Hanley and Shelton--Miles--Phillips--Astbury--Baddeley--Edwards
--Voyez--Palmer--Neale--Wilson--New Hall Works--Hollins--Keeling
--Turner--Warburton--Clowes--Bagnall--New Hall Company--Richard
Champion--Glass--Twyford--Mare--Twemlow--Old Hall
Works--Meigh--Broad Street Works--Mason--Ashworth--Cauldon
Place--Ridgways--Browne-Westhead & Co.--Trent
Pottery--Keeling--Booth & Co.--Stafford Street Works--Church
Works--Waterloo Works--Kensington Works--Burton Place
Works--Clarence Street Works--Nelson Place--Phœnix and
Bell Works----Bedford Works--Mayer Street--Cannon Street
Works--Brewery Street--Percy Street Works--Taylor, Tunnicliffe
& Co.--Biller & Co.--Albion Works--Eastwood Vale--Eastwood
Works--Dental Manufacturing Company--Trent Pottery--James
Dudson--Victoria Works--Charles Street Works--High
Street--Eagle Works--Brook Street Works--Cannon Street--William
Stubbs--Norfolk Street Works--Broad Street--Albert
Works--Ranelagh Works--Swan Works--Mayer Street Works--Brook
Street Works--Dresden Works--Bath Street Works--Waterloo
Works--New Street Pottery--Castle Field Pottery--Henry Venables.
_Miles._--In 1685 Thomas Miles, of Shelton, was a maker of white
stoneware, of much the same kind as that imported from Germany and
Holland. He is stated to have used the Shelton clay, such as had been
used by pipe-makers, worked with other clays from Baddeley Edge.
* * * * *
_Phillips._--Occasionally pieces are met with bearing the name of this
potter, who was of Shelton.
* * * * *
_Astbury._--Having already, in the first volume, spoken of the manner
in which one of the family of Astbury discovered the use of calcined
flint, and how the secret of the brothers Elers was surreptitiously
obtained, it is not necessary to recapitulate it here. The Astburys
were a very old and important family, as connected with the potteries,
and one of them, Samuel Astbury, was uncle to Josiah Wedgwood (having
married his father’s sister, Elizabeth Wedgwood), and in 1744 was one
of the witnesses to the deed of his apprenticeship. The discoverer of
the use of flint, it appears more than probable, was John Astbury,
whose gravestone is in Stoke churchyard. The inscription on the stone
is, “Here lieth the body of John Astbury, the Elder, of Shelton,
Potter, who departed this life March 3rd, 1743, aged 55 years.” The use
of flint was discovered about 1720, when he was about thirty-two years
old, and the brothers Elers had previously left the district, about
1710. John Astbury had a son Joshua, of the Foley, who died 1780, as
recorded on the same stone. Other sons were Thomas and Samuel. “John
Astbury, the elder,” as recorded on his tombstone, lost a daughter
Margaret, aged six, in 1728, and he had afterwards a second daughter
of the same name, who married Robert Garner, potter, and was the
mother of Robert Garner (father of Robert Garner, Esq., of Stoke), an
eminent potter of Lane End (which see). Twyford, who shares the credit
of having wormed out the secrets of the Elers, was a fellow workman,
and afterwards a partner of Astbury, and was, either himself or by his
descendants, connected with the family.
* * * * *
_Baddeley._--Another of the old potteries of this place was carried on
in 1750 by R. & J. Baddeley, who, at a somewhat later date, were famous
for their blue ware. An interesting reference to these works will be
found at page 137, vol. i., in connection with a workman named Doe. In
1794 Ralph Baddeley was in business in Shelton, and in 1796 the firm
was “John & Edward Baddeley, Shelton,” as appears by their billheads
of that date. The premises were afterwards used by Hicks, Meigh, &
Co. (see Broad Street Works). Of another potter of this name, William
Baddeley, a notice will be found on a later page.
* * * * *
_Edwards._--Warner Edwards had, last century, works in Albion Street,
where he not only manufactured various kinds of ware, but made enamel
colours for other houses. He died in 1753, and the premises were
afterwards occupied by Messrs. J. & W. Ridgway. Mr. Thomas Daniel, an
eminent potter, was his apprentice. During his last illness Warner
Edwards handed his book of recipes to this Thomas Daniel, who was
father of Spode’s clever enameller, Henry Daniel, who afterwards, in
conjunction with his son Richard, was a successful manufacturer at
Stoke and Hanley. It is worthy of remark that Edwards was a maker of
enamel colours full twenty years before Wedgwood took out his patent
for them in 1769.
* * * * *
_Voyez._--This clever workman, a modeller, was employed by Wedgwood
about 1768, and “off and on” afterwards, but was a dishonourable and
erratic character. He produced many clever imitations of Wedgwood and
Bentley’s wares, and is said to have even stamped them with their name,
which he forged, and sold the goods as their work. Occasionally his
name, J. VOYEZ, is found impressed in the body of the ware.
* * * * *
_Palmer._--John Palmer, of Bagnall, about 1680, was a salt-glaze
potter, and was the one to whom the discovery of the use of salt was
first told (see vol. i., page 94). His son or grandson, Henry Palmer,
was also a potter at Hanley (at the Church Works, in High Street,
which he probably built), and was a successful imitator of Wedgwood’s
productions. His Egyptian black, or basalt ware, and his jasper
ware, are of great excellence and beauty and very closely resemble
those of Wedgwood. He was noted for his piracy of these goods, and
surreptitiously obtained Wedgwood’s new designs as they came out. His
piracy was, however, after a time, carried too far, and an injunction
was served upon him to restrain his making Etruscan painted vases in
contravention of Wedgwood’s patent. This ended in a compromise: Palmer
purchasing a share in the patent right. Intaglios and seals were also,
about 1772–3, closely copied by Palmer, much to the annoyance and loss
of Wedgwood and Bentley. In 1778 Mr. Palmer failed. Neale, who is said
to have been a partner with Palmer so far as his London business was
concerned, having arranged matters, the business at Hanley was carried
on under the style of “Neale & Palmer” and “Neale & Co.” The mark of
Mr. Palmer was in the same style as that of Wedgwood and Bentley--a
circle with the name in raised letters (Fig. 455). Some examples bear
the name, stamped, “H. Palmer, Hanley, Staffordshire.” Palmer and Neale
are said to have married two sisters, the daughters of Thomas Heath, of
Lane Delph; and Mr. Pratt, of Fenton, a third daughter.
[Illustration: Fig. 455.]
* * * * *
_Neale._--Neale, the successor of Palmer, continued the business
at Hanley, and produced many remarkably good and artistic articles
in basalt, in jasper, and in other wares, and became, if possible,
even a more close and clever imitator of Wedgwood’s wares than his
predecessor had been. In 1780 he appears to have had two partners, and
to have carried on the business under the style of “Neale, Maidment,
and Bailey,” and, later, as “Neale & Bailey” and “Neale and Wilson.”
Usually, however, the firm was simply “Neale & Co.” Neale’s productions
are much esteemed for the excellence of the body, the cleverness of
design, and the sharpness of their execution. His cream-coloured
earthenware, too, is of very good and fine quality. He was succeeded,
I believe, by his partner Wilson. The marks used by Neale, so far as I
have met with them, are “Neale & Co.,” sometimes in large and at others
in small sized letters, impressed in the ware; _NEALE & CO._ in italic
capital letters, also impressed; NEALE & CO. in Roman capital letters,
also impressed; and “Neale & Wilson.” Another mark was, like Palmer’s,
adopted, in form, from Wedgwood & Bentley. It is a circle, bearing the
name in raised letters.
[Illustration: Fig. 456.]
* * * * *
[Illustration: Fig. 457.]
_Wilson._--Robert Wilson, the successor to the firm of Neale & Wilson,
continued the manufactory, but devoted himself mainly to cream-coloured
earthenware, more or less decorated. His name is occasionally met with
simply as WILSON impressed in the body of the ware, and occasionally
in connection with a crown and the distinctive mark C (Fig. 457).
Robert Wilson was for a long time sole manager to Neales; and he,
and the still more celebrated potter, Elijah Mayer, whose works and
residence were just opposite the Church Works, married two sisters of
the name of Mayer, but of different families. After the retirement or
death of Wilson his brother David carried on the works (1802). It was
afterwards D. Wilson & Sons; then Assignees of Wilson; then Phillips
& Bagster. The Phillips of this firm was Jacob, brother to Jonathan
Phillips, of Oxford Street, London, and uncle to the present Messrs.
Phillips of Oxford Street. The firm was then Bagster alone for a while,
after which the manufactory and house adjoining, where Bagster had
resided, came into the market and were purchased by Joseph Mayer, son
and successor of Elijah Mayer, whose works and residence, as I said
before, were immediately opposite the road. The Church Works were
then (1831) rented by William Ridgway & Co., Mr. Ridgway being Joseph
Mayer’s cousin; and I should here mention that Job Ridgway, the father
of William and John Ridgway, had married the sister of Elijah Mayer,
Joseph’s father. Joseph Mayer had in his employ a clever modeller named
Leonard James Abington, who was also a fair chemist, and so much in
favour with his employer that the latter placed him in partnership with
William Ridgway, and he was the ‘Co.’ It was shortly after this (about
1833) that Joseph Mayer ceased potting, and let his works to William
Ridgway & Co. in addition to the Church Works. He, however, retained
some warehouses and stabling offices adjoining his residence, and had
these crammed with some of the best of his stock, Egyptian black, cane,
chocolate, brown, and Queen’s ware, some of the latter elaborately
perforated and painted--an indescribable jumble of most beautiful
pottery,--and there it remained locked up until his death in 1860. To
return to the Church Works: the next addition to the firm, as soon as
he was old enough to enter it, was William Ridgway’s son, Edward John,
the title of the firm being changed to William Ridgway, Son & Co. In
course of time William Ridgway retiring, the two manufactories were
carried on by his son, Edward John Ridgway, and L. J. Abington, and it
was styled Ridgway & Abington. It was ultimately Edward John Ridgway
alone, and is now Powell & Bishop, Mr. E. J. Ridgway having built large
works in Bedford Road called the Bedford Works.
* * * * *
The _New Hall Works_ are historically interesting as being the first in
which porcelain was successfully made in Staffordshire, and to them,
therefore, must be ascribed the introduction of that art into “the
Potteries,” since become so famous and so extensive. In my account
of the Bristol china works[51] I have shown how Richard Champion’s
patent (who had purchased the patent right of William Cookworthy,
of Plymouth,) was sold to a company of Staffordshire potters. This
transfer of rights took place in or about the year 1777. The company
consisted of six persons, viz., Samuel Hollins, of Shelton, Anthony
Keeling, of Tunstall, John Turner, of Lane End, Jacob Warburton, of Hot
Lane, William Clowes, of Port Hill, and Charles Bagnall, of Shelton. Of
these six persons the following are brief notices:--
_Samuel Hollins_, a maker of the fine red-ware tea-pots,
&c., from the clay at Bradwell, previously worked by the
brothers Elers, was of Shelton, and was the son of Mr. Hollins,
of the Upper Green, Hanley. He was an excellent practical
potter, and made many improvements in his art. He was afterwards
one of the partners of the New Hall China Works, and his
successors in the manufactory were his sons, Messrs. T. & J.
Hollins.
