing in blue), though it
was adopted very successfully by the firm after his death. And Josiah
Spode the elder most certainly had a strong influence in the potters
of his day in acclimatising the "willow pattern" in Staffordshire,
and in assimilating the best efforts of Chinese decoration as applied
to blue-and-white ware. And Josiah Spode the Second, with equal
originality, took up the next stage in adopting the gorgeous colouring
of Japan.
This brings the story of the development of Wedgwood's cream-ware
up to modern times. And the same chain of development might be
traced in the history of some of the other great potters whose
descendants still carry on the manufacture. Cream-ware at first
painted, then transfer-printed in black or red, then painted in blue
under-glaze--which was killed by the blue under-glaze printing--finally
emulated the rich colours and gilding of porcelain.
To return to =Elijah Mayer= (1770-1813). From 1786 he appears to have
produced black basalt tea ware; his fine teapots with the seated figure
at the apex are well known, and his unglazed cane-coloured ware is
much prized, with its simple decorations in lines of green and blue.
We illustrate (p. 271) an example of a _Black Basalt Teapot_, and
beneath it an illustration of a similar model by Birch, showing the
imitativeness of this school of potters and how difficult it is to
identify specimens. His cream-ware deserves especial attention, as his
enamelling was in very artistic manner, and it stands out prominently
among a crowd of imitators of Wedgwood's cream-ware borders. Every
maker not only took the body of the ware, but in so doing he followed
the designs by Flaxman or some of Wedgwood's other artists, still found
in the old pattern-books to-day at Etruria. As an example of this
imitation in detail, see the Swansea cream-ware plate illustrated (p.
397).
Mayer made black glazed tea ware, and this, when unmarked, is very
commonly attributed by beginners to Turner. The marks impressed are E.
MAYER, and after 1820 E. MAYER & SON. At a later period the mark was
JOSEPH MAYER.
=Samuel Hollins= (1774-1816), with his red and chocolate unglazed ware
decorated with ornament in the Elers manner and made from the clay
at Bradwell Wood, is deservedly noteworthy as well as for several
important departures in colour in the stoneware teapots and coffee-pots
which he made of green, with touches of applied ornament in blue
jasper. He followed silver designs, and avoided the cold, classic forms
of Wedgwood. He departed from the straight lines of the Turner teapot.
He loved ornament, and there is a touch of elaboration in his design,
as though attempting to shake off the severe formality of the Brothers
Adam style of design, and he strongly loved colour.
Samuel Hollins was one of the proprietors in the New Hall china works,
and his successors were T. and J. Hollins, who continued to make jasper
ware in the style of Wedgwood. Their names are impressed on many
examples.
=The Wedgwood influence.=--In the latter days of the eighteenth century
and the early days of the nineteenth, the direct influence of Wedgwood
became something more remote. But even in early nineteenth-century
days there were undeniable traces of the old models and the old form
of ware. Take, for example, the unmarked early nineteenth-century
_Black Basalt Teapot_ in the form of a barrel, with the grape-vine
ornament in relief, and the pine cone at top of lid (illustrated
p. 277). Undoubtedly this has left all classic form, but it has
retained the technique of Wedgwood. In some of the buff-coloured,
unglazed stoneware jugs which are unmarked, there is the inclination
to follow the sporting subjects in relief, which Adams and Turner
and Spode so successfully adopted, and the twisted snake-handle and
reptilian-modelled mouth become original in treatment. In general, it
may be said, that the classic influence remained for a considerable
time in the stoneware of various kinds, but in the cream-ware which is
the main stream of English earthenware, the forms and the ornamentation
more rapidly departed from the styles of Wedgwood's queen's ware.
Hence we find two opposing influences working against each other in the
Staffordshire potters' minds. The best of them in their highest flights
essayed to make jasper, or to copy or emulate Wedgwood's classic style
in vases and important ornamental pieces. Most of them largely made
the stoneware of various colours, and also the black basalt. All of
them made cream-ware, which was the staple ware of Staffordshire, in a
thousand different forms. As time went on all except cream-ware began
to deteriorate from the earliest prototypes, and the later forms are
debased in design and inferior in potting.
[Illustration:
SPODE STONEWARE JUG.
Rich blue glazed ground with decoration of hunting scene in white
relief.
DAVENPORT STONEWARE JUG.
Same design as adjacent jug, but having white ground with subject in
relief.
(_In the possession of Mr. Hubert Gould._)]
[Illustration:
BLACK BASALT TEAPOT.
In the form of a barrel, with grape-vine decoration in relief.
(Early nineteenth century.)]
=The passing of classicism.=--From the first there were those who
were classic only by compulsion. Wedgwood was regarded as too classic
for vulgar tastes. The cream-ware and the coloured figures display a
ready appreciation of public wants. Even Voyez descended to rusticity
in his jugs. Spode had a leaning for Oriental subjects in his blue
printed ware, which was quickly adopted by Leeds. Adams leaned to
landscape subjects after Claude and English scenery. Nor was this all.
The cream-ware figures and the mugs and jugs provided full scope for
the potter's fancy in political, satirical, patriotic, and humorous
and fancy subjects. From Sunderland to Swansea the cream-ware took
to itself more homely sentiments and more characteristic design. It
became, during the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the first
quarter of the nineteenth, as English as if the gods and goddesses had
never descended into Staffordshire, and as though Wedgwood had never
been.
Most of this cream-ware was transfer-printed, the Caxtons of
Staffordshire had found blank spots enough to fill on their white ware,
and in filling them they have left us a permanent record of popular
feeling which was at the time strong enough to induce them to rush into
print on every conceivable subject with queer engraved decoration and
whimsically illiterate verse.
=Marks.=--The following are some of the names, mostly found as
impressed marks, on ware of the Wedgwood school, in date from 1760
to 1835, a period of three-quarters of a century. In many cases in
addition to ware bearing traces of a classic influence, the potters
made cream ware with blue-printed decoration, a style which was not
employed at Etruria until the second Wedgwood period, on the death of
Josiah Wedgwood in 1795.[4]
[Note: 4 Compare this with the List of Marks on Transfer-printed Ware, pp.
347-35.]
The names are arranged alphabetically, and, where of interest, the
class of ware associated with the potter is given.
William Adams 1787-1805 Fine jasper ware of the highest
(of Greengates) quality. Stoneware and blue-printed
ware.
J. Aynsley 1790-1826 Silver lustre. Transfer-printed
ware. Melon- and barrel-shaped
teapots.
Batty & Co. Vases and jugs, classic figures as
frieze, printed in under-glaze blue
touched with vermilion.
E. J. Birch Black basalt ware of good quality
(sometimes marked with E.I.B.
impressed).
Bott & Co. Busts painted in colours. Vases
transfer-printed.
J. Clementson 1832-1867 White ware blue-printed with
foreign scenery. (Marked with
name and phoenix.)
Clews 1814-1836 Stoneware jugs. Blue-printed
cream ware. Picturesque views
and subjects after Wilkie's pictures,
Rowlandson's _Dr. Syntax_, _Don
Quixote_, &c.
Close & Co. from 1843 Cream ware with printed decoration
(Successors to W. in brown.
Adams & Sons, of
Stoke.)
Cookson & Harding 1856-1862 Cream ware blue transfer-printed.
C. & H.
(late Hackwood.)
Davenport (Longport) 1793-1834 Cream ware painted and printed.
(Firm continued Handles in form of dolphins. Plates
till 1886.) and dishes--dragons and fret border
printed in blue; ground pencilled
in scale pattern.
Eastwood 1802-1830 Vases small, jasper, Wedgwood
style; stoneware blue and buff. W.
Baddeley, of _Eastwood_, is believed
to have used this mark, frequently
found.
Hackwood 1842-1856 Cream ware painted with knights
and armed figures.
Harding 1862-1880 Blue glazed earthenware, white
ornaments in relief. Brown glazed
jugs and teapots in Rockingham
style.
Harley about 1809 Teapots, white glazed stoneware;
cover surmounted.
Heath 1770-1777
Heath & Bagnall 1777-1785
Heath, Warburton 1786-
& Co.
S. Hollins 1774-1816 Jasper ware, white ground cameo
figures in blue.
T. & J. Hollins 1802-1820 Similar ware to above.
A. & E. Keeling 1786-1828 Black basalt and cream ware.
Lakin Cream ware blue-printed with
English landscape subjects, &c.
Lakin & Poole 1770-1846 Dishes and cream ware. Centres
often finely painted with exotic
birds in Worcester style.
J. & T. Lockett 1786-1829 White stoneware and salt-glaze.
E. J. Mayer 1770-1813 Black basalt tea services, &c.,
with animals in relief; silver lustre.
E. Mayer & Son 1813-1830
Mayer & Newbold 1823-1837 Made porcelain as well as
earthenware (marked M. & N.).
Mayer & Elliott Cream ware, blue-printed.
F. Meir White glazed earthenware services,
English landscapes printed
in blue, dishes with pierced border.
Morr & Smith
Moseley 1802-1825 Black basalt ware; teapots, &c.
Myatt 1802-1840 Unglazed red ware coffee-pots in
Elers style. Engine-turned with
wavy patterns. Sometimes marked
with an oval enclosing letter =W=.
H. Palmer 1760-1775 Fine jasper ware, granitic vases;
figures.
Neale & Palmer 1776-1778 Jasper ware strongly imitative
of Wedgwood.
Neale & Co. 1778-1788 Jasper ware and classic figures.
Phillips (Longport) 1760-1830 Small dishes; salt cellars, cream
ware, Oriental decoration,
blue-printed.
Pratt Vases and jugs, white stoneware,
with blue figures in relief; border
of vine.
Ridgway 1790-1854 Various elaborate marks used.
W. Ridgway and W. Ridgway &
Son. In 1836 the firm became
W. Ridgway, Morley, Wear &
Co.
Riley
Rogers 1786-1829 Blue-printed stoneware. Inferior
imitations of Wedgwood.
Salt 1820-1864 Figures enamelled in colour.
Shorthose 1783-1802 Black basalt vases and flower
jars.
Shorthose & Heath 1802- White glazed earthenware, transfer
printed in red over-glaze.
Subjects--children at play, &c.
Cream ware embossed with wicker
pattern pierced border. (Mark
printed in red, also impressed.)
Sneyd about 1850 Imitations of Portland vase, &c.
Josiah Spode 1770-1797 Black basalt ware. Stoneware
(_the First_) jugs with sporting subjects in relief.
Steel 1780-1824 Jasper and ornamental ware,
white relief on blue, dark blue
figures in relief on pink ground, &c.
W. Stevenson about 1828 White glazed ware, classic figures
in relief on pale blue ground;
impressed mark W. Stevenson, Hanley.
John Turner 1739-1786 Fine Jasper ware of excellent
(of Lane End) quality. Stoneware jugs, &c., of
warm biscuit colour unglazed.
Black basalt, and under-glaze,
blue-printed ware.
Walton 1806-1839 Figures-classical Lions, _Fishwife_,
_Gardener_, &c.
Warburton 1751-1828 Rarely marked. Mrs. Warburton,
of Cobridge, in 1751 made great
improvements in cream ware prior to
Wedgwood's queen's ware. In 1828
the firm was J. Warburton & Co.
Wilson 1788-1820 Stoneware jugs with classic figures
in relief. Ornamental vases in Wedgwood
style. Copper lustre ware.
E. Wood 1784-1790 Cream ware, basket pattern, &c.
Busts.
Wood & Caldwell 1790-1818 White glazed earthenware.
Figures, coloured busts, &c.
Enoch Wood & Sons 1820-1846 Figures of classic form.
PRICES.
=School of Wedgwood.=
ADAMS. £ s. d.
Jug (with old Sheffield plate lid), chocolate
band with Bacchanalian subject. Escritt
& Barrett, Grantham, April, 1907 2 2 0
Jug, blue jasper, with figure subjects of
_Seasons_ in white relief, old Sheffield
plate cover. Sotheby, May, 1908 6 5 0
Sucrier and Cover, marked "ADAMS & CO."
Sotheby, November, 1908 2 14 0
TURNER.
Female figure of a "Water Carrier" in black
basalt, marked TURNER. Sotheby,
December, 1905 3 5 0
Teapot and Cover, blue ground with classical
subjects in high relief; impressed mark,
TURNER. Sotheby, November, 1908 2 6 0
Teapot, of different form, similar decoration,
unmarked. Sotheby, November, 1908 2 4 0
Sucrier and Cover, similar decoration; impressed
mark, TURNER. Sotheby,
November, 1908 3 12 0
Cake Plate with classic decorations in
relief; impressed mark, TURNER.
Sotheby, November, 1908 4 10 0
Coffee Pot and Cover, similar style; impressed
mark, TURNER. Sotheby,
November, 1908 4 0 0
NEALE & PALMER.
Vase and Cover with medallions, wreaths
and masks in relief, in gilt on mottled
grey-blue ground, marked NEALE,
HANLEY. Puttick & Simpson, Nov., '08 4 10 0
Vase and Cover, urn-shaped, with medallion
and figure subject in white relief;
ram's head handles, wreaths and
borders in gilt on mottled-blue ground,
marked H. PALMER, HANLEY. Puttick
& Simpson, November, 1908 3 10 0
RALPH WOOD.
Figure of Apollo with lyre. Sotheby, May,
1908 2 5 0
Figures, Boy and Girl Harvesters, square
bases; one marked R. WOOD.
Sotheby, May, 1908 10 5 0
E. WOOD.
Bust of John Wesley, signed ENOCH WOOD.
Sotheby, June, 1906 2 0 0
E. MAYER.
Four plaques of Cupids in relief; mark impressed,
E. MAYER, and dated 1784.
Sotheby, November, 1905 1 18 0
HEATH.
Plate of cream ware, crudely decorated for
the Dutch market, subject--Abraham
offering up Isaac (Hodgkin Collection).
Sotheby, December, 1903 0 3 0
LAKIN.
Dish decorated with border of rose, shamrock,
and thistle. Prince of Wales'
feathers and lion over crown in centre.
Made for the Prince Regent (George
IV.); marked "Lakin." Sotheby,
February, 1906 2 0 0
Pair of _Lakin_ plates from above service.
Sotheby, November, 1907 3 0 0
LAKIN & POOLE.
Mug, with mask head on front, marked
"Lakin & Poole," and four shell
dishes. Sotheby, June, 1906 1 6 0
IX
LEEDS
AND OTHER
FACTORIES
CHAPTER IX
LEEDS AND OTHER FACTORIES
Leeds Marks--The best period of Leeds--Leeds Cream Ware--Blue
and White Ware--Leeds Ware decorated at Lowestoft, Castleford,
Jackfield, Rockingham, Sunderland, and Newcastle--Table of
Marks--Prices.
Leeds claims notice mainly on account of its fine cream ware that was
produced in the period from 1783 to about 1800 when the factory was
at its zenith. The date which commences its known history is the year
1760, a most pregnant year in the history of pottery. Before that there
always exists some doubt as to the exact date or the particular maker.
"Early Staffordshire" or "Whieldon" are as definite as most collectors
dare go.
In 1762 Wedgwood's cream ware was perfected, and all Staffordshire
was aflame with the prospects of something that at last was to stand
artistically side by side with Bow and Chelsea and Worcester and Derby
and Plymouth. It did nothing of the sort, but still it was the dream
of the Staffordshire potters that it should by reason of its cheapness
smash the new china factories, and it seems to have had no little share
in doing this.
In 1775 the Leeds pottery was in the hands of Humble and Green. In
1783 it was known as Hartley, Greens & Co., and for the next ten years
some splendid examples of cream ware were produced rivalling the best
productions of Wedgwood, at first imitative, but later strikingly
original, and possessed of extraordinary artistic qualities. Down to
the opening days of the nineteenth century the trade in cream ware was
considerable. Pattern books and catalogues were issued in French and
German and Spanish, and the output from Leeds was very considerable,
and the continental trade very extensive, especially with Northern
Europe.
From 1825 to 1832 the firm was known as Samuel Wainwright & Co. From
1832 to 1840 the name changed again to the Leeds Pottery Company, under
the managership of Stephen Chapel, who, together with his brother
James, held the pottery till 1847. In 1850 Warburton, Britton & Co.
were proprietors until 1863, and Richard Britton & Sons carried on the
works until 1878 when the factory closed.
=Forgeries of Leeds Ware.=--Leeds ware has appealed, on account of its
artistic qualities, to so wide a circle of collectors and admirers that
it has had the honour of being forged with intent to deceive. Nearly
all these pieces are marked either "Leeds Pottery," "L.P.," or "Leeds
P." In addition to being copied for sale to unwary collectors some of
the basket and other patterns have been of recent years made in Germany
for sale in this country. But to any one who has had the opportunity
of handling genuine old Leeds ware the lightness in weight, the fine
finish, and the peculiar colour of the body, especially the slightly
green tinge in the old Leeds glaze are never to be mistaken. The modern
copies lack the fine potting, and they are slightly heavier in weight,
and always without exception have a thick white, glassy glaze which
fills the corners of the pierced work, and shows the touch of modern
haste.
=Leeds Marks.=--The following marks occur on Leeds ware, largely on the
blue-printed ware which was after 1791, for many of the finest examples
of cream ware are unmarked. However, these marks used may be a guide:
LEEDS POTTERY (often printed twice over and crossing at right angles),
HARTLEY, GREENS, & CO., LEEDS POTTERY (either in two lines or in a
semicircle), also the initials L.P. In its latter stage (1863-1878)
R. Britton and Sons marked their ware R. B. & S. with the initial L
enclosed in a circle.
The Don pottery at Swinton near Leeds, established about 1790, came in
prominence about 1800, when one of the brothers Green, of Leeds, became
owner. It passed through various vicissitudes of fortune, a comparison
of the old pattern books show that many pieces made at the Don pottery
were originated at Leeds. In 1834 it was purchased by Samuel Barker,
and in 1882 it was still known as Samuel Barker and Sons.
The Don Pottery mark was both printed and impressed DON POTTERY in its
early days prior to 1834, and sometimes the word GREEN appears above.
Later in the Barker _régime_ a demi-lion rampant holding in his paws a
pennon with the words "Don Pottery" was used, sometimes with the word
BARKER, and sometimes with the initials S. B. & S.
[Illustration:
LEEDS CREAM WARE CENTRE-PIECES.
Made to take into four parts. (Height 4 feet.)
Pierced baskets, removable. (Height 2 feet 6 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. Richard Wilson._)]
=The best period.=--But it is chiefly the best period, that is,
Hartley, Greens & Co., from 1781 to about 1805, which appeals to
collectors of old Leeds, though a pattern book was issued as late as
1814, which still maintained the old traditions, but when Hartley died
in 1820 the factory practically went to pieces. The two brothers Green
and William Hartley nobly carried on the manufacture of cream ware.
At first they looked to Wedgwood for inspiration, but very shortly
introduced a lightness of design in the exquisite and intricately
pierced patterns in the borders, and original touches in the feather
edges in relief and twisted handles and the floral terminals. The
gadrooned or fluted edges of Leeds plates were sometimes painted in
blue. The ware is extremely light in weight, and varies in colour from
a pale, sometimes a very pale, cream colour to a light buff. We have
seen how Wedgwood invented punches at first for his pierced cream ware.
But he at a later stage had the perforations punched _en bloc_. But in
Leeds ware each perforation is done separately by hand, and the edges
are sharp and clean-cut. These are in the shape of diamonds, squares,
ovals, and hearts, arranged in geometrical patterns. The characteristic
feature of Leeds ware is the varied use of this pierced work in the
rims of plates and dishes and trays and cups. This work was carried
into such unlikely portions of the ware such as bases of candlesticks
or plinths of massive candelabra. In conception no doubt it followed
the work of the silversmith, but as it developed it acquired the
character of some of the finest Oriental types of this class of ware,
and in particular the Leeds potters achieved a ceramic triumph when
they made, in the delicately pierced work with small apertures,
something not dissimilar to the rice-grain form found on old Chinese
white ware which in the case of Chinese wine-cups of white porcelain
is filled with glaze. This especially fine style is at the present day
being carried out by the potters at the Copenhagen porcelain factory.
When held up to the light this porcelain of China and of Denmark is
singularly beautiful, and looks as though it is perforated--but is not.
If Leeds at first copied Wedgwood and the Staffordshire cream-ware
patterns the Staffordshire potters were not slow to return the
compliment when they saw that Leeds had a note of originality,
consequently we find many salt-glaze pieces of identical shape to some
of Hartley, Greens & Co.'s patterns. It is improbable that salt-glaze
ware was ever made at Leeds, though before salt-glaze was as well
understood as it is now much of it was wrongly attributed to Leeds.
We give an illustration (p. 319) of a salt-glaze plate which has the
typical perforated edge of Leeds cream ware, and is decorated with
a transfer-print of a fable subject, illustrating "Hercules and the
Waggoner." But Leeds very early did its own printing, and only the
early examples were sent to Liverpool to Sadler and Green. At this time
salt-glaze ware was in a bad way, and every effort was being made to
compete with cream ware its new rival, and with porcelain which had
struck the first blow at its supremacy as domestic ware. When cream
ware was decorated by transfer-printing salt-glaze followed the new
fashion, and leaving its lofty ideals of undecorated form it hastily
assumed the enamel colouring of the English porcelain.
=Leeds Cream Ware.=--The various classes of Leeds cream ware may be
roughly divided into two classes:
(1) _Plain or undecorated_, in which (especially by reason by the
grace and lightness of structure imparted by the nicely balanced
perforations) artistic excellence is reached by _form_ alone.
(2) _Decorated cream ware._ Decorated with enamel colours, green, red,
lilac, and yellow being usually found, or transfer-printed in the early
manner of Liverpool--black, puce, or red, or later by printing in blue.
In regard to the finer specimens of the cream ware dependent on form
and exhibiting especial delicacy in the treatment of the pierced work,
the illustrations here given convey a pictorial representation of the
great variety and fertility of the design.
The two magnificent centre-pieces represent Leeds cream ware at its
highest. The favourite form of the centre-piece is that in which tiers
of escallop shells are supported by dolphins or by ornamental brackets.
The left-hand centre-piece illustrated (p. 291) is in the form of the
trunk of a tree, supporting four tiers of leaf-shaped dishes. The
piece is surmounted by a classical draped figure. It is noticeable
that the brackets have every resemblance to metal design. These large
centre-pieces are made to take apart. This example illustrated takes
into four pieces, which fit into each other with great accuracy,
showing great technical perfection in potting. It is no less than 4
feet in height, and one of the largest pieces known. Its rich cream
colour, the perfection of the glaze, and the graceful proportion in
the structure, and the modelled figure have won for this and similar
creations of Leeds the admiration of all connoisseurs.
[Illustration:
CHESTNUT BASKET AND CANDLESTICKS.
Pierced LEEDS cream ware.
(_In the collection of Mr. Richard Wilson._)]
[Illustration:
LEEDS CREAM WARE CANDLESTICKS AND KETTLE AND STAND.
With fine pierced work.
(_In the collection of Mr. Richard Wilson._)]
The other centre-piece illustrated is 30 inches in height, and is
constructed in the form of hanging baskets separate and removable.
These baskets, which are of exquisite pierced work, are in three tiers
supported from the central column. The top consists of a vase resting
upon four winged figures. The piece is surmounted by a classical draped
figure of Flora with a cornucopia.
Such pieces as these hold the blue riband of Leeds cream ware, and
collectors who wish to find specimens only approximating to them in
grace and beauty have to search as far afield as Russia and Sweden
before they can hope to gratify their desire.
Another class typical of Leeds cream ware in its highest moods is
the large class consisting of handsome cruets, baskets, and a great
variety of candlesticks. The pierced work in these articles is of very
fine character, and the design is happily lightened by this style of
decoration. In regard to imitations of this cream ware, as has already
been mentioned, they are heavier, are thickly coated with white glaze,
whereas old Leeds pieces are extremely dainty and light in weight, and
when the glaze is seen in the crevices where it may have run it is of a
peculiar green, due to the use of arsenic.
We illustrate two groups of Leeds cream ware, exhibiting the perfection
of its pierced work. The chestnut basket in the upper group is partly
derived from Wedgwood's model. There is an indication in the use of
the sphinx in the pair of candlesticks of one of Wedgwood's models in
basalt. But the treatment here is more graceful, and the character
imparted by Leeds to its cream ware is peculiarly its own.
Leeds cream ware undecorated plates have a great variety of patterns
in the pierced borders, and are always attractive to collectors. Some
of the Leeds plates, with blue painted feathered edge, had either a
crest or printed design in middle. In regard to colour, there are
fine under-glaze blue plates in which there is as strong a leaning to
Oriental pagoda designs as at Bow and Worcester. We illustrate a fine
plate of this nature (p. 303), similar in design to plates impressed
ASTBURY of Staffordshire. Under-glaze blue-printing (black printing
over-glaze was done, but not to the same extent as in Staffordshire)
was introduced about 1790. The willow pattern, among others, was a
favourite design, and most of these printed blue plates are marked.
It may be of interest to the collector to know that there are marks
on the old blue-printed Leeds ware which tell their own story. These
marks were made by the "cockspurs" placed between each plate to keep
them separate in the kiln. There were three of these little tripods of
earthenware placed between each plate. They made, as they had only one
point at their apex, only three "spur" marks on the front of the plates
in the border, and nine "spurs" at the back, in groups of three.
[Illustration:
LEEDS CREAM WARE.
Seascape, and floral decoration in puce, green, red, &c. Painted by
Allen at Lowestoft and refired there.
(_In the collection of Mr. Merrington Smith, Lowestoft._)]
In regard to subjects in colour it may be mentioned that a good many
Leeds jugs bear names and dates upon them, from about 1769 to 1786.
