to the lipped pan with wood handle. It may have been a posset pot, or
a beer-warmer, possibly it was used for both purposes, though not at
the same time. The conical shaped warmer would put the pot to bed, as
it would heat the mulled ale much quicker by being pushed down to the
bottom of the fire, and, what was of more consequence in those days,
it held more. The straight measure with a slot cut out at the top
bears the inscription “Standard I Pint of the Corporation of Wexford
Anno 1810” and is twice stamped “G.R. III.” When I bought it I was
assured by the broker that he could swear it was genuine as he knew
the man who fetched it out of Wales. I bought this “eneuch measure,”
as a French visitor once called it to me, on January 1, 1910, and I
remember wondering if this find augured well for the New Year from the
collecting point of view, and it turned out quite a prosperous one.
There is a peculiar pewter half-pint Glasgow measure with copper top
fitted with an overflow pipe, so that not a drop of the precious liquor
would be lost. The two-handled measure is stamped “One-Pint,” so also
is the pedestal-shaped one next to it. I do not know the trade name
for the four measures with bell mouthpieces or pouring spouts, but I
found them and the fine jug at one shop Bolton way. The small funnel
is provided with a strainer. There are two powder-flasks on the top
and two snuff-boxes on the bottom shelf. What sort of spectacles
ever fitted into that heavy spectacle case? But one may conjecture
everlastingly with these queer old relics of bygone days and ways.
_FOURTH COURSE_
Old Mortars
I shall only indulge in a short preliminary canter on this course as
there are few competitors, and the chances of gaining a prize in this
field are rather remote. I was not long before I had bought several
bronze mortars, all plain, as I did not know fancy ones existed.
No. 1.--When I found this and bought it, I sent a photograph to the
editor of the _Chemist and Druggist_, telling him it had been dredged
up from the Liverpool Docks. He submitted the photograph to an expert,
and reproduced the photograph in his paper in 1908 with the following
remarks:
“Here we have the new Prime Minister, Mr. Asquith in effigy, on a
two or three century old mortar. The left projecting wing shows a
profile very like that of Mr. Asquith. The firmly sealed lips probably
represent the receptive condition of his mind when the suggestions of
subjects for new taxation fall upon his ear, and the features between
the profile may, perhaps, bear some resemblance to the horrified
expression worn by brewery directors, and those interested in the
‘Trade’ generally, on the morning following the introduction of the
Licensing Bill. The type is Portuguese or Spanish, and probably of the
sixteenth or seventeenth century. The projections, which so resemble a
human profile are a feature of this type of Mortar.”
Size 5 in. diameter, 3½ in. high, weight 4 lbs.
This was encouraging, but put me out of conceit with the plain ones
with which I had stocked myself.
The Mortars illustrated are mostly of very uncommon types, and as such
specimens are seldom met with I hope their inclusion will be found of
interest to the reader whose fancies may run in other directions. For
after all, rareness and scarcity are great factors to collectors.
No. 2.--Bronze. I had great difficulty in deciphering the lettering and
figures on this owing to wear. They are in two lines, and read “W. aged
69. 74 years Mary and Thomas.” No doubt husband and wife, “W” being the
initial letter of their surname. 4½ in. across the top, 4½ in. high,
weight 4 lbs.
No. 3.--Bronze. This has upon it a fleur-de-lis, and mitre ornament and
would no doubt be seventeenth century. 5½ in. across the top, 4½ in.
high, weight 3 lbs.
No. 4.--Bronze. Is a very unusual type in that it has only one handle,
while the ornament is artistic. I noticed, soon after I bought this,
that an old one-handled metal mortar had been fished up from the
Spanish Armada wreck, in Tobermory Bay. 5 in. across top, height 4 in.,
weight 3 lbs. 2 oz.