* * * * *
_Anthony Keeling_, of Tunstall, was son-in-law of the
celebrated potter, Enoch Booth, having married his daughter
Ann. Keeling succeeded Enoch Booth in his business, which he
carried on successfully for many years. He erected a large house
near the works, but in 1810, retired on a small independence
to Liverpool, where he died a few years afterwards. He was
the principal support of a small sect calling themselves
“Sandemanians,” who had their place of worship in his works.
* * * * *
_John Turner_, first of Stoke, and then of Lane End, father
of Messrs. John and William Turner, was one of the most clever
and successful potters Staffordshire ever produced, but one
about whom little has been written. Many of his productions in
black and in jasper, &c., are quite equal to those of Wedgwood,
and, indeed, are often mistaken for the work of that great
man. Mr. Turner’s cream ware, too, as well as his stone ware,
of which his jugs are best known to collectors, rank high in
excellence both of design and manipulation. In 1762 Mr. Turner
commenced manufacturing at Lane End, and made many improvements
in the art, and by the discovery of a vein of fine clay at Green
Dock was enabled successfully to compete not only with other
potters, but with Wedgwood himself. Mr. Turner is stated to have
been deputed, with Wedgwood, by the Staffordshire potters, to
oppose the extension of the patent to Champion.
* * * * *
_Jacob Warburton_, of Hot, or Holt Lane, a man highly respected
by every class, and who lived until the year 1826, was born
in 1740, and passed his long and useful life as a potter, in
which art he rose to considerable eminence in his early years
in connection with his father and brothers, and later on his
own account, and, in partnership with others, in the New Hall
Works. He was the “last member of the old school of potters, the
early friend and contemporary of the ‘father of the Potteries,’
Josiah Wedgwood, with whom he was for many years in the habit
of confidential intercourse and friendship. Numerous are the
benefits which the public derived from the united exertions of
the talents and abilities of these two venerated characters, on
every point connected with the local interest and prosperity
of the Staffordshire Potteries.” Besides being one of the most
clever and energetic potters, “he was a good scholar, and a
man of pure taste; he had read extensively, and his memory
was tenacious in a very extraordinary degree. He was equally
distinguished for his moral and convivial habits of mind, for
the soundness of his intellect and the goodness of his heart.
He spoke fluently the French, Dutch, and German languages, and
was learning the Italian up to the very period of his death.” He
retained his activity of body and mind to the last, and, though
eighty-six years of age, set out the day preceding his death to
walk to Cobridge. He died while a friend was reading to him. Mr.
Warburton, who was a Roman Catholic, was twice married. For some
years before his decease he had retired from business, and died
at his residence, Ford Green, in the parish of Norton.
* * * * *
_William Clowes_, of Port Hill, was, it is said, only a sleeping
partner in the concern.
* * * * *
_Charles Bagnall_, of Shelton, who had previously been
with Joshua Heath, was a potter of considerable experience, in
the middle of last century. He was probably a son of the potter
of the same name, who was a maker of butter-pots in Burslem in
1710–15. He became one of the partners in the New Hall Works a
century ago. The family has been connected with Staffordshire
for many generations.
The company, being thus formed, purchased the patent right from
Richard Champion, who removed into Staffordshire to superintend the
establishing of the new works in that county. The first operations of
the company were conducted at the works of one of the partners, Anthony
Keeling, at Tunstall, the pottery formerly belonging, as just stated,
to his father-in-law, Enoch Booth. Tunstall at this period was a mere
small street, or rather roadway, with only a few houses--probably
not more than a score--scattered about it and the lanes leading to
Chatterley and Red Street. To this spot, the forerunner of the present
large and important town, Cookworthy’s patent was brought, and here,
with the experienced potters who had become its purchasers, and
under the management of Champion, who had produced such exquisite
specimens of art at Bristol, and who had been induced, as a part of
the arrangement, to superintend the manufacture, the first pieces
of china made in Staffordshire, with the exception of the trial
pieces of Littler, were produced. To accommodate the new branch of
manufacture at Keeling’s pot-works some alterations of course became
necessary, and thus it was some little time before the partners had
the satisfaction of seeing anything produced under the patent-right
which they had purchased. Among the partners, too, some disagreements
arose, which ended in John Turner and Anthony Keeling withdrawing
from the concern, and about 1780 Keeling is said to have removed to
London. This withdrawal and disagreement caused the remaining partners
to remove their work from Keeling’s premises, and they took a house
in Shelton, known as “Shelton Hall,” afterwards the “New Hall,” in
contradistinction to the “Old Hall,” celebrated as being the birthplace
of Elijah Fenton, the poet. At this time Shelton Hall, which had been
purchased in 1773 of Alice Dalton, widow, (who had inherited it from
her brother, Edward Burslem Sundell,) by Humphrey Palmer, was occupied
by his son, Thomas Palmer, as a pot-works. In 1777, Humphrey Palmer,
intending a second marriage with Hannah Ashwin, of Stratford-on-Avon,
gave a rent-charge of £30 on the Hall and pot-works, and a life
interest in the rest of the estate, as a dower to that lady, reserving
the right for his son, Thomas Palmer, the potter, to get clay and marl
from any part of the estate for his own use. In 1789, Humphrey Palmer
and his wife being both dead, the estate passed to their infant and
only child, Mary Palmer, of whose successor’s executors, after some
uninteresting changes, it was, as will be seen, ultimately purchased by
the china manufacturers. At this time the works had been considerably
increased, and they grew gradually larger, till, in 1802, they are
described as three messuages, three pot-works, one garden, fifty acres
of land, thirty acres of meadow, and forty acres of pasture, &c. About
the time of the withdrawal of Keeling and Turner from the partnership,
and the removal of the works from Tunstall to Shelton, Richard Champion
left.
Fairly settled at New Hall, the company took for their manager Mr.
John Daniel, who afterwards became a partner in the concern. The
firm, as at first formed at Shelton, consisted of Messrs. Hollins,
Warburton, Clowes, and Bagnall, but was afterwards carried on by
Hollins, Warburton, Clowes, and Daniel. A considerable quantity
of china was produced under the patent, but the most extensive and
profitable branch of the New Hall business was the making and vending
of the glaze called “composition,” made of materials to whose use the
company had the exclusive right. This “composition,” made from the
ingredients given in the specification printed in my account of the
Bristol works, was supplied by the New Hall firm to the potters of the
neighbourhood, and even sent to other localities, to a large extent
and at a highly remunerative price. The ware made at this period was
precisely similar in body and glaze to that of Bristol, to which, from
the fact of some of the same artists being employed, it bears also a
marked resemblance in ornamentation. In 1796 the patent, which had been
enjoyed successively by Cookworthy, Champion, and the Staffordshire
company, for a period of twenty-eight years, expired; but the company
continued to make the hard paste china, and to supply “composition”
(many potters finding it more convenient still to purchase instead of
making that essential) to other manufacturers. In 1810, the firm--then
consisting of four partners, viz., Samuel Hollins, of Shelton, Peter
Warburton (son of Jacob Warburton), of Cobridge, John Daniel, of
Hanley, and William Clowes, of Port Hill--became the purchasers of the
New Hall estate for the sum of £6,800. In 1813 Peter Warburton died,
leaving his share in the works to his father (Jacob Warburton) and John
Daniel, as trustees under his will. In 1821, John Daniel died, and two
years afterwards Samuel Clowes died also. John Daniel, I presume, was a
son of Ralph Daniel, to whom the potters were indebted for discovering
the system of making moulds in plaster of Paris instead of in brass,
as previously done. Mr. Daniel is said to have visited the potteries
and porcelain manufactories in France, and brought back with him a
mould of cast plaster of Paris, which he showed and introduced to the
English makers. The potters, however, knew so little of the process by
which the mould was produced, that they got blocks of the gypsum of
Derbyshire and _cut_ their moulds in them, until it was explained
that the gypsum must be first burnt and ground, and then cast. This
circumstance is so graphically described in the “Burslem Dialogue,”
given by Ward, that I transcribe the few following lines for my
readers’ amusement:
“_Telwright._--That wur a queer trick, wur it no’, o’ Rafy
Dennil’s?
“_Leigh._--Dun yo’ meeon th’ cause o’ his gooin’ to France,
or es ha he geet int’ th’ work hâisn theer, an seed’n aw ha they
did’n wi ther ware?
“_Telwright._--Oi meeon him foindin’ aat i’ whot wey they
mayd’n ther mewds (moulds).
“_Leigh._--That wur a fawse trick, for sartin, an o’ gret
yewse to th’ treyde. Bu’ wot a blunder th’ mesters here mayd’n,
when he sent ’em word abaat it!
“_Telwright._--Haa dust meeon, Rafy? Oi am no’ properly
insens’t on’t.
“_Leigh._--Whoy, yo’ seyn as haa they geet’n th’ plaster-ston’
fro’ Darbyshur aw reet; bu’ then, i’stid o’ fust groindin’ it
an’ bakin’ into dust loike fleawr, an usin’ th’ dust wi wayter
for t’ cast on th’ moddills, as they cawn ’em, th’ mesters had
th’ raw ston’ cut i shapes, an’ tryd’n for t’ mak things oof
’em; bu’ they cudna. Then at last he sent ’em full word haa to
dew it.”
Hard paste porcelain continued to be made at New Hall until about
the year 1810 or 1812, when the bone paste, which had been gradually
making its way in the district, finally superseded it, and the company
continued their works on the newer system. In 1825 the entire stock of
the concern, which had for a short time been carried on for the firm by
a person named Tittensor, was sold off, and the manufacture of china of
any description entirely ceased at New Hall.
The works, after having been closed for a short time, were next opened
as an earthenware manufactory by Mr. William Ratcliffe, who for a few
years continued to make the commoner description of white and printed
earthenware for ordinary home consumption. They next passed, in 1842,
into the hands of Messrs. W. Hackwood & Son, who removed from their
works near Joiner Square (now called the “Eastwood Pottery”) for that
purpose; and seven years later, Mr. Hackwood senior having died, they
were continued by the son, Thomas Hackwood. The goods were the ordinary
descriptions of earthenware, principally for Continental markets, and
bore the name of HACKWOOD impressed. In 1856, they passed into the
hands of Messrs. Cockson & Harding, who continued to manufacture the
same descriptions of goods, using for a mark C & H, LATE HACKWOOD,
impressed on the bottom.
In 1862, Mr. Cockson having retired from the concern, the works were
carried on by the remaining partners, Messrs. W. and J. Harding
(Brothers), who did an extensive trade with Holland and Italy. Besides
the cream-coloured and printed wares for foreign trade, druggists’
fittings formed a staple branch. Black, Egyptian, Rockingham, and
tinted wares too were made. In 1872 Messrs. Harding gave up the
business, when Mr. John Aynsley, china manufacturer, of Longton,
purchased the back portion of the works and let it to its present
occupiers, Messrs. Thomas Booth & Sons. The entire front of the New
Hall Works was purchased by Mr. Henry Hall, metal mounter of jugs,
tea-pots, &c., so that the manufactory became divided into two
distinct properties. The portion occupied by Messrs. Booth having been
burnt down has been rebuilt.
The productions of Messrs. Booth & Sons are the usual classes
of ordinary earthenware in printed, painted, enamelled and gilt
services; stone ware of good quality, in which a large variety of
jugs and tea-pots are made; and jasper ware, in various ornamental
articles. Among their shapes of toilet ware are the “Eldon,” “Globe,”
“Alexandra,” and “Cottage;” and among their specialities in other
goods are a self-closing hot-water jug, and a molasses jug, which are
considered very successful.