These enamel colours are green, red, lilac, and buff, and are not
dissimilar to those employed at Lowestoft. We illustrate a fine Leeds
mug with the characteristic twisted handle (p. 303), having Oriental
figure in colour and dated and inscribed. The following curious and
gruesome verses appear on it. Inside the mug is a modelled frog, as
found in Sunderland examples.
"In marriage are two happy things allowed
A wife in wedding-sheets and in a shroud.
How can a marriage state be then accurs'd
Since the last days are happy as the first."
Then follows "I. C. U. B. YY for me" (I see you be too wise for me).
"SAMUEL CUDWORTH, 1777."
* * * * *
=Leeds Ware decorated at Lowestoft.=--There is a connection between
Leeds and Lowestoft. It appears that some of the Leeds ware was sent
undecorated to Allen, of Lowestoft, who decorated it there and refired
it, disposing of it on his own account. The fine Leeds mug having the
painted decoration, over-glaze of course, of a vessel, and entitled
"Homeward Bound" (illustrated, p. 299), is typical of this work of
Allen at its best. He appears to have procured ware from Turner and
other Staffordshire potters for decoration and sale by himself.
We illustrate (p. 303), a Staffordshire jug painted by Allen, of
Lowestoft, representing a local scene, recognisable by the tower in the
background. He inscribed it "A Trifle from Lowestoft." This is enamel
work over-glaze, the key pattern at the rim is under-glaze and was done
in Staffordshire.
Another Leeds jug decorated by Allen is that illustrated (p. 299),
bearing the verses:--
"From hence to the deep
May division be tost
And prudence recovre
What folly have lost."
The "have" is a peculiarly Suffolk idiom. The floral scrolls are in the
usual low tones of Lowestoft colouring.
=Castleford= (1790-1820).--This factory, some twelve miles from Leeds,
was established about 1790, contemporary with the establishment of
the Don Pottery near Doncaster. This Castleford factory, under the
proprietor, David Dunderdale, commenced to make cream ware, black
basalt, and the usual stoneware teapots with ornaments in relief.
The mark employed by this factory, when it was used, is D. D. & CO.,
CASTLEFORD. This is impressed, and is found on various imitative ware,
such as clouded tortoiseshell plates in the Whieldon manner. One of the
characteristics of Castleford teapots with raised figures is the use
of a blue line at the edge and the tops of these vessels depart from
the straight lines of Turner and are scalloped, as in the illustration
(p. 307) of a Castleford black ware jug and cover, having the impressed
mark of the factory.
[Illustration:
LEEDS CREAM WARE PLATE.
Painted with Oriental figures in under-glaze blue.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)
LEEDS CREAM WARE MUG.
With Oriental figure and set of verses.
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE JUG.
Painted and inscribed by Allen at Lowestoft.
(_In the collection of Mr. Merrington Smith, Lowestoft._)]
=Rockingham.=--At Swinton, near Rotherham, as early as 1778 a factory
was started by Messrs. Thomas Bingley & Co., who began to manufacture
cream ware. The Leeds factory, apparently jealous of rivals, as in the
case of the Don Pottery, soon had an active interest in this factory.
In 1790 it became Greens, Bingley & Co., and the ware then made was
blue printed and the highly glazed black pottery associated with
Jackfield, of which we shall speak later. At this time a brown glazed
earthenware became widely known and appreciated. It was cream ware
which had received a heavy lead glaze richly and warmly coloured in
brown. From 1796 to 1806 this glaze became extensively used, not only
by Swinton or, as it afterwards came to be known, as "Rockingham,"
taking the name from the Marquis of Rockingham, upon whose estate the
works were situated.
This "Rockingham ware," of smooth surface and fine reddish brown
colour, was very popular, and a teapot was made, known as the
"Cadogan," which was an imitation of the Chinese puzzle teapot. It
was made without a lid and was filled by turning it upside down. An
opening, very much in the manner of the safety glass inkpot, admitted
the tea, and on reversing the vessel it could be poured out. Some of
these teapots are marked "Rockingham," or "Brameld," or "Brameld &
Co.," and sometimes "Mortlock," a London dealer for whom they were
made. In 1806 the Leeds interest passed out of the firm, and the
factory remained in the hands of John and William Brameld. In 1826
it assumed the name of the Rockingham Works, and used the crest of
the Fitzwilliam family. China was made there from 1820, and the
factory obtained considerable reputation and was still in the hands
of the Brameld family till the close of the works in 1842. A gorgeous
Rockingham china dessert service made for William IV. costing £5,000.
We illustrate a "Cadogan" teapot, with its rich brown glaze, and
moulded in the form of a peach, with smaller peaches applied at the
top. It is a remarkably un-English design, and it is singular that it
became so fashionable.
=Jackfield.=--We mention Jackfield here, as it has become among
collectors quite a generic term for all highly glazed black ware,
especially little teapots and cream jugs. It is certain that Elijah
Mayer and other Staffordshire potters largely made this ware, and
Bingley & Co. (Swinton) among a crowd of others. Jackfield is in
Shropshire. Its history as a pot works is as old as any in the
country, but it is chiefly in the period between 1760 and 1765, when
Maurice Thursfield carried on the little factory, that it became
renowned for its black ware. It is quite unlike black basalt. It is red
clay, covered with a bright and highly lustrous black glaze. This is
ornamented with oil gilding, which in use has almost disappeared. Some
of the ware is decorated with raised ornaments of vine leaves. The lids
of teapots often have a bird, with outstretched wings. The designs were
not original, and are found in salt-glaze and in Whieldon ware, and
some of this so-called "Jackfield" ware may be attributed to him.
=Newcastle and Sunderland.=--On the Tyne, the Wear, and the Tees
there were a group of potters working at Gateshead, at Hylton, at
Stockton-on-Tees, but mainly at Newcastle and Sunderland. There is
nothing exceptionally artistic in any of these productions. Some of
these transfer-printed mugs were made by Dixon & Co., of Sunderland, to
commemorate the building of the Iron Bridge over the Wear, which was
begun in 1793 and completed in 1796.
[Illustration:
ROCKINGHAM TEAPOT.
Known as the "Cadogan" pattern. In form of peach. Having no lid and
being filled from bottom. Copied from Chinese rice-spirit pot.
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
[Illustration:
BLACK BASALT JUG.
Castleford Pottery. Impressed mark D D & Co. (Height 6 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin._)]
Among the names found on this ware are impressed: SEWELL, or SEWELLS &
DONKIN, or SEWELLS & CO., sometimes with the addition of ST. ANTHONY'S.
These were made at St. Anthony's, near Newcastle, in date about 1780 to
1790.
FELL, or FELL NEWCASTLE, made at St. Peter's, Newcastle, about 1815.
SCOTT, or SCOTT BROS., made ware at Southwick, Sunderland, 1789-1803,
when they were succeeded by MOORE & CO.
J. PHILLIPS, HYLTON POTTERY, appears on some Sunderland pieces. This
firm was established as early as 1765.
FORD is another name in connection with the South Hylton works about
1800.
DIXON, AUSTIN & CO., sometimes with the addition of SUNDERLAND, is
found at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
W. S. & CO., with the word WEDGEWOOD (having an additional "e") was
the mark used by William Smith & Co., of Stockton-on-Tees, or even
"WEDGWOOD & CO." Against this firm Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, of
Etruria, obtained in 1848 an injunction to restrain the use of their
name.
Another equally confusing mark to collectors is that of a firm near
Pontefract, who marked their ware "Wedgwood & Co." sometimes with the
word name of the factory, "Ferrybridge," and sometimes "Tomlinson &
Co." Their ware is mainly cream ware of an ordinary type.
In regard to the productions of Newcastle and Sunderland these are
best known by the familiar mugs and jugs having a nautical flavour,
with ships in black transfer decoration, and never without verses
appropriate to the _clientèle_ of sailors, for whom they were made.
These mugs and jugs are frequently decorated with pink lustre at the
rims and in bands around the body. A feature which associates these
northern factories with Leeds is the frequent use of a modelled frog
crawling up the inside of the vessel, which was intended as a practical
joke on the person who was lifting the jug to his lips. These frog mugs
were previously made at Leeds, and the one illustrated (p. 303) has a
frog so affixed in the inside.
The ware, as a whole, is rather crude in its potting and slightly
inferior to similar Staffordshire ware, but all these northern
factories are now closed, and the quaint doggerel, the queer nautical
allusions, and the strain of patriotism found on much of this humble
earthenware always appeal strongly to the collector.
=MARKS USED AT LEEDS, CASTLEFORD, ROCKINGHAM, NEWCASTLE, AND
SUNDERLAND.=
[Illustration:
HARTLEY GREENS & CO
LEEDS +*+ POTTERY]
=Leeds.=
From 1783, Hartley, Greens & Co.
[Illustration:
LEEDS POTTERY
LEEDS POTTERY]
1825-1832, Samuel Wainwright & Co.
1832-1840, Leeds Pottery Co.
[Illustration: LEEDS +*+ POTTERY]
1840-1847, Stephen and James Chapel.
1850-1863, Warburton, Britton & Co.
[Illustration "R B & S [Printed]]
1863-1878, Richard Britton & Sons. After which the works closed.
[Illustration: +L+ [Impressed]]
[Illustration: DON POTTERY]
=Don Pottery= (at Swinton near Leeds).
[Illustration:
DON POTTERY
BARKER]
1790-1834, at one time in hands of John Green, of Leeds Pottery.
[Illustration: S B & S]
1834-1850, Samuel Barker, and
1851-1882, Samuel Barker & Sons.
[Illustration:
DON
POTTERY]
Late Marks used by the Barkers during above period:--
In addition to the lion with pennon the word BARKER was added later,
when the mark was _printed_.
[Illustration]
Another _printed_ mark was an eagle and ducal coronet, used when the
firm became Samuel Barker & Sons in 1851. But was shortly discontinued,
and the lion-printed mark again used.
[Illustration:
D D & Co
CASTLEFORD]
=Castleford= (near Leeds), 1790-1820.
David Dunderdale & Co., and the impressed mark in margin is found on
some of the productions of the Castleford Pottery.
=Rockingham.=
[Illustration:
ROCKINGHAM
BRAMELD]
The name of the factory at Swinton, established 1757. Came into the
hands of the Bramelds in 1807. Ceased, 1842.
[Illustration]
The "Cadogan" lower glazed teapots sometimes bear the impressed mark
"Mortlock," the London agent for whom some of them were made.
[Illustration:
Rockingham Works.
Brameld.]
The crest of the Fitzwilliam family was printed as a mark after 1826,
and is also found _printed_ on porcelain made at the Rockingham
factory.
=Newcastle-on-Tyne=.
[Illustration:
FELL
NEWCASTLE
15]
Fell of Newcastle (about 1815), impressed cream ware mugs and jugs with
this mark. Various figures appear underneath, denoting the particular
pattern.
[Illustration: FELL]
=Sunderland.=
[Illustration:
SEWELL.
ST ANTHONY'S]
Messrs. Sewell, established about 1780, after Sewell & Donkin, used
these marks.
[Illustration: SEWELL & DONKIN]
Other Sunderland makers--DIXON, AUSTIN & CO., DIXON & CO., SCOTT
BROTHERS & CO. (established 1788), PHILLIPS & CO. (established
about 1800), J. PHILLIPS, HYLTON (established, 1780), DAWSON (about
1810)--impressed their names on ware.
PRICES.
LEEDS. £ s. d.
Coffee Pot and Cover, with mask under
spout, twisted handles, decorated in
colours. Sotheby, June, 1906 2 2 0
Basket dish, with stand and covers with
embossed and open work. Sotheby,
June, 1906 2 2 0
Jug, painted with flowers, inscribed "John
Barnes, Chadlington, 1769." Sotheby,
July, 1907 2 10 0
Teapot and cover, painted with portraits
of George III. and Queen Charlotte.
Sotheby, November, 1908 2 8 0
Teapot and cover, printed in red, with lady
and gentleman taking tea, with negro
servant at side; on reverse, a shepherd
and sheep. Sotheby, November, 1908 1 10 0
Jug, printed with transfer medallions of
ladies seated in a garden, blue and
black bands at rim. Sotheby, November,
1908 1 14 0
CASTLEFORD.
Loving cup with handles, painted with fruit
and roses, made for David Dunderdale.
Escritt & Barrett, April, 1907 3 15 0
JACKFIELD.
Figure of _Diana_ (height 10 in.). Escritt
& Barrett, April 1907 3 5 0
Jugs, brown glazed, two. Sotheby,
November, 1907 1 1 0
ROCKINGHAM.
Small "Cadogan" Teapot, marked _Brameld_,
richly gilt upon brown, and another
without gilding. Sotheby, June, 1906 1 14 0
Milk jug modelled as cow, brown glaze;
Figure of Horse; Jug, brown glaze,
with twisted handles, marked _Rockingham_.
Sotheby, June, 1906 2 5 0
"Cadogan" Teapot, rich brown glazed;
impressed mark. Sotheby, May, 1908 1 2 0
SUNDERLAND.
Sugar Basin and Cover and six cups and
saucers, painted with figure subjects
on yellow ground, marked SEWELL.
Sotheby. November, 1905 1 13 0
NEWCASTLE.
Frog mugs and jugs vary in price from
10s. to £2, according to the style of
decoration.
X
TRANSFER-PRINTED
WARE
CHAPTER X
TRANSFER-PRINTED WARE
Its origin--Liverpool--Its adoption in Staffordshire--What
is Transfer-printing?--Over-glaze printing--Under-glaze
printing--The Staffordshire Transfer-printers--Other
Transfer-printers--Leeds, Swansea, Sunderland, and Newcastle--The
Mission of black Transfer-printed Ware--Types of Blue-printed
Ware--The Willow Pattern--Table of Marks--Prices.
Before the year 1756, all ware, whether it be porcelain or delft or
earthenware, was painted, or, to follow the term used in popular
phraseology, it was "hand painted." It is an essentially English art,
and something which stands with salt-glaze and with Wedgwood's jasper
ware as being famous throughout Europe.
The subject of transfer-printing is surrounded with a certain amount
of conjecture in regard to its invention. Quite a dozen persons were
credited with having originated it. Mr. William Turner, in his volume,
"Transfer Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery," published by
Messrs. Chapman and Hall, in 1907, has thoroughly investigated the
various claims set up for the discovery of transfer-printing and, with
no little research extending over a wide area, has for the first time
settled the relative position of the various claimants and factories
for which this honour is claimed. It is impossible, covering the same
ground as Mr. William Turner, to say anything new on transfer-printing,
and we must express our indebtedness to him in making use of his
original investigations and embodying them in this chapter on
transfer-printed ware.
In regard to over-glaze printing, including copper enamels such as
Battersea, porcelain such as Worcester, and earthenware such as
Liverpool delft--it was at Battersea where enamels were first printed
in 1753; Liverpool, with Sadler and Green's invention, comes second
with printed delft tiles in 1756. A year after, in 1757, we have
Worcester with transfer-printed porcelain. This Worcester printed ware
is well known from the early transfer-printed design known as Hancock's
"Tea party" and the "King of Prussia" jugs and mugs.
After Worcester all the other porcelain factories followed with
transfer-printed ware. There was Derby in 1764, and Caughley in the
same year.
It will be seen that, so far as Liverpool is concerned as
representative of the earthenware factories (cream ware being
printed here to the order of the Staffordshire potters), earthenware
over-glaze printing is slightly ahead of the porcelain factories.
But in under-glaze printing porcelain stands easily first. Worcester
commenced under-glaze printing in the same year (1757) that over-glaze
was employed there, and Derby is the second in the field in under-glaze
printing in 1764.
[Illustration:
SALT-GLAZED PLATE.
Transfer-printed in red. Fable subject--_Hercules and the Waggoner_.]
[Illustration:
LIVERPOOL TRANSFER-PRINTED JUG.
Medallion representing _Diana in her Chariot_. (Height 9-1/4 inches.)
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
It has already been shown that Liverpool did the printing on the
Staffordshire cream ware for the potters who sent it there to be
printed, and the same method was followed by Leeds. But there came
a time when it was no longer necessary to ask Liverpool to employ a
secret process for the decoration of Staffordshire or Leeds work. The
secret known at Worcester, and Derby and Battersea, was not many years
a secret. The Staffordshire potters undertook to do their own printing,
and every pottery soon learned the new process of transfer-printing,
and it was not long before improvements were made and newer forms of
printing adopted.
=Its adoption in Staffordshire.=--Allusion has been made to the awkward
form of the square tile decoration of fable subjects at Liverpool as
applied to circular plates. But Staffordshire in its adoption of the
new process made the transfer fit the object to be decorated. In the
illustration of the salt-glaze Staffordshire plate with the black
transfer-printed design of "Hercules and the Waggoner" from _Æsop's
Fables_ (p. 319), the engraver has departed from the four corners
of his circumscribed tile, and we may put this piece down as of
Staffordshire printing.
It is often largely a matter of conjecture as to what was printed
at Liverpool and what was printed elsewhere (with the exception of
Worcester, where the engraving and printing were more delicate).
The Staffordshire jug showing a full-length portrait of His Royal
Highness Frederick, Duke of York, having on the reverse the Dragoon
in the uniform of the period, tells its own story as regards date.
Frederick was the second son of George III. and was born in 1763 and
died in 1827. As this portrait represents him as being advanced into
manhood and as at that date--say about 1786--the Liverpool printers had
been at work twenty years, the transfer-printing may very reasonably be
attributed to Staffordshire.
But it is not always easy to fix the date of the printing, and
determine whether by that time Staffordshire had embarked on its own
transfer-printing in black; of course, blue transfer-printing is later.
The difficulty usually arises in connection with black transfer-printed
ware. Liverpool was still engaged in printing for Staffordshire potters
as well as printing cream ware of its own potting, and Leeds was
producing similar transfer-printed over-glaze ware, so that in unmarked
pieces there must always be an uncertainty in coming to a definite
conclusion. In all probability the jug (illustrated p. 323) and bearing
the inscription "Success to Trade" and having a typical eighteenth
century rural subject on the reverse entitled "The Faithless Lover,"
was actually printed by Sadler and Green at Liverpool.
Another finely decorated printed jug is that illustrated (p. 318),
the subject representing _Diana_ on crescent moon driving a pair of
goats in her chariot. The date of this piece is about 1780 to 1800,
and is strongly suggestive of Wedgwood cream ware. It will be observed
that the design is identical with that in the Turner jasper vase
(illustrated p. 261).
[Illustration:
JUG, TRANSFER-PRINTED IN BLACK.
Emblems and inscribed "Success to Trade."
Subject on reverse--"The Faithless Lover."
(Height 7 inches.)]
[Illustration:
JUG, TRANSFER-PRINTED IN BLACK.
Portrait of Duke of York, and mounted dragoon on reverse.
(Height 7 inches.)
(_In the possession of Mr. Hubert Gould._)]
=What is Transfer-printing?=--A piece of pottery may be plain or
undecorated, it may be painted, or it may be printed. The process of
printing consists of affixing an engraved print from a copper plate
and transferring an impression to the pottery to be decorated. It is
this latter process which claims our attention in this chapter. When
transfer-printing was first used, subjects such as portraits (King of
Prussia), costume subjects (series of actors and actresses on Liverpool
delft tiles), fancy or pastoral scenes (such as _Æsop's Fables_, &c.),
were produced in black, puce, or reddish brown. These were at first
culled from contemporary volumes with engraved copper-plate prints as
illustrations. We find Wedgwood in quite early days searching London
for suitable prints of views and similar small subjects for decorative
purposes. Probably at first the copper plates which had been used in
books were bought up by the potters, and did service again for their
ware. Later they employed engravers, who no doubt copied or adapted
other people's engraved work to suit their purpose, and as the art
advanced it gained in originality, and a band of engravers worked
for the potters in designing subjects strictly applicable to the
limitations in the technique of earthenware.
This process of transfer-printing is roughly as follows. The
copper-plate is inked, and a sheet of tough tissue paper, wetted with a
mixture of soap, is applied to its surface and printed in a press. The
paper is taken off, showing an impression or print, which is carefully
laid on the surface of the piece of earthenware to be decorated. The
inked design on the paper transfers itself to the earthenware.
=Over-glaze Printing.=--The difference between over-glaze and
under-glaze decoration always seems to puzzle the beginner, but the
explanation is simple enough. A piece of pottery is produced by the
following steps. The clay is "thrown," that is, it is spun into shape
on the potter's wheel, or it may be made in a mould. When in this soft
state, say in the form of a basin, it could be crushed by the hand
into the shapeless mass of clay whence it sprung. It is next put aside
to dry sufficiently to allow handling. It may receive some of its
decoration at this stage as it is possible to paint on the more or less
damp clay, but as a general rule that is left till the next stage.
It is now placed in the "biscuit" oven and receives the most intense
heat, and is here stacked in fireproof saggers or boxes to protect it
from the flames, and it is fired for about three days before being
taken out in the state known as "biscuit." Wedgwood's jasper ware,
black basalt, and all unglazed stoneware stop at this biscuit or
unglazed stage.
It is next dipped in liquid glaze and goes again to be fired, this time
into the "glost" or glaze oven, which is lower in temperature. After
coming from this second oven it is no longer "biscuit" in appearance,
but is covered with a skin or coating of glass or glaze, which has
amalgamated with the body underneath.
It is now ready for painting with enamel colours or for
transfer-printing, which obviously is "over-glaze" decoration.
Lastly, after this decoration has been made, it goes to be fired for a
third time, and is put into the enamel or "muffle" kiln, which is the
lowest temperature of the three.
In effect, then, the "over-glaze" decoration is on top of everything,
and obviously, when the piece is scratched in use, this decoration
wears away first. This at once gives the reason for another process,
known as under-glaze decoration, where the work receives the protection
of the glaze.
As a postscript to this description of the three firings, it may be
noted in passing that, in true porcelain, such as Chinese, Dresden,
and Bristol (all hard pastes), the body and glaze are fired at one
operation, the glaze receiving as high a temperature as the body.
[Illustration:
CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN PLATES.
Painted in dark blue under-glaze. Painted in light blue under-glaze.
The types from which English potters made their copies.
(_In the collection of the Author._)]
[Illustration:
CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN PLATES.
Painted in rich blue under-glaze. The "Willow pattern" and the "Aster
pattern."
The types from which English potters made their copies.
(_In the collection of the Author._)]
=Under-glaze Printing.=--This is printing which is transferred to the
ware, either porcelain or earthenware, when in its "biscuit" state
_prior to being dipped in glaze_. Blue was the most frequent colour
used in under-glaze transfer-printing, as of course it was the earliest
colour used in the painted under-glaze decorations at Worcester and
Caughley. There are other colours, obtained from metallic compounds,
used both on porcelain and earthenware under the glaze, and owing
to the temperature required for firing in this manner the range is
limited, being usually confined to cobalt blue, green, brown, lilac,
black, and a few others. But blue is the chief under-glaze colour to
be considered in connection with under-glaze transfer-printing. There
was a great demand for deep blue and for a lighter blue, both of
which came to the Staffordshire earthenware printers and potters from
English porcelain factories such as Caughley, where Thomas Turner, an
apprentice at Worcester under Robert Hancock, made in 1780 his famous
under-glaze blue "Willow-pattern"; or the idea may have been derived
straight from the Chinese blue porcelain under-glaze of Nankin, so much
in vogue in middle eighteenth-century days.
=Staffordshire Transfer-printers.=--It has been shown how the
Staffordshire potters at first turned to Liverpool, and readily sought
the aid of Sadler and Green in the decoration of their salt-glaze and
their cream ware, in order to compete with the porcelain factories with
Worcester and Caughley at their head. But trade secrets found their way
into Staffordshire. The over-glaze printing as practised by Sadler and
Green was soon mastered, and later the under-glaze blue printing was
imported by workmen from Caughley.
Among the Staffordshire potters the following are the principal
pioneers in regard to transfer-printing in its various developments.
William Adams, of Cobridge, in 1775 first introduced transfer-printing
into Staffordshire. John Turner, of Lane End (not to be confounded with
Thomas Turner, of Caughley) was the first to print under-glaze blue in
Staffordshire. Josiah Spode, about 1784, introduced his under-glaze
blue "willow pattern," a copy of the Caughley pattern. William Adams,
of Greengates, in 1787 brought out his under-glaze blue, which in
richness and mellowness has never been surpassed; and Josiah Wedgwood,
although he never deserted Liverpool for some of his patterns, had a
press at work at Etruria, in 1787; and Thomas Minton, now a master
potter at Stoke, formerly an apprentice at Caughley with Thomas Turner,
designed the celebrated "Broseley Dragon" pattern tea service for
porcelain in 1782 (following the willow pattern, 1780), and produced
in the late years of the eighteenth century, about 1793, some fine
blue-printed ware at Stoke.
These may be termed the earlier exponents of transfer-printing in
Staffordshire, but there were others whose blue-printed ware was
of great merit in Staffordshire, and Leeds and Swansea, held no
insignificant place.
[Illustration:
SPODE EARTHENWARE.
Transfer-printed under-glaze blue.
"Bridge pattern" Plate and "Willow pattern" Jug.]
[Illustration:
CREAM WARE DISH WITH IMPRESSED MARK "TURNER."
With pierced border and band of embossed wickerwork.
Centre printed in blue with "Willow pattern."