No. 5 is made of bright yellow metal. It is 5 in. in diameter, 4 in.
high, weighs 3 lb., and has been well finished. Its decoration consists
of “C.R.” repeated four times, crowned Tudor-rose, thistle, trefoil,
and crowned heart, each divided by a small fleur-de-lis. It was no
doubt made by a loyal workman at the restoration of Charles II., and
is, I hope, unique. I had trouble when negotiating the purchase, as
through a side-slip I divulged that the initials of Charles Rex
were the same as my own. Further, the holder was convinced that this
mortar had belonged to “the Royal Culinary Department, and was almost
worth its weight in gold.” In the end he was converted and evidently
satisfied, for he foraged around and gave me an old pestle _after_ I
had paid the money.
No. 6 is bronze, 5¼ in. in diameter at the top, 4 in. high, and weighs
4½ lb. When roaming about Kendal on an Easter Sunday I found this
standing among “Roman” antiquities in a shop. I bought it on Easter
Monday, and am still wondering how old it really is, and how many
centuries the antiquary was out in his reckoning. Its appearance in
every way indicates great age.
No. 7 is a bronze mortar 6 in. in diameter, 4½ in. high,
H
weighs 6¼ lb., bears the letters W S also 1735, and is the
only dated mortar I possess. It belonged to an old Lancashire family
named Hartley. W and S “rang off” some time since, and their Christian
names were not ascertained.
No. 8 is the largest and heaviest bronze mortar I have. It is 7 in. in
diameter, 5½ in. high, and weighs 13 lb. The decoration is very crude,
and I was puzzled as to the meaning until I turned it upside down, when
a ram’s head and a shell were evident. In this position the shape takes
the form of a bell, and indicates that the makers would use the same
mould for bells as for mortars at the period about 1650. I found this
just across the Welsh border in Flintshire and had a hard time.
[Illustration: Old Mortars.
PLATE XXX.]
[Illustration: Old Mortars.
PLATE XXXI.]
No. 9.--This “Goblet” is a most unusual shape for a brass mortar, and
the metal is quite yellow. I was pleased when I found it, and more
so when the owner gladly gave it me in exchange for three plain ones of
the usual pattern. 4½ in. across top, 5 in. high, weight 4 lbs. 4 ozs.
No. 10. is 7 in. in diameter by 4¼ in. high. After acquiring this I
ascertained that the difference between alabaster and marble is that
the former is of a softer nature, which accounts for the head of the
old pestle being worn to 1½ in. One of the four lugs is grooved for
convenience when pouring out fluid mixtures--no doubt the innovation of
an up-to-date cash chemist of that go-ahead period.
I have another of an exactly similar character, but 12 inches in
diameter, while it has no groove, and an old Waterford glass pestle
is with it. The pestles belonging to the metal mortars are all of
different patterns.
_FIFTH COURSE_
Old Pottery
A Contrast in Prices--Bethel, Wesley, and Whitfield--Blue and White
Plates--Salt Glaze--The Cobbler’s Wife Upstairs--Toby Jugs--Doubts
and Uncertainties--Liverpool--The Letter “P”--Vanishing Transfer
Printing--Sunderland--Don Pottery--The Useful Mark--A Tuppenny
Don--Turner (Lane Ends)--The Worth of a Ladle--Wedgwood--Jasper
Ware--Tortoiseshell--Evolution--Puzzle Jugs--Experiments and
Remarks--Brown and Buff Stoneware--Nelson Jugs--Contrast and a
Caution--Mask Jugs--Advice and an Explanation--Delft--Plates--A
Candlestick “Sauce-boat”--Rockingham--The Cadogan Pot--The
Snufftaker--Lustre--“All is not gold that glisters”--Dating--Wood,
Enoch, and Ralph--A Bust, a Mould, a Word--Notes on the Groups-Pretty
Poetry Printed on Pottery--The Willow Pattern--Solving a Problem.
Pottery opens a wide course, gives much chance of success, finds
scope for research and discrimination, and has also the advantage
of not taking up much room, so the collector can usually hang on to
anything he may fancy. In hunting for antiques you get exercise, a
certain amount of excitement, and a great deal of uncertainty. It is
a fine school for cultivating patience which repays you in the long
run. I have times innumerable gone out of my way to pass a certain
shop, to be rewarded, quite recently, by finding half a dozen blue
and white pottery plates of a pattern I have wanted for years. This
was doubly consoling, for my previous purchase there was broken in my
pocket. In doing my own collecting of pottery I have had many strange
experiences, and several of the pieces have some interesting incident
associated with their coming into my possession. As they total over 250
specimens the reminiscences make good reflections, while the finding,
tracing, naming and arranging for show on shelves or whatnots to the
best advantage has enabled me to pass many and many an hour pleasantly,
and the result is always gratifying.