[Illustration: Fig. 458.]
[Illustration: Figs. 459 and 460.]
Specimens of the hard paste of the New Hall Works are rare. They are
almost entirely without mark; but sometimes there is an incised letter
N as here shown. Fig. 460 exhibits a beautifully painted teapot. On
one side is a group of children playing at blind man’s buff. They
are dressed in the characteristic costume of the latter part of last
century, but what renders the group peculiarly interesting is that in
the background is a view of a pot-works, with kiln, which may probably
have been a representation of the works when this interesting piece was
made. On the opposite side of this teapot is an equally well painted
group of a boy riding on a dog, and on the lid are also two little
figure vignettes. This piece was made for, and belonged to, one of the
partners, Charles Bagnall, from whose family it passed more than half a
century ago, by marriage, to a Mr. Sutton, from whose own octogenarian
hands it passed into my own. It was painted by Duvivier, a French
artist of celebrity, who, as well as Bone, was employed at these works.
Fig. 459 is a cup and a saucer of excellent form and twisted fluting.
Fig. 462 is a jug, carefully painted with birds, and bearing in front
the initials S. D. This jug was made at New Hall for Sampson Daniel, a
cousin of John Daniel, one of the partners, and is still in possession
of his grandson, Mr. Daniel, of Hanley. The coffee cup and saucer (Fig.
464) is a good and characteristic specimen; and Fig. 463 is one piece
of a dessert service, belonging to Mr. Gray, which was made for Mr.
Daniel, one of the partners. The porcelain made at New Hall principally
consisted of tea, dinner, and dessert services, of various designs; but
figures and busts, as well as vases, were also, to some extent produced
there.
[Illustration: Fig. 461.]
The later productions of the New Hall China Works, the soft paste, are
also scarce, especially the marked pieces. The body is of good colour,
and clear, and the decorations, especially the flowered examples, are
remarkable for the brightness of their colours. The only mark used--and
this was not, it appears, adopted until after 1820--is the one here
shown.
[Illustration: Figs. 462 to 464.]
Batt printing was practised at New Hall, and some remarkably good
examples have come under my notice. In 1810, Peter Warburton, on behalf
of the company of which he was a partner, is said to have taken out a
patent “for printing landscapes and other designs from copper plates,
in gold and platinum, upon porcelain and pottery.” The company was also
among the first to adopt the improvements in printing on ware made by
William Brookes in the beginning of the present century.
* * * * *
_Glass._--Joseph Glass was a potter in Hanley, in the middle of the
seventeenth century, and his works are stated to have been still
carried on by him or his son, Joseph Glass, in the beginning of the
eighteenth. “Joseph Glass ... clowdy, and a sort of dishes, painted
with different coloured slips, and sold at 3_s._ and 3_s._ 6_d._ per
dozen.” A tyg bearing his name, IOSEPH GLASS S V H G X, painted round
the body is in the Staniforth collection. Later on the works were
carried on by John Glass, and from him passed to Samuel Keeling & Co.,
then to Meakin Brothers, and lastly to Taylor Brothers. The works
were situated in Market Street, and have of late years been pulled
down. This Samuel Keeling was great nephew to the patentee, James
Keeling, mentioned on another page, who was an important manufacturer
towards the close of the last century. Mr. Samuel Keeling, one of the
patriarchs of the potteries, resided in partial retirement at Rocester.
His firm, Messrs. Keeling & Adams, hold three mills at Hanley for
grinding potters’ materials. One of them, the Eastwood Mill, consists
of two old erections combined; one portion was a pottery worked by
William Baddeley; another, the place erected by William Baddeley’s
brother James for a silk mill. They also work the Botteslow Mill and
the Albion Mill.
* * * * *
_Twyford._--Twyford, the potter, already named, “commenced business
near Shelton Old Hall, the seat of Elijah Fenton’s family; and the only
known specimen of his manufacture,” says Shaw, “is a jug made for T.
Fenton, Esq.,” then in the possession of his descendant. Mr. Twyford
and his children and grandchildren continued as potters, and are now
represented by Mr. Thomas Twyford, of the Bath Street Works.
In 1829 the manufactories named by Shaw were E. Mayer & Son; Job Meigh
& Son (Old Hall); Dimmock & Co.; Toft & May; J. Keeling; W. Hackwood;
T. Taylor; J. Glass; J. & W. Ridgway; Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson; H.
Daniel & Sons; J. Yates; and Hollins, Warburton, Daniel, & Co. (New
Hall).
* * * * *
_Mare_ or _Maer_, or _Mayer_.--In the early part of the last century
Hugh Mare and John Mare were potters at Hanley, and produced black and
mottled wares. Later on were “Elijah Mayer” or “E. Mayer,” then “Elijah
Mayer & Son,” and next “Joseph Mayer.”
Other potters in the early part of last century were William Simpson,
Richard Marsh, Moses Sandford, and John Ellis. Several of these and
later potters will be named in the course of the notices of existing
manufactories. The potteries in Hanley and Shelton enumerated by
Ward in 1843 are the Old Hall, the New Hall, Cauldon Place, William
Ridgway and partners (six manufactories), Thomas Dimmock & Co. (three
manufactories--formerly James Whitehead, J. and W. Handley, Edmund
John Birch, and Christopher Whitehead); Samuel Keeling & Co., formerly
John Glass; William Hackwood; Samuel and John Burton, formerly James
Keeling; Samuel Mayer, formerly Sarah Brown’s; Thomas Furnival, junior,
& Co., formerly Reuben Johnson’s; George Lomas, formerly Barlow and
Hammersley’s; Joseph Clementson, formerly Elijah Jones’s (who was a
potter about 1760); Yates & May, formerly John and William Yates,
successors to their father; William Dudson, formerly William Rivers
& Co.; William White, formerly Poulson’s; Henry Mills, then newly
erected, and other smaller factories. Edward Phillips was also a
manufacturer, and used his name in full, “Edward Phillips, Shelton,
Staffordshire,” on his goods. Other names are J. Sneyd, Toft & May, and
T. Taylor.
* * * * *
_John Twemlow_ was in business in 1797. An invoice in my possession
is curious as showing some of the goods he made. These are “E Black
Teapots, capt., fest^{d.} and fig^{d.}” (Egyptian black tea-pots,
capped, festooned, and figured); “ditto upright, fest^{d.} and
fig^{d.}”; “Oval E Black Teapots;” ditto “prest leaf,” “scollop top,
fest^{d.} and fig^{d.} and banded”; “ditto, prest leaf and fest^{d.}
and fig^{d.} and banded a’tip;” “ditto creams” to match; “ditto
fluted;” “ditto coffee pots;” octagon tea-pots, with scollop top, and
creams to match; oval plain tea-pots (all, so far, are in Egyptian
black); “blue and enamelled handled cups and saucers, London size,
sprig and border and vine pattern;” “bowls to match.”
* * * * *
[Illustration: Figs. 465 to 468.--1851--Exhibits of Mr. Meigh,
Old Hall Works.]
[Illustration: Fig. 469.]
[Illustration: Fig. 470.]
_Old Hall Works._--The “Old Hall Works” are among the most interesting
historically of any in the district, being built on the site of, or
quite closely adjoining to, the “Old Hall” or Manor House of the
Colclough family, who formerly held the lordship of Hanley, from
about the time of Edward III. until about a century and a half ago,
when it passed into the family of Bagnall. The “Old Hall” or “Manor
House” has long since disappeared. The present works were built about
the year 1770, by Mr. Job Meigh, on what, I believe, was for a time
previously a salt-glazed white stoneware pottery, carried on by a Mr.
Whitehead. From 1770 until 1861 the works were uninterruptedly carried
on by Mr. Job Meigh, his son, and his grandson (Mr. Charles Meigh),
successively. In 1861 Mr. Charles Meigh transferred the business to a
limited liability company, called “The Old Hall Earthenware Company,”
by whom it is still carried on. The productions of the works include
every variety of earthenware, from the most highly decorated to the
ordinary blue printed and plain white wares, stone ware, jet ware, and
parian. In earthenware all the usual dinner, tea, breakfast, dessert,
toilet, and other services, and all other articles are made. In these
the body is of the finest quality, hard and of remarkable durability,
and the glaze is hard, clear, and faultless. Many of the patterns of
dinner services are of great beauty and elegance. Especially among
these are the “Nonpareil,” the “Verona,” and the “Koh-i-noor” shapes,
which last is one of the most simply elegant yet produced. The form of
the covered dishes is chaste and remarkably effective. They stand upon
well-modelled feet, and the handles are formed of folds of ribbon held
together by jewelled rings. This pattern is produced in various styles
of decoration, one of the most pleasing of which is the convolvulus,
exquisitely coloured after nature; the gilding is rich and substantial.
Among the patterns produced by the staff of artists here employed are
many others of surpassing beauty; the excellence of the painting,
the gilding, the jewelling, and the enamelling, being very apparent
in all, and the combination of printing and hand painting carried to
great perfection. The transfer printing at the Old Hall Works is more
carefully done, and the colours are clearer and brighter, than at most
manufactories. Dessert services are made in every style of decoration;
the richer and more costly varieties being equal to any produced by
other firms, both in quality of body, in shape, in pattern, and in
artistic treatment. Toilet services form a very extensive branch of
the productions, and in these the firm is very successful. Among the
more popular shapes are the “Buckle,” “Richmond,” “Perth,” “Exeter,”
and “Mediæval,” and these are produced in every possible style of
decoration whether in printing, painting, enamelling, and gilding. In
stone ware, jugs of good and faultless form, and many other articles
are produced. In black ware, water-bottles, elegant little table
tea-kettles, spill cases, vases, and other articles are made, and are
effectively decorated with dead and burnished gilding, enamelling, &c.
[Illustration: Figs. 471 to 473.--1851. Exhibits of Messrs.
Meigh, Old Hall Works.]
In Parian, vases, groups, busts, figures, and other ornamental articles
are produced; the body is of good quality, and the modelling and finish
of faultless excellence.
The marks of these works are the following:
[Illustration: Figs. 474 to 478.]
In 1851 medals were awarded to Mr. C. Meigh, of these works, who has
also received medals from the Society of Arts.
Figs. 465 to 468 are stoneware jugs, one of which bears a young
bacchanal imbibing the juice of the grape, and Fig. 470 a candlestick
adapted from a celebrated wine cup, the work of Cellini. Figs. 471,
472, 473 exhibit three admirable pieces, a clock case, a vase, and a
drinking cup or tankard, all in statuary porcelain and of the finest
possible style of art. The works are very extensive, including mills
for grinding all descriptions of materials used in the manufacture
of pottery, and are capable of supplying a large demand. The markets
principally supplied are the home, French, German, Indian, American,
Australian, and colonial.
* * * * *
_Broad Street Works._--These works are interesting as being the place
where the celebrated “Mason’s Patent Ironstone China,” as well as
the “Ironstone China” of the old firm of Hicks, Meigh, and Johnson,
in addition to most varieties of useful earthenware, are made. Mr.