(_At Victoria and Albert Museum._)]
=Other Transfer Printers.=--Staffordshire did not long have the
monopoly of under-glaze blue-printed ware. Leeds and Swansea both
produced similar work, and in both cases there is a strong attachment
to Oriental design. Black transfer-printing was also executed at both
these factories, and at Swansea some exceptionally fine engraved
work was turned out (see illustration of Swansea plate, p. 397). At
Sunderland and Newcastle the black transfer-printed mugs and jugs with
the _Wear Bridge_ and with nautical subjects became quite the vogue,
and in these two factories the jugs and mugs often had a frog modelled
in the interior, and pink lustre decoration was used in combination
with the transfer design usually at the borders or at the rims.
=The Mission of Black-printed Ware.=--In the designs and inscriptions
of the black transfer-printed ware the Staffordshire potter used
his jugs and his mugs as a medium to record events and to ventilate
grievances, not in "imperishable verse," but in the fickle body of
the clay. This class of ware from 1760 to 1860 stands for a century
as typically English in character. It reflects the political, social,
and religious events, and in matter-of-fact, humorous, or satirical
fashion. The black transfer-printed or earlier period, (though some
of this class come down as late as the railway mugs of 1830), may be
said to depict events and chronicle popular sentiment in black and
white. The blue transfer-printer strove to be decorative, and mainly
represented scenery and topography, and much of it was bound down to
formal designs of Oriental nature.
At first fable subjects, as on Wedgwood's cream ware, were employed,
and it has been seen how the square tile form was discarded by the
engraver who made his engraving fit the object to be decorated.
This perfect mastery of the technique of transfer-printing is shown
very clearly in the old blue Spode service of the "Tower" pattern
(illustrated, p. 335). It will be seen how, as the shape of each
vessel differed, the engraver has altered his bridge to fit the new
circumstances. At one time, on a broad, flat dish, it appears as a wide
bridge, and in the circular plate the trees appear at greater height
and the viaduct assumes a more circular form. In the jug of the same
design the bridge is narrow, as though spanning a deep ravine.
To enumerate the classes of ware with black transfer-printing is to
make a catalogue of the principal events which stirred the heart of the
people. It must be borne in mind that this school was working side by
side with the makers of fine stoneware and of jasper ware with classic
subjects, but it is, after all, to the black-printed ware that one
turns most lovingly as being more human.
It will suffice, perhaps, if we quote a few examples and stir the
enthusiasm of the reader to pursue the collection of these really
historic records which have something more endearing in them than the
relics of Napoleon or the shoestrings of some of the Stuart monarchs.
There is a fine flavour of patriotism, of conviviality, and of homely
sentiment in some of the following:--
On a bowl, salt-glazed ware, with Admiral Vernon and his fleet is
inscribed "The British Glory revived by Admiral Vernon. He took Porto
Bello with Six Ships only. Nov. ye 22 1739." A cream-ware jug printed,
with medallion portrait of Earl Howe, is inscribed "LONG LIVE EARL
HOWE, Commander-in-Chief of the Victorious BRITISH FLEET. In the
ever memorable engagement on the Glorious First of June, 1794." On
a cream-ware jug about 1800 with a view of Greenwich Hospital, and
entitled "The Sailor's Adieu," the following lines are inscribed: "What
should tear me from the arms of my Dearest Polly but the undeniable
calls of my country in whose cause I have engag'd my Honour and my
Life." This in date is the last year of the eighteenth century.
[Illustration:
OLD SPODE BLUE PRINTED WARE.
"Tower pattern."
(_In the collection of Mrs. Herman Liebstein._)]
"The Sailor's Farewell and Return" are rather frequent, and Charles
Dibdin's verses appear on some of these jugs and mugs. There is one
interesting jug in the form of a sailor seated on a chest, coloured
earthenware about 1770, with a breezy inscription, "Hullo, Brother
Briton, whoever Thou be, Sit down on that chest of Hard Dollars by me,
and drink a health to all sailors bold."
Another cream-ware jug, partly printed and touched by colour
representing a man-of-war towing a frigate, has the inscription:
"A sailor's life's a pleasant life;
He freely roams from shore to shore,
In every port he finds a wife,
What can a sailor wish for more?"
A red earthenware mug with white slip may be mentioned here as having a
characteristic motto:
"From rocks and sands and barren lands
Good Fortune sets me free;
And from great Guns and Women's tongues,
Good Lord, deliver me."
A Staffordshire blue-printed jug, made in 1793, shows the execution of
Louis XVI. At the beginning of the nineteenth century there was quite
a burst of Napoleonic jugs and mugs and busts, and some of Gillray's
caricatures find themselves on earthenware. There is one lustre
earthenware jug printed and coloured with caricatures entitled "Jack
Frost attacking 'Bony' in Russia" and "Little 'Bony' sneaking into
Paris with a white feather in his tail." This is in date about 1813.
A cover of an earthenware jar has the inscription printed in violet
within a wreath, "Peace! May its duration equal the years of War."
The relations between England and America received attention at the
Staffordshire potters' hands. There are cream-ware mugs and jugs and
plates with portraits of Washington in date from 1785 to 1790. On one
the inscription runs, "Success to the United States, America."
Prize-fighting, bear-baiting, cock-fighting, racing, coaching, all
received their records on the earthenware of the late eighteenth
century. Stag hunting, fox hunting, coursing, come as ready subjects to
the transfer-printer. Cricket is recorded in earthenware on a printed
mug representing the "Grand Cricket Match played in Lord's Ground,
Mary-le-bone, June 20 and following day between the Earls of Winchester
and Darnley for 1,000 guineas." The date of this is 1790. Even the
velocipede and the balloon are not disregarded.
This list is but a rough outline of the mission of the transfer-printer
in recording current events on his earthenware, for the pleasure of
his own contemporaries and for the information and delectation of
succeeding generations of collectors who may be something other than
connoisseurs of pastes and bodies, and have learned to read aright the
story of the china-shelf and enjoy to the full the secret pleasures in
the byeways of collecting.
=Types of Blue-printed Ware.=--The black over-glaze transfer-printing
came into Staffordshire in imitation of the transfer-printed delft
tiles of Liverpool. But it rapidly acquired a strength and originality
of its own. It lacked the delicacy of the transfer-printed black
porcelain of Worcester, but its virility more than made up for its
artistic defects.
Under-glaze blue-printed ware was an imitation from the porcelain
printed at Caughley. Here again it may be said to have outstripped by
new departures and broader effects the under-glaze blue-printing of
the early china factories. In common with them its inspiration was from
the Chinese. We illustrate (p. 327) four examples of Chinese porcelain
plates, which are types of the Oriental china designs which served as
models both for the English porcelain makers and for the earthenware of
Staffordshire.
The lower left-hand plate is evidently the Chinese design from which
the English potters derived the well-known and favourite "willow
pattern." After Thomas Turner, of Caughley, had printed it on china
in 1780, and Josiah Spode in 1784 had employed it on his earthenware
in Staffordshire, all the other potters commenced to make the same
design with slightly different details, mainly in the fret border.
The other plate on the right hand is the well-known "aster" pattern,
so frequently adopted by English potters in blue-printed cream
ware. The two upper octagonal plates show the two styles of dark
blue and light blue under-glaze painting employed by the Chinese;
and the Staffordshire potter, true to his models, followed in his
under-glaze blue-printing these tones. The period when the rich deep
dark-blue-printed ware was in vogue is from the early nineteenth
century to about 1825. Light blue printing was employed from 1790 till
the deep blue supplanted it, and when the craze for deep blue had spent
itself the light blue again became fashionable until printing in colour
in the middle period of the nineteenth century came to be largely
practised.
In the treatment of the border in the Oriental example we illustrate,
it will be noticed how Josiah Spode and others, including the fine
school at Leeds, who were printing in under-glaze blue in 1790, and
the potters at Swansea, followed this decorative treatment. Spode in
particular had a great fondness for Chinese subjects. We illustrate (p.
345) a blue-printed dish by him, where, as was his wont, he introduced,
quite incongruously, a Gothic castle. The fine, rich colouring of this
dish is most noticeable.
In the Spode earthenware _Jug_ and _Plate_ illustrated (p. 331), it
will be seen that the plate, known as the "Bridge" pattern, closely
follows the design of the Chinese porcelain plate (p. 327), and the
jug is decorated with the familiar "Willow" pattern. Another variation
of the "Willow" design is found on the _Turner Cream-ware Dish_,
illustrated, having a band of embossed wickerwork and a pierced border.
This piece has the impressed mark TURNER.
A similar Oriental influence is seen in the dark blue transfer-printed
dish by William Adams, of Greengates (see illustration, p. 341). The
inclination here is towards figure subjects, and the decorative use of
the exotic bird, as shown in the centre panel of this dish, finds a
place on some of Mason's early blue-printed dishes. Of the colour of
the dishes of William Adams, of Greengates, it may be remarked that for
richness of tone in the under-glaze blue he introduced in 1787 they
have never been surpassed.
=What is the Willow pattern?=--The name "willow-pattern" has been so
frequently mentioned in connection with the subject of old English
earthenware and china that it will be of service to state something of
the details of the history of this particular pattern, which seems to
have unaccountably seized hold of popular imagination.
[Illustration:
DISH, TRANSFER-PRINTED IN DEEP BLUE, BY ROGERS.
Subject--the Naval Fight between the _Chesapeake_ and _Shannon_.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
DISH, TRANSFER-PRINTED IN BLUE.
Mark impressed "ADAMS" (of Greengates).
(_In the collection of Mr. Russell Allan._)]
By the courtesy of Mr. Percy W. L. Adams.
From "_William Adams. An Old English Potter._"
The Caughley pattern, which some authorities believe was engraved by
Minton when he was an apprentice there, was closely followed by Spode,
Adams, Wedgwood, Davenport, Clews, Leeds, the Don Pottery, and
Swansea. The differences are slight mainly in the treatment of the
fretted border, either a lattice-work or conventional butterfly being
used, and details of the fence in the foreground differing.
The term "Willow" is applied in a general way to many of the copies of
the blue-and-white Oriental porcelain imported from China during the
last half the eighteenth century.
But the "willow pattern," to which a story is attached, is of the
same design as the Chinese plate illustrated (p. 327), which Caughley
copied. This popular adaptation appears as a decoration on the covers
of this volume.
Whether the story was invented by some ingenious person to fit the
plate we do not know; but there is strong probability that this is so.
On Chinese plates the _dramatis personæ_ are missing. The willow has
ever been a sad tree, whereof such as have lost their love make their
mourning garlands. "I offered him my company to a willow-tree ... to
make him a garland, as being forsaken," says Benedick in _Much Ado
about Nothing_.
This is the love-story that is told concerning the "willow" plate.
Chang, the secretary of a mandarin whose house is on the right of the
plate, dared to love his master's daughter, Li-chi. But the mandarin
had other designs, and his daughter was promised to an old but wealthy
suitor. In order to prevent the lovers from meeting, the mandarin
imprisoned his daughter in a room in his house overlooking the water. A
correspondence ensued, so the story goes, between the lovers, and the
lady sent a poetical message, in a cocoa-nut shell, floating down the
river, that she expected Chang when the willow-leaf commenced to fall.
By the connivance of a gardener, who apparently lived in the small
cottage on the left, overshadowed by a fir-tree, the lovers escaped,
and are depicted as fleeing over the bridge--the mandarin behind with a
whip in his hand, the lady in front, and Chang in the middle carrying
her jewel-box! The individual in the junk, higher up, is intended to
denote that they fled to the island in the north-west of the plate.
They lived happy until Fate, in the shape of the wealthy lover,
overtook them and burned their house to ashes. But the gods changed
them into two doves, which, of course, figure prominently in the design.
This tragic story of disastrous love has clung to the willow-pattern
plates, and nobody can shake the belief of owners of indifferent
specimens of middle-nineteenth century days that these plates are of
great value. As a matter of fact, apart from the eighteenth-century
examples, anything else is not worth the attention of the serious
collector.
We have alluded to the historic character of the black transfer-printed
ware, but sometimes similar subjects were attempted in the blue ware.
We illustrate a dish known as the "Chesapeake and Shannon" dish,
depicting the famous naval encounter between these two vessels.
[Illustration:
SPODE DISH.
Transfer-printed in deep blue under-glaze.]
[Illustration:
DISH WITH LANDSCAPE SUBJECT IN STYLE OF CLAUDE.
Transfer-printed in deep blue under-glaze.
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
At a time when the school of landscape engravers dearly loved a classic
ruin or the broken arch of a temple in the composition of the scene, it
is only natural to find this class of subject on the printed ware. We
illustrate a typical under-glaze blue-printed dish with fine contrasts
showing very accurately what excellent decoration was employed in this
engraved work. The school of Claude landscapes found its votaries, and
some strong engraving by Brookes and others was done for this old
blue earthenware. It is pictorial, and betrays an attempt to break new
ground and get away from the conventions of Oriental design, but the
border in the dish we illustrate (p. 345) shows the strong Japanese
spirit which had inspired Spode, and this touch of incongruity makes it
more than probable that this dish is of Spode origin.
There are many other phases of printed ware that can only be alluded to
in passing. The transfer printing in outline, the colour being added by
hand, was the beginning of the establishment of all the modern methods
for china and earthenware as commonly in use. Something, too, should be
said of "bat" printing. This was the use of a block of glue instead of
transfer-paper to receive the inked impression from the copper plate
and transfer it to the body of the earthenware. William Adams, of
Cobridge, in 1775 first introduced "bat" printing into Staffordshire.
Of the various types of engraving, such as line, and stipple, and
aquatint, and, later, lithography, there is no space to deal. But
enough has been said in connection with the various types of printed
ware to show that when pursued in a special manner it may be found to
be of exceptional interest to the collector.
MARKS.
Transfer-printed Earthenware.
Many printed examples are unmarked, both of the early transfer-printing
in black over the glaze, and of the latter under-glaze blue-printed
ware, but over a wide period the following names are found as marks
upon various transfer-printed specimens.
It will be observed that in addition many of these potters made
stoneware, following the Wedgwood influence.[5]
[Note: 5 Compare this with the List of Marks of the School of Wedgwood, pp.
279-282.]
William Adams 1787-1805 Blue-printed under-glaze (marked
(of Greengates) Adams).
Benjamin Adams 1805-1820 Blue-printed under-glaze (marked
(of Greengates) B. Adams).
William Adams 1804-1835 Dark blue-printed under-glaze and
& Sons (of Stoke) black over-glaze (marked Adams).
(Marked "Close & Co., late
William Adams & Sons, Stoke on
Trent"--after 1843.)
William Adams 1830-1840 Black over-glazed printing.
& Sons (of Burslem)
Wedgwood 1795-1845 Blue-printed ware introduced
(of Etruria) (The second shortly after the death of Josiah
Wedgwood Wedgwood in 1795. Black
period) transfer-printed views after 1830.
Wedgwood & Co 1790-1796 Ralph Wedgwood. Black
(of Burslem) transfer-printing over-glaze.
Josiah Spode the 1798-1827 Blue under-glaze printing of great
Second (of Stoke) variety.
Thomas Minton 1790-1836 Blue under-glaze printing, Oriental
(of Stoke) and other patterns.
John Davenport 1793-1834 Under-glaze blue-printing (marked
(of Longport) Davenport, Longport).
Henry and William
Davenport 1835-1869
John Turner 1762-1786 Oriental patterns, under-glaze
(of Lane End) blue (impressed mark, Turner).
William & John 1786-1803
Turner
(sons of above)
John Aynsley 1790-1826 Masonic plates printed in outline
(of Lane End) over-glaze and coloured.
T. Fletcher & Co 1786-1810 Black transfer-printed sporting
(of Shelton) subjects, sometimes _under-glaze_.
Shorthose & Co 1783-1802 Red over-glaze printed fancy
(of Hanley) subjects.
Andrew Stevenson 1810-1818 Black over-glaze printing tinted
(of Cobridge) in colours (marked A. Stevenson,
with crown in circle).
Joseph Stubbs 1798-1829 Dark blue under-glaze printing
(of Longport) (marked Joseph Stubbs in circle.
Longport impressed).
James Clews 1814-1836 Black under-glaze after 1825.
(of Cobridge) American views of Hudson River,
&c.
John and Richard 1820-1827 Blue under-glaze printing.
Riley (of Burslem) Picturesque views.
Miles Mason 1813-1851 Rich blue under-glaze printing;
(of Lane Delph) Oriental subjects and birds.
Enoch Wood & Sons 1820-1846 Deep blue under-glaze printing.
(of Burslem)
R. & J. Baddeley 1780-1806 }
(of Shelton) }
}
J. & E. Baddeley } Transfer printing from the
Hicks & Meigh 1806-1820 } earliest date, both over-glaze and
(of Shelton) } under-glaze.
}
Hicks, Meigh & 1820-1836 } Marked I. E. B., or full names,
Johnson (of Shelton) } or R. M. W. & Co.
}
John and William 1824-1836 } Deep dark blue under-glaze
Ridgway } printing. "Beauties of America,"
(of Shelton) } and other views.
}
Ridgway, Morley, 1836-1854 }
Wear & Co. (of Shelton) }
Leeds 1790-1878 Over-glaze black printing (little
practised), under-glaze blue, Oriental
subjects (marked Leeds Pottery).
Don Pottery 1790-1834 Under-glaze blue, Oriental subjects
(near Doncaster) (marked _Don Pottery_ or _Barker_--the
latter after 1834).
Liverpool 1796-1841 Deep under-glaze blue-printed;
(Herculaneum) Oriental subjects (marked Herculaneum).
Swansea 1802-1870 Under-glaze blue-printing and
(Cambrian Pottery) over-glaze, black and brown printing
(marked Dillwyn & Co.)
(See group illustrated, p. 397.)
Derby 1780-1785 Over-glaze black printing of
(Cockpit Hill figure subjects (marked Derby Pot
Factory) Works).
Caughley 1780-1799 Under the management of Thomas
(Salopian) Turner. Dark blue under-glaze
printing; Oriental subjects (marked
in blue +C+).
Sunderland and 1790-1850 Black transfer-printed mugs and
Newcastle jugs of crude decoration. Various
firms.
_Sunderland._--Scott Brothers,
Brunton & Co., Moore & Co. (1803),
Phillips.
_Newcastle._--Dixon, Austin, &
Co., Dawson & Co., Fell & Co.
(1817), marked with +F+ and anchor,
Sewells & Donkin.
Middlesborough 1831-1850 Blue-printed ware (marked with
Pottery impressed anchor and _Middlesbro'
(Yorkshire) Pottery_, or with the word _London_
and anchor, about 1848, or M.P. Co).
PRICES--TRANSFER-PRINTED WARE.
£ s. d.
Transfer-printed Jug with ship on one side
and mariner's compass on reverse;
another Jug with Sailor and his Lass.
Sotheby, November, 1904 1 18 0
Transfer-printed Jug with portrait of Lord
Nelson on one side, and plan of Battle
of Trafalgar on reverse. Sotheby,
November, 1904 3 15 0
Transfer-printed Jug with "Britannia weeping
over the ashes of Her Matchless
Hero, Lord Nelson," and a sailing ship
on reverse, with motto "Success to
Trade." Sotheby, November, 1904 3 8 0
Transfer-printed Jug with Subject relating
to the Independence of America; _rare._
Sotheby, November, 1904 3 3 0
Twelve Plates, transfer-printed, with farmyard
scenes in blue, and large dish
similar. Sotheby, May, 1907 1 10 0
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURE, SALT-GLAZED.
Touched in parts with blue. (Height 5-1/8 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE FIGURE OF COCK.
Tail feathers enamelled in dark blue. (Height 8 inches.)
Marked R WOOD.
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
XI
STAFFORDSHIRE
FIGURES
[Illustration:
OLD STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES.
DIANA.
BIRTH OF VENUS. Modelled from the Plymouth porcelain group.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
GROUP OF STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES.
MINERVA.
PARSON AND CLERK.
TOBY JUG. Finely modelled.
All marked NEALE & CO.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
CHAPTER XI
STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES
Early Period (1675-1725): Slip, Agate, and Astbury Figures--Best
Period (1725-1760): Fine Modelling and Reticent Colouring, Ralph
Wood the elder, Aaron Wood, Thomas Wheildon--Classic Period
(1760-1785): Wedgwood, Neale, Voyez, Ralph Wood, junior, Enoch
Wood, Lakin and Poole--Decadent Period (1785-1830): Walton,
Scott, Bott, Lockett, Dale, and imitative school.
In attempting to classify the great array of Staffordshire figures and
groups, extending over a period of a century and a half, no little
difficulty has been experienced. The number of unmarked specimens is
very great, and in many cases, owing to trade rivalry, models were so
extensively imitated that it is impossible to say who was the first
modeller. These Staffordshire figures, except in the instances of the
highest modelling and restrained under-glaze colouring of the best
period, cannot be regarded as ceramic triumphs. But they are highly
valuable, although not from an artistic point of view, as illustrative
of the character of the common folk in England, and exemplifying their
tastes and their sentiments.
Ornament, even in the humblest articles of daily use, has its meaning
and can tell its story, to those who read aright, of the feeling of
the man who produced it; whether he took a pleasure in making the
article, or whether he was a machine, human or other, producing only
a thin echo of art. Practically it may be asserted that from middle
eighteenth-century days to middle nineteenth-century days ceramic
art was steadily deteriorating. Applied art had practically ceased
to exist in the early nineteenth century. It is said that men's eyes
were first opened to this fact by the cumulative hideousness of the
Great Exhibition of 1851, and certainly a perusal of the illustrated
catalogue of that Exhibition is a saddening occupation.
In the study of the china shelf this decadence must always be
considered, and it is fully borne out by a close study of the subject
of Staffordshire figures. Practically, the crude agate cat and the
little mannikin of early days playing bagpipes found replicas in
crudity and poverty of invention in the spotted poodle dog or the
kilted Scotsman, the common cottage ornaments of a century later.
And between these two dates, with the exception of an outburst which
promised to develop into something really great and almost did so,
there was, owing to want of artistic instinct and general lack of
culture, a fairly rapid degeneration into the hideous nightmare of
the Toby jug and all the awful insularities of the late Staffordshire
period.
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURE OF ELOQUENCE.
(Sometimes known as _St. Paul Preaching at Athens_.)
In coloured earthenware. (Height 18 inches.)
Similar to figure in Schreiber Collection by Enoch Wood.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
=Early Period= (1675-1725).--The method of slip decoration has already
been described, and to this period, when Toft and his school had
implanted their quaint and original taste upon the common people, these
early figures belong. Among the best-known figures of this early date
are small _Cats_ of stoneware or earthenware body, coated with white
and ornamented with spots in brown slip. _Ducks_ are sometimes found
similarly ornamented in spots and wavy lines. These figures are only
3 inches in height. To these days belong the solid agate _Cats_ made
of two or three clays of different colours intermingled, and highly
glazed. These are some 5 or 6 inches in height. We give an illustration
of this type of ware (p. 171). _Bears_ in agate ware the same nature,
and small figures of doll-like individuals are also found.
The elder Astbury (1736-1743) has been credited with a series of
figures of men, some 6 inches in height, playing bagpipes or other
instruments. They are splashed with green and brown, and have yellow
slip ornament, their lead glazing is warm and rich. The beady eyes
of some of these tiny figures is suggestive of the Toft slip applied
figure on some of his dishes, and was produced by the use of manganese.
Among early figures those of salt-glaze are rare and of exceptional
interest, and the figure illustrated (p. 351), stands as a typical
example of a class not frequently met with, and highly prized by
collectors.
We have seen in the chapter dealing with Whieldon and his influence
that he commenced potting before 1740 and continued till 1780, and
although none of his figures is marked it is tolerably certain that
he produced some fine work in which he introduced the beautiful
tortoiseshell glazings, which characteristic is found on figures
attributed to him. Obviously over a period of nearly half a century
Whieldon ware varies in quality. The following class of figures may be
attributed to the early Whieldon period, that is, before 1760. _Actor_,
with turban and flowing mantle, hand resting on dagger; tortoiseshell
ware, brown and green glazing; height, 5-1/2 inches. _Diana_, with dog,
on square hollow pedestal made of buff clay; brown and grey glazings,
eyes of brown clay; height, 7 inches. _Venus_, with bow, on irregular
base, eyes brown clay; height, 5-1/2 inches. Figure of _Sphinx_,
coloured with brown and green glazings; height, 3-1/2 inches. _Monkey_,
eyes, black; height, 4 inches. Other animals, such as _Lion_, height,
3-1/4 inches; _Squirrel_, height, 7 inches; _Cock_, height, 7-1/4
inches; _Cow_, in form of small jug with woman milking, height, 5-1/2
inches; _Dog_, with brown glazing, height, 3-3/4 inches. Other figures
of this early period are _Summer_ and _Winter_, each 4-1/2 inches high;
sauceboats in form of _Duck_ and _Drake_, coloured glazings, height,
4-1/2 inches.
(We have illustrated several types of these figures, pp. 171, 175).
=The Best Period= (1735-1760).--This is known to collectors as the
Wood School. Briefly, the history of the Wood family is as follows,
and will be of interest to collectors of Staffordshire figures. So
strong and original is the work of the modeller Ralph Wood the elder,
that connoisseurs recognise the class of face in his work. Aaron
Wood and Ralph Wood were the sons of the old Ralph Wood, a miller.
They were both modellers of distinction. Aaron is mainly known as a
block-cutter of salt-glaze moulds. Ralph Wood (1750-1772) made figures
and other rustic groups at his own factory at Burslem. His models are
straightforward and homely and strongly English, not greatly influenced
by any extraneous classic models. He modelled the celebrated "Vicar and
Moses," which for quaint humour is inimitable. It has been copied by
all the potters, and much of its strength and simplicity of modelling
has been lost, while its restraint in colouring disappeared in the
copies upon which enamel colours were lavishly laid.
[Illustration:
OLD STAFFORDSHIRE GROUP, BACCHUS AND ARIADNE.