Whenever I chance to be from home I make it a part of my programme
to do the old shops; sometimes the old shops do me, but not often. I
recently went round the shops of a seaside town and drew a blank, but
I saw a jug dated 1806 which I liked. On handling it I was informed it
was an old Staffordshire farmer’s jug, with farm implements painted
on. The price was £10, and they had already refused £6. I felt uneasy
until I had put the jug back on the shelf. In contrast to that, in
almost the last inland town I visited by road we pulled up near a
second-hand place and the first thing I noticed was a quaint-shaped,
very early Staffordshire jug, hand painted, with blue band and some
floral decoration, and so I went in. Blowing off the dust which
other collectors had failed to disturb, although the town is their
hunting-ground, I was told I could have it for a shilling as it was a
bit snipped at the bottom. I bought that jug, and I should have been
quite ready and pleased to buy the other at a reasonable price. My
plough jug cost me five shillings in 1911; it is not dated, but may
possibly be prior to 1806.
[Illustration: Old Pottery.
PLATE XXXII.]
PLATE XXXII
DESCRIBING THE POTTERY
_Shelf 6._ Wesley. Whitfield by Enoch Wood, Loving Cup.
_Shelf 5._ Light blue enamelled Jug by Ralph Wood in centre, other
four Jugs early Staffordshire.
_Shelf 4._ See notes on Wedgwood (page 103).
_Shelf 3._ Wood “Ivory” plate. Two Nelson Jugs (see page 106). Two
blue printed Staffordshire.
_Shelf 2._ Railway Mug, Sunderland Frog Mug, Loving Cup, Staffordshire
Tam-o’-Shanter Frog Mug, Cock-fighting Mug.
_Shelf 1._ Black printed “Prodigal Son” Mug, Milk Bowl, Jugs: George
IV., Grace Darling, Disraeli and Earl of Derby, Gladstone and John
Bright. Princess Royal Mug.
[Illustration: Old Pottery.
PLATE XXXIII.]
PLATE XXXIII
DESCRIBING THE POTTERY
_Shelf 5._ Toby (Davenport). The Brewer. The Cobbler’s Wife. The
Squire. Hearty Good Fellow (see page 95).
_Shelf 4._ Toby Pepper Pots. Judy Jug. Toby (Davenport). Uncle Toby
(early). Brewer. Tobacco Jar. Toby and Clown Pepper Pots.
_Shelf 3._ Brown Glazed Rockingham. Cottage Pastille Burner. Cadogan
Pot. Snuff Taker. Lizard Mug. Boot Bottle (see page 107). Harvester’s
Bottle (Davenport). Plates--Brameld, Rockingham. Mason’s Ironstone
China.
_Shelf 2._ Lustre (see notes on page 107).
_Shelf 1._ Lustre (see notes). Plates: Wedgwood, Queen’s Ware, Lug and
Feather border (1790), Minton (early), Minton (_circa_ 1810) (see page
132). Parian Ware (green).
Soon after I set up in the pottery line I espied an old two-handled
Wesleyan loving cup, with “BETHEL” painted on the sides in black.
While I was examining the mug an elderly gentleman came in from the
back room and the following enlightening conversation ensued:
_Moderato_: Good afternoon.
Eh?
_Crescendo_: How much for the mug?
Thruppence.
_Forte_: Where did it come from?
Thruppence.
_Fortissimo_: How old do you consider it?
Thruppence.
_Piano_: Oh, help!
I saw the figure of “Wesley over the Clock” in a small grocery window,
and on asking if it was for sale was told “Yes! We are sick to death of
seeing him on the mantel”--and then bang went saxpence.