Charles James Mason, the inventor of this famous “Mason’s Ironstone
China,” was a potter of great taste and skill at Lane Delph (now
Middle Fenton), and in 1813 took out a patent for his process. The
manufacture was at that time carried on under the styles of “G. M.
and C. J. Mason” and “C. J. Mason & Co.” The partners were Charles
James Mason and his brother George Miles Mason (father of Mason the
artist) who in 1832 unsuccessfully contested the then new district
borough of Stoke-upon-Trent, his successful competitors being Josiah
Wedgwood and John Davenport, both, like himself, manufacturers in the
district. After a time Mr. G. Mason retired from the concern, and
it was then continued by the patentee alone. The concern, however,
for want of capital and from other causes, gradually dwindled down,
until at length, in 1851, Mr. Francis Morley purchased the patent,
the moulds, copper-plates (on which an immense amount of money had
been expended), and entire business, from Mr. Mason, and removed the
whole to his manufactory. Mr. Morley, who married a daughter of Mr. W.
Ridgway, and was a partner in the firm of Morley, Wear & Co., succeeded
to the old-established concern of Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson, which he
carried on for a time under the style of “Ridgway & Co.” Afterwards
Mr. Morley continued the business as F. Morley & Co. This manufactory
was one of the oldest in the Potteries. It was in existence in the
early part of the last century (probably established about 1720), and
afterwards belonged to John Baddeley (in 1750 R. and J. Baddeley), an
eminent potter, who died in 1772. Here, it is said, printing in oil was
first practised. Messrs. Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson were among the most
successful of the manufacturers in the district, and produced, among
other wares, a remarkably good quality of ironstone china. Besides
this, they were large manufacturers of earthenware of the ordinary
and finer kinds, and of china. They and Mason were the only makers of
ironstone china; and when Mr. Morley, who purchased their business,
became also the owner of Mason’s process and of his moulds, plates,
&c., he became the _only_ manufacturer of ironstone ware. Having united
the two manufactories, he removed Mason’s concern to his own works,
where he entered with spirit into the manufacture, and soon established
a lucrative business in “Mason’s wares.” In 1856 a first-class medal
for this ware was awarded at the French Exhibition.
Mr. Morley retired from trade in 1859, having sold the entire business,
moulds, copper-plates, &c., to the present owners, Messrs. Geo. L.
Ashworth and Taylor Ashworth (brothers), who continue, to the fullest
extent, the manufacture of the “Patent Ironstone China,” which they
and their predecessor named the “Real Ironstone China” (of which
patented articles they are the _only_ makers) on their marks, and
produce all Mason’s best patterns in services, vases, &c., made from
his original models. They also manufacture Meigh’s ironstone, from his
old moulds, &c. This manufacture has been very largely developed by
Mr. Taylor Ashworth (who studied the processes under Mr. Morley, and
is the resident acting partner), to whom the art is indebted for many
improvements. This gentleman, who married the grand-daughter of Mr.
Meigh, obtained by that alliance a vast deal of valuable information
about the working of the stoneware; and it is a somewhat singular
and pleasant circumstance to record, that after a lapse of half a
century, or more, the manufacture may, through that marriage, be said
again to be brought into the old family. Messrs. Ashworth, besides
these great features of their trade, make table, toilet, dessert, and
other services, and ornamental goods of the best quality, in every
description of general earthenware. These they produce in immense
quantities, both for home and foreign markets, about one-third of the
whole being exported. The ordinary classes are principally exported to
Russia, India, &c., and the more rich and costly to Havanna, Spain,
and other countries. Sanitary wares are also produced, as well as
insulators for our own and for foreign governments. The “Ironstone
China,” from its extreme hardness and durability (for it is not easy
to break even a plate) is specially adapted, in its simpler styles
of decoration, for services used by large steamship companies,
hotels, clubs, colleges, and other places where hard usage has to be
undergone; while in its more elaborate and rich styles--and it is
capable of the very highest degree of finish--it is eminently fitted
for families of the higher ranks. No climate affects this ware. The
usual style of decoration for dinner services is imitation of Oriental
patterns--Japanese and Indian flowers, &c.--and the colours and gilding
are rich in the extreme. In vases and jugs the handles are usually
dragons and other grotesque animals. The Indian vases are of perfect
form, of exquisite design, rich in their colours, and massive in
gilding. They are priceless Art-treasures, and examples of Ashworth’s
make deserve to be in every “home of taste.”
The marks used by Mason were principally the following:
[Illustration: Figs. 479 to 483.
MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA
MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.
MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA ASHWORTHS.
MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.
PATENT·IRONSTONE·CHINA]
Figs. 479 to 481 are printed, usually in blue, on the bottoms of the
pieces, and Figs. 482 and 483, impressed in the body of the ware.
After the patent passed out of Mason’s hands into those of Morley and
Co., the mark was changed on more than one occasion. The principal one
was
REAL
IRONSTONE
CHINA
impressed in the ware, and the royal arms, with supporters, crest,
motto, &c., above the words IRONSTONE CHINA, printed on the bottom of
the goods. The marks used by Messrs. Ashworth are, a circular garter,
bearing the words “Real Ironstone China,” and enclosing the royal arms
and the name “G. L. Ashworth & Bro^s, Hanley;” Mason’s mark (Fig. 488)
with the addition of the word
ASHWORTH
REAL
IRONSTONE
CHINA.
ASHWORTHS; a crown, with the words ASHWORTH BRO^S. above, and a ribbon
bearing the words REAL IRONSTONE CHINA beneath it; and the royal arms,
with supporters, crest, motto, &c., and the words, IRONSTONE CHINA.
Mason at one time produced what he called Bandana or Sandana ware.
In this jugs and other articles were made, and were of a peculiarly
striking and rich character in printing. The designs were complicated
Indian foliage and grotesque animals, printed in red and black on a
buff or other ground. The name I presume to have been taken from the
famous Bandana handkerchief patterns. The mark, on a jug in my own
possession, is a circular garter bearing the words, “Mason’s Bandana
Ware, 1851,” and enclosing the words “Patentee of the Patent Ironstone
China,” the whole surmounted by a crown. I have an impression of a
similar mark, which for some purpose has evidently been altered to
Sandana, and the date to 1801. As Mason’s patent was only granted in
1813 the alteration of this mark is very palpable.
* * * * *
_Cauldon Place._--These works were founded about 1794, and the present
manufactory built in 1802, by Mr. Job Ridgway, father of John and
William Ridgway, the eminent potters; and were carried on by him and
his sons until his death in 1814, under the style of “Ridgway & Sons.”
The business was then continued by his two sons for some years, when
a dissolution of partnership took place, the elder, John Ridgway,
continuing the Cauldon Place Works, and the younger, William Ridgway,
removing to a new manufactory which he had erected. Mr. John Ridgway
continued, with various changes of partners, under the firm of “John
Ridgway & Co.,” until 1855, when the Cauldon Place business passed
into the hands of the present firm of “T. C. Brown-Westhead, Moore, &
Co.”; Mr. Ridgway continuing his connection with it until 1858, when
he finally retired. Mr. W. Moore had for many years previously been a
valuable assistant of Mr. Ridgway. He died in 1866, and his brother,
Mr. James Moore, succeeded to the management of the potting department,
and was admitted into partnership in 1875; in that management he is
assisted by his nephew, Mr. Frederick T. Moore, son of Mr. W. Moore.
By the present firm the premises have been considerably enlarged, and
another manufactory, “_The Royal Victoria Works_,” has been added, and
this business, which formerly was confined to the home and American
markets, extended to all foreign ports. Mr. Ridgway, who was “Potter
to the Queen,” was awarded in 1851 a Prize Medal for the excellent
quality of his ware, the jurors in their report stating that the
firm was one of the most important in the Staffordshire Potteries.
In 1862 the present proprietors also received a similar distinction.
The productions of this manufactory are, and have uniformly been, the
useful varieties of china and earthenware, of elegant forms, where
applicable, and of various styles of decoration. Table, tea, breakfast,
and toilet services in fine earthenware, printed or otherwise
decorated, and in china, in endless variety of forms and patterns,
are produced in immense quantities. The firm has also introduced
improvements in druggists’ and perfumery goods, anti-corrosive tops,
&c. Parian is also, to a small extent, produced. A great feature of
the manufactory is sanitary ware, which is of the highest quality and
reputation, and is made up in a variety of ways for cabinet fittings,
plug-basins, lavatories, drinking-fountains, &c. In some of the largest
articles, such as the “Toilettes Victoria,” which were used by the
Imperial family and elsewhere in Paris, they have accomplished results
which have never before been attained or attempted as to magnitude and
finish of goods.
In 1843, Mr. William Ridgway, younger son of Job Ridgway, held, with
his partners--composing three or four distinct firms of which he was
head--six different manufactories in Hanley and Shelton. These were,
1st, a china manufactory in Hanley, formerly worked by George, and
afterwards by Thomas, Taylor; 2nd, the earthenware works late belonging
to Elijah Mayer & Son; 3rd, the pot-works formerly worked by Robert
Wilson and next by Philips & Bagster, where ordinary earthenware and
high-class chemical goods were made; 4th, the pot-works previously
belonging to Toft & May; 5th, the “Bell Bank” works, in Shelton,
formerly George Ridgway’s; and 6th, the old manufactory formerly
belonging to John Baddeley (where printing with oil is said to have
been first introduced) and next to Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson.
The goods produced at Cauldon Place embrace almost every description
of ceramics. In earthenware all the usual table and toilet services,
and useful and ornamental articles of every class are made. The quality
is peculiarly good, hard, compact, and durable, and the patterns
chaste and effective. They are produced in white and in every variety
of printed, flown, enamelled, painted, and gilt patterns. In china,
which in body and glaze is of the highest quality and of peculiar
durability, an immense variety of services and articles are produced,
and all are equally good in point of artistic decoration; the ground
colours, whether rose du Barry or otherwise, of a remarkable purity
and evenness, and the gilding, both dead and burnished, of unusual
solidity. The same remarks apply with equal force to the dessert ware,
some of the patterns of which are of surpassing loveliness and give
evidence of the highest and most successful cultivation of decorative
art. One special design has an outer rim, so to speak--for the plate
itself is perfect without it--formed of loops of ribbon standing out
clear from the beaded edge of the plate. This simple but graceful
arrangement imparts a lightness and elegance to the service which are
quite refreshing. Another has the rim formed of rays of pellets with
a pleasing and novel effect; the tripod stands of the comports being,
like the plates, exquisitely modelled and richly painted and gilt.
Other patterns, notably one with a rich maroon ground and white bead
edge, are, besides being exquisitely painted and gilt, enriched with
jewelling. Vases of pure and severe taste in form, and displaying great
skill and judgment in decoration, are also produced, as are likewise
jugs of faultless excellence. Among other elegant articles Messrs.
Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co., have a sandwich-box of white china; it
is of wicker or basket work, with a fern leaf laid across the lid, on
which rests the butterfly which forms the handle. At each corner hangs
a piece of stem bent into a ring and tied into form with a ribbon. This
ribbon and the butterfly being tinted in azure with enamel, and all the
rest of pure white, give a purity and simplicity to this design that
are very gratifying to the eye. Equal with this is an elegant basket,
also in white china, which forms an attractive addition to table
decoration. In services a novel idea has been introduced by this firm.
The handle is formed of a double cord, doubled and passed through a
loop, and either tied around the rim or formed into four knots as feet.