By ENOCH WOOD. Enamelled in colours. (Height 24 inches.)
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
[Illustration:
OLD STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE FIGURES.
ADONIS (after the antique).
(Height 23 inches.)
VENUS.
(Height 24 inches.)
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
There was a strong Quaker element in Staffordshire, and the Established
Church was the subject of a good deal of satire by the potter. The
_Parson and Clerk_ returning home after a carousal, _The Tithe Pig_
and other subjects exemplify this. Fielding published "Joseph Andrews"
in 1742, and it appears that parson-baiting was a familiar form of
amusement. Probably there were a good many abuses in the Church that
were evident. The hunting parson was often the boon companion of the
drinking squire. At any rate the Ralph Wood group, entitled _The
Vicar and Moses_,[6] showing the sleeping vicar, with full-bottomed
wig, and Moses, the clerk, seated underneath the pulpit exhorting the
congregation with uplifted hand, is a masterly piece of modelling. In
colour the original Ralph Wood examples are light purplish throbbing
brown in the pulpit and desk, and carved cherubs, green in the canopy
behind the vicar, and who has a white cassock, and the coat of Moses is
a slatey blue. The flesh tints are low in tone.
[Note: 6 See coloured _Frontispiece_.]
To return to Aaron Wood, the brother of Ralph Wood, he was the father
of William Wood, who became one of Wedgwood's modellers, and of Enoch
Wood, who went to Palmer as modeller for some years. In 1784 Enoch Wood
commenced business for himself. He produced cream ware and black basalt
and, what most interests us here, he made some excellent figures,
including a bust of _John Wesley_. In 1790 he entered into partnership
with James Caldwell. The ware is marked "Wood and Caldwell" till 1818,
when the firm became "Enoch Wood and Sons," till 1866.
In regard to Ralph Wood, the elder, he appears to have engaged his son
in his pottery, so that prior to his death, in 1772, we do not know
which Ralph Wood modelled some of the figures; but from 1772 to 1797
Ralph Wood, junior, was responsible for the factory, and there seems to
have been business connection, about 1786, between him and his cousin
Enoch Wood.
Concerning the figures of Ralph Wood, father and son, it may be said
that they were the first to impress their names upon Staffordshire
figures. Some of the pieces are marked with impressed mark R. WOOD, RA
WOOD, BURSLEM (impressed on _Vicar and Moses_). This mark is found on
some of the finest and earliest Toby jugs. It is believed, though not
proved, that "RA WOOD" is the mark adopted by Ralph Wood, junior.
That the Woods reflected English feeling and sentiment and did not go
to the classics for their inspiration is shown by their fine model of
_Hudibras_ upon his horse, in the act of drawing his sword.
"The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty,
For want of fighting was grown rusty,
And ate into itself, for lack
Of some body to hew and hack."
The horse of Hudibras is as famed in story as _Rosinante_, the famous
charger of Don Quixote, and in fine satire Butler enumerates his points.
[Illustration:
BUST OF BONAPARTE.
Coloured earthenware. By ENOCH WOOD. (Height 9-1/2 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis._)]
[Illustration:
BUST OF ALEXANDER, CZAR OF RUSSIA.
Coloured earthenware. By WOOD & CALDWELL.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
It is not too much to aver that, if it were not known that the Wood
model bore the title _Hudibras_, the source of inspiration would go
unknown. Similarly it may not be impossible, since no title appears
on the famous _Toby Philpot_ jug, that it may be derived from the
character of _Uncle Toby_ in Sterne's "Tristram Shandy," which was
published in nine volumes from 1759 to 1767. The type of blunt, jovial,
rubicund Englishman was beginning to become as pronounced in Bunbury
and other caricaturists as it became later on the china shelf.
Among other noticeable figures of the Ralph Wood period the pair of
figures are the _Haymakers_, separate figures (7-1/2 inches high each,
impressed R. WOOD), a youth and maiden leaning against tree trunks.
A bust of _Milton_, cream ware, uncoloured, is impressed RA. WOOD,
BURSLEM; height, 9 inches. _Old Age_ is represented by a rustic figure
of an old man leaning upon a stick and a crutch. _Neptune_ and _Venus_
and _Apollo_ betray the contemporary classic influence.
In examining the figures of the elder Ralph Wood they will be found
in parts, though hardly perceptible, to be unglazed. This is owing to
the fact that he applied his glaze with a brush. In the figures of the
best period the colouring is extremely delicate, and the flesh tints
do not approach the rosy pink associated with other figure work. It is
difficult to describe them, but they approximate to a biscuit-coloured
grey. But there are the usual exceptions to all rules. In one case in
particular the colouring is more pronounced--the bust of _Handel_, who
died in 1759. It is marked "RA. WOOD." It is finely modelled and bright
in colouring. A figure of a _Cock_, marked R. WOOD, is illustrated (p.
351). It is 8 inches in height. The body is light in colour, with light
and dark brown decoration about the neck. The wings are yellow, with
brown stripes, the tail brown and dark-blue enamel colours. Legs dark
brown and green and splashed base. This specimen is in one piece, not
having any joint at neck.
The fine coloured large figure (18 inches in height) of _Eloquence_,
known also as _St. Paul preaching at Athens_, is by Enoch Wood, after
a model by Sir H. Cheere. There is a similar figure in the Schreiber
Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. But it must be admitted
that some of these large figures bear a strong resemblance in technique
and modelling to those of Wedgwood. The _Bacchus and Ariadne_ group was
most certainly reproduced by Enoch Wood, who signed it. So that the
difficulty in such cases of determining which was the original model
becomes very great.
=The Classic Period= (1760-1785).--It appears that Josiah Wedgwood,
when under the influence of Whieldon and before he embarked upon his
classic ornamentation under the guidance of Bentley, modelled some very
fine figures which are unmarked, but exhibit considerable strength
and beauty. There are three figures, _Faith_, _Hope_, and _Charity_,
in date about 1770, in the Willett Collection marked Wedgwood. Other
figures are the large ones of _Fortitude_ and _Prudence_ (height 21
inches). But these symbolistic figures betray the classic influence.
They are magnificent pieces of modelling. Then there is the fine group
of _Bacchus and Ariadne_, the same height. The specimen at the British
Museum is cream colour, but later imitators adopted the same modelling
and added colour to the decoration. A copy of this group so treated,
possibly by Enoch Wood, is illustrated (p. 363).
Other busts of Wedgwood in coloured cream ware of _Voltaire_ and
_Rousseau_ will be found illustrated on p. 233.
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE FIGURE OF FALSTAFF.
Shield decorated in silver lustre. Marked WOOD & CALDWELL.
(_In the collection of Mr. F. W. Philips, Hitchin._)]
[Illustration: DERBY PORCELAIN FIGURE OF FALSTAFF.]
[Illustration: CHELSEA PORCELAIN FIGURE OF FALSTAFF.]
=Neale & Co.= betray classic influence in much of their work, and
as Voyez, the Frenchman, was their modeller, this is not hard to
understand. Among their well-known figures are _Flora_ (12-1/2 inches
high) and _Diana_ (5 inches high), and they were large makers of
Toby jugs. We give an illustration (p. 355) of a group of finely
modelled ware by Neale & Co., including a Toby jug copied from
the Ralph Wood model and impressed NAELE & CO., and the familiar
group of the _Parson and Clerk_ copied by them after the well-known
Chelsea-Derby porcelain model of the same subject, and reproduced as
an earthenware group by many other Staffordshire potters. It is often
attributed to Ralph Wood the younger. It is interesting to compare
the _Minerva_ with the _Diana_ illustrated above. The same classic
spirit was the inspiration of the two modellers, and in the case of
unmarked classic figures there always exists considerable difficulty in
definitely assigning their origin.
In regard to all these coloured Staffordshire figures it should be
borne in mind that, until well towards the close of the eighteenth
century, they were coloured by the use of pigments under the glaze,
which gave a low-toned effect of very delicate character. Later, enamel
colours were used with lurid effect, and much of the beauty of the old
school vanished.
=Enoch Wood= (1783-1840), =Wood and Caldwell= (1790-1818).--Of this
school there are several fine examples. There is no doubt that the ease
with which classic prototypes could be copied and porcelain figures
imitated began to tell upon the originality of most of the modellers.
The _Bacchus and Ariadne_ (illustrated p. 363), with the vine leaf
wreaths in green around the heads and the finely coloured drapery, is
by Enoch Wood. There is a specimen in a private collection at Eccles
signed "E. WOOD, Sculp. and HEWITT Pinxt." (the height of this example
is 27 inches), in spite of the similar uncoloured group at the British
Museum marked Wedgwood.
Enoch Wood is best known for his portrait busts of _John Wesley_
and of _George Whitfield_. The former who stayed at his house in the
Potteries sat for this bust, which is a fine piece of portraiture. This
is marked "E. WOOD," and sometimes "ENOCH WOOD, Sculp., Burslem 1781."
George Whitfield was probably modelled at a later date. There is a fine
equestrian statuette of _St. George and the Dragon_, sometimes signed
"E. Wood," similar in modelling to the Whieldon mottled tortoiseshell
coloured specimen (illustrated p. 175).
There are other busts by Enoch Wood which are noteworthy. There is
the fine bust of _Bonaparte_ as First Consul in coloured earthenware,
with blue coat with yellow border, and having marbled base. The height
of this is 9-1/2 inches, and it is marked "E. WOOD." This is in date
about 1802. A bust of _Alexander I._ of Russia, in highly coloured
earthenware, in military costume, marked WOOD & CALDWELL. The date of
this is later than the Bonaparte, an inscription on the back on some
examples runs "Alexander Aet. 35. Moscow burnt. Europe preserved 1812."
Another well-known figure by Wood and Caldwell is the figure of Quin
as _Falstaff_. By the illustrations we have given (p. 371) it will be
seen that this model was in direct imitation of the similar figures in
porcelain at Derby and Chelsea. The colouring is different, the shield
is silver lustre, the costume consists of red breeches, striped yellow
and white surtout; but these colours are a feeble imitation of the
finer enamel work on the china models from which they have been copied.
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURE.
(About 1790.)
Decorated and refired by Absolon, of Yarmouth.]
BASE OF FIGURE.
(Enlarged.)
Showing painted mark "Absolon Yarm."
(_In the collection of Mr. F. I. Burwood._)]
The group of _Toby Jugs_ illustrated (p. 383), exhibit the best known
models of a much collected variety of earthenware. These examples are
collectors' specimens, but later models may be said to be like--
The grand old name of gentleman,
Defamed by every charlatan,
And soil'd with all ignoble use.
That it was not infrequent to take a model bodily from English
porcelain is shown by the group entitled the _Birth of Venus_, which is
taken from a Plymouth group of the same subject (illustrated p. 355),
this apparently belongs to the Enoch Wood period.
In the figures of children we illustrate p. 387, the figures of _Flower
Boys_, some 4-1/2 inches high, are evidently inspired by some of the
Chelsea-Derby figures which in their turn were under strong French
influence. The middle figure of the trio is one of a pair by Wood and
Caldwell. The figure of _Cupid_ above is a fine specimen, standing
17-1/2 inches in height. Cupid is fully armed with his deadly bow and
arrow, which by the way are decorated in silver lustre, suggestive
of the Falstaff shield of Wood and Caldwell, and at his feet are two
lions crouching in subjugation, and he holds the torch of Hymen in
his hand. This is a remarkably fine modelled figure representing this
contemporary foreign influence upon Staffordshire figures at its best.
In regard to the strong classic influence the two figures (illustrated
p. 363) are in white earthenware. That on the left, of _Adonis_, is
obviously taken direct from the antique, while the _Venus_ is a fine
Staffordshire adaptation of a well-known classic statue in the pose and
in the dolphin by her side. The only touch of colour is the darkening
of the hair. It is a magnificent piece of modelling something in the
nature of the classic art seen through French eyes. To find this in
Staffordshire is as though one found _La Source_ of Ingres in the Royal
Academy of the year 1856. The date of this Staffordshire _Venus_ cannot
be stated. It is an important figure, being 24 inches in height and
exhibits something so strikingly realistic that it must be assigned a
high place among the figures.
We illustrate a Staffordshire figure belonging to this period, which is
signed "Absalon, Yarmouth." Towards the end of the eighteenth century,
as in the latter days of Lowestoft, a factory termed "The Ovens" at
Yarmouth carried on a decorating business, receiving the ware from
Leeds and from Staffordshire, and decorating and refiring it in the
glost oven. The date of the figure illustrated is about 1790. On some
of the pieces decorated by Absalon, the name of the Staffordshire
maker, Turner, appears as an impressed mark. Turner, who carried on an
extensive trade with the Baltic and Northern Europe, no doubt readily
came into touch with these East Anglian decorators.
[Illustration:
GIRL WITH TAMBOURINE.
Coloured Staffordshire figure.]
[Illustration:
COLOURED STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES.
TAMBOURINE PLAYER (marked SALT) AND MUSICIANS.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
=The Decadent Period= (1785-1830).--It is impossible to keep exactly to
dates in any of these periods of rough classification. But in general
the later period becomes more homely and a great number of mantel
ornaments of a simple nature with rustic subjects were made for the
homes of cottagers. These have trees as background and are Arcadian
in subject. They are, when in this style, of the finnicking school
of the Chelsea shepherds and shepherdesses known as of the boscage
school. John Walton (1790-1839), made a great many figures in this
manner, accompanied by a lamb, as well as a great number of Toby jugs.
Another potter is Ralph Salt (1812-1840), whose name appears on the
little _Tambourine Player_ (p. 379), and probably the _Musicians_ of
the adjacent group are by him too. A larger figure of the _Girl with
Tambourine_ above is of the same period, though its maker cannot be
identified.
We illustrate (p. 391) two later figures, _The Fishwife_ and _Mother
Goose_. Both are well modelled, and were evidently intended to meet the
popular taste. The days of gods and goddesses were over, and figures
and groups begin to grow commonplace. In _Mother Goose_ the nursery
rhyme is substituted for the mythology of the Greeks.
Among other names found on these later figures are Lakin and Poole,
Dale (mark usually impressed I. DALE BURSLEM), and Edge and Grocott,
who made figures of boys partly draped holding baskets of flowers. It
is possible that they made the two outside figures of _Flower Boys_
(illustrated p. 387).
There is to lovers of the ultra-aesthetic something which appears to
be trivial and insipid in this peasant pottery of the later date. But
in spite of its defects, it holds, to those who read between the lines
and can add that necessary touch of human interest to their collecting,
a charm on account of its quaintness. Those who have sought these old
cottage treasures high and low and secured from far-away habitations
snug in the hills or lone huts on the wolds, or from the dim-lit
cabins of fisher folk these relics of byegone days, read into their
newly acquired possessions something of the life history in their old
environment, lying _perdu_ these many years, perched aloft on the high
mantel or hidden in the cupboard recess silently listening to the old
tales of the strange men and women who live apart from the hum of
cities.
Chelsea we know, Derby we know, Bow we know, with their dainty china
shepherdesses minding impossible sheep, and with gallants prinked out
in all the colours of the humming-bird. These were the trifles in
porcelain that my dear Lady Disdain in a waft of bergamot set apart in
her glazed case by Sheraton. In the days of paint and patch and of the
revels at Vauxhall and Ranelagh, virtuosos drowsily passed comment on
my lady's latest acquisition just to please her passing whim and wean
her from the vapours.
These earthenware figures "in homespun hose and russet brown" suggest
the old world nooks of other days. Give Chelsea and Bow to the town.
This homely art of Staffordshire became English after all. It was found
in thatched cottages "with breath of thyme and bees that hum." These
boscage shepherds and shepherdesses, these rustic musicians, lusty
post-boys, and the family of Toby Philpots, found kinship in the miller
and the farmer, the herdsman and the milkmaid, the gamekeeper and the
woodman, the ostler and the waggoner--simple, kind-hearted folk, the
children of nature uncloyed by the subtleties of art. Red-cheeked
lasses and wrinkled crook-backed old dames, mother and daughter and
granddaughter, toilers and sufferers, who chose the warm west window
seat in the sun and the ingle nook by the fireside--these were the
whilom owners of the old Staffordshire figures. Somehow, nor is the
fancy a foolish one, one likes to associate these diminutive figures
with the old gardens of England set in sweet places where one
"Can watch the sunlight fall
Athwart the ivied orchard wall;
Or pause to catch the cuckoo's call
Beyond the beeches."
[Illustration:
GROUP OF FINELY COLOURED TOBY JUGS.
(Date 1790-1810.)
(_In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton._)]
There seems to be something added to old Staffordshire figures which
have steeped themselves in somnolent repose these many years till
they have become invested with a subtle human interest not easily
disassociated from them.
The squire had his services of Worcester and of Crown-Derby, and the
nobleman relegated his cases of fine porcelain to the care of his
housekeeper, to dust and to safeguard till he came again to hunt and to
shoot. But the cottager's Staffordshire figures were lovingly handled
when the good wife furbished up her brass candlesticks, and they
insensibly became part of the environment of the cottage home.
Here, then, is the key to the charm and magic which goes to the
collecting of old Staffordshire figures, even of the decadent period.
There is within them and around them and about them something redolent
of a sturdy peasantry, something sad, something tinged with autumn
days and autumn mists because they belong to days that have faded, and
almost to a race that is extinct.
[Illustration:
CUPID
Large coloured Staffordshire figure. (Height 17-1/2 inches.)
Bow and arrow in silver lustre.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
COLOURED STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES OF FLOWER BOYS.
Pair 4-1/2 inches. Centre figure one of pair by WOOD & CALDWELL.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
PRICES.
LEEDS FIGURES. £ s. d.
Pair of Leeds cream-ware Figures of
Musicians, Youth and Girl; _rare_.
Marked "Leeds Pottery." Sotheby,
November, 1904 6 6 0
STAFFORDSHIRE FIGURES.
Group of Madonna and Child (probably
Wedgwood), illustrated in "English
Earthenware" (Professor Church).
Sotheby, February, 1906 8 0 0
Staffordshire Models of Cottages (some
porcelain), encrusted with flowers.
Christie, January, 1906 (59 models). 31 10 0
"Vicar and Moses," group, decorated in
translucent colours. Sotheby, June
1906 35 10 0
"Vicar and Moses," group, decorated in
translucent colours. Sotheby,
November, 1906 8 10 0
Bacchus and Ariadne, large; brown
glaze; 25 in. high. Christie,
November, 1906 13 2 6
Toby Philpot jugs (four male and one
female), grotesque models. Christie,
November, 1906 30 9 0
Falstaff, two examples, on plinths, encrusted
with flowers; 9 in. high.
Christie, November, 1906 5 15 6
"Elijah," "The Widow," and "Virgin
and Child"; three figures. Puttick
and Simpson, March, 1907 3 12 6
Busts of _Milton_ and _Handel_, impressed
mark, "Ra Wood Burslem"; white:
9 in. high. Sotheby, July, 1907 6 0 0
Figure of Gamekeeper: white; 8-1/2 in.
high. Sotheby, July, 1907 2 0 0
Figure of _Lost Sheep_; white; 8-3/4 in.
high. Sotheby, July, 1907 2 18 0
Figure of _Girl Haymaker_; white; 7-3/4 in.
high. Sotheby, July, 1907 3 0 0
Figures, _Chaucer_ and _Sir Isaac Newton_,
decorated in colours; marked "Ra
Wood"; impressed "Burslem." 12-1/2 in.
high. Sotheby, 1907 12 10 0
Figures, _Cobbler and his Wife_, pair, large,
seated; 12-1/2 in. high. Christie,
January, 1908 13 2 6
Figures, reclining, _Cleopatra_, 8-1/2 in. high,
and _Antony_, 8 in. high. Christie,
January, 1908 14 14 0
"Bacchus and Ariadne," 25 in. high;
_Female_, holding dove, 25 in. high.
Christie, January, 1908 16 16 0
Figures, pair, Boy and Girl harvesting,
square base, one marked "R. Wood."
Sotheby, May, 1908 10 5 0
"Vicar and Moses," in Whieldon colours
(attributed to R. Wood), yellow,
green, brown, manganese purple, &c.
Sotheby, May, 1908 15 0 0
_Shepherd and Shepherdess_, seated, with
dog, lamb, and goat; shepherd playing
flute; Whieldon colouring (attributed
to R. Wood). Sotheby, May,
1908 12 0 0
"St. George and Dragon" in Whieldon
colouring (attributed to Ralph Wood)
Sotheby, May, 1908 14 0 0
Toby Jug, representing man seated with
jug on knee (attributed to R. Wood).
Sotheby, May, 1908 6 6 0
[Illustration:
FIGURE OF FISHWIFE.
(Late Staffordshire.)
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
FIGURE OF MOTHER GOOSE.
(Staffordshire, early nineteenth century.)
(_In the collection of the Author._)]
XII
SWANSEA
AND OTHER
FACTORIES
CHAPTER XII
SWANSEA AND OTHER FACTORIES
Swansea--The Cambrian Pottery--Opaque china--Etruscan
Ware--Lowesby Pottery (Leicestershire)--Liverpool, Herculaneum
(1794-1841)--Bristol, Joseph Ring (1784-1825)--Caughley
or Salopian (1751-1775)--Derby, John and Christopher
Heath (1758-1780)--Isleworth, Shore & Goulding
(1760-1830)--Marks--Prices.
Undoubtedly the earthenware productions at Swansea are of a high
artistic order. For a century, from 1768 to about 1870, the Cambrian
Pottery at Swansea manufactured ware bearing various marks and
comprising a wide range of examples. During part of the time a rival
factory at Glamorgan, which existed from 1814, to 1839, produced
"opaque china" and cream ware in common with Swansea.
Practically the history of the Cambrian Pottery dates from 1790, when
George Haynes bought the factory. Fine black basalt ware was produced.
There are two recumbent figures of _Antony_ and _Cleopatra_, the latter
in the Victoria and Albert Museum having the impressed mark SWANSEA,
and the former in the possession of Mr. C. F. Cox, and marked with
the name of the modeller, "G. Bentley, Swansea, 22 May, 1791." The
length of these figures is 12 inches. Two somewhat similar recumbent
figures of _Antony_ and _Cleopatra_ in colours have been attributed to
Lowestoft (see "Lowestoft China," by W. W. R. Spelman, Jarrold & Sons,
Norwich, 1905). But these more properly belong to the Staffordshire
school, and are probably by Neale and Palmer.
Under-glaze blue-printed ware, notably "willow pattern" from Caughley,
had been made at Swansea probably before Haynes bought the factory,
certainly not later than 1790, when Leeds commenced similar imitations
of Turner's "willow patterns." Salt-glazed ware, some marked "Cambrian
Pottery," but mostly unmarked, was made and decorated in enamel colours
with figure subjects, landscapes, and flowers.
The transfer-printed ware is of great variety and is excellently
finished, and compares very favourably with the best of the
Staffordshire cream ware similarly decorated, or with the highest
productions of Leeds in the same manner. We illustrate (p. 405) a group
of various types of transfer-printed ware in black and brown, and
blue under-glaze transfer-printing. As will be noticed, the Oriental
influence from Caughley and the china factories was very strong, but in
the print of the ship there is something suggestive of Liverpool.
[Illustration:
SWANSEA PLATES.
1. Cream ware, rim painted in green and violet with vine pattern.
Mark impressed SWANSEA.
2. Earthenware, black transfer-printed.
Mark impressed DILLWYN & CO. SWANSEA.
(_In the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh._)]
[Illustration: SET OF FINELY PAINTED SWANSEA BULB POTS.
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson._)]
A very fine transfer-printed plate in black is illustrated (p. 397),
showing something higher in engraving than Staffordshire had attempted.
It stands, leaving out the delicate black transfer-printing done on
the Worcester porcelain, as an exceptionally artistic piece of work.
The adjacent plate in the illustration at once shows the source of
its inspiration. It follows one of Wedgwood's Queen's ware patterns
painted in green and violet of the grape pattern, although it must
be admitted that the Swansea adaptation is richer than the somewhat
thinner design found on old Wedgwood plates.
One of the most interesting features in the history of the Swansea
factory is the introduction by Haynes of a ware termed "opaque china,"
which was in reality a finer and whiter kind of cream ware, and
eminently suitable for the painted decorations by W. W. Young, an
artist from the Bristol factory, who painted from about 1803 to 1806,
flowers and butterflies and shells with great fidelity. He was followed
by another artist Thomas Pardoe, from the Derby factory, who brought
more poetry into his floral subjects. Another artist named Evans
painted flower-pieces with almost equal beauty. We illustrate a fine
Cambrian vase painted by Pardoe, and a Swansea jug painted by Evans (p.
401).
There is no doubt that a very high standard of painting on the Swansea
ware prevailed during the best period, and the illustration of a set of
three Swansea-ware bulb pots (see p. 397) shows that landscape painters
of no mean gifts were employed. It is this picturesque quality of
decoration (dependent in a great measure on the fact that from 1814 to
1824 porcelain was made too), together with the equally fine quality of
the ware itself, that has placed Swansea well to the front among the
collectors of artistic earthenware.
We have alluded to Haynes the proprietor who first brought the factory
into prominence. This was in 1790. But in 1802 it passed into the hands
of Lewis Weston Dillwyn, and it was during this period that W. W. Young
did the work we have alluded to. In 1817 the factory passed into the
hands of the Bevingtons, and in 1824 it again came into the possession
of the Dillwyn family, who held it till about 1850, when the firm
was known as Evans and Glasson, and later as D. J. Evans & Co. until
its close in 1870. During this long period the marks assumed various
characters. We have at the end of this chapter given most of the more
important to enable collectors to identify the period of their Swansea
ware--when marked.
