Early Pottery of Scotland--Cinerary Urns--Mediæval
Pottery--Glasgow--Delft Ware--Verreville Pottery--Garnkirk
Works--Gartcosh Works--Heathfield Pottery--Glasgow
Pottery--North British Pottery--Saracen Pottery--Port
Dundas Pottery Company--Hyde Park Potteries--Britannia
Pottery--Annfield Pottery--Bridgeton Pottery--Barrowfield
Pottery--Coatbridge--Glenboig Star Works--Glenboig Fire-Clay
Works--Cardowan and Heathfield Works--Paisley--Ferguslie
Works--Shortroods and Caledonia Works--Paisley
Earthenware Works--Crown Works--Grangemouth--Fire-brick
Works--Greenock--Clyde Pottery--Dumbarton--Rutherglen--Caledonia
Pottery--Portobello--Midlothian Potteries--Portobello
Pottery--Kirkcaldy--Sinclairtown Pottery--Kirkcaldy
Pottery--Gallatown Pottery--Boness--Boness Pottery--Prestonpans
Pottery--Alloa--Alloa Pottery--The Hebrides.
SCOTLAND.
The early pottery of Scotland appears, as a general rule, to bear a
close analogy to that of England both in form, in intention of