The design is simple, but one of the prettiest and most striking yet
introduced. A rose du Barry cup and saucer, with the cord and knots in
white heightened with gold, and on embossed gold lines, is peculiarly
elegant. Another admirable contrivance, which has been patented by
Toft, and is produced at the works, is a self-acting lid or cover for
hot-water jugs, &c. By this contrivance, the lid is hung on a pivot or
axle, which fits into a notch on each side the mouth of the vessel,
so that, being lightly hung, it opens whenever the jug is sloped for
pouring, and closes again when held or set down in an upright position.
It is, without exception, the best and most effective plan yet brought
out, and one that cannot be superseded.
In 1876–7 Messrs. Browne-Westhead, Moore & Co. manufactured for the
Prince of Wales a splendid and costly china dessert service, decorated
with finely painted hunting subjects, no two pieces being alike.
They also made for the Imperial family of Russia, richly decorated
dinner, tea, dessert, and breakfast services, all of which orders were
obtained in competition with the Sèvres, Dresden, and other Continental
manufactories; and also services for the Emperor of Morocco, including
punch bowls of extraordinary largeness. In addition to this it is
interesting to record that they also made for H.R.H. the Duchess of
Edinburgh a series of toilette services from designs drawn by herself.
[Illustration: Figs. 484 to 491.--Productions of the Cauldon
Place Works.]
[Illustration: Figs. 492 to 499--Philadelphia Exhibits of the
Cauldon Place Works.]
In 1825 Messrs. John and William Ridgway took out a patent for “an
improved cock, tap, or valve, for draining off liquors:” in 1840,
John Ridgway took out another for “certain improvements in the moulds
used in the manufacture of earthenware, porcelain, and other similar
substances, whereby such moulds are rendered more durable” by having a
face of “pitcher;” in the same year, in conjunction with George Wall,
for “certain improvements in the manufacture of china and earthenware,
and in the apparatus or machinery applicable thereto;” in the same
year again, the same two, for “certain improvements in the mode of
preparing bats of earthenware and porcelain clay, and of forming or
shaping them into articles of earthenware and porcelain, and in the
machinery or apparatus applicable thereto;” in 1847, John Ridgway,
for “certain improvements in the manufacture of paste boxes, and other
similar articles in china or earthenware, or other plastic materials”;
and in 1852 for “certain improvements in the method or process of
ornamenting or decorating articles of glass, china, earthenware,
and other ceramic manufactures.” These are, applying “the art of
electrotype or electro-metallurgy” for the above purpose, applied as
“described, or by any other suitable process; provided always that
the surface of the non-conducting body is so prepared that the metal
deposited thereon shall become alloyed or combined therewith.” The
invention, however, is said to consist “in the application of certain
novel and peculiar media,” “whereby such surface may be caused to
combine with gold, silver, copper,” &c. Before coating with the metals,
the vessels are covered thinly with some varnish, dried, and immersed,
first in a solution “of phosphorus reduced by bisulphuret of carbon,”
then in nitrate of silver, and set aside to dry. Instead of this,
“phosphoric vapour” or “a solution of phosphorus in sulphuric ether”
may be employed; but the method preferred is brushing them over with
“an impalpable powder of carburet of iron and sulphate of copper” in
certain proportions; afterwards the vessels are “corroded by means of
the fumes of hydrofluoric acid.”
It may be added, that in the application of photography to the
decoration of porcelain this firm has achieved a perfect success so
far as the art is concerned, and has produced some splendid specimens,
which show how completely and how thoroughly they are artists as well
as manipulators. This feature, although not one, unfortunately, at
present made to much extent commercially available, is one which cannot
but attract attention, along with the sanitary and other classes of
goods, to this establishment.
The marks used by the Cauldon Place Works, so far as I am aware, are
the following:
[Illustration: Figs. 500 to 502.]
A shield, quarterly, 1 and 4 gules, 2 or, 3 azure, over all on a bend
argent B-W. M. & Co.; the shield surmounted by a crown, and surrounded
by a garter with the name of the pattern.
[Illustration: Figs. 503 and 504.]
Medals have been awarded at the Exhibitions of London, 1851, 1862,
Paris 1855, Lyons 1872, and Vienna 1873; at the latter, two medals,
one for excellence of earthenware and china and the other for
sanitary goods, were awarded. The firm were large contributors to the
Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876; some of their exhibits are shown in
Figs. 484 to 499.
* * * * *
_Trent Pottery._--These works, in Joiner Square, were built by Messrs.
Stanway, Horne, and Adams, the present proprietors, in 1859, and
they have been carried on without change since that time. The works
were established for the production of ornamental goods in parian,
and useful goods of an improved design in stoneware and ordinary
earthenware, and these have continued to extend themselves year by
year. The great speciality is their cheap ornamental parian, in which
jugs of various kinds, vases, figures, groups, busts, and a large
number of other articles are made; of these they are large makers,
not less than 460,000 pieces of these alone being made and disposed
of during one year. Notably, among the designs for jugs and cream
ewers, are the Indian corn, pine-apple, shell, and dolphin patterns;
the first of these is of peculiar elegance. Vases and other chimney
ornaments are produced of excellent design and of various sizes. Of
late years, classical statuettes, groups, busts, &c., in Parian, have
been made, and are a prominent feature of the works; they are well and
cleverly modelled, and the quality of the body is remarkably good. A
group of “Commerce,” seated, is one of the most effective. The great
and laudable aim of the “Trent Works” has been the production of good
average designs in Parian at a cheap rate, so as to place them within
the reach of all; in this they have eminently succeeded. Stone ware,
lustre ware, and terra cotta, are also produced, and of late the
manufacture of pearl china has been added. The markets supplied are the
home, United States, the Continent, etc. No mark is used.
“The members of this firm, namely, Mr. John Stanway, Mrs. Thomas Horne
(Mr. Stanway’s sister), and Mr. Thomas Adams,” writes my good friend
Mr. Goss, “are all natives of Etruria, where their grandfathers were
the valued servants of the great Josiah Wedgwood. Mr. Stanway’s father
was the William Stanway mentioned by Mr. Jewitt in his ‘Life of Josiah
Wedgwood,’ as one of the ‘Etruria Jubilee Group of Francis Wedgwood,
Esq., and nine workmen, whose average term of servitude is fifty-four
and a half years, November, 1859;’ and Mr. Jewitt further remarks:
‘It is interesting to note that in the person of one of these men,
William Stanway, an absolute link with the great Josiah is kept up.
This man began to work at Etruria the very year of Josiah Wedgwood’s
death (1795), and has remained there ever since--a period of sixty-nine
years.’ Two others of the nine workmen of the Jubilee Group--William
Adams and John Adams--were uncles to Mr. Thomas Adams of the above
firm. Mr. John Stanway has distinct recollections of his grandfather,
John Stanway the elder, who for many years served the first Josiah,
and died in the service of the second. His occupation at the works
was that of “slipmaker” or claymaker, a position of great trust at
that time, when not only the newly-invented proportions but the very
materials used in the composition of the clays were important secrets.
It is curious to reflect that the ingredients of all the famous jasper
and other wares which the great Wedgwood produced, and which are now
numbered among the treasures of kings and emperors, were blended and
made into clay by this John Stanway the elder. Being proved a faithful
servant, he was greatly valued and favoured by his employer, spending
a portion of his time in personally waiting upon Wedgwood at Etruria
Hall, whence he used to carry valuable parcels and letters to the Three
Tuns Inn at Newcastle-under-Lyme, which was in those days the stage
coach house. After the death of Wedgwood, John Stanway retained the
same share of the confidence and favour of the second Josiah, both at
the manufactory and at the Hall. At that time the country where Etruria
now stands, and for miles around, was an uncultivated waste, and Mr.
Stanway remembers to have accompanied his grandfather many times when
he trudged along the road from Etruria Hall to Newcastle, with his
parcels on his back, and his dog Driver and his cat Molley following
him all the way, a distance of about two miles. In these journeys it
appeared to be distinctly understood between the two animals that
Driver was Molley’s protector, and the confidence of the latter was
always justified in the moment of danger. In those days old Stoke
Church (since removed) was the only church for miles around, and the
Wedgwoods had their freehold pew there, which they regularly used until
the second Josiah bought the Maer estate, near Whitmore, and removed
to it from Etruria Hall. ‘Then,’ relates Mr. John Stanway the younger,
‘Mr. Wedgwood desired my grandfather--who was a good Christian and a
regular attendant at church--to make use of that pew ever after. And
the good old man never missed attendance there on the Sabbath while he
had strength to walk. And because the distance was too great to allow
him to go home to dinner and return in time for afternoon service, he
used to take his dinner with him in the morning, and stay and eat it
in the church or schoolroom, or, when the weather was fine enough, in
the churchyard. And Mr. Wedgwood was not ashamed to be represented
in that family pew by my grandfather, altho’ the old man used to
sound his way up the aisle in wooden clogs, which it was the custom
of all workpeople to wear in those days in those parts. But although
Mr. Wedgwood was content to be represented by his faithful servant
in wooden clogs, there was an old lady, who sat in the pew behind
Wedgwood’s, who seems to have objected; and so one week she managed to
have taken down the partition between her pew and Wedgwood’s, and made
the whole into one square pew for herself. Then my grandfather meekly
took his place on the free benches, until, some time after this, Mr.
Wedgwood happened to say to him one day at the works, ‘Well, how come
you on at church, Jack?’ And my grandfather replied, ‘Well mester,
th’ owd lady i’ the pew behind has made it all into a square un’, an’
turned me out. But I’m right enow on the free bench.’ ‘Ha!’ said Mr.
Wedgwood. ‘I’ll see to that, Jack.’ And he did see to it, and undid the
old lady’s improvements, restoring his pew as before. Ever after that
my grandfather enjoyed his sitting without further interference, and
continued every Sunday to sound his way up the aisle in his wooden
clogs, with his dinner in his pocket, until at last, at a good age, he
was taken ill. Mr. Wedgwood went to see him immediately, and sent his
own physician to attend him; but after a few day’s illness he died.’”
* * * * *
_Keeling._--James Keeling, in 1796, patented improvements in decorative
and glazing processes, and, in conjunction with Valentine Close, some
improvements in ovens, kilns, and processes of firing. His ware was of
remarkably good quality, and some of the services were decorated with
series of scenes and views.
* * * * *
_Booth & Co._--These potters were makers of a red ware--a kind of terra
cotta--in which they produced various articles more or less ornamented
with medallions, wreaths, or other decorations, in relief; sometimes of
the same colour as the body, and at others in black. The mark was the
name, address, and date, within a border--
PUBLISHED BY GR. BOOTH & CO.,
HANLEY, STAFFORDSHIRE,
MAY 29, 1859.
An example occurs in the Liverpool Museum.
* * * * *
_Stafford Street Works._--This manufactory was originally occupied
by Messrs. Reuben Johnson & Co., who produced the ordinary classes
of earthenware and stoneware. From them it passed to Messrs. Thomas
Furnival, jun. & Co., and “Furnival & Clark,” by whom it was continued
until 1851, when it was taken by the present firm, which at that time
was Livesley, Powell, & Co. In 1865 Mr. Livesley went out of the
concern, when the firm changed its name to “Powell & Bishop,” by which
it continues to the present time. Messrs. Powell & Bishop own two other
manufactories, the “Church Works” for white granite, and the “Waterloo
Works” for china (both of which see), but the Stafford Street Works
are their principal ones, or head-quarters. At these works earthenware
alone is produced, but this is of the finest quality and in every style
of decoration, both for the home, French, Australian (principally
Adelaide and Sydney), and other markets. The body is extremely hard,
compact, and durable, and whether in pure white or of a creamy tint is
clear in colour, and the glaze of faultless quality. The decoration
of the dinner services, which is a speciality of these works, ranges
from the plain white and printed goods up to the most elaborately and
gorgeously enamelled, painted, gilt, and jewelled varieties, and in
each of these stages the decorations, whether simple or complicated,
are characterized by the purest taste and the most artistic feeling.