Another ware greatly collected must be alluded to, of which an
illustration is given (p. 405). This Etruscan ware, following the early
example set by Wedgwood, was an attempt to copy some of the Greek vases
which were painted red on a black body.
In "Dillwyn's Etruscan Ware," made only for three years from 1847 to
1850, the body was a warm red, and the design was impressed thereon
either by means of black transfer-printing or outline, and the
background was then painted and the classic figures heightened. This
ware is not always marked, but when the mark appears it is in a scroll,
as given in the list of marks (p. 416).
=Lowesby Pottery.=--There is very little to be said about this pottery
in Leicestershire, which was conducted under the auspices of Sir
Francis Fowke about 1835. The mark is always puzzling to collectors
which is a _fleur-de-lis_ with the name Lowesby, both impressed. The
ware usually made at this small pottery was red terra cotta coated with
a dull black upon which were flowers and butterflies painted in bright
enamel colours. This decoration was done elsewhere, probably in London.
[Illustration:
CAMBRIAN VASE.
Painted by Pardoe.
(_In the collection of Mr. A. Duncan._)]
[Illustration:
SWANSEA JUG.
Painted by Evans.
(_In the collection of Mr. A. Duncan._)]
=Liverpool.=--We have already alluded to the Liverpool delft, but
the story of Liverpool as a potting centre is not yet complete.
There was, of course, the enormous business in transfer-printing on
Staffordshire cream ware established by Sadler and Green. But they
made cream ware themselves as well as decorated it for others. Cream
ware was produced at the factories of Chaffers, Barnes, Pennington, and
others. And at a date immediately prior to the cream ware, Shaw, of
Liverpool, had made "Astbury" and "Whieldon" and salt-glaze wares. So
that here at once is a difficulty, and a very great one, in identifying
with exactitude the origin of some of these wares. There is a great
deal yet to be discovered concerning the long line of Liverpool
factories, and if only as much special attention had been given to this
locality as has been given to the much smaller factory of Lowestoft,
original research might disentangle many a ceramic puzzle.
=W. Reid & Co.=--These potters made artistic earthenware from about
1754 to 1760, another firm established by Richard Abbey about 1793
continued till 1796 to make cream ware of a high order. This pottery,
bought by Messrs. Worthington, was named Herculaneum Pottery.
=The Herculaneum Pottery= (1796-1841).--At first, when a band of
Staffordshire potters came over to the new works, stoneware and
black and red unglazed ware in the Wedgwood manner were made. Later
a considerable amount of cream ware of pleasing character was turned
out. The various marks found on the ware of this factory are given
at the end of this chapter. Shortly after the end of the eighteenth
century porcelain was made here, and some of the examples are of a very
high quality both in potting and in decoration. From 1836 to 1841 the
proprietors were Messrs. Close, Mort & Co.
Until more facts come to light and trained research is applied to all
classes of Liverpool ware nothing definitely can be stated. But it is
certain that some of the Liverpool ware is so fine in character as even
to confuse old collectors who have never seen specimens before.
We illustrate a Liverpool plate (p. 409) with the usual Oriental
design, and having no special feature about it which many another
factory could not have produced. Its blue is fine and its potting is
excellent, but it is not exceptional. The illustration beside it (p.
409) is of an earthenware mug some 5 inches in height which undoubtedly
is a puzzle to experts. The exquisitely-painted exotic birds in rich
colouring are not less perfect than those painted on Worcester vases
or on Chelsea dishes. Indeed, it seems to show very strong traces of
the style of Worcester painting. One is inclined to attribute it to
Liverpool with the proviso that it must have been painted by some
artist who had been trained at Worcester. It will thus be seen by this
case that in unmarked earthenware there are exceptional difficulties in
correctly placing examples where so much cream ware was made not very
dissimilar in character, and where artists, as we have seen at Swansea,
came over from other factories, apparently to the confoundment of the
present-day collector.
[Illustration:
GROUP OF SWANSEA WARE.
Transfer-printed in blue, black, and brown.
(_In the collection of Mr. A. Duncan._)]
[Illustration:
DILLWYN'S ETRUSCAN WARE.
VASE.
With Warriors in Chariot and Pegasus.
(Height 14 inches.)
TAZZA.
With Dancing Girl (side view and interior).
(10-1/2 inches diameter.)
(_In the collection of Mr. A. Duncan._)]
=Bristol.=--Joseph Ring in 1786 commenced to make a cream ware with
the assistance of potters he engaged from Shelton in Staffordshire.
In colour it was a warm cream due to the glaze and not to the body of
the ware itself. Connected with this factory are some finely painted
flower-pieces in enamel colours by William Fifield (born in 1777,
and died in 1857), and his son, John Fifield. The factory changed
hands in 1825, and became Pountney and Allies and Pountney & Co. until
1872. Many of Fifield's decorated pieces with floral works bear the
name and date of the person for whom they were made. These are quite
characteristic of the pottery, and occur after 1820 and in the Pountney
and Allies period. There is a strong similarity in these chains of
flowers and garlands to the Oriental ware, and its later French
imitation which poses as Lowestoft. Much of this Bristol earthenware is
confounded with somewhat similar New Hall porcelain, and is termed by
very inexperienced buyers and sellers as "cottage Worcester." "Cottage"
it may be, but it has no relationship with Worcester.
=Caughley or Salopian.=--The Caughley under-glaze blue-printed ware
with its rich almost purplish blue is well known, but the various tints
of this blue employed in the porcelain are not so well known varying
as they do from this deep blue to a fairly light slate blue--but that
concerns china and is another story. The Coalport factory china mark at
the present day has the date 1750, proudly going back to these early
days. Of Salopian earthenware not too much is known, it is eclipsed by
the porcelain which Thomas Turner commenced to make at Caughley in 1772.
But earthenware was made at the factory from 1750 to 1775 by Browne,
the owner of the factory, whose niece Thomas Turner married and took
over the pottery in 1772. There are, belonging to this early period,
some exceedingly well-modelled Caughley figures which are equal to the
finest work of the Staffordshire potters. Some of these figures are 20
inches in height, and among those attributed to this Salopian pottery
are the following: _Prudence_, holding a mirror, draped classical
figure with figured gown; and _Fortitude_, a companion figure. _Antony_
and _Cleopatra_ are also believed to belong to this factory by some
collectors. Caughley pottery is sometimes, though rarely, marked
with the word SALOPIAN or with the initials S or C in blue under
the glaze. A considerable doubt still exists as to what is and what
is not Salopian or Caughley earthenware, and an opinion should not
be hastily arrived at on superficial examination. Many of the early
under-glaze blue-printed porcelain cups and saucers with Oriental
designs similar in character to the "willow pattern" bear a mark of
a blue crescent not unlike that of the Worcester factory. When such
specimens in earthenware are found thus marked in under-glaze blue with
the crescent they may certainly be pronounced to be Caughley, in date
about 1772 to 1785. Some of the octagonal dark blue-printed Caughley
earthenware plates are of similar shape to the Oriental porcelain model
(illustrated p. 327), and the design especially in the treatment of the
border is handled in the same manner except that Turner was fonder of
more crowded detail.
[Illustration:
COPY OF PORTLAND VASE.
In red ware Isleworth.
(Early nineteenth century.) Marked S & G. (Height 7-3/4 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._)]
[Illustration:
FINE EARTHENWARE MUG.
Exquisitely painted with exotic birds in Worcester style
(attributed to Liverpool).
(_In the collection of Col. and Mrs. Dickson_.)
LIVERPOOL CREAM WARE PLATE.
With Oriental decoration in blue.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
=Derby Earthenware.=--Derby porcelain is well known. But it is not
so well known that Derby earthenware is worth considering from a
collecting point of view. There is a certain amount of obscurity
surrounding the early ware made at Cockpit Hill. Slip ware was made in
early days and delft appears to have been made there at the beginning
of the eighteenth century. In 1772 the Derby pot-works, in the hands
of the Heath family who were bankers, produced cream ware, though
not equal to the Staffordshire products. Messrs. John and Christopher
Heath, of Derby, are described as "bankrupts" in 1780, and a great sale
of the earthenware in stock took place. The collector has mainly to
rely on dated examples, which are very rare, or on pieces bearing local
allusions to elections which may be safely attributed to Derby, but
like so many of the extinct factories the ware has not received special
attention in regard to its identification, nor is the task an easy one
owing to cream ware being of very general manufacture.
=Isleworth.=--There is not much known about this factory established
by Joseph Shore, who appears to have come from Worcester in 1760. The
ware later is marked with the initials S. & G. after the firm became
Shore and Goulding. The factory was never very large, and employed
only twenty hands at the most. We illustrate (p. 409) a copy of the
celebrated Portland Vase in red ware marked S. & G., and although some
of the Isleworth ware appears to have been coarse earthenware to which
the term "Welsh ware" was applied, some of it reverting to the old
method of slip decoration, yet it must be admitted that certain pieces
in red unglazed earthenware are of a high artistic character. There is
a very fine teapot of this red ware in exact imitation of the Oriental
style, being hexagonal in form, and having embossed decorations on the
panels, the lid being surmounted with a Chinese grotesque animal, such
as never was designed in Europe. The potting of such pieces as these
has directed the attention of connoisseurs to this obscure factory.
There is no doubt that some of the finer pieces of Isleworth red ware
have passed as Elers ware, but the former has a slight glaze and the
handles are moulded. It is heavier in weight, and the teapots, &c., by
Elers were undoubtedly of small dimensions.
It appears that "hound jugs" were made at Isleworth too. They were
made at Brampton and elsewhere, but in those illustrated (p. 413) the
mark is S. & G. They are brown stoneware with subjects of game in high
relief, and are early nineteenth century in date.
In the second illustration it will be seen that the handle of the hound
jug shows a later stage in its development. The reason is not far to
seek, the awkward points of the hound handle were found to be in the
way when Betsy Prue drew the beer. Any projection of this nature is
distinctly out of place in earthenware for everyday use. This the
potter readily recognised, and pattern number two was the result. Here
he followed, without knowing it, the practice of the Japanese, who in
their finely-carved ivory netsukes, so much collected nowadays, which
were used as buttons and fastenings for dresses, always took care to
leave no projecting points--the sleeping mouse has his tail well coiled
around him--the dwarf mime has a smooth head and a figure as rotund as
a miniature barrel.
It will be seen in this second illustration that the hound is still
discernible in the handle, but probably only to those who have seen him
in his former state. He has now become a clumsy, twisted handle with
less meaning. It is here that his delicately balanced proportions when
he was leaping over the brim with outstretched limbs--the attitude to
the life of a hound when attempting to get through a fence--became a
mere symbol in this later stage of his ceramic existence.
[Illustration:
BROWN STONEWARE JUGS.
Decorated with game in high relief.
SHORE & GOULDING (Isleworth). Marked S & G. (Height 7-1/2 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._)]
[Illustration:
BROWN STONEWARE JUGS.
With sporting subjects in relief, the handles showing a debased
form of the "hound" handles.
(_In the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._)]
The pictorial history of the evolution is not a pretty one. It shows
how the rushing need of the public for "more pots" destroyed the craft
of the potter. It was far easier, since the demand was for pots, to
turn out hasty work, and to let the modelling take care of itself. For
this reason the mug degenerated into a mere commonplace mug, such as
Staffordshire could produce quite as cheaply by the ton. So the factory
put out its furnaces for ever.
MARKS USED AT SWANSEA, LOWESBY, LIVERPOOL, CAUGHLEY, DERBY, AND
ISLEWORTH.
[Illustration:
HAYNES, DILLWYN & CO
CAMBRIAN POTTERY SWANSEA]
=Swansea.=
Established 1769, works closed 1870.
Cambrian Pottery, after 1780. A large number of marks employed.
Sometimes the marks were impressed, but more often painted or stamped
in red.
[Illustration: CAMBRIAN]
The word "Cambrian" as a mark is very uncommon.
[Illustration:
OPAQUE CHINA
SWANSEA]
Used on the improved white hard earthenware invented by Haynes at the
end of eighteenth century.
[Illustration:
IMPROVED
STONE WARE
DILLWYN & CO]
Stone china was made from 1810-1830, and on some pieces this mark is
found.
[Illustration: DILLWYN]
Other of Dillwyn's Marks, from 1802-1817, are given here.
[Illustration:
DILLWYN
SWANSEA]
Swansea _porcelain_, with its finely painted flowers, was produced from
1814 to 1817.
[Illustration:
DILLWYN'S
ETRUSCAN
WARE]
The celebrated "Etruscan Ware" was made by Dillwyn from 1847 to 1850,
and it generally bears this printed mark.
[Illustration:
D J EVANS & Co
SWANSEA]
From 1850 to 1870 the firm was Evans & Glasson, and D. J. Evans & Co.,
and some of the later marks printed on the Swansea ware of this period
are reproduced.
[Illustration:
D. J. EVANS & Co
SWANSEA]
This Prince of Wales' Feathers mark was often accompanied by the fancy
name of the particular pattern on which it appeared.
[Illustration: LOWESBY]
=Lowesby.=
The mark of this small Leicestershire factory often puzzles collectors,
and it is given here. In date it is about 1835, and it only existed for
a few years.
[Illustration: P P]
=Liverpool.=
The marks of Liverpool are of exceptional interest. Sadler & Green
(except in rare instances, when they signed their tiles) did not use a
mark. Seth Pennington (1760-1790), celebrated for punch bowls of rich
blue decoration, may have used the mark here given.
[Illustration: HERCULANEUM]
[Illustration: HERCULANEUM]
The Herculaneum Pottery (1794-1841) (which produced porcelain too, in
1800, as did W. Reid & Co. (1754-1760) of fine quality, but unmarked).
[Illustration]
The Herculaneum marks are various on earthenware, and when the mark of
the bird, the "Liver," appears, it may be attributed to Herculaneum.
[Illustration: LIVERPOOL]
[Illustration: SALOPIAN]
=Caughley or Salopian= (1751-1775).
As a china factory Caughley is well known, and is the parent of the
Coalport porcelain factory.
[Illustration: TURNER.]
In its early days nothing was marked, but from 1772 to 1775, under
Thomas Turner, Salopian figures, some of large size, were made, and
a great deal of under-glaze blue-printed earthenware produced. The
word Salopian sometimes appears, and TURNER is impressed on cream-ware
plates (often ascribed to John Turner, of Lane End, Staffordshire).
[Illustration: S C]
Sometimes the letters =S= or =C= appear in blue under the glaze.
These marks appear also in Salopian porcelain.
[Illustration:
Bristol
Pottery]
=Bristol.=
The pottery at Bristol has a history extending from seventeenth-century
days down to 1820. Its delft frequently had dates inscribed, and
sometimes initials of potters. Its later ware was rarely marked.
But sometimes a blue cross appears, and we give a late mark, found
infrequently.
[Illustration: S & G]
=Isleworth= (1760-1830).
As much of the red ware of Messrs. Shore and Golding passes as Elers
ware, the mark should be of interest to collectors. It is very small
and impressed sometimes at the side of the piece near the base.
PRICES.
SWANSEA EARTHENWARE. £ s. d.
Dillwyn. Dinner service decorated with
figures, and quantity of tea and
breakfast ware similar (60 pieces in all).
Leeder, Swansea, September, 1906 7 18 6
Etruscan ware Drinking Cup, formed as
horse's head. Sotheby, February, 1908 2 0 0
LIVERPOOL.
Cream-ware Punch Bowl, printed outside
with figure subjects and inside with
ship in full sail, in colours, and
inscribed "Success to the Glory 1783."
Sotheby, February, 1906 2 18 0
Bowl with ship inside, inscribed "Success
to William and Nancy," dated 1776.
Sotheby, November, 1906 3 0 0
Mug, with painted portrait of William
Pitt. Sotheby, November, 1906 2 8 0
CAUGHLEY OR SALOPIAN EARTHENWARE.
Figures, reclining, _Cleopatra_ and _Antony_,
on oblong blue plinths (19-1/2 in.).
Christie, January, 1908 15 15 0
ISLEWORTH.
Ewer, decorated with Etruscan figures,
rare, marked. Sotheby, November, 1907 1 2 0
BRISTOL EARTHENWARE.
Jug with inscription and landscape in
blueand white. Sotheby, February, 1907 1 8 0
LOWESBY.
Basket of tortoiseshell ware, another
of stoneware, another of red ware,
marked "_Lowesby_," illustrated in
_Queen_, January 26, 1907. Sotheby,
December, 1908 2 0 0
Vase of red ware and two bottle-shaped
vases, decorated with flowers in colours,
marked "_Lowesby_." Sotheby, December,
1908 4 6 0
XIII
LUSTRE
WARE
CHAPTER XIII
LUSTRE WARE
Early crude Copper Lustre (Brislington)--Gold Lustre, pink and
purple Wedgwood, Leeds, Swansea, Sunderland--Platinum Lustre
(termed "silver lustre").--Thomas Wedgwood (1791), Spode,
E. Mayer, Wood and Caldwell, Leeds, Castleford, Swansea,
and others--Lustre in combination as a decoration--"Resist"
Lustre--Copper or Bronze Lustre--Marked Lustre Ware--Prices.
The collection of lustre ware is comparatively modern. In common with
salt-glaze ware which was not thought much of in the auction-room some
few years ago, lustre-ware has been studied and collected with avidity,
and a good deal has been discovered concerning its origin.
It may be said at the outset that lustre varies very considerably in
quality, and the plain undecorated platinum or "silver" lustre is being
produced at the present day in teapots and cream-jugs in simulation of
the old Georgian silver patterns.
So great is its variety and quality that some collectors have confined
themselves specially to the collection of what is known as silver
lustre "resist" style, and others have specialised in the pink or gold
purple, with veined effects, of the Wedgwood school.
Lustre ware may be divided into the following classes:--
1. _Early brown copper lustre_, crude in style, made by Frank, of
Brislington, near Bristol, about 1770.
2. _Gold lustre_, probably invented by Josiah Wedgwood, about 1792 (not
to be confounded with gilding). The effect varies from pink to purple,
and in the early pieces a combination was effected of gold, yellow, and
purple, iridescent in varying lights.
3. _Platinum or "silver" lustre_ (discovered by Thomas Wedgwood, the
youngest son of Josiah Wedgwood, about 1791), imitations of silver
ware, busts, &c.
4. _Copper or bronze lustre_ (differing from the coarse early ware of
Brislington), plain or undecorated.
5. Gold or purple lustre _used as an adjunct or decoration_, either
around band or rim, as at Sunderland, &c.
6. Platinum or "silver" lustre _used as an adjunct or slight
decoration_ such as in the _Falstaff_ figure (illustrated p. 371), or
in the figure of _Cupid_ (illustrated p. 387).
7. Platinum or "silver" lustre _in combination with other painted
decoration_: (_a_) Birds, foliage, &c., painted in silver lustre on a
ground of another colour; (_b_) Silver lustre "resist" style when the
ground is platinum and the ornamentation is white, blue, or yellow.
8. Copper or bronze lustre _in combination with painted designs_.
[Illustration: PAIR OF MOTTLED PINK GOLD LUSTRE GOBLETS.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration: GOBLET AND GOLD LUSTRE MUGS WITH MOTTLED INTERIORS.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
=Early Lustre (Brislington).=--Richard Frank, the delft potter, of
Bristol, produced a crude ware composed of a hard body coated with
a yellow dip resembling delft in character, and, upon this surface,
ornamentation in copper lustre was made which gave it the appearance
of burnished copper. It has been most inaptly compared with the
Hispano-Mauro ware, with its rich arabesque ornamentation. There is
nothing in common between the two except that they are both lustrous,
and here the similarity ends. The Brislington colour was crude and
the lustre ornaments extremely inartistic, and only suitable for the
baking-dishes and mere utilitarian articles rudely and sufficiently
decorated. Finer and thinner lustre ware found in the vicinity of
Bristol can more safely be attributed to Swansea.
=Gold Lustre.=--As may readily be imagined, the amount of gold in the
lustre decoration is very small. Gold lustre is _not_ heavy English
gilding. As early as 1776 Josiah Wedgwood obtained a formula from
Dr. Fothergill, a Fellow of the Royal Society, of which he himself
was a Fellow, which induced him to experiment with gold in order to
produce lustrous effects. The Purple of Cassius was employed with
great success in obtaining marbling and veining, but it was not till
late in his career, about 1792, that he produced the gold lustre in
its happiest combination in connection with the fine Pearl Ware shell
dessert-services. We have already alluded to the thin wash of yellow
and pink which was applied to these dishes to represent the interior of
the shell, but the addition of gold lustre was the finishing touch, and
such pieces are remarkably rare. They glow with fleeting colours as the
light plays upon their surface.
In regard to this gold lustre, it should be stated that it varied,
and varied most considerably, according to the character of the body
not only subjacent to it, that is upon which it was placed, but owing
to its filmy and translucent character it received reflection from
adjacent surfaces. On a brown body the same effect is different from
that on a white or cream body. This must be borne in mind to a smaller
extent in platinum lustres. The warmer the body beneath, the richer
the lustre and the greater its similarity to the silver which it is
intended to imitate.
We illustrate two very fine mottled pink and gold lustre goblets
which belong to the Wedgwood period and are very light and of very
fine lustrous appearance (p. 425). In certain districts these are
termed "Funeral cups," and whether they were used only on those solemn
occasions or not, we cannot say.
It appears that gold lustre was sometimes used in combination with
copper or bronze. In the two mugs illustrated (p. 425), the interiors
are finely mottled in purple and gold, and suggest by the beautiful
potting the work of the goldsmith in their sharp contour. They may
be attributed to the best period, as, too, may the goblet in the
centre which glows like gold. Incidentally it may be remarked that the
photographs used for these illustrations cannot convey the rich and
glorious colouring of these examples.
The writer knows of a cup and saucer marked "Dawson." There was a
Samuel Dawson in 1802, a Staffordshire potter, and there is Dawson of
Sunderland, a better-known maker of ware, which has lustre decoration,
to which latter pottery this may more safely be attributed. In general
effect the scheme of colour is ambitious. The centre panel is painted
in red enamel colours over the glaze. The borders have a highly
lustrous gold floral decoration on a ground of pink.
In regard to Sunderland and Newcastle, as a rule, the ware is crude
and may be readily dismissed, but not too hurriedly. The rough
bands of purple lustre inartistically painted as borders to the
transfer-printed jugs and mugs with nautical subjects are well known.
In broad effect on a jug or a punch bowl, this class of pink or purple
lustre decoration is seen at its best. On a jug of this nature with
bands and rough spongings of purple lustre appear the verses--
"The man doomed to sail
With the blast of the gale,
Through billows Atlantic to steer,
As he bends o'er the wave
Which may soon be his grave
Remembers his home with a tear."
It is not a happy sentiment and suggests more the landsman's views of
the sea than those of the sailor. The following has a truer ring, but
it was not put on jugs to be sold to sailors' wives:--
"Go patter to lubbers and swabs, d'ye see,
'Bout danger and fear and the like;
A tight water-boat and good sea room give me,
And it ain't to a little I'll strike."
=Platinum or Silver Lustre.=--It is not definitely known who was the
first potter to adopt this decoration. Obviously it could not be
earlier in date than the year that platinum was discovered as a new
metal. Its chemical individuality and qualities were established by the
successive researches of Scheffer (1752), Marggraft (1757), Bergmann
(1777). In 1784 the first platinum crucible was made by Achard. In 1800
Knight, of London, published all that was known concerning the use of
platinum in manufacture. Thomas Wedgwood, the youngest son of Josiah,
employed it as early as 1791, but it is claimed that John Hancock (born
1757, died 1847), first employed gold, silver, and steel lustres at
Messrs. Spode's factory at Stoke for Messrs. Daniel and Brown, who were
decorating Spode ware at that date. That is his own account when he
was eighty-nine years of age. But he was employed at Etruria. At any
rate Hancock did not retain the secret, for among contemporary potters
John Gardner, of Stoke, Sparkes, of Hanley, and Horobin, of Tunstall,
seem to have practised it. At the beginning of the nineteenth century
other potters were making lustre. In 1804 John Aynsley, of Lane End,
and in 1810 Peter Warburton, of Lane End, who took out a patent for
"decorating china, porcelain, earthenware, and glass with native pure
or unadulterated gold, silver, platina, or other metals fluxed or
lowered with lead or any other substance which invention or new method
leaves the metals, after being burned, in their metallic state."
Pieces of silver lustre occur with the name Wood and Caldwell impressed
on them. This was the style of the firm from 1790 to 1818. Such pieces
may have been made during the last years of the factory's existence.
But we know that it was made in 1810, for a painted lustre jug bears
the inscription "Richard Bacchus, 1810." Another name which the writer
has seen impressed on plain silver lustre ware of Early-Georgian shape
is E. Mayer, who commenced as a potter in 1770, and died in 1818. It
thus appears that at present, until more marked pieces turn up, the
exact date within a few years of the manufacture of platinum or silver
lustre in its first form is not determinable.
[Illustration:
PAIR OF SILVER LUSTRE FIGURES.
By WOOD & CALDWELL. (Height 6-1/4 inches.)
(_From the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._)]
[Illustration:
SILVER LUSTRE JUGS.
1. "Resist" style, with stencilled decorations.
2. Bird painted in red, foliage in green in panel, silver lustre
painted bands and borders.