After these reckless purchases it is consoling to remember that the
bust of Whitfield by Enoch Wood was given me by a neighbour who fished
it out of his lumber room. (_See_ Plate XXXII).
I purchased several pieces at odd times from a man who spoke Yiddish to
his wife and broken English to me, and no matter whether the article
was Wheildon, Wedgwood, or Worcester, he invariably assured me “It was
a fine bit of old Zwanzee.”
On the shelves round two of my rooms I have some quite uncommon dark
blue printed plates and dishes, some unmarked, others by Rogers,
Challenor, Adams, Spode, Davenport, Turner, also part set of a dinner
service with fine illustrations of Pera, Mosque in Latachia, Triumphal
Arch, Latachia, Pillar of Absalom. I also have the tureen, which
illustrates Eski-Estamboul. One of the dishes is marked “B” and they
can with safety be attributed to the Burtons of Hanley, 1820.
A dish in rich blue, illustrating Little Boy Blue blowing his horn for
the cows in the meadow and the sheep in the corn; I fail to identify
the cow and surmise that on this particular farm these animals must
have been very much alike. I espied the rim of this dish nearly hidden
on the shelf of a broker and I enquired, “Is that a blue and white
dish?” and was answered, “Yes, but it’s more than you’ll pay, we are
saving that for a swell who comes in a motor-car.” After this, of
course I had to see it, and ascertaining the price paid up at once. I
left my name and address and they promised to let me know if they got
anything more like it. A few weeks later I received a postcard and
caught the earliest train in great expectancy, to find on my arrival a
few Willow Pattern dishes. I left these to swell the swell motorist’s
collection.
Never mind the absence of marks on the back, for if you desire
to decorate you want good illustrations, and these are the main
consideration. When a visitor, after contemplating these plates
for a time, remarks, “I like your Willow Pattern” when there is no
Willow Pattern on view, I usually change the subject and switch on to
domestics, as I find so many people are on the look out for these, and
I gather from the conversation that in collecting them they have the
greatest difficulty in finding good specimens to add lustre and charm
to the home.
[Illustration: Old Pottery.
PLATE XXXIV.]
PLATE XXXIV
DESCRIBING THE POTTERY
_Shelf 6._ Puzzle Jugs, Staffordshire. Pantomime and Harlequin. Leeds
black-printed. White, apprentice “G. B.” (see page 105).
_Shelf 5._ Fulham. Doulton Jubilee. Two Brownstone Ware Puzzle Jugs.
Copeland Jug. Briddon Salt (see page 108).
_Shelf 4._ Staffordshire: Mask Spout. Barrel Jug. Harlequin. Early
Mason. Swansea Mask Spout. Bacchus Mask Jug. Black face Mask Jug.
_Shelf 3._ Early Staffordshire: Wellington and Hill. Whieldon Cottage.
Nelson and Hardy. Relief pattern two Jugs.
_Shelf 2._ Staffordshire. “Sportive Innocence.” “Freemason’s Arms.”
Blue decoration in the centre. Two Coloured Jug. Wood and Cauldwell.
_Shelf 1._ Sunderland. Wear Bridge, pink. Ship, yellow. Staffordshire.
Lodge of Orangemen Jug. “Jovial Boatman.” Queen Caroline Jug.
[Illustration: Old Pottery.
PLATE XXXV.]
PLATE XXXV
DESCRIBING THE POTTERY
_Shelf 6._ Liverpool (see page 99).
_Shelf 5._ Early hand-painted Mug. Charity. Washington Cup and Saucer.
Herculaneum. Pennington. Stage Coach. Early Painted (see page 99).
_Shelf 4._ Leeds Plate in Delft colours. Staffordshire Jug. Yellow
Enamelled Jug. Salt glaze: Delft Dish. Castor Oil Spoon. Whieldon (?)
Jug. Small lustre painted Jug. (see page 94). Early Spode. Aynsley’s
Stone China. Don Pottery Bowl and Plate (see page 102).
_Shelf 3._ Three Delft Plates, one semi-porcelain (see page 107).