Messrs. Powell & Bishop are the sole workers of, and possess the
exclusive right to and in, a patented process of printing in gold and
colours, originally purchased by their firm from some Austrians, by
whom it was invented. This important process has been vastly improved
by the present firm and brought to bear in a variety of ways upon their
manufactures. By this invention a background of dead gold is produced
of surpassing beauty and loveliness, and of such solidity and evenness
as is perfectly impossible to be obtained by hand-gilding even by the
most skilled artist. In this, Messrs. Powell & Bishop have produced
services of a novel and faultlessly beautiful character, the designs
of which are taken from, and are of equal gracefulness, richness, and
beauty with, mediæval MS. illuminations. In toilet services a number
of effective and well-conceived designs are produced in every style in
transfer printing, lustred, enamelled, painted, and gilt varieties,
and the shapes of the ewers are, in some instances, of unusually
good designs. Jugs are another speciality of this firm, and they are
produced in almost endless variety; many of the arabesque patterns are
of great richness and beauty, and are characterized by graceful finish
in the enamelling. The same remark will apply to the table flower-pots,
which are all that can be desired in form, pattern, and arrangement of
colours. Tea and dessert services in great variety are also made in the
finest earthenware, and of considerable variety in design. A speciality
in tea ware is a charming little teapot, modelled from the one used by
the poet Addison. It is of the form at that time so fashionable, and
made in so many styles by Lakin and Poole, Adams, and others of the
famous old potters. The reproducing of this shape was a wise thought of
Messrs. Powell & Bishop, and the way in which it is issued--excellently
enamelled and richly gilt--is in every way satisfactory. Messrs. Powell
& Bishop have recently reproduced in all its softness and delicacy of
tint, and evenness of surface, the famous old ivory or cream-coloured
ware of Josiah Wedgwood, and known as “Queen’s Ware.” In this, dinner,
tea, dessert, and toilet services of the newest shapes and designs
are made, and are among the most marked successes of the time. In this
ivory ware, ornamental goods--vases, beakers, &c.--of a more or less
highly decorated character are also successfully produced. The firm
received medals from the London International Exhibition in 1862;
from the Amsterdam Exhibition of 1869; and from the Paris Maritime
Exhibition of 1875; “le Diplôme d’excellence” and a certificate at the
1871 Exhibition. They were also large exhibitors at the Philadelphia
Exhibition of 1876.
The marks used by the firm have been simply the words
[Illustration:
BEST
P & B]
impressed in the ware; and the initials P & B, in addition to the name
of the pattern, printed on the surface. The trade mark lately adopted
by the firm is the Caduceus, surmounted by the letters P. & B.; this is
now impressed on the body or printed on the surface of all their best
goods.
* * * * *
The _Church Works_, in High Street (for the history of which see page
301, “Wilson”) are old established, and passed from Mr. Ridgway, to
their present owners, Messrs. Powell & Bishop. The previous proprietors
produced the usual classes of earthenware. The present firm confine
their operations at these works to “white granite” ware for the United
States and Canadian markets, which they produce of excellent quality
and in every variety of style, both plain, embossed, and otherwise
decorated. (See “Stafford Street.”)
* * * * *
_Waterloo Works._--These works were recently erected close to their
large mill on the canal side near Nelson Place for the manufacture of
china, by Messrs. Powell & Bishop, in place of one formerly occupied
by them but removed for town improvements. At this manufactory
china of the finest quality is made in the white; the whole of the
decoration being accomplished at their principal works in Stafford
Street (which see). In china the firm produces all the usual services
and miscellaneous articles, in every variety of decoration. In dessert
services Messrs. Powell & Bishop rank deservedly high, not only for
the faultless quality of the body and glaze and for the beauty of
their designs, but for the perfect artistic feeling and the exquisite
finish which characterize their best productions; in these, and in tea
services--to which, the above remarks with equal force apply--they
have, in some instances, introduced with excellent effect a species
of decoration which may be said to give the appearance to the various
articles of being inlaid with _ormolu_. The effect, in connection with
admirable grounds and delicately beautiful paintings, is rich and
pleasing. Messrs. Powell & Bishop also introduce with great success
their patent process of printing in gold and colours (see page 329)
upon dessert and tea services; the effect upon the fine china body
is very pleasing--the colours softened and subdued, and the gilding
remarkable for its fulness, brilliance, and precision. In tea and
breakfast and déjeuner services they have introduced many of the most
chaste and elegant patterns produced by any house, and they take rank
among the very highest and best in quality, and exhibit the highest
phases of manipulative and artistic skill. The same remarks will apply
to the table jugs--some of which have for a ground the rich deep Derby
or Sèvres blue--the candlesticks, and the rest of the articles produced
by this celebrated firm.
* * * * *
_Kensington Works_, established by Messrs. Wilkinson & Rickuss, who
were succeeded by Wilkinson and Sons, and next by Messrs. Bailey &
Bevington. Mr. Bailey having retired, the works are now carried on
by Mr. John Bevington, who produces ordinary earthenware, ornamental
china, Parian, and stone ware; the great speciality being imitation
Dresden, for home, United States, and Australian markets. A monster
vase, the work of Rickuss & Wilkinson, exhibited 1862, is preserved in
the Museum of Practical Geology.
* * * * *
_Burton Place Works._--Formerly carried on by Mr. S. Bevington; this
manufactory is now continued by his sons, Messrs. James & Thomas
Bevington, who have held them since 1862. The operations are entirely
confined to china, in which all the usual useful and ornamental classes
of goods are made for the home markets. Formerly, Parian statuettes and
majolica goods were made, but these are discontinued.
* * * * *
_Clarence Street Works._--Mr. Ambrose Bevington produces china and
earthenware.
* * * * *
_Nelson Place_, commenced in 1850 by its present proprietor, Mr. John
Bamford. These works produce ordinary stone ware and Parian.
* * * * *
_Phœnix and Bell Works_, Broad Street.--These manufactories are both
worked by Messrs. Clementson Brothers, who make largely the white
granite and common painted ware for America and Canada. For the latter
market they also produce some good decorated ware. The back part of
the Phœnix Works was originally part of John and Edward Baddeley’s,
Broad Street Works (now Ashworth Brothers), which it adjoins. In 1832
the present business was started by Reed & Clementson, but Joseph
Clementson shortly after became sole proprietor, and in 1845 enlarged
the works to their present proportions, with the exception of a
large mill adjoining, which his sons, the present proprietors, have
completed. In 1856 Mr. Joseph Clementson purchased the Bell Works on
the other side of the road, opposite the Phœnix, formerly William
Ridgway’s. In 1867 he retired from business, leaving it to his four
sons, the present members of the firm. He died in 1871.
* * * * *
_Bedford Works_, Bedford Road.--These extensive works were built by
Edward John Ridgway, son of William Ridgway, in November, 1866, and
to them he removed from the Church Works, High Street, where he had,
until then, carried on business in partnership with Mr. Abington.
In 1870, Mr. E. J. Ridgway took his sons into partnership, and the
concern was carried on as E. J. Ridgway & Son. In 1872, Mr. E. J.
Ridgway retired from the business, leaving it to his two sons, Messrs.
John, and Edward Ackroyd Ridgway, who were joined in partnership
by Mr. Joseph Sparks, and continue the business under the title of
Ridgway, Sparks, & Ridgway. Their productions include all classes of
fine useful earthenware, jet, stone, terra cotta, and jasper, of very
superior bodies and decoration, for the home, American, and Continental
markets. One of the great specialities of the firm is their jet ware,
highly decorated in raised enamel “after the Limoges ware.” In these
a remarkable richness, beauty, and delicacy are obtained, and the
designs, as well as the treatment of the foliage and figures, are
artistic and well considered for effect. The jet ware thus decorated
and highly gilt is of the very finest quality and of the highest
degree of excellence in design and manipulative treatment; in this the
Bedford Works are pre-eminent. Another speciality is relief decoration
on various stoneware bodies, and these are faultless in their taste
and excellent in their workmanship. The jasper (in which both tone of
colour of the body and the beauty of detail in the groups and foliage
and borders of the relief decoration in white, remind one forcibly of
the later productions of the Wedgwood’s) tea-pots and other articles
are produced and rank high as achievements of Ceramic Art. Mosaic or
inlaid decoration is also successfully carried out by the firm, and
their ordinary stoneware jugs and other articles are remarkable for
purity of design, the high relief of their ornament, the hardness and
compactness of their body, and the beauty of their workmanship. The
mark used by the firm on their white goods is the Staffordshire knot,
enclosing the letters R. S. R.
[Illustration:
S
R R]
* * * * *
_Mayer Street Works._--Mr. Samuel Lear has erected a small china works
on part of the site of the old manufactory, which includes as warerooms
and offices the residence of the Mayers. Mr. Lear produces common
domestic china, and, in addition, decorates in the ordinary way all
kinds of earthenware made by other manufacturers; a speciality being
spirit-kegs.
* * * * *
_Mayer Street._--Mrs. Massey carries on a small earthenware works on
part of the site of the same old works just mentioned, including the
stables and coach and cart-houses of the Mayers. Her productions are of
the commoner classes.
* * * * *
_Cannon Street._--These works, dating back to the beginning of the
present century, were for many years carried on by Mr. Thos. Ford, who
here commenced business. Mr. Ford has since built a larger manufactory
in the same street. The manufactory is now carried on by Mr. Edward
Steele, who produces earthenware of the more ordinary qualities,
stoneware of good useful character, majolica, and Parian. In stoneware
all the usual useful classes of goods are made, and many of the designs
and workmanship are of good character. In majolica both useful and
ornamental goods are made, and consist of jugs, tea-pots, brackets,
flower vases, dessert services with figure centre-pieces, comports,
etc.; the designs in many instances are artistic, and the quality, both
of the body and colouring, of more than average excellence. Parian
statuary is one of the specialities of the firm and is very extensively
made; some hundreds of different single figures, groups, busts, and
animals, besides numbers of ornamental articles, being issued. The
quality is superior to many for the American markets, and the modelling
of the figures is artistic and clear. Many of them are of large size,
and are produced with remarkable skill. Mr. Steele uses no mark.
* * * * *
_Brewery Street._--Robert Cook makes ordinary Parian goods in large
quantities, principally for shipment to America.
* * * * *
_Percy Street._--William Machin makes ordinary earthenware and common
coloured figures.
* * * * *
_Taylor, Tunnicliffe & Co._, who used to manufacture in Broad Street
very excellent door furniture and other fittings for Birmingham houses,
have recently built more commodious works at Eastwood Vale.
* * * * *
_Biller & Co._ make good door furniture and other fittings for metal
workers at Eastwood Vale.