(_In the possession of Mr. Hubert Gould._)]
Among makers known to have produced silver lustre are Robert Wilson,
of Hanley, who was in partnership with Neale prior to the manufacture
of this ware. His brother David Wilson, in the opening years of the
nineteenth century, made silver lustre goblets and figures. There
is a mounted figure of a hussar with uplifted sword attributed to
the Wilsons, at the British Museum. The Wilsons also made copper or
bronze lustre ware. Lakin and Poole is the name of another firm, and
Spode, and it is believed Davenport embarked on this popular ware
also. It is known, too, that Leeds made silver lustre ware of fine
quality, that has stood the test of time; and gold lustre in imitation
of Wedgwood's "Pearl Ware" lustrous decorations was made in early
nineteenth-century days. Swansea is credited with similar productions
of gold and gold-purple lustre on a marbled ground, although none of
its silver-lustre ware is marked.
Probably the earliest use of silver lustre was when it was employed
as an adjunct to figures in subsidiary portions in lieu of gilding.
But most certainly it began to simulate the silver ware at an early
date. This early type is undecorated, and was also used in busts or
statuettes of classical form. We illustrate a pair of silver-lustre
figures by Wood and Caldwell. There is another pair of children in
silver lustre, marked Wood & Caldwell, which are colourable imitation
of the figures of "children reading" made by Dwight (illustrated, p.
139).
In regard to decorated silver lustre we give two examples which are
fairly typical of a large class. The illustration (p. 431) shows a jug
decorated in enamel colours. The bird is in red and the foliage in
green, on a cream ground. The border of the panel is in silver lustre
and the rim of the jug and the bands around neck are also silver lustre.
This decorated silver-lustre ware is of two classes. The first class
comprises patterns painted in silver lustre on a white ground, the
foliage and birds and other patterns being in silver lustre, carefully
painted over the white. As a rule in such pieces there is more white
showing, and the lustre silver is palpably a decorative effect.
In the second class the silver lustre appears as a background, and
the ornamental decoration is in white, covering the piece in most
elaborate designs. This is known as "resist" ware, and on account
of the great beauty and variety of its ornamentation, has strongly
appealed to latter-day collectors. The pattern twining its way over
the silver-lustre background may be white, blue, canary colour, pink,
apricot, or turquoise-blue. White is most frequently found.
This second style is capable of the most intricate designs varying
from farmyard and hunting scenes to ordinary conventional floral
arrangements almost resembling the Japanese stencilled work in another
field of art.
=How "resist" ware is made.=--If a white design is intended the ware is
left white, but if any other colour, such as those we have mentioned,
that colour is laid as a body or ground colour on the specimen to be
lustred. The next step is to paint the exact design which later is to
appear white, or blue, or yellow, on the surface of the vessel. This
pattern is painted or stencilled on the ware with a substance composed
of a glucose matter such as glycerine. The next stage is to apply
the silver lustre to the whole surface which is allowed partially to
dry. On its immersion in water the pattern painted previously to the
addition of lustre peels off being on a soluble ground. The result
is that the background of white or yellow or blue is laid bare, and
the rest of the vessel is covered permanently with silver lustre. The
adhesive lustre "resists" the water, adhering to the surface by means
of its resinous nature, except in the pattern which peels off. Hence
the term "resist" ware.
We illustrate one specimen of this silver-lustre "resist" ware (p.
431). It is of the ordinary floral conventional pattern probably
stencilled on as described above. Some of the more elaborate specimens
are painted. One of the finest collections of "Resist Silver Lustre"
is that of Mr. William Ward, at the Kennels, Mellor, near Blackburn.
It comprises examples that one may search for in vain in any of the
museums. Many of the examples are marked such as "Warburton," or
with the letter "W" impressed, and one specimen is marked "Leeds" a
rare mark. The subjects of some of these jugs and mugs relate to the
Napoleonic wars, and are dated. There is one rare jug entitled "Boney
escaping through a Window," and in combination with this "resist" style
are examples finely painted or transfer-printed in colours.
=Copper or Bronze Lustre.=--This class of lustre is generally held to
be later (excepting of course the early attempts at Brislington which
stand by themselves). It is held too by collectors up to the present
not to offer such artistic possibilities as the "resist" silver lustre.
This is amply borne out by the prices obtained at auction. But it
must not be forgotten that this bronze or copper lustre varies very
considerably. It may be and often is very coarse brown ordinary ware,
and it may be very thin and delicate as to tempt the connoisseur to
regard it with more than a passing glance.
In the highest forms of copper or bronze lustre, painted views appear
in panels against the lustrous background, and such views are of a
high order of merit. They may in all probability have been executed at
Swansea. We illustrate a fine example (p. 437) of a large copper lustre
mug with painted panel of landscape and other panels of fruit.
Very frequently in this copper lustre the jugs and mugs have
ornamentation in relief which is enamelled in vivid colours. This is a
fairly common form, and has been reproduced in very coarse examples,
not to be confounded with the finer and thinner copper lustre at its
best. We illustrate a copper lustre jug (p. 437) with serpent handle
and Bellarmine mask spout, decorated in turquoise blue, and with basket
of flowers in relief. The Goblet to the right is of similar decoration,
and that on the left is of conventional coloured design on a mottled
pink lustred band.
=Marked Lustre Ware.=--We have already mentioned a number of potters
who are known to have made lustre ware, but the following names have
been found impressed on the ware in various collections throughout the
country, and may be of interest to collectors who have specimens either
by these potters or by other makers not on this list. Wedgwood, Wilson,
Warburton, Bailey and Batkin, J. Lockett & Sons, E. Mayer, Mayer &
Newbold, E. Wood, Wood & Caldwell, Minton, Bott & Co., P. & U. (Poole &
Unwin), Meigh, C. Meigh & Sons, Copeland & Garrett, and Leeds Pottery.
[Illustration:
LARGE COPPER LUSTRE MUG.
Panels painted with landscapes and flowers in colours.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
GROUP OF COLOURED COPPER LUSTRE.
Goblet with enamelled decoration in relief.
Jug with Bellarmine mask and spout and decorated in turquoise blue.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
PRICES.
LUSTRE WARE. £ s. d.
_Silver lustre_ Barber's jug with medallion
of Barber and Customer, inscribed
"William Freeman, 1809"; 6-3/4 in.
high. Bond, Ipswich, April, 1906 5 0 0
_Silver lustre_ "resist" pattern jug with
grape and barley design. Sotheby,
June, 1906 2 0 0
_Nelson & Hill_ jug in silver lustre and
decorated in red and black. Sotheby,
June, 1906 1 10 0
_Silver lustre_ jug, decorated with bird
and flowers, and inscribed "J.
Simpson, original Staffordshire
Warehouse, 1791." Christie, January,
1908 14 14 0
_Lustre decorated_, Sunderland figures
of _Seasons_ (four) decorated in colours
and purple lustre; all impressed,
mark "DIXON, AUSTIN & CO."
Sotheby, February, 1908 10 0 0
_Copper lustre_ pair of five-fingered
flower vases marked SEWELL. Sotheby,
November, 1905 4 15 0
XIV
LATE
STAFFORDSHIRE
WARE
CHAPTER XIV
LATE STAFFORDSHIRE WARE
The School of Colour--Josiah Spode the Second
(1798-1827)--Davenport (1793-1880)--Thomas
Minton--Semi-porcelain--Ironstone China--The Masons--Early
nineteenth-century Commemorative Ware--The revival
of Stoneware--Messrs. Doulton--The twentieth-century
Collector--Table of Marks--Prices.
The latest phases of earthenware are mainly concerned with the school
of colourists, the chief of which was Josiah Spode the Second, who
controlled the factory on the death of Josiah his father, in 1797, and
took William Copeland as partner. It was this Spode who introduced into
earthenware decorative patterns of Japanese colouring in which reds and
yellows and dark cobalt blue predominate, following the style of the
Crown-Derby Japan style. About 1800 Spode commenced the manufacture of
porcelain as well as earthenware, and his richly gilded Japan patterns
began to rival those of Derby. In regard to the light-blue-printed
ware of a fine quality turned out by Spode, an illustration is given
in the chapter on Transfer-printed Ware (p. 331). It was this second
Josiah Spode who standardised the body used in English porcelain,
which is to-day practically the same as Spode's formula. It may be
said, roughly, to consist of the constituents of true porcelain plus a
proportion of bone ash. Enoch Wood, when an apprentice with Palmer, was
the first to use bone with earthenware, about 1770.
It is obvious that with these rich colours of Staffordshire porcelain
side by side in the same factory, with earthenware, the latter began to
assume all the decorative appearance of porcelain. A reign of colour
set in. Earthenware was as lavishly decorated in colours, and as richly
gilded as any of the contemporary porcelains, and in putting on these
colours it lost all its old characteristic features and became an echo
of porcelain.
Before leaving the Spode family, it may be mentioned that Josiah Spode
the second, who died in 1827, aged seventy-three, was succeeded by his
son, Josiah Spode the third, who died within two years.
William Copeland had died in 1826, and in 1833 the factory at Stoke
came into the hands of W. T. Copeland, known as Alderman Copeland, as
he then was, of the City of London. He became Lord Mayor of London in
1835, and in that year took Thomas Garrett into partnership. Copeland
and Garrett is the name of the firm till 1847. For twenty years it was
known as "W. T. Copeland, late Spode," and is now at the present day
Messrs. W. T. Copeland & Sons.
The marks belonging to the firm at various dates are given at the
end of this chapter. We illustrate a row of five remarkably fine
earthenware vases decorated in rich colour in the Derby style, so
perfectly simulating the brush work of that famous porcelain factory,
that upon a hasty examination they would pass for Crown-Derby. They
evidently belong to the days when Josiah Spode was turning out at
Stoke more Japan patterns than were produced at Derby.
At the same time a good deal of less ornate earthenware for cottage
use was being made, and specimens may frequently be met with, such as
tea-sets with old-fashioned teapot and two-handled sugar-bowl made
about 1825. Their homely English rural subjects are very pleasing, and
show that there was still a large market in the country for simple ware
without any great pretensions to foreign taste. It was the last stage
of the great tradition of old English earthenware.
=Davenport (1793-1880).=--John Davenport, of Longport in Staffordshire,
began potting in 1793. There is no doubt that he was a great potter
with artistic instincts. He went to France prior to 1800, and on his
return introduced a porcelain body superior to anything then produced
in England. With Josiah Spode the second he claims more attention as a
maker of porcelain than of earthenware. But his earthenware is highly
prized by collectors. His blue-printed ware was exceptionally fine, and
he followed in his plates and dishes the style of Turner and of Minton
in the perforated rims. His stone china is well potted and carefully
painted, and in design he was not loth to follow Mason of whom we shall
speak later. Many specimens of the familiar type of jug associated
with Mason's name, of octagonal shape are found in porcelain. Some
collectors noticing the great similarity to Mason have been inclined
to attribute these porcelain jugs to him, and doubtless, as Mason made
china, many are his, but Davenport who made replicas of the Mason
stoneware jugs, being a maker of porcelain too, is likely to have
produced these porcelain replicas also. None of these porcelain jugs
appears to be marked.
Davenport ware is strong in colour, and follows the rich designs of
Spode. Some pieces of stoneware are richly gilt, and have finely
painted fruit-pieces and landscapes, some probably by Steel from the
Derby factory. The illustration (p. 447) of the highest flight of
Mason typifies this class of landscape ware. Swansea, in common with
Staffordshire, had not hesitated in painting earthenware with landscape
subjects hitherto employed only by artists who decorated porcelain.
The Davenport marks are given at the end of this chapter, and are
always prized when found on specimens, as Davenport did not mark
his ware so freely as did Spode. From 1835 the firm became "William
Davenport & Co.," and later "Davenport & Co.," and ceased about 1880.
[Illustration:
DESSERT PLATES.
With border richly gilded with floral design.
Impressed mark MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.
(_In collection of Author._)]
[Illustration:
DESSERT DISH.
Richly gilded border with landscape painted in colours.
Impressed mark MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.]
=Semi-porcelain.=--This is found as a term in some of the marks of the
early-Victorian period; sometimes the title "opaque china" appears.
These descriptions are always puzzling to the collector. As a matter of
fact they tell of the later and more modern development of earthenware.
It had snatched the china glaze, it had employed the enamel colours,
and had adopted the designs of the English porcelain factories.
The rivalry of the Staffordshire potters and the English porcelain
factories was coming to an end. This stage of semi-porcelain and
semi-china represented the last word of earthenware. It now simulated
porcelain in its body, with one drawback, it was not translucent as is
porcelain. It was naïvely termed "opaque china." But the potters were
proud of their latest achievement, and accordingly marked their wares
with the above terms. As has been shown, Swansea came to the front,
and Haynes in the closing years of the eighteenth century produced a
hard, white earthenware termed "opaque-china," and Riley's "semi-china"
about 1800 was the Staffordshire equivalent.
But, as we have seen, the Staffordshire potters not only imitated
porcelain, continuing a long trade rivalry extending over nearly a
century, but many of them had commenced to make porcelain themselves.
Even the firm of Wedgwood succumbed to the temptation, and made
porcelain from 1805 till 1815, which manufacture was revived again in
1878.
=Thomas Minton (1765-1836).=--Minton was one of Spode's engravers, and
commenced as a master potter at Stoke in 1793.
Minton had been apprenticed to Thomas Turner, of Caughley, as an
engraver, and it was he who designed the celebrated "Broseley dragon"
pattern on the Caughley porcelain, and it is held by some authorities
that Minton engraved the "willow pattern" too. At first, at Stoke,
he made only earthenware, and his blue and white ware in imitation
of the Nankin porcelain won him distinction. About 1800 porcelain
was made and was continued throughout the nineteenth century. His
son, Herbert Minton in 1836, took into partnership John Boyle, who
joined the Wedgwoods in 1842. Herbert Minton raised the quality of the
productions, being one of the greatest of the Staffordshire modern
potters.
In the latter half of the century Mintons obtained a world-wide
reputation. From 1850 to 1870 a band of French modellers and painters
executed some fine work, but this trespasses on the field of porcelain.
Among the earthenware of Minton some of the early pieces such as plates
and dishes enamelled in colours with Chinese subjects, are marked with
the letter M in blue and a number. Some of the earliest-known examples
in earthenware of the celebrated "willow pattern," such as plates with
perforated edges (similar to that illustrated, p. 331) and baskets, are
by Thomas Minton.
_Ironstone China._--This again is a term used by Mason and others in
regard to an earthenware body for which the firm of Mason, of Lane
Delph, took out a patent in 1813. It is a ware, heavy in weight, and
possessing great strength. In pieces of important size, such as punch
bowls of huge proportions, and posts for old-fashioned bedsteads this
was of no little value. We have already alluded to the Mason series
of octagonal-shaped jugs of pleasing shape, undoubtedly following the
Spode scheme of colour in Japanese style, but lacking the finer finish
of Spode ware. Although undoubtedly original in design, these jugs were
easily excelled in potting and colouring by copyists such as Davenport.
But Mason's blue in his imitations of old Nankin ware is exceptionally
fine. There are dinner-services consisting of a great number of pieces
painted in under-glaze blue which are very rich in tone, and stand
comparison with any of the blues of Staffordshire, not excepting those
of Adams and Minton.
We illustrate a large vase obviously a replica of a Chinese model,
and enamelled in very rich colours. It shows a remarkable facility in
potting, and although strongly coloured conveys without caricature the
decorative qualities of the Chinese potter.
[Illustration:
"GRANITE CHINA" VASE.
Richly decorated in colours. Grass-green ground. Panels with landscape
in Japanese Imari colours. Rich blue base and top heavily gilded.
Dragon handles salmon-pink colour. (Height 2 feet.)]
[Illustration:
BASE OF ABOVE VASE.
Showing mark "GRANITE CHINA. STAFFORDSHIRE POTTERIES.
FENTON STONE WORKS. C J M & CO."
(_In the collection of Dr. H. Bournes Walker._)]
The vase is two feet in height. The ground is grass green. The panels
have painted landscapes in Imari colours. The base and the top are
a rich blue heavily gilded, and the dragon handles are a salmon pink.
Obviously this, although imitative, is a very ambitious piece.
The mark of this vase stamped on the bottom (illustrated p. 451) is
interesting. An outline design represents the pottery works. It is
marked "Fenton Stone Works C. J. M. & Co." and in the outer rim is the
inscription "Granite china," "Staffordshire Potteries."
The initials C. J. M. stand for Charles James Mason, who together with
G. Miles Mason applied for the ironstone china patent in 1813.
Among other ware, similar to the early cream ware is a body termed
"Mason's Cambrian-Argil." This evidently is in direct rivalry to the
Swansea cream ware marked "Cambrian." Earlier jugs by him are rarely
marked, and are not of the octagonal form, though the sides are
prismatic, and usually seven in number. They are of a buff-coloured,
soft, and chalky body, but the decorations are obviously his in similar
style to his series of stoneware jugs. The handle of this earlier form
is not of the snake or lizard form, but follows in design the metal
handle of teapots of the period.
That the Masons could and did produce earthenware of a very high,
artistic quality is shown by the illustration (p. 447) of three pieces
marked with the impressed mark running in one line across the back
of the examples "MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA." The gilding in the
floral design in the borders is well done, and the landscapes in
the centre are finely painted. They are in the brush work patiently
stippled with as much minuteness as the work of Birket Foster. A
dessert service of which this forms portion, is a very desirable
acquisition, and represents stone china at its high-water mark.
The various marks used by the Masons are given at the end of this
chapter. In 1851 the pottery was purchased by Francis Morley, and it
was incorporated with Ridgway, Morley, Wear & Co., and at a later date
passed into the hands of Messrs. C. E. Ashworth and Taylor Ashworth,
who to this day revert to the original patterns of the Mason jugs which
have become so deservedly popular. Most of these old patterns are being
produced, although of course they have not the charm for the collector
whose interest ends with the original period under Mason.
"Stone china" became a term used by many other potters who produced
strong and durable earthenware, heavy in weight, and extremely suitable
for domestic use. Mintons had a series of patterns in this ware
decorated in Oriental style in colour. The most popular of these is
one termed "Amherst, Japan," following the old anglicised versions of
Japanese Imari designs and colours. This was at the date when Lord
Amherst was in the public eyes. It will be remembered that he headed an
embassy to China, and was requested to perform the _ko-tou_, or act of
prostration, nine times repeated with the head touching the ground. Sir
George Staunton and other members of the Canton Mission protested, and
the mission was admitted to the Emperor's presence on their own terms,
which consisted of kneeling upon a single knee. Lord Amherst was later
appointed Governor-General of India. There are a great many potters
whose names are found on earthenware of mid-Victorian days. They cannot
be said to exhibit much originality in design, and their value as
collectors' specimens is infinitesimal.
[Illustration:
PLATES, TRANSFER-PRINTED IN BLUE UNDER-GLAZE.
Impressed mark "IMPROVED FELSPAR. C. MEIGH & SON."
(Date 1850.)
(_In the collection of the Author._)]
[Illustration:
SET OF STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE VASES.
Floral decoration in gold on rich blue ground. Flowers in enamel
colours on white panels in imitation of Derby porcelain style.
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
We illustrate two finely-potted stoneware plates, by Messrs. C. Meigh
and Sons, made about 1850. They are printed in blue with designs of
English primroses twined with peacock feathers! Here is East and West
in strange combination. Fortunately the plates are not in colours or
the result might have been disastrous; as it is they are very pleasing
for the blue is of a very excellent tone. There is nothing hasty about
the potting; the finish and the minor details suggest work of the old
days long gone. It is evident that in the treatment of the design the
inspiration came from the Japanese potter whose influence was beginning
to make itself felt in pictorial art even so far back as the middle of
the nineteenth century. Whistler's peacocks and the dawn of the later
æstheticism were at hand.
=Nineteenth Century Commemorative Ware.=--It has been previously shown
how fond the potters became of recording events and creating figures of
popular heroes in earthenware. The story is continued in the nineteenth
century, which covers, one is apt to forget, the last twenty years of
the reign of George III., includes the ten years of George the Fourth's
reign, and the seven of William IV., commencing the Victorian Era in
1837 on the accession of the late Queen.
So that the term early nineteenth century is not the same as early
Victorian; as a matter of fact a good deal of very good porcelain
and earthenware comes well within the nineteenth century, but very
few examples that appeal to the artistic collector belong to the
early-Victorian period.
The nineteenth century as a whole was crowded with incident, and in
the class of earthenware with which we are now dealing the record is a
full one. From Nelson to Garibaldi; from Maria Martin the victim of
the Red Barn murder to Moody and Sankey, the American revivalists; from
Napoleon crossing the Alps to George III., as the King of Brobdingnag,
looking at Napoleon through a telescope; from Burns's _Souter Johnny_
to Dickens's _Sam Weller_; from punch bowls, inscribed "Rum and Water"
and "Health to all," to figures of Father Mathew, the temperance
reformer--all sub-heads are touched, and although the artistic may be
absent the human touch is ever present.
There are jugs and mugs with a portrait of "Orator Hunt," with
inscriptions "Universal Suffrage," "No Corn Laws," dating from 1818.
A lustre mug has a print with a dragoon represented as riding over a
woman, and has the legend, "Murdered on the plains of Peterloo, near
Manchester, 16th August, 1819." The woman carries a flag inscribed,
"Liberty or Death."
A puzzle jug of Staffordshire earthenware is inscribed, "Hatfield shot
at George III., 1800. God save the King." The trial of Queen Caroline
produced a crowd of figures and mugs and plates with portraits and
verses. The Crimean War had its ceramic record. There is a Newcastle
earthenware butter-dish printed and coloured, with an English soldier
greeting a French soldier, and motto, "May they ever be united."
[Illustration:
NELSON JUG.
Portrait of Admiral Nelson, inscribed "England expects that every man
will do his duty." On reverse, female figure and children, inscribed
"Behold the Widow casting herself and Orphans on benevolent Britons."
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
NELSON JUG.
With portrait of Admiral Lord Nelson. Aged 47. Inscribed "England
expects every man to do his duty." On reverse, plan of Battle of
Trafalgar.]
The transfer-printed jugs and mugs with nautical subjects we have
already alluded to in a previous chapter. The unfamiliar uniform of the
late eighteenth and early nineteenth century "Jack Tar" is a study in
costume. This silent ceramic world of old three deckers and ships of
the line and barques and brigantines is all that is left of a fleet
of ships which have long since sailed their last voyage--an armada of
non-existent craft as ghostly as the phantom ship of Vanderdecken.
Nelson jugs are of many types; we illustrate two varieties (p. 459).
Some of them are as early as 1797, and others as late as 1820.
The top jug illustrated is of Staffordshire cream ware, and is in date
after Trafalgar (1805), made to commemorate this victory. The portrait
of Nelson has an inscription over it, "England Expects every Man to do
his Duty." On the reverse is a plan of the Battle of Trafalgar with the
disposition of the ships and a slight description which ends in the
sentence "in which Action the Intrepid Nelson fell covered with Glory
and Renown."
The lower jug is of the same period and the portrait of Nelson is
more authentic. It is transfer-printed, the uniform being slightly
touched in colour. On the reverse there is a female figure and two
children, and the sad human touch in the inscription, "Behold the Widow
casting herself and Orphans on benevolent Britons." This is, indeed,
the reverse of the medal. The glory of war is exalted unduly. But the
awful reality does not always come home so pointedly as in this homely
jug, which in its way records the "simple annals of the poor." We are
reminded of the lines of that forgotten poet, Amelia Opie, and of
the wood-engraving by Dalziel in Willmott's "Poets of the Nineteenth
Century," published in the sixties. "The Orphan Boy's Tale," who tells
how pleased he was--
"When the news of Nelson's victory came,
Along the crowded streets to fly
And see the lighted windows flame!"
The shouts of the crowd rejoicing drowned the widow's tears. In simple,
but none the less poetical, language the child continues:
"She could not bear to see my joy;
For with my father's life 'twas bought,
And made me her poor orphan boy."
It is undoubtedly such human touches as these on the domestic crude
ware which stir the heart's blood quicker than all the gods and
goddesses ever turned out in Staffordshire.
The age of steam and steel and its inventions did not come unheralded.
We illustrate a plate of one of the earliest steam carriages (p. 463).
The plate is of Staffordshire origin and evidently was intended to
be sold in Germany as a "present from London," as the inscription
runs, "Dampf Wagen von London nach Bristol. Ein Geschenk für meinen
Lieben Jungen" ("Steam Coach from London to Bristol. A Present for my
dear boy"). In date this is about 1827 as the accompanying engraving,
entitled the "New Steam Carriage," is from a periodical publication of
that date.
[Illustration:
TRANSFER-PRINTED PLATE IN COLOURS.
Inscription--"Dampf Wagen von London nach Bristol. Ein Geschenk für
meinen Lieben Jungen."
(Staffordshire, about 1830.)
(_In collection of Author._)]
[Illustration: "NEW STEAM COACH." From an old print dated 1827.]
Equally interesting is the Staffordshire blue-printed _Jug_ marked at
back "Liverpool and Manchester Railway" showing the famous _Rocket_
steam-engine invented by George Stephenson. The date of this is 1830. A
fine _Cyder Mug_ printed in black with touches of colour shows an early
passenger train. The luggage, as will be seen, is on the roofs of the
carriages. The aristocratic company at the rear are seated in their own
carriage, the ladies of the party are noticeable by their old-fashioned
poke bonnets. There is something very interesting in these old
railway mugs and jugs. They are modern, that is in regard to technique
and artistic beauty, but the subjects are of sufficient interest to
make the ware important enough to find a treasured place of honour in
the collector's cabinet.
=Lambeth Stoneware.=--Mention should be made of the revival of
artistic stoneware at Lambeth about 1850 by Henry Doulton, of the
Lambeth pottery. An attempt was made to make vessels for ordinary use
as ornamental in character as the old Flemish stoneware. Some of the
early pieces are in brown stoneware with incised decoration filled with
blue-glaze. Tankards and vases and jugs were made of very pleasing
character. Under Sir Henry Doulton great advances were made, and mugs
with hunting subjects and many grotesque brandy bottles of stoneware
were made. Light brown stoneware flasks modelled to represent Lord
Brougham, and impressed "The True Spirit of Reform," and "Brougham's
Reform Cordial," are often of Lambeth origin. In date these are about
1830, other factories made similar ware, including the Derbyshire
potteries.