Jackfield Sugar Bowl. Castleford Teapot. Plough Jug. French
Candlestick. Mazarine Blue Jug “S.”
_Shelf 2._ St. Peter. Lustre painted Jug. Blue printed. Mason blue
printed. Leeds Mug. Fox-head Cup. Plate: “Poor Richard’s Maxims.”
Leeds Spill-holder. Davenport Jug. Bristol blue (marked) Jug. Swansea
Rabbit. Bristol Toy Teapot. Rat Catcher’s Daughter. Medicine Measure,
double-ended, “Two tablespoonsful” and “One tablespoonful.” The two
end figures are translucent.
_Shelf 1._ Wedgwood Centenary, Early Mason. Oddfellow’s Jug. T. Clare
(1805). Davenport Presentation Jug. Davenport chocolate and black.
SALT GLAZE
Readers who are familiar with salt glaze will not be surprised when
I say that the four pieces shown on Plate XXXV are all that I have
fit to be trotted out, and they will probably not be taken aback
when I confess to having been absolutely bewildered for some time in
distinguishing this class of pottery. I read of £50 being given at, I
think, the Bemrose Sale for a little ugly group, and I felt a desire to
find something of this sort, though at a somewhat less fancy price. I
poked in many a dusty cupboard, and messed myself up continuously for
a time, until one day in an auctioneer’s stock-room I dug out a white
coffee pot with a pewter lid which I felt sure was salt glaze. When
the auctioneer told me I could have it for two shillings if it was any
good to me, I thought how little he knew of his business. It takes two
to make a bargain, and he was not the fool. I found the coffee pot was
salt glaze, but only about fifty years old, so it is again hidden away
in a cupboard. I had looked at bits of salt glaze in glass cases under
lock and key, so I think of presenting this piece to some museum where,
owing to its comparatively small value, visitors may be allowed to
touch and examine it under a magnifying glass, but I should first have
it labelled, “Caution to Collectors--this is the class of salt glaze
to avoid.” This dud purchase turned out to be rather fortunate than
otherwise, as after winking at it for a week I went carefully through
my collection and found three salt glaze pieces which had remained
unidentified for two years past. They are, a jug painted and gilded
over the glaze, and which I had bought in my ignorance in Wakefield; a
little crudely painted lustre Staffordshire jug, which I caught busy
catching the drips from a paraffin tap and secured for a trifle; and a
blue painted castor-oil spoon.
Later I added a salt glaze delft dish with mark showing it was made
by Petit of Lille, about 1788, which proves that the statement made
in more than one book on old pottery that no delft was salt glazed is
incorrect. This particular dish came from Sir J. D. Forest’s collection.
Anyone with a Castleford teapot will be struck with its likeness to
salt glaze. I happened on one in a town where the manufacture of heavy
chemicals is very evident in the atmosphere, and the brokeress said she
had been told that the teapot was “salt-_cake_.” The same good old lady
was once kind enough to invite me to step up to her bedroom, and a very
nice room it was, its cleanliness, contents and comfort being greatly
at variance with the shop and store-room below. Among the ornaments of
which she offered me the choice was a fine “Cobbler’s Wife,” 12 inches
high, probably Rockingham, which she had bought at a sale, and was
pleased to part with at a profit. I have searched for years for the
“Cobbler,” but have failed to trace him. If anyone knows his present
address, and will communicate with the author, they will be suitably
rewarded.
TOBY JUGS (_See_ Plate XXXIII)
None of these Toby jugs have any maker’s names on them, but I believe
the large and small of the same design are by Davenport. “The Squire”
appears to be the oldest, but whether it or the “Hearty Good Fellow”
is the most valuable from a collector’s point of view I cannot say,
and I will tell you why. My first impression of “The Squire,” which I
obtained through a window, was “What a beauty!” I had seen a letter
in the _Connoisseur_ just before giving a photograph of one like it,
so I was on the alert at once. Enquiry elicited the information that
the dealer thought it was really old, that he bought it off a man who
looked through the shop door, then went away and came back when the
dealer was disengaged. “I didn’t know the man; apparently he was hard
up--wouldn’t give any name, but he wanted a sovereign, so I gave it
him, and you can have the jug for twenty-five shillings.”