* * * * *
_Albion Works_, Stafford Street.--John Dimmock & Co. are very large
producers of earthenware of superior quality and finish. The firm is
very old established. The firm of Thomas Dimmock & Co., at the time
when Ward’s History was published, held three manufactories, viz., one
“in Hanley, adjoining the New Market house, formerly James Whitehead’s,
afterwards J. & W. Handley’s; another on the upper end of Shelton,
formerly of Edmund John Birch, afterwards of Christopher Whitehead; and
an enamelling and gilding establishment adjoining the King’s Head at
Shelton.”
* * * * *
_Eastwood Vale._--W. H. Goss (see “London Road, Stoke-upon-Trent”).
* * * * *
_Eastwood Works.-_-Formerly carried on by Mr. Thomas Twyford, and
afterwards by E. Hampton & Son, these works passed, in 1864, into the
hands of the present proprietor, Mr. George Howson. The productions are
entirely confined to sanitary ware, made of the ordinary Staffordshire
fire-clay, washed inside with a white slip; sometimes blue printed.
* * * * *
_Dental Manufacturing Company, Limited, Broad Street._--This
manufactory was established by Mr. J. S. Crapper, in 1856, and by
him carried on and gradually developed until June, 1873, when it was
purchased from him by this Company, Mr. Crapper remaining the managing
director. The Company have other manufactories and depôts at 25,
Broad Street, Golden Square, London, and in Grosvenor Street, Oxford
Road, Manchester. It is one of the largest porcelain tooth producing
manufactories yet established.
The dento-ceramic art is, naturally, of recent origin, but it has
already almost reached perfection; the artificial teeth so closely
resembling the natural, that the false are undistinguishable from the
real. In durability nature is by this manufacture excelled; since the
porcelain tooth lasts much longer than bone or ivory. Surprising,
however, as we find the exact imitation of nature, it is, perhaps,
still more surprising to learn that it is only obtained by a variety of
at least 100 different shades and tints of colour, and of about 1,000
different shapes and sizes of teeth. Being a new branch of Ceramic Art
I have no hesitation in giving fuller details than usual. They are
furnished by my friend Mr. Goss.
“The material of which the teeth are composed, although
differing in the proportions of its ceramic ingredients from
any other porcelain body, is yet strictly porcelain. It is a
vitreous, translucent body, consisting of silica, alumina, and
potass, with the alumina in smaller and the potass in larger
proportions than in any other porcelain body. Feldspar is the
chief constituent, to which some silica, in the form of quartz,
is added, and, in some instances, a small proportion of china
clay. The colouring materials are the oxides of titanium,
uranium, cobalt, manganese, platinum, and gold. From these
bases the company obtains, as before said, about one hundred
tints and shades, ranging from the delicate blue-white--the
poetic “pearl”--to the dark tobacco stain. We have seen an
American account of the matter, however, in which a palette
of thirty-nine times 64,000 varieties or gradations of colour
is claimed from the same bases for dental selection, and the
different shapes and sizes of teeth are estimated at 10,000
instead of the 1,000 which the Company claims in its modesty.
“The materials being finely ground together, the teeth are
either cast or pressed in metal moulds, the inner surface of the
moulds being oiled, as is usual when metal moulds are used in
potting, to prevent the adhesion of the clay or slip. It will
surprise most potters to learn of ceramic articles being made,
or cast, from ‘slip’ in metal moulds; but this is successfully
done at the company’s works, the moulds being warmed to
facilitate evaporation and the ‘setting’ of the material, which
is sooner effected in this body than in any other porcelain, on
account of the small proportion of alumina in its composition.
In those teeth which are furnished with platinum pins the
latter are fitted into small holes in the mould before the
casting, and the end of the pin, which is inserted into the
tooth, being headed, the firing secures it inextractably in its
place. The machine which cuts up and ‘heads’ the platinum wire
is a marvellous little creature. A correspondent of an American
paper writing of it says, ‘Here is a spitefully busy little
machine, too busy with one particular process to tell us what
it is doing, and yet we discover that it is eating platinum
wire and spitting out tiny pins at the rate of _six hundred
a minute_. Each comes out with a solid head like that of a
brass pin, with rough indentations in the other end, so as to
be firmly held in the plastic body of the tooth until fierce
heat makes the union indissoluble. The strength, infusibility,
and incorruptibility of platinum make it the close companion of
mechanical dentistry.’ The teeth being removed from the moulds
and sufficiently dried, are seamed and otherwise finished off
by young ladies with very delicate handling. They are then
placed on fire-clay trays and baked in a furnace until they are
properly vitrified and have attained the necessary polish from
surfacial fusion.
“The White House, where the Company’s manufacturing operations
are carried on, and on which stands the residence of the
managing director, has some old potting associations and
history. It was many years ago the residence of Mr. Richard
Hicks, of the firm of Hicks, Meigh, and Johnson, from whose
executor (Mr. Charles Meigh) Mr. Crapper purchased the property,
and still retains it, letting to the Company the Porcelain Tooth
Works. Hanging on the wall of the Company’s office is a printed
quotation from Josiah Wedgwood:--‘All works of taste must bear
a price in proportion to the skill, taste, time, expense, and
risk attending their invention and manufacture. Those things
called dear are, when justly estimated, the cheapest; they
are attended with much less profit to the artist than those
which everybody calls cheap. Beautiful forms and compositions
are not made by chance, nor can they ever, in any material, be
made at small expense. A competition for cheapness, and not for
excellence of workmanship, is the most frequent and certain
cause of the rapid decay and entire destruction of arts and
manufactures.’ This quotation, beautifully and ornamentally
lithographed, has emanated from Philadelphia, and nearly every
dentist in the United States has a copy of it displayed in his
operating room. Not only do our American cousins generally
highly appreciate the productions and the career of the great
Josiah, but the dental community especially, although they do
not claim to be potters, proudly claim to be his followers in
ceramic art and science.”
* * * * *
_Trent Pottery, Eastwood._--This manufactory, situated by the side
of the North Staffordshire Canal, at Eastwood, was established in 1867
by Messrs. Livesley & Davis, and on the retirement of Mr. Livesley the
style was changed to J. H. & J. Davis (brothers). In 1875 Mr. J. Davis
retired, and since then the concern has been carried on by its present
proprietor, Mr. J. H. Davis, alone. Until latterly the productions were
confined to white granite ware for the United States, but Mr. Davis now
manufactures to a large extent dinner, toilet, and tea services, and
other articles, both for the home and foreign markets. He is also an
extensive maker of sanitary wares, lavatories, plug-basins, hoppers,
etc.
* * * * *
_James Dudson, Hope Street Works_, established in 1800. In 1835 Mr.
James Dudson entered upon the works, and they are still carried on
by him. At one time he manufactured ornamental china figures, vases,
and services. His finest productions are white and coloured (drab,
blue, sage, &c.) stoneware jugs, tea and coffee pots, sugar-boxes,
&c.; metal-mounted goods; flower-pots, candlesticks, &c. Among
the registered designs for jugs, which have been modelled by the
best artists, are the “Fern,” “Argyle,” “Barley,” “Vine-border,”
“Pine-apple,” and “Wheatsheaf” patterns, which are produced in a
variety of colours. In tea-pots the “Damascus,” “Fern,” and “Argyle”
patterns are among the most popular. In mosaic ware Mr. Dudson makes
a variety of articles in white, drab, blue, and other bodies inlaid
with a variety of colours. In these are tea and coffee pots, sugar
bowls, jugs, &c., of different shapes, the “Tanhart” and “Cambridge”
being among the most successful. These goods are produced in large
quantities. Mr. Dudson, who received “honourable mention” in the
Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, supplies both home and foreign markets.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Figs. 505 to 508.]
_Victoria Works_, St. James Street.--The productions of Messrs. Adams &
Bromley, until 1873 carried on as John Adams & Co., are majolica and
jasper wares of high class, both in quality and in design, and have
given them an honourable name among the manufacturers of the district.
Parian portrait busts (among which were those of the Poet Laureate,
Lord Derby, and Mr. Gladstone) were formerly produced, and are
remarkable for their truthfulness and artistic treatment. In jasper,
besides vases and candlesticks, tea and other services, tea and
coffee-pots, table-kettles, fruit bowls, jugs, and a variety of other
decorative and useful articles, cameos and medallions, after Wedgwood,
for inlaying and other ornamental purposes, are made to a large
extent and of satisfactory quality. The jasper is in quality and in
general character of ornamentation, as well as in colour, a very close
imitation of the more modern Wedgwood ware, and the shapes of many of
the articles evince good taste in design. In majolica, bread-trays,
cheese-trays, candlesticks, flower-pots, vases, garden-seats,
jardinières, figures, and a very large variety of useful and ornamental
goods are produced. The quality of the majolica is far above the
average, and many of the designs are artistic; the workmanship in all
cases is skilful and good. Some of these productions, exhibited in
1871, are shown on Figs. 513 to 516. Since that period Messrs. Adams
& Bromley have made rapid strides in the art, and have introduced
many good patterns. Notably among these are a large flower-vase, some
four feet in height, with a well-modelled Cupid supporting the bowl;
a masterly flower-vase on mask feet, and surrounded by a wreath of
oak-leaves; another large vase in which the handles are formed of
Cupids; water-lily, and other well-conceived dessert pieces, &c. Green
glazed dessert ware is also extensively made. The mark is the names
ADAMS & CO., or ADAMS & BROMLEY, or A. & B.
* * * * *
[Illustration:
STONE CHINA.
J. W. PANKHURST & Co.
Fig. 509.]
_Charles Street Works._--This manufactory, now carried on by Messrs.
J. W. Pankhurst & Co., is one of the oldest in Hanley. About a hundred
years ago it was owned and worked by William Mellor, to whose family
the property still belongs. Mr. Mellor made the Egyptian black ware for
the Dutch markets, as did his successors Messrs. Toft & Keeling, who
also produced other varieties of earthenware. It was next carried on by
Messrs. Toft & May, and then by Robert May alone, for the manufacture
of the same goods for the Dutch markets. Mr. May was succeeded by Mr.
William Ridgway, who changed the manufacture to that of goods for the
American markets. Upon his failure the works were taken by the present
firm of J. W. Pankhurst & Co. The goods produced by this firm are
confined to white granite for the American markets. In this material,
dinner, tea, and toilet services, and all the usual useful articles are
largely produced, and are of high quality both in body and glaze. The
mark used by the firm is the royal arms and name, printed in black, on
the ware.