Of the Doulton and Watts period which commenced 1815, from 1815 to 1832
some fine Napoleonic stoneware was turned out. There is, in particular,
a small stoneware, brown jar of Napoleon made about 1825, which is
finely modelled and an excellent portrait. In the Reform days of the
early thirties they produced, to supply a public demand, many spirit
jars with more or less grotesque models of Earl Grey, Lord Brougham,
William Cobbett, and Lord John Russell. In the museum at Messrs.
Doulton's at Lambeth are some fine examples of the early period.
We illustrate a strongly modelled jug with Bacchanalian subject in high
relief (p. 471), showing the excellence of some of this early work at
its best.
=The Twentieth Century Collector.=--The story of the triumphs and
sometimes of the decadence of English pottery cannot be ended without a
passing reference to the wondrous ware being produced at the end of the
nineteenth century and now. It should appeal to-day to the prescient
collector. It will appeal to the collector fifty years hence.
Under the name of the Lancastrian Pottery Messrs. Pilkington, at
Clifton Junction, near Manchester, have during the past few years
produced some of the most beautiful ware ever seen in this country.
At the exhibition of this ware in London in 1904 they astonished all
experts. The indescribable variety of exquisite colours, ranging from
faint pink and sky blue to the richest purple and dark green and amber,
showed at once that modern scientific methods and painstaking research
had rediscovered the lost glazes of the old Chinese potters.
The starry crystalline glazes so well known in the Copenhagen porcelain
have been faithfully reproduced, recalling the patterns traced on the
window-pane by frost--sometimes brilliantly coloured blue or green
against a background of pale lavender blue, at other times having a
sheen like bronze. Other crystalline glazes are the _Sunstone_ in
which brilliant prismatic and golden crystals are disseminated through
rich green yellow or olive brown glazes. The fiery crystalline glazes
display brilliant red crystalline formation through purple and grey
glaze in dazzling patches.
[Illustration:
STAFFORDSHIRE BLUE PRINTED JUG.
Marked at back "Liverpool & Manchester Railway."
Showing the famous _Rocket_ locomotive invented by George Stephenson.
(Date 1830.)
(_In the collection of Miss Feilden._)]
[Illustration:
CYDER MUG.
Printed in black with touches of colour.
(_In the collection of Mrs. M. M. Fairbairn._)]
Opalescent clouded, or curdled, or veined, or serpentine glazes
have countless variations of colours--copper-green, turquoise-blue,
or deep lapis-lazuli broken with white curds, or opalescent veinings,
or fine lines of variegated colour shot through the glaze from top to
bottom--this alone suggests a dream of colour schemes, and the wise
collector will realise without further ado that we are in a period of
great ceramic triumphs in pottery of this nature.
Texture glazes of chicken-skin, fruit-skin, and orange-skin are highly
prized, and vellum or egg-shell glazes splashed and marked like
Nature's own handiwork in the most beautiful birds' eggs. Or there
are metallic effects of peculiar beauty and golden lacquer glazes
resembling the old gold lac-work of Chinese and Japanese artists
so cunningly imitated by Martin, the French cabinet-maker, in his
Vernis-Martin, so beloved of collectors of furniture and fans.
Of purple glazes of the transmutation class some of the richest effects
have been obtained in colour and in splashed effects. Wine purple,
mulberry, and other alluring tones have burst upon an astonished circle
of connoisseurs. Of the _flambé_ specimens it is not too much to say
that their like, for which the Chinese potters were so famous, have
never been seen before in Europe.
The Havilands of Limoges, Copenhagen, and Sèvres, and Berlin potters,
as well as the artists in the Rookwood Pottery in America, have worked
in the same field; but it is pleasant to think that English potters
have produced greater variety, including Lancastrian lustre ware of
wealth of glowing colour not surpassed by the Hispano-Moresque potters
nor by the lustrous majolica of the Italian renaissance. To the
scientific activity in wresting from the past the lost secrets of the
old Chinese potters, a great tribute of praise should be accorded to
Mr. William Burton and his brother, Mr. Joseph Burton.
Other workers in the same field of glazes are Mr. Bernard Moore, of
London, whose glorious _flambé_, rich red, and _sang-de-boeuf_ glazes
are of unsurpassed beauty. Mr. William de Morgan has for many years
been known for his lustrous tiles and work of fine originality and
strength. Another pottery known as the Ruskin Pottery conducted by Mr.
W. Howson Taylor at West Smethwick, Birmingham, is a bright spot in
recent ceramic enterprise, and has won distinction for ware which is of
great beauty.
In bringing the story of English earthenware to a conclusion, it is
the hope of the writer that the ground has been sufficiently covered
to provide an outline history of a complex subject. It may be that
much appears that might have been omitted, and that much is omitted
that might have appeared within these covers. But it must be allowed
that personal tastes play an important part in selection either by the
collector or by the student. But in matters of fact and in the mass
of details relative to the potters and their wares no pains have been
spared to make this little handbook worthy of its subject.
[Illustration:
DOULTON STONEWARE JUG.
(Date about 1845. Height 10 inches.)
(_In the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._)]
MARKS FOUND ON LATE STAFFORDSHIRE EARTHENWARE.
The first half of the nineteenth century in earthenware included a
variety of types: (1) the last output of the classical school; (2)
cream ware transfer-printing in under-glaze blue; (3) the school of
colourists in imitation of English porcelain.
In the following list a great many names appear of potters not well
known nor worthy of more than passing allusion. But their trade marks
often puzzle collectors.
=Adams.=
One of the oldest firms in Staffordshire.
[Illustration: Adams & Co.]
Early mark for cream ware, plain and
enamelled, 1770-1790.
[Illustration: ADAMS & CO.]
Mark used for solid jasper ware, 1780-1790.
[Illustration: ADAMS]
Mark for printed ware, stoneware, and
jasper, 1787-1810.
[Illustration:
ADAMS
WARRANTED . STAFFORDSHIRE]
Mark used for deep blue-printed ware,
1804-1840, so much collected by American
connoisseurs.
=Spode.=
[Illustration:
SPODE
Stone-China
or
SPODE
Stone-China]
Josiah Spode the second, who
introduced Derby-Japan patterns
into earthenware. The name is found
impressed, or printed, or painted in
colours on back.
[Illustration:
Spode's
NEW FAYENCE]
[Illustration: SPODE]
At the introduction of ironstone
china other marks were introduced,
and they were printed on the ware.
[Illustration:
Spode's
Imperial]
Similarly the "new fayence,"
another of Spode's improvements,
was printed on ware of that character.
[Illustration:
COPELAND & GARRETT
LATE
SPODE
THE TIBER
COPELAND & GARRETT
NEW
JAPAN STONE]
Other marks, both
impressed and printed,
in the ware are SPODE,
SON & COPELAND, or
SPODE & COPELAND.
[Illustration:
COPELAND AND GARRETT]
COPELAND & GARRETT
NEW
FAYENCE]
From 1833 to 1847
these, among other trade
marks, were used.
[Illustration:
COPELAND
Mark used 1847-56.]
From 1847 to 1856 this
mark was used.
[Illustration: COPELAND LATE SPODE]
The present day mark of
Messrs. W. T. Copeland &
Sons.
=Davenport= (1793-1886).
[Illustration: LONGPORT]
[Illustration: DAVENPORT]
[Illustration: Davenport]
These marks are found on the earthenware,
stamped or printed, in small letters
in red, and other Davenport marks, such
as that with the anchor and the stone
china design used after 1805, are frequently
puzzling to collectors, especially
when partially obliterated.
[Illustration:
DAVENPORT
STONE CHINA]
=Minton.= Established at Stoke, 1790.
In 1800 porcelain was made, and was
continued throughout the century and at
the present day.
[Illustration:
M & B
FELSPAR PORCELAIN]
From 1790-1798 blue and white earthenware
in imitation of common Nankin largely
made. In 1798 semi-porcelain was made.
Felspar china, similar to Spode and stone
china, in common with other Staffordshire
potters, was largely produced. From 1836-1841
the firm was Minton & Boyle, and
afterwards Minton and Hollins, and at the
present day Minton is one of the best-known
English firms.
Not many of the early earthenware pieces
were marked, and it is difficult to distinguish
Minton's firm from some of the fine
blue-printed ware of Adams and of Mason.
[Illustration:
B B
New Stone]
This +B B+ mark appears on all stone
china of Minton from 1845-1861, signifying
_Best Body_.
The name MINTON was not stamped nor
impressed on the ware till after 1861.
About 1823 the _Amherst Japan_ pattern
was made, and has a printed mark in a
scroll. It is frankly imitative of Spode
and the Derby-Japan style.
[Illustration:
R
M & Co]
A rhomboidal mark with the letter +R+,
sometimes "+R^D+," signifying that the design
is "Registered," and having +M & Co+, is
not confined to Mintons, as other potters
used the same mark with their names or
initials underneath. It is quite late and on
ware not likely to appeal to the collector.
=Mason.=
[Illustration:
MASON'S
CAMBRIAN-ARGIL]
The marks of Mason are found, after
1813, either impressed in a straight line or
having the mark under a crown and in
scroll, on his celebrated ironstone china
printed in blue.
[Illustration: MASON'S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA (_impressed_)]
[Illustration: M. MASON]
His semi-porcelain or Cambrian-argil
bears the name on the ware, and was
intended to compete with Swansea.
[Illustration: MILES MASON]
An illustration of the mark on stone
china, marked "Fenton Stone Works,
C J M & Co," is given on page 451.
[Illustration:
MASON'S
PATENT IRONSTONE
CHINA]
It should be mentioned that the blue-printed
mark with a crown and scroll does
not necessarily mean that the ware
(especially in the hexagonal set of jugs)
is old. It is still used at the present day
by Messrs. Ashworth, who are reproducing
some of the old and favourite patterns.
Collectors are advised to buy one of these
jugs as a model to compare it with the
older work.
[Illustration: P. B & Co]
The mark of Pindar, Bourne & Co., of
Burslem, who made red terra cotta spill vases
decorated in colours and gold with arabesque
designs, about 1835. In 1880 the factory
passed into the hands of Messrs. Doulton.
[Illustration: ROGERS]
Mark of Dale Hall Pottery, John Rogers
& Son, 1815-1842. Notable for light blue
printed "Willow" and "Broseley Dragon"
series.
[Illustration:
_J E & S_
DALE HALL]
J. Edwards & Son, Dale Hall, 1842-1882.
[Illustration:
W B.
W & B
W B & S
CLEWS]
=W. Brownfield & Son= (Cobridge) 1808-1819.
[Illustration: W B]
Bucknall & Stevenson and A. Stevenson
alone during part of above period.
_James Clews_, 1819-1829. His mark
was a crown above his name.
_Robinson, Wood & Brownfield_, 1836.
[Illustration:
WARRANTED
REAL IRONSTONE CHINA
W & B]
_Wood & Brownfield_, 1836-1850. _W.
Brownfield_, 1850-1870. _W. Brownfield
& Sons_, 1871 to present day. China has
been made since 1871.
[Illustration:
ITALIAN
GARDEN
W & B]
We append some of the marks of this
firm, including the Staffordshire knot,
which has been used by other Staffordshire
potters.
[Illustration: I. RIDGWAY]
[Illustration:
JR
VICTORIA]
=Ridgway=, founded in 1794.
J. & W. Ridgway and Ridgway & Sons,
1814-1854.
Many of these marks have puzzled collectors,
as only the initials are used in
many cases.
The firm subsequently became T. C.
Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co., and has
had a distinguished career in the ceramic
world, gaining honours at the various
international exhibitions.
[Illustration:
India Temple
Stone China
J.W.R.]
(_See Table p. 349_).
[Illustration: P & B]
[Illustration:
Best
P & B]
These marks are found impressed in
ware of Messrs. Powell & Bishop, 1865-1878,
of Hanley. They are often confused
with Pindar, Bourne & Co., when only
initials are used.
[Illustration]
Another form is a Caduceus, the emblem
of Mercury, impressed in the ware and
sometimes printed.
(_Messrs. Powell & Bishop._)
[Illustration:
ORIENTAL
IVORY]
A seated figure is another trade mark
which has given rise to a good deal of
speculation among tyros in collecting.
(_Messrs. Powell & Bishop._)
[Illustration:
G. HEATHCOTE & Co
CAMBRIA]
_Heathcote & Co._ is a mark found in
early nineteenth century ware. The blue-printed
earthenware was of a fine quality.
[Illustration]
=Late Nineteenth Century Earthenware.=
The three marks of the Lancastrian
Pottery, the Ruskin Pottery, West
Smethwick, and of the earthenware of
Mr. William De Morgan, are known
to connoisseurs of what is great in latter-day
English earthenware, and they are
given here for the information of collectors
who may be interested.
[Illustration:
RUSKIN
POTTERY
WEST SMETHWICK
1907.]
[Illustration: D M]
PRICES.
LATE STAFFORDSHIRE. £ s. d.
=Spode= (Earthenware).
Spode felspar, ice pails and covers
painted with flowers and richly gilded.
Puttick & Simpson, March, 1907 12 1 6
=Davenport= (Earthenware).
Toby Jug, marked "Davenport." Sotheby,
November, 1904 3 12 6
=Minton= (Earthenware).
Set of Chessmen, in form of mice, drab
and ivory coloured, decorated with black
and gold. Kings and Queens crowned,
Knights with swords, Bishops with croziers,
and Castles with warder on top and a mouse
imprisoned below. Sotheby, July, 1908 2 0 0
=Mason.=
Vases, pair, large, decorated in gold
with kylin tops. Debenham, January, 1906 8 5 0
Ironstone china dinner service (197
pieces) floral decoration in colours.
Christie, March, 1906 53 11 0
Vases, pair (12 in. high), mazarin blue
ground, decorated with Oriental birds,
&c. Bradby, Perth, September, 1906 7 7 0
Ironstone china bowl, decorated in flowers
blue, red and gold. Puttick & Simpson,
January, 1907 5 0 0
EARLY VICTORIAN.
=Staffordshire= (Earthenware).
Red Barn (scene of well-known murder of
Maria Martin), very scarce. Sotheby,
February, 1907 2 10 0
Jug, with portrait of Lord Nelson, marked
HOLLINS. Sotheby, November, 1908 1 19 0
Jug with figures of Volunteers, and a
smaller jug with portrait of Wellington.
Sotheby, May, 1907 3 0 0
Three Jugs, brown ground, with Madonna
and Child in relief, marked "Meigh," and
three jugs with Tam o' Shanter subjects
marked "Ridgway." Sotheby, May, 1907 1 3 0
INDEX
A
Abbey, Richard (Liverpool), 403
Absalon, decorator at Yarmouth, 378
"Adam and Eve" delft dishes, 67, 109
Adams (marks), 263
Adams (prices), 282, 283
Adams & Bromley, 260
Adams & Co., marks, 260, 473
Adams, Benjamin, mark, 263, 348
Adams, William (of Cobridge), 260, 329
Adams, William (of Greenfield), 260
Adams, William (of Greengates), =259-263=, 279, 330, 340, 348 (mark)
Adams, William, & Sons (of Burslem), 348
Adams, William, & Sons (of Stoke) (mark), 348
Æsop, _Fables_ of, reproduced on earthenware, 321, 322
Agate ware, definition of, 27;
summary of, 70, 169;
_solid_ and _surface_ (Wedgwood), 228
Alexander, Czar of Russia, bust of, 374
Allen, of Lowestoft, Leeds ware decorated by, 301
America and England (in earthenware), 337, 338;
independence of, jug relating to, 350;
views in (Clews), 349
"Amherst, Japan" (Minton), 454
Anchor as a mark, Fell, Newcastle, 350;
Middlesbro', 350
Animals, figures of, 174
Antony and Cleopatra, Swansea figures, 395
Ashworth, C. E., Messrs., 454
Astbury, John, =147-151=;
the successor of Elers, 164;
early salt glaze, 204
Astbury, Thomas, 147;
flint, 232;
figures, 361;
as a mark, 298
Astbury ware, definition of, 27;
summary of, 68;
prices, 155, 191, 192
Aynsley, John, 348;
lustre ware, 430;
mark, 279
B
Bacon, John, 248
Baddeley, 222, 232
Baddeley, J. and E., 349
Baddeley (R. J.), basket-work, salt glazed, 212
Baddeley, R. and J., 349
Baddeley, W. (Eastwood), 280
Bailey and Batkin (lustre ware), 436
Balloon ascent depicted on delft, 113
Bamboo ware (Wedgwood), 230
Barberini Vase, 249
Barker (mark), Leeds ware, 289, 310
Barnes, Zachariah, 67, 125, 403
Basalt ware, definition of, 27;
Wedgwood, 228
Basket-work, Leeds, 297;
salt glaze, 212;
Wilson, 266
"Bat" printing, 347
Battersea enamels, 318
Batty & Co., 280
B B. New stone (Minton mark), 476
Bear hugging Bonaparte (Nottingham), 152
Bear jugs, Nottingham, 69, 152
Beauclerk, Lady Diana, 248
Beehive as a mark (Ridgway), 479
Bellarmine jugs, 68, 134;
prices, 152
Benson, Thomas, use of flint, 232
Bentley, his influence on Wedgwood, 244
Bentley, G., modeller (Swansea), 395
Bevington (Swansea), 399
Biblical subjects in delft, 67
Billing, Thomas (1722), 207
Birch, E. J., 280
Birch, black basalt ware, 274
Bird as a mark, 417
Birds, figures of, 174
Bingley, Thomas, & Co., 302, 305
Biscuit, definition of, 27, 51
Black basalt (E. Mayer), 269
Black printed ware, its mission, 333
Blue dash decoration (delft), 109
Blue enamelled salt-glazed ware (Littler), 207
Blue printed ware, =338-347=
Body, definition of, 28
Bonaparte, bust of, 374;
caricatures of in earthenware, 337;
lustre ware, 435;
Russian bear hugging, 152;
stoneware, 465
Bone-ash, first use of, 444
Bordeaux earthenware, 215
Books, quaint titles of Puritan, 95
Booth, Enoch, 182;
improved glazing, 232
Boscage school of figures (Walton), 378
Bott & Co., 280;
lustre ware, 436
Boyle, John, 449
Brameld, Rockingham, 305, 311
Brampton pottery, 69, 412
Brislington lustre, 424
Bristol delft, summary of, 67, =113-118=;
prices, 129
Bristol earthenware prices, 419
Bristol pottery, 404;
mark, 418
British Museum, mediæval tiles at, 84
Britton & Sons (Leeds), 288, 310
Bromley (Adams & Bromley), 260
Bronze busts imitated, 229
Bronze lustre ware, 435
Brookes, engraver for earthenware, 347
Brougham, Lord, stoneware flask, 465
Browne, Sir Thomas, quoted, 163
Brown-Westhead, T. C., Moore & Co., 479
Burns's _Souter Johnny_ in earthenware, 458
Busts and figures, stoneware, 68
Butler, Samuel, _Hudibras_, quoted, 366
C
C as a mark, 408, 418;
Caughley, 349;
Wilson, 266
"Cadogan" teapots, 305, 311
Caduceus as a mark, Powell & Bishop, 480
Cambria as a mark, Heathcote & Co., 480
Cambrian-Argil (Mason), 453
Cambrian pottery (Swansea), 395;
marks, 415
Camel pattern teapots, 208
C. & H. (Cookson & Harding) mark, 280
"Canary" bottles, fraudulent, 110
Caricatures in earthenware, 337
Castle Acre Priory, tiles from, 84
Castleford Pottery (D. D. & Co.), 174, 270, 302, 311;
prices, 313
Catalogues printed in several languages (Leeds), 288;
Wedgwood, 224
Cats, figures of, 174;
slip decorated, 358;
agate, 359
Caughley earthenware, 407;
prices, 419;
marks, 417, 418
Caughley, transfer-printing at, 318
Cauliflower ware, 169;
teapots, 208
Caylus, Count, 259
Chaffers (Liverpool), 403
Chalk introduced into cream ware, 269
Champion (Bristol), 235-237
Chapel, Stephen (Leeds), 288
Chatterly, William, 66
Chertsey Abbey, tiles from, 83
Chester, Grosvenor Museum, Toft dish at, 88
Chesterfield, 69
China, definition of, 28
China clay, definition of, 28
China stone, definition of, 28
Chinese pottery as a model for delft, 102;
inspires English potters, 196;
old glazes of, rediscovered, 466
Chippendale, his similarity to Wedgwood, 259
Christian, Philip (tortoiseshell ware), 70
Chronological table of chief events, eighteenth century, 158
Church, Professor, quoted (Lambeth delft), 113;
Dwight ware, 138
C J M as a mark (Mason), 453
Classicism, eighteenth century, 243;
foreign to Staffordshire, 160;
the passing of, 276
Classic ware, summary of, 73, 74;
Greek designs (Turner), 263;
figures, Staffordshire, 370
Claude landscapes on earthenware, 344
Clays used for pottery, 28;
various, how used, 47
Clementson, 79
Clementson, J., 280
Clews, 280
Clews, James, 349
Close & Co., 280;
mark, 348
Close, Mort & Co. (Liverpool), 403
Cobalt blue used in salt-glazed ware, 208
Cobbett, William (stoneware flask), 465
Cockspur-mark, definition of, 31, 298
Collecting, the field of, 52;
reasons for, 35
Cologne ware, 134
Colour, its adoption, 273;
_versus_ Form in earthenware, 178
Coloured salt-glazed ware, 211
Cookson & Harding, 280
Cookworthy (Plymouth), 235
Copeland, 443, 444
Copland & Garrett, 444;
marks, 474, 475
Continental potters, indebted to Staffordshire, 177;
imitations of Wedgwood, 247
Copenhagen porcelain, 293, 466
Copper lustre ware, 435;
Wilson, 282;
prices, 439
Copyists--earthenware imitating china, 43;
of Wedgwood, 257, 265
Cornish clay mines, 235;
kaolin, its use in cream ware, 237
Cottage ornaments, figures for, 378
"Crabstock" handles, 212;
jug and handle, 185
Cream ware, =230-240=;
definition of, 28;
its experimental stage, 169;
its later white body, 44;
Leeds, =293-301=;
Queen's ware, 232;
revival of old Wedgwood designs, 231;
summary of, =71-73=
Crich ware, 204
Cricket match depicted in earthenware, 338
Crouch ware, 204
Crown in circle as a mark (Stevenson), 348
Crown as a mark, 266
D
Dale (mark), 381
Dalehall as a mark, 477
Daniel, Ralph (salt-glaze), 207
Daniel, Thomas, painter, 232
Davenport marks, 475;
prices, 481
Davenport, John, 445
Davenport (of Longport), 269;
mark, 280
Davenport, Thomas, 348
Davenport, Henry and William, 348
Davenport & Co., 446
Dawson, Samuel (lustre), 428
D. D. & Co., Castleford mark, 302, 311
Decadent period Staffordshire figures, 378
Delft ware (_Bristol delft_), 113-118;
definition of, 28;
general characteristics of, 67;
how made, 101;
its foreign origin, 102;
its introduction into England, 105;
(_Lambeth delft_), 106-113;
(_Liverpool delft_), 118-125;
prices, 129-130;
summary of, =67-68=;
(_Wincanton delft_), 125
De Morgan, William, pottery of, 481
Denny Abbey, tiles from, 84
Derby (earthenware), 408;
(Pot Works) mark, 349;
transfer-printing at, 318
Dickens, _Sam Weller_ in earthenware, 458
Dillwyn, L. W. (Swansea), 399
Dillwyn & Co. (marks), 415, 416
Dipping-house, the, 51
Dixon, Austin, & Co., Sunderland, 309
Dixon & Co., Sunderland, 306
D. J. Evans & Co., Swansea, 400;
marks, 416
D. M., mark of William De Morgan, 481
Don Pottery marks, 289, 310, 311
Dorset, Earl of, arms on jug, 92
Doulton, Lambeth stoneware, 151, 465
Drug pots, 106
Dunderdale, David, 302
Dunderdale & Co. (D D & Co), 174
Dutch enamellers employed on salt-glaze, 211
Dwight, John, 68, 134, =138-142=;
prices, 155
E
Eagle as a mark (Leeds), 311
Early English ware, =83-98=
Early pottery, summary of, 66
Early salt-glazed ware, 203
Early-Staffordshire ware, =159-192=;
prices, =187-192=
Early-Victorian earthenware (prices), 482
Earthenware, definition of, 29, 40;
figures compared with china, 382;
how made, 44;
imitating porcelain, 273;
its appearance, 43;
method of studying, 55;
the nine classes of, 55;
_versus_ porcelain, 182
East India Company, 106
Eastwood mark, 280
Edwards, J., & Son, Dale Hall, 477
Egyptian ware, definition of, 27
E. I. B. mark, 280
Eighteenth century, chief events of, table, 158
Election plates (_Bristol delft_), 67, 114
Elers, David, 142, 146
Elers, John Philip, 144
Elers Brothers (_not_ the inventors of salt glaze), 204;
prices 155;
their effect upon Staffordshire, 164;
Wedgwood's opinion of, 163
Elers ware, definition of, 29, =142-147=;
summary of, 68
Elizabethan silver mounts on earthenware, 126;
coats of arms on jugs, 134
Enamel colours, definition of, 29;
use in salt glaze, 211;
kiln (enamel), description of, 52
Engine turned ware, 148
English character in early Staffordshire ware, 160;
costume subjects, 264;
porcelain factories largely imitative, 196;
scenery (on earthenware), 277;
national spirit in earthenware, 186
Engravers employed to decorate earthenware, 325
Etruria Museum, catalogue of, 227
Etruscan ware, Dillwyn's (Swansea), 400;
prices, 418
Evans, painter (Swansea), 399
Evans & Glasson (Swansea), 400
Exhibition, Great, of 1851, hideousness of, 358
F
F as a mark (Newcastle), 350
Fable subjects in earthenware, 321, 322;
Liverpool tiles, 125
Factory system, the, its origin, 249
Falstaff, earthenware figure of, 374
Fell (Newcastle), 306
Ferrybridge, 309
Fifield, William and John, painters (Bristol), 404
Figures (Astbury), 361;
Astbury prices, 192;
earthenware and china compared, 382;
Leeds prices, 385;
Salopian, 407;
salt-glazed, 181;
Staffordshire, best period, 362;
Staffordshire, =357-389=;
decadent period of, 378;
prices, 385, 386;
summary of, =74-77=;
Wedgwood, 240;
Whieldon, 361;
prices, 192
Firing, period of duration, 51
Fitzwilliam family, crest of, as a mark, 311
Flaxman, John, 248;
his designs in cream ware, 231;
designs of, copied, 274
Fletcher & Co. (Shelton), 348
_Fleur-de-lis_ as a mark, 400
Flint introduced into body, Thomas Astbury, 207;
use of, 232
Ford (South Hylton Pottery), 309
Forgeries (in general), 59
Forgeries--Slip ware, 60;
sack bottles, dated, 60;
salt-glaze coloured, 60;
Toby jugs, 63;
"Fair Hebe," 63;
"Vicar and Moses," 63;
Whieldon ware, 63;
Leeds, 63.
Form _versus_ Colour in earthenware, 178
Fowke, Sir Francis (Lowesby), 400
Frank, Richard (Brislington), 424
Freeth, Mr. Frank, quoted (Toft ware), 91
Frog, green, on Catherine II. service, 239
Frog mugs, 309
Fulham stoneware, =151=;
summary of, 68, 70;
prices, 155
Funeral cups (lustre), 428
Furniture decorated with Wedgwood ware, 247
G
Gateshead Potteries, 306
Gilding used in salt-glazed ware, 208
Gillray's caricatures in earthenware, 337
Glazes, various, definition of, 29;
rich, used by Whieldon, 169
Glazing, description of process, 51;
improvement by Booth, 232
Glost oven, description of, 48, 51
Godwin, Francis, Bishop of Hereford, 117
Goethe, quoted, 259
Gold lustre ware, 427
Gonsales, Domingo, Voyage to Moon, 117
Granite ware, 170;
Wedgwood, 228
Greatbach, William, 166, 248
Great Malvern, tiles from, 84
Green (mark), Leeds ware, 289;
signature of, Liverpool tiles, 121
Greens, Bingley & Co., 302
Grenzhausen, stoneware of, 137
_Grès de Flandres_ ware, 137, 151
Grey, Lord (earthenware flask), 465
Greybeard jugs, 134
Griffin as a mark (Rockingham), 311
Grotesque design, in early Staffordshire ware, 160;
in English pottery, 208
Growan stone, its use in cream ware, 237
H
Hackwood, 280
Hackwood, William, 248
Hamilton, Sir William, 244, 259
Hancock, John (lustre), 430
Hancock, Robert, 329;
his "Tea Party," Worcester, 318
Harding, 280
Harley, 280
Hartley, Greens & Co., 288
Haynes, 79
Haynes, George (Cambrian Pottery), 395
Haynes, Dillwyn & Co., marks, 415
Heath, 280;
prices, 284
Heath family, Derby potters, 408
Heath & Bagnall, 280
Heath, Warburton & Co., 280
Heathcote, C., & Co., mark, 480
Herculaneum Pottery (Liverpool), 403;
marks, 417;
figures of, 77
Hewitt, painter (Wood figures), 373
Hicks & Meigh, 349
Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson, 349
Historical events, chronicled in earthenware, 333
Hollins, Samuel, 269, 275, 280
Hollins, T. & J., 281; mark, 275;
prices, 482
Howe, Earl, portrait of, 334
Hudson River, American views (Clews), 349
Humble & Green, 288
Humour in pottery, 208
Hylton Potteries, 300
I
I. Dale, mark on figures, 381
Identification of earthenware, 65;
=Table=, =66-79=
I. E. B. as a mark, Baddeley, 349
Imitation of porcelain in earthenware, 273;
bronze busts (by Wedgwood), 229;
Chelsea and Derby figure of Falstaff 377;
Chinese pottery (at Leeds), 290;
Crown Derby, 443;
Japanese incised work (salt-glaze), 212;
Oriental porcelain styles, 196, 215;
Plymouth group by Staffordshire, 377;
silversmiths' work (by Elers), 195;
at Leeds, 294;
by Wedgwood, 196;
Wedgwood, 257, 265;
Wedgwood's Queen's ware at Swansea, 396
Imitativeness of English potters, 196
Imitativeness, black basalt ware, 274
Incised decoration, salt glaze, 208
"Indian Temple," J. W. R. (Ridgway), 479
Ireson, Nathaniel, 125
Ironstone china, 450;
definition of, 30;
prices, 482
Isleworth pottery, 411;
marks, 418;
prices, 419
"Italian Garden" (W. and B.), mark, 478
J
Jackfield pottery, 305; prices, 313
Jacobite toasts, 215
James II., Dwight bust of, 141
Japanese decoration adopted in Staffordshire, 273
Japanese incised work imitated, salt glaze, 212
Jasper ware, definition of, 30;
Adams, 259-263;
Turner, 263-265;
Wedgwood, 240-249;
_solid_ and _dip_, definition of, 247
J. E. & S. as a mark, 477
Jervaulx Abbey, tiles from, 84
Jinkcuson, name on salt-glazed jug, 212
Jonson, Ben, quoted, Bellarmine jugs, 134
J. R. as a mark, Ridgway, 479
J. W. R. as a mark, Ridgway, 479
K
Keeling, A. and E., 281
Kilns, the various, description of, 48
L
L., Leeds mark, 289, 310
Lakin, 281;
prices, 284
Lakin & Poole, 281 (lustre ware), 433;
mark, 381;
prices, 284
Landré, Mrs., figure designer (Wedgwood), 240
Late Staffordshire ware, 443-483;
marks, 473
Lambeth delft, =106-113=;
summary of, 67;
prices, 129
Lancastrian Pottery, 466
Landscape subjects after Claude, in earthenware, 276
Lead-glaze, definition of, 29;
early experiments, 174;
improvements in, 232
Leeds ware, =287-301=;
basket-work, 297;
best period of, 290;
decorated at Lowestoft, 301;
decorated at Yarmouth, 378;
figures, 76;
figures, prices, 385;
a fine collection of, 56;
fraudulent, 63;
marks, 289, 310;
prices, 312
Leeds Pottery Co., 288
Leeds Pottery (lustre), 436
Lewes Priory, tiles from, 84
Lion as a mark, 289, 311
Littler, William, lead glaze, 232;
salt glaze, 207, 208
Liverpool, fine collection of, 56;
(_cream ware_), =402-404=;
figures, 77;
prices, 419;
(_delft_), =118-125=;
prices, 130;
tiles, subjects of, 125
Lockett, J. and J., 281
Lockett, J., & Sons (lustre ware), 436
London as a mark, 350
Longton Hall, blue used on salt-glazed ware, 207
Lovers' teapots, 208
Lowesby Pottery, 400;
prices, 419
Lowestoft, Leeds ware decorated at, 301
L. P. (Leeds), mark, 288
L. P., monogram, as a mark, 481
Lustre ware, =423-439=;
definition of, 30;
first use of lustre, 430;
marks, 430, 433, 435, 436, 439;
prices, 439;
summary of, =77=, =78=;
copper lustre, 435;
Wilson, 269, 282;
silver lustre as a decoration to figures, 377;
silver or platinum, =429-436=;
silver, J. Aynsley, 279;
various classes of, 424
M
M. as a mark (Minton), 450
M. & Co. as a mark (Minton), 476
M. & B. as a mark (Minton & Boyle), 476
M. & N. as a mark (Mayer & Newbold), 281
Malling jug (Tudor earthenware), 130
Marbled ware, definition of, 30;
summary of, 70
Marbling on early vases, 68
_Marks_ (see under special class of ware), their use and value, 30;
used fraudulently, 64
Marseilles earthenware imitates Dresden models, 43
Martin, Maria, of Red Barn, in earthenware, 482
Mason (ironstone china), 450;
marks, 477;
prices, 482
Mason, Miles, 349
Masonic plates (J. Aynsley), 348
Mary, Queen, portrait of, on jug, 137
Mayer, E., lustre, 430;
prices, 284
Mayer & Newbold, 281;
lustre ware, 436
Mayer, E., & Son, 281
Mayer, E. J., 281
Mayer, Elijah, 151, 269, 274;
glazed black ware, 305
Mayer & Elliott, 281
Mediæval tiles, 83;
summary of, 66
Meigh, 79
Meigh, C., & Sons, 457;
lustre ware, 436
Meir, F., 281
Meir, John, 66
Meissen, imitation of Wedgwood by, 247
Metal imitated: Wedgwood, silver lustre, 229
Metal designs copied at Leeds, 294
Metal dies used by Elers, 195
Metal stamps, used for ornament in earthenware, 142
Metal workers, influence of, upon pottery: Elers, 195;
Wedgwood, 196
Metropolitan slip ware, 95
Meyer, Joseph (mark), 275
Middlesbrough Pottery (mark), 350
Milton, bust of (R. Wood), 369;
prices, 386
Minton, 79;
marks, 476;
prices, 482;
(Thomas), 330, 348, 449;
(Herbert), 449
Modern, earthenware when considered, 30
Modern silver lustre teapots, 423
Modern spirit, the beginning of the, 249
Monglott, Swiss artist (Adams), 260
Moore & Co. (Sunderland), 306
Morley (Nottingham) (seventeenth century), 69
Morley, Charles (Nottingham), 151
Morley, John (of Nottingham), 146
Morr & Smith, 281
Mortlock as a mark, 305, 311
Moseley, 281
M. P. Co. as a mark (Middlesbro'), 350
Museums where earthenware is exhibited, 56
Musicians, earthenware figures of, 381
Myatt, 281
N
Namur, stoneware of, 137
Napoleon, bust of, 374;
caricatures of 152, 337;
in lustre ware, 435;
in stoneware, 465
Nash, Joseph, 66
National character in early Staffordshire ware, 160
National spirit in earthenware, 186
Nautical subjects in earthenware, 334
Neale & Co., figures, 370;
marks, 266
Neale & Palmer marks, 266;
prices, 283
Nelson jugs, 461
Newcastle lustre, 428;
transfer-printing at, 330
Newcastle ware, =306-310=;
prices, 313
New stone B B. (Minton), 476
Nineteenth-century commemorative ware, 457
Nineteenth-century developments, 78, 79
Niderviller earthenware imitates Dresden models, 43
Nottingham ware, early, 204;
summary of, 69;
prices, 155-156;
stoneware, 151-152
O
Omar Khayyam quoted, 48
Opaque china, 79, 446;
Haynes (Swansea), 399
Opie, Amelia, quoted, 461
"Orator Hunt" on late earthenware, 458
Oriental decoration adopted in Staffordshire, 273;
designs at Leeds, 298;
styles imitated (Leeds), 290
"Oriental ivory" as a mark (Powell & Bishop), 480
Oven, description of, 31, 48, 51
Over-glaze, definition of, 29;
printing, description of, 325
P
P as a mark (Lancastrian Pottery), 481
Palmer, Henry, 265;
marks, 266;
prices, 283
P & B as a mark (Powell & Bishop), 480
P. & U. (Poole & Unwin), lustre ware, 436
Pardoe, Thomas, painter (Swansea), 399
Parson and Clerk group, 365
Paste, definition of, 31
P. B. & Co. as a mark (Pindar, Bourne & Co.), 477
Pearl ware (Wedgwood), 238
Peasant pottery of nineteenth century, 381
"Pelican in her Piety" (Toft dish), 95
Pennington (Liverpool), 403;
marks, 417
Pharmacy jars, 106;
(Lambeth), 113
Phillips, J. (Hylton Pottery), 306
Phillips (Longport), 281
Phoenix as a mark (Clementson), 280
Pilkington, Messrs., 466
Plagiarists of Wedgwood, 257, 265
Plaster of Paris moulds first introduced, 207
Political events chronicled in earthenware, 333
Poole & Unwin (lustre ware), 436
Porcelain colours imitated in earthenware, 273
Porcelain copied in earthenware, 43;
made by earthenware potters (Caughley), 407;
(Minton), 449;
(Rockingham), 305;
(Staffordshire), 444;
(Swansea), 399
Portland Vase, 249
Porto Bello Bowl, the, 147
Portraits in earthenware: Bonaparte, 337, 435, 465;
Brougham, 465;
Cobbett, 465;
Duke of York, 321;
Grey, 465;
James II., _bust_, 141;
King of Prussia, 318;
Nelson, 461;
Prince Rupert, _bust_, 138;
Rousseau, _bust_, 240;
Washington, 338;
Wesley, _bust_, 374;
William III., 137;
Young Pretender (salt-glaze), 215
Posset-pot inscribed "Wm. Simpson, 1685," 95
Potter's wheel, the, 48
Pountney & Allies (Bristol), 407
Pountney & Co. (Bristol), 407
Powell & Bishop (mark), 480
Powell & Sons, Messrs. James, 231
Pratt, 281
Prices, hints concerning, 59;
dealers', 59
Prince of Wales's Feathers as a mark, 480
Prince Rupert, Dwight bust of, 138
Printed ware, =317-350=
Printing on earthenware, at Leeds, 293;
over-glaze, description of, 325;
under-glaze, description of, 326
Prussia, King of, mugs and jugs (Worcester), 318
Puritan influence on earthenware, 95
Q
Queen's ware (Wedgwood), 232
Queen's ware, its decoration, 238, 239
Quin as _Falstaff_, figure of, 374
R
Railway mugs, 462
Railway, Liverpool and Manchester, inscription on jug, 462
Raren, stoneware of, 137
Rathbone, Mr. Frederic (Wedgwood), 24, 25, 227
R. B. & S., Leeds mark, 289, 310
Reasons for collecting, 35
Red Barn murder, in earthenware, 482
Redrich & Jones, patent of, 170
Red ware, Wedgwood, 230
Reform days, commemorative ware, 465
Reid, W. & Co., Liverpool, 403;
marks, 417
Renaissance of Staffordshire, 165
Resist pattern, definition of, 31
"Resist" silver lustre, how made, 434
Rhodes, salt-glaze enameller, Leeds, 211
Ridgway, 79;
prices, 483
Ridgway, J. & W., 349;
marks, 479
Ridgway, Morley, Wear & Co., 454;
mark, 349
Riley, 79, 281;
semi-china, 449
Riley, J. & R., 349
Ring, Joseph, Bristol, 404
R. M. W. & Co. as a mark, 349
Robinson, salt-glaze enameller (Leeds), 211
Rockingham, 302;
prices, 313
Rogers, 281
Rogers, John, & Son (mark), 477
Rous, Thomas, 138
Rousseau, bust of, 240
Royal portraits, on delft, 109;
on stoneware, 137;
on Toft ware, 91;
bust of James II., 141;
King of Prussia, 211, 318;
bust of Prince Rupert, 138;
Duke of York, 321
Ruskin Pottery, mark, 481
S
S as a mark, 408, 418
"Sack" bottles, 106;
fraudulent, 60, 110
Sadler & Green, 122
Sadler Liverpool tiles, signature of, 121
Saggers, definition of, 31;
description of, 48
St. Alban's Abbey, tiles from, 84
St. Anthony's as a mark, 306
Salopian earthenware, 407;
prices, 419
Salopian, earthenware figures, 77
Salt, 281
Salt, Ralph, figures of, 378;
School of, figures, 76
Salt-glaze, definition of, 29;
description of process, 199
Salt-glazed ware, =195-217=;
classes of, 207;
coloured, fraudulent, 60;
defects of, 222;
figures, 74, 181;
prices, 216;
rivalry with early Staffordshire, 178;
summary of, 69
S. & G. (mark), Isleworth, 411, 418
Satire, earthenware the medium for political, 333
S. B. & S. (mark), Leeds ware, 289, 311
Scieux earthenware imitates Dresden models, 43
Scott Brothers (Sunderland), 306
"Scratched blue," salt glaze, 208
Semi-china, definition of, 31
Semi-porcelain, 446;
definition of, 31
Sewell, 306
Sewells & Donkin, 306
Sèvres, imitation of Wedgwood by, 247
Shakespeare, quoted (potter's wheel), 48;
willow pattern, 343
Shaw (Liverpool), 403
Shaw, Ralph, 148, 207
Shaw, Robert, 66
Shell forms used in earthenware, 238
Ships as decoration on delft (Liverpool), 67
Shore & Goulding, 411
Shore, Joseph, 411
Shorthose, 281
Shorthose & Co., 348
Shorthose & Heath, 282
Siegburg, stoneware of, 137
Silver designs, in earthenware, 195, 196, 229;
copied at Leeds, 294;
imitated (Hollins), 275
Silversmith, influence of, upon earthenware (Elers), 195;
(Wedgwood), 196
Silver lustre as a decoration to figures, 377
Silver lustre ware, =429-436=;
J. Aynsley, 279;
marked pieces, 430, 433;
prices, 439;
summary of, 78
Simpson, Ralph, 95
Simpson, William, 95;
petition of, 137
Slip, definition of, 31, 47
Slip ware, 87;
prices, 97;
summary of, 66
Sneyd, 282
Solid agate ware, 170;
Wedgwood, 228;
definition of, 27
"Solid" jasper, definition of, 247
Solon, Mr., quoted (mediæval tiles), 84
Spode, Josiah (the first), 269, 330, 339;
Josiah (_the second_), 270, 348, 443;
marks, 474;
prices, 481
Sporting subjects in earthenware, 269, 270, 338
"Spur" marks, 298; definition of, 31
Squirrel pattern teapots, 212
Staffordshire delft, prices, 129;
early ware, =161-192=;
figures, =357-389=;
figures, best period of, 362;
figures, decadent period of, 378;
potters ahead of the Continent, 177;
potters confined to earthenware, 237;
pottery, its renaissance, 165;
the transfer-printers of, 329
Steam carriages, on earthenware, 462
Steel, 282
Steele, David, painter, 232
Stevenson, A., 348
Stevenson, W., 282
Stockton-on-Tees potteries, 306
Stone china, 79;
marks, 474-477
Stoneware, =133-156=;
definition of, 32, 40;
Lambeth (nineteenth century), 465;
prices, 152;
summary of, =68-70=
Stothard, Thomas, 248
Stuart, stump work pictures, similarity to Toft ware, 91
Stubbs, George, 248
Stubbs, Joseph (mark), 349
Sunderland School, figures of, 77
Sunderland ware, 306-310;
lustre, 428;
Moore & Co., 306;
prices, 313;
transfer-printing, 330
Surface agate ware, 169;
definition of, 27;
Wedgwood, 228
Swansea, =395-400=;
figures, 77;
marks, 415;
prices, 418;
transfer-printing at, 330
Syntax, Dr., tour of (on earthenware), 280
T
=Tables=, chief events of eighteenth century, 158;
dividing earthenware into classes, 55
Tabor, William, 66
Tassie, James, 248
Templeton, Lady, 248
Tennyson, quoted, 258
Thrower, the, 48
Thursfield, Maurice, 306
Tiles, Bristol delft painted, 67, 114;
printed, 121;
mediæval, 83;
transfer-printed (Liverpool delft), 67
Titles of Puritan books, strange, 95
Toby, jugs, 366, 374; fraudulent, 63
Toft, John, name on teapot, 212
Toft, Thomas, Toft, Ralph, 66
Toft, ware, =88-95=;
prices, 97;
summary of, 66
Tomlinson & Co., 309
Tortoiseshell ware, 170, 177;
summary of, 70;
Castleford, 302;
Castleford (D. D. & Co.), 174;
Liverpool, 174
Transfer-printed ware, =317-350=;
marks, =347-350=;
prices, 350
Transfer-printers, the Staffordshire, 329
Transfer-printing, definition of, 32;
description of, 322;
in outline, 347;
its adoption in Staffordshire, 321;
at Battersea, 318;
at Caughley, 318;
at Derby 318;
at Leeds, 293;
at Liverpool, 318;
at Newcastle, 330;
in Staffordshire, 329;
at Sunderland, 330;
at Swansea, 330, 396;
at Worcester, 318
Triangle as a mark (Powell & Bishop), 480
Tudor jugs, 126;
prices, 130
Turner, John (Lane End), 235, =263-265=, 330;
marks, 348;
prices, 283
Turner, Thomas (of Caughley), 270, 329, 339;
marks, 418
Turner, William and John, 348
Turnor, Ralph, 66
Twentieth century collector, the, 466
Twyford, early salt glaze, 204
U
Under-glaze, definition of, 29
Under-glaze printing, description of, 326
V
Van Hamme (Lambeth), 67;
his patent (Delft), 106
Variegated ware, =169-174=;
summary of, 70;
"tesselated" style, 173;
Wedgwood, 228
Vernon, Admiral, victory of Porto Bello, 334
Verse on earthenware, 334, 337
Vicar and Moses group, 362, 365;
fraudulent, 63
Viellard & Cie (Bordeaux), 215
Voltaire, bust of, 240
Voyez, modeller, 265, 370
W
W as a mark (lustre ware), 435;
(Myatt), 281
Wainwright & Co. (Leeds), 288, 310
Walton, 282;
(John), figures by, 378
Walton School, figures of, 76
Warburton, 222, 232, 282
Warburton, Peter (lustre ware), 430, 435
Warburton, Britton & Co. (Leeds), 288
Washington, portraits of, 338
W & B as a mark (W. Brownfield), 478
W B as a mark, 478
W B & S as a mark, 478
Wedgwood, Aaron (lead glaze), 232
Wedgwood, Josiah, as a potter, 227;
his views of Elers, 163;
influence of, 249;
gold lustre, 427;
under-glaze blue, 330;
Josiah _the second_, 348
Wedgwood, Ralph, 348
Wedgwood, Dr. Thomas, salt glaze, 207
Wedgwood ware, =221-254=;
figures, 370; influence, the wane of the, 276;
marks, 251-253;
printed at Liverpool, 240;
prices, 253, 254;
school, 257;
figures of, 75;
old cream ware designs, revival of, 231
Wedgwood & Co. (of Burslem), 348
"Wedgwood & Co.," spurious mark, 309
"Welsh" ware (Isleworth), 411
Wesley, John, busts of, 374
Wheel, the potter's, 48
Whieldon (Thomas), =159-193=;
prices, 187
Whieldon School, figures of, 75
Whieldon ware, definition of, 32;
prices, 187-192
Whitefriars Glass Works, 231
Whitfield, George, busts of, 374
Wilcox, Mrs. (Etruscan ware), 248
Wilkie's pictures on earthenware, 280
William III., portrait of, on jug, 137
Willow pattern at Caughley, 329;
at Leeds, 298;
at Swansea, 396;
Chinese original of, 339;
where first made in England, 329;
story of the, 340
Wilson, 282;
(D. Wilson & Sons) marks, 269
Wilson, Robert (marks of), 266
Wincanton Delft, 125;
summary of, 68
Wood (Aaron), salt-glazed basket-work, 212;
salt glaze, 207
Wood, E., 282;
prices, 284
Wood, Enoch, 373;
mug, 186;
(Turner jugs), 264;
use of bone ash, 444
Wood, Enoch, & Sons, 282, 349
Wood & Caldwell, 282, 373;
lustre, 430, 433
Wood and Caldwell School, figures of, 75
Wood family, the, Staffordshire figures, 362-370
Wood, Ralph, 362;
prices, 284;
variegated ware, 173
Wood School, figures of, 75
Worcester, transfer-printing at, 318
Workmen, trained, transferred to new factories (Liverpool), 403;
(Minton), 330;
(Shelton), 404;
(under-glaze blue printing), 329
Worthington, Liverpool, 403
Wright, John, 66
Wrotham (Kent) ware, 87;
prices, 97;
summary of, 66
W. S. & Co. (William Smith & Co.), 309
Y
Yarmouth, Staffordshire figures decorated at, 378
Young, W. W., painter (Swansea), 399
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON.
Transcriber's Notes
In the text version of this book, italic text is marked _italic_
and bold marked =bold=. The text also contains some single character
pottery marks and these are represented as e.g. +C+
Blank facing pages to illustrations are included in this books page
numbering system (although they are not marked). These page numbers
are not shown in the html version of the text.
Minor punctuation errors and inconsistencies in spelling and
hyphenation have been corrected.
p 488.
Derby (earthenware), 408;
(Pot Works mark, 349;
changed to:
Derby (earthenware), 408;
(Pot Works) mark, 349;
p 496.
((under-glaze blue printing), 329
changed to:
(under-glaze blue printing), 329
p 153.
Raised medallion with crown and G.R. (Period of George I.
changed to:
Raised medallion with crown and G.R. (Period of George I.)
p 243.
Added a closing quote to _à la Grecque_."
p 365.
including bust of _John Wesley_
changed to:
including a bust of _John Wesley_
p 395. Caughley or Salopian (1751-1775) Derby,
changed to:
Caughley or Salopian (1751-1775)--Derby,
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Chats on Old Earthenware" ***
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