I have heard of a dog having a bad name, though Toby isn’t a bad name
for a dog, but I soon came up against a Toby with a bad name. On
mentioning to my late friend the collector-dealer my purchase of “The
Squire,” what I had given for it, and where I bought it, he said he
was sorry to hear it. He had seen that Toby and would not touch it, as
he had been warned against it by another dealer, and if I wished for
another like it he could give me an address in the Potteries where I
might get one for 3s. 11d. The next time he was at my house he was hard
to convince that he was mistaken; but when I told him I had shown it to
a practical potter, who cautioned me that if I filled it with water I
must not carry it by the handle, as it was partly perished with age, he
gave in. Not long after I chanced to meet near home a well-known dealer
who had just come from Harrogate to attend a sale of antiques in our
neighbourhood and who enquired of me the way. I asked him to have
lunch with us and offered to drive him to the sale later. I am afraid
this was rather diluted hospitality, for I was desirous of having his
opinion of, among other things, “The Squire.” After careful examination
he pronounced it genuine, but he seemed to fancy the “Hearty Good
Fellow” more.
When I first saw the “Hearty Good Fellow” it was in a window mainly
given up to the display of modern ironmongery, and on enquiring the
price was disappointed to hear it was sold and that a man was calling
for it later. Then I said, “Ask him what he will take for his bargain,
and don’t you part with it.” I am not sure how much I slept that night,
but I know I called on my way to business, and I spent a bright and
happy morning with the “Hearty Good Fellow” on my desk.
I had an amusing experience when purchasing “Uncle Toby,” for when the
dealer asked me 25s. I was able to say (having had a look at the bottom
of the jug) that it was marked in ink 15s. When I showed him this he
let himself go, and if the female assistant--who was not about at the
time--had heard one tithe of the forcible expressions of opinion in
which he held her business acumen, she would have gone into service
straight away, for among her qualifications he considered she was more
fit for cooking potatoes in their jackets. I refer to this gentleman
elsewhere as having some temper, but on this occasion I waited
patiently until he had come down to nearly normal, bought some other
things, and got “Uncle Toby” at the price (15s.) on which he still sits.
[Illustration: Pictorial Pottery.
PLATE XXXVI.]
PLATE XXXVI
DESCRIBING THE POTTERY
_Shelf 5._ Bowl (Staffs.). Bristol Delft Dish. Bowl, Early Transfer
(Staffs.). Willow Sauce-boats.
_Shelf 4._ Dish (Rogers). Tureen (Turner, Lane Ends). Dish, “Mosque in
Latachia.”
_Shelf 3._ Dish, “Little Boy Blue.” Dish, purple (Challenor). Early
Mustard Pots.
_Shelf 2._ Fruit-server. Vegetable Dish, “Pillar of Absalom” and
Sauce-boat (Burton). Early Sauce-boat and Stand in one piece, transfer
printed over the glaze. Turner Pickle-holder. Plates: “The Whatlands.”
“Pera.”
_Shelf 1._ Plates. Davenport. W. Adams. Sauce-boat Stands “B” and
“Arundel Castle.” Willow Leaf Dishes and Early Pickle-holder.
[Illustration: Willow Pattern.
PLATE XXXVII.]
Toby teapots must be scarce. I have seen none other, except in 1915,
when I noticed two in a shop window on the Pantiles at Tunbridge Wells.
I obtained mine through the death of an old lady who lived in our
locality.
LIVERPOOL POTTERY (_See_ Plate XXXV)
To identify all the Liverpool pottery one may come across as being made
in Liverpool is wellnigh impossible; the various factories seem each
to have had some special features, while many of the jugs are very
like those made by old Staffordshire firms. I say this partly by way
of apology, as it is more than likely I have put under this group some
jugs made elsewhere, and the same remark may apply to odd jugs in the
Staffordshire group; but as I am not out to sell the things I cannot
see that I lay myself out to any serious charge of misrepresentation.
If you are of a different opinion, then I must plead that I have no
fraudulent intent.