* * * * *
_High Street._--The works carried on by Messrs. Gelson Brothers
until a dissolution of partnership in 1876, and now continued by
Messrs. Thomas Gelson & Co., form a part of those founded in the latter
part of last century by Elijah Mayer, who about 1820 took his son into
partnership under the style of “Elijah Mayer & Son.” It was afterwards
“Joseph Mayer” and “Joseph Mayer & Co.” In 1867, the premises were
purchased by Messrs. Gelson Brothers. Elijah Mayer was a potter of
considerable eminence, and produced an extensive variety of goods. His
Egyptian black, or basalt, ware, was, in quality of body, nearly equal
to that of Wedgwood, and the ornamentation sharp and well defined; in
this he produced tea-pots, cream ewers, bowls, and other articles. In
cream-coloured ware, services and all the usual useful articles were
made, and were of unusually good style and quality; for these and
his “brown-line” patterns he was noted. His cane-coloured, or drab,
unglazed goods were another of his famous productions; specimens of
these are not often obtainable. In the Museum of Practical Geology is
a vase of this description, with festoons of raised flowers. Elijah
Mayer produced a service commemorative of Nelson’s Trafalgar and Nile
victories, which became very popular. His mark was “E. Mayer” impressed
in the ware, and afterwards “E. Mayer & Son.” Of the later firm some
examples with the name Joseph Mayer & Co. are preserved in the
Hanley,
Liverpool Museum. The following note upon these works has been supplied
to me by Mr. Goss:--
“A walled lane ran through the premises owing to a right of way
across the property which had been acquired, to the annoyance
of the Mayers, by a Mr. Smith, whose property lay beyond the
manufactory, going from High Street. The division to the right
hand included the residence of the Mayers, warehouses, offices,
and stabling, &c. About 1833 Mr. Joseph Mayer suddenly ceased
potting, filled his warehouses, offices, stabling, and part of
his house with his most valuable stock, and locked it up until
his death. He let the other part of his works, that now Messrs.
Gelson’s, to his cousin, William Ridgway, as beforesaid. After
Mr. Joseph Mayer’s death in 1860 the residence was converted
into a works for mounting jugs and tea-pots, carried on by
Thomas Booth. It is now part of the china manufactory, of Mr.
Samuel Lear. Besides Mr. Lear’s china works there is a small
earthenware works on the old site carried on by Mrs. Massey;
this includes the Mayers’ stabling and coach-houses. There are
also numerous cottage residences erected in the other spaces.”
Messrs. Gelson & Co. formerly produced the usual white granite ware
for the American market. This has been now abandoned, and they confine
themselves to the production of the highest classes of useful goods
for the home trade. In this they make dinner, tea, breakfast, toilet,
and other services in every variety of printed, enamelled, and gilt
patterns. One of their specialities is the successful imitation of the
old Dresden style, which is produced with marked success in a dinner
service. This has all the character, in general appearance, of the
antique, and is a very satisfactory reproduction of a good old pattern.
Another happy decorative idea is the introduction of Anglo-Saxon and
early Irish interlaced ornaments in bands encircling mouth ewers and
other articles.
* * * * *
_Eagle Works._--This business, commenced at Longton in 1845, was
removed to Hanley in 1848 by Mr. James Meakin. In 1852 he retired, and
was succeeded by two of his sons, James and George Meakin. In 1859, the
business having considerably increased, the Eagle Works were erected,
and in 1868 were very considerably enlarged. Messrs. J. & G. Meakin
have also branch works at Cobridge and Burslem, and are large producers
of ordinary earthenware. All the usual classes of useful, plain, and
embossed white earthenware are produced and shipped to the United
States and most foreign ports; the speciality of the works being white
granite ware of ordinary quality, in imitation of French china. The
mark is J. & G. MEAKIN, stamped in the ware, and printed in black.
[Illustration:
IRONSTONE CHINA.
J. & G. MEAKIN.
Fig. 510.]
* * * * *
_Brook Street Works._--These works were established by Ralph Salt, and
he and his survivors, Richard Booth and Messrs. Williams & Willet,
manufactured painted china toys. In 1860 the works passed into the
hands of Mr. William Taylor, who commenced making white granite and
common coloured and painted ware. These latter have been discontinued,
and the productions are now confined exclusively to white granite ware
for the United States and Canadian markets, of both qualities--the
bluish tinted for the provinces, and the purer white for the city trade.
* * * * *
_Cannon Street._--Charles Ford (formerly Thomas and Charles Ford)
manufactures the better class of china in tea, breakfast, dessert, and
table services for the home markets.
* * * * *
_William Stubbs, Eastwood Pottery_, manufactures china and earthenware
services of the commoner kinds, lustres, stone ware jugs, black
tea-pots, &c., and the smaller and commoner classes of china toys and
ornaments.
* * * * *
_Norfolk Street Works_, Cauldon Place.--These works were established by
their present proprietors, Messrs. R. G. Scrivener and Thomas Bourne
(trading under the style of “R. G. Scrivener & Co.”), in 1870, and
are situate about midway between Stoke and Hanley. Their productions
are china tea, breakfast, dessert services, and fancy articles, and
earthenware toilet and other services of a more than average degree of
artistic decoration. They export considerably to the colonies and also
supply the home markets.
The mark is simply the initials
[Illustration:
R. G. S.
& Co.]
impressed, but even this is only used on some classes of goods; the
registered designs have a printed mark, with the name of the pattern
and initials of the firm.
* * * * *
_Broad Street._--The small works occupied by Mr. Ash, as a Parian and
majolica manufactory, are of old establishment.
* * * * *
_Albert Works_, Victoria Place.--These works were erected in 1875 by
Mr. J. Buckley, who in December of that year removed to them from
the Vine Street Works, which he had occupied from 1861. Mr. Buckley
commenced business in Hanley as a sanitary ware potter in 1836. His
productions are all the usual varieties of sanitary goods (pans, traps,
tables, &c.), ship and other fittings, toilet ware, handles for various
purposes, plumbers’ fittings, spirit casks, &c.
* * * * *
_Ranelagh Works._--Established in 1846 by Mr. Stephenson, these
works were next occupied by Mr. James Oldham, next by Oldham & Co.,
then by Mr. T. R. Hinde, and next Hollinshed & Staner. The productions
are the commoner classes of earthenware and stone ware, in which all
the usual services and general articles are made. No mark is used.
* * * * *
_Swan Works_, Elm Street, established in 1835 by Samuel Bevington
as Parian works, and afterwards carried on by his son, John Bevington,
passed in 1866 into the hands of Messrs. W. L. Evans & Co., and in 1871
to Neale, Harrison & Co., who gave up the manufacturing and confined
themselves to decoration only; they were succeeded by Mr. T. R. Simpson.
* * * * *
_Mayer Street Works_, established in 1864, by Mr. E. Hodgkinson,
for the manufacture of mosaic stone ware, Parian, and pearl-white
granite wares. In 1871 Mr. Hodgkinson was succeeded by Mr. W. E.
Cartledge.
* * * * *
_Brook Street Works._--Messrs. Worthington & Son produce earthenware
and stoneware, both for home and foreign markets.
* * * * *
_Dresden Works_, Tinkersclough.--In 1843 Edward Raby produced at these
works china ornaments with raised or “Dresden” flowers, hence the name.
From 1852 until 1864 they were carried on by Messrs. John Worthington
and William Harrop; from that time till 1873, by Thomas Worthington and
William Harrop; and from that time to the present by William Harrop
alone. The productions are the cheaper classes of Parian goods, and
fancy jugs in stone ware and ordinary earthenware, of good middle-class
quality, all of which are supplied both to the home and American
markets. No mark is used.
The works are situated at what is called “Tinkersclough,”--a place
whose name is said to be “derived from the fact of its being frequented
in the olden times as a place of rendezvous by Gipsies and travelling
tinkers.”
* * * * *
_Bath Street Works._--These works were established in 1849 by
the late Mr. Thomas Twyford (father of the present proprietor), who
was a lineal descendant of the famous old seventeenth century potter,
Twyford, who with Astbury wormed out the secret of the Elers, as
detailed in vol. i. page 101. The operations of the firm are confined
to sanitary and plumbers’ ware, and wine and spirit show barrels. In
the former of these departments, Messrs. Twyford, as well as being
among the oldest, are the largest producers in the locality, and their
wares rank high for form, workmanship, and quality. The principal goods
produced are plug-basins, drinking-fountains of excellent design,
closet and bath fittings, cabinet stands, &c. These are made in every
variety of shape, and of the most approved construction. The barrels,
as usual, are more or less painted and gilt. The mark of the firm is
the Staffordshire knot enclosing the letters T T (Thomas Twyford), with
H (Hanley) beneath. Besides the home trade, Messrs. Twyford export very
largely to America, Australia, Russia, France, Germany, Spain, and
other countries. The same firm has a manufactory at Buckland for the
manufacture of cane and white sanitary ware.
* * * * *
_Waterloo Works_, Nelson Place.--These are old-established works,
and have, with others, been occupied by Mr. W. Stubbs, Thomas Booth
and Son, Holmes and Plant, and their present proprietors, Messrs. Pugh
and Glover. The ordinary classes of earthenware in toilet and other
services, painted, enamelled, and grounded; stoneware jugs, tea-pots,
&c.; and other wares, are largely made, and of all the usual classes of
decoration, both for home and foreign markets.
* * * * *
_New Street Pottery._--These works were established in 1873 by the
present proprietors, Messrs. Edward Banks and Thomas Thorley. Their
productions are majolica, terra cotta, jet, and stone wares, and
these they produce for both home and foreign markets. In terra cotta,
water-bottles of porous body, unglazed, of elegant forms and of a
more or less highly decorated character, with stoppers and stands;
alcorazzas; water goblets; Malaga jars; tobacco jars, &c, are made in
great variety. These porous goods are of three distinct kinds, a clear
full red, a buff, and a purplish white. They are printed, painted,
enamelled, and gilt in encircling borders, wreaths, &c.; in groups of
flowers and ferns; or in Japanese figure subjects, and are of excellent
shape and workmanship.
In majolica, cheese stands, bread trays, dessert services, jugs,
egg-holders, jardinières, flower-pots, tea-pots, ladies’ work-baskets,
water-bottles, and an infinite variety of ornamental articles are
made. Many of these are of a high degree of merit in design, and their
production is faultlessly good. Notably among the dessert services in
majolica is one with a rich chocolate-coloured ground, which throws
out, with a strikingly beautiful and rich effect, a naturally arranged
group of ivy, ferns, and anemones, which are slightly embossed, and
are coloured true to nature; this is surrounded by an embossed “key”
border and white enamel edge, and the handles are in keeping with
the ornamentation. Another striking design in majolica is a jug. The
ground of this is chocolate, and upon it are panels of rope in buff,
enclosing thistle-leaves in green. The whole design, including the
twisted rope handle, is novel and pleasing. Besides these, green glaze
dessert services, and a large variety of other articles, both useful
and ornamental, are made. The firm use no mark.
* * * * *
_Castle Field Pottery._--These works were formerly carried on by Mr.
Ball for the manufacture of ornamental bricks. Mr. Ball “distinguished
himself as the first to bring out hollow and glazed bricks, and these
he made for Prince Albert’s Model Cottages. They were from his works
at Poole, in Dorsetshire, and matured here at Etruria.” In 1860
Messrs. Davenport & Banks established themselves at these works, and
commenced the manufacture of fancy goods of various kinds, which they
successfully carried on until 1873, when Mr. Banks retired, and was
succeeded by Mr. Beck,--the firm now being “Davenport, Beck & Co.”
The principal productions of the Castle Field Works are fancy antique
goods, in which numberless articles are made; majolica in all its
varieties; porous goods; terra-cotta water-bottles, &c.; jet ware; and
the ordinary classes in which dinner, tea, dessert, toilet, trinket,
and other services are made, both for home and foreign markets. The
mark used is a castle, and the letters “D. B. & CO. ETRURIA” within an
oval garter, bearing the words TRADE MARK.
* * * * *
_Henry Venables_, Etruria Road, established 1860, manufactured
Etruscan-red porous goods, black basalt ware, jet glazed ware, and blue
and other coloured jaspers. In these he produced a large variety of
vases, as well as other ornamental and useful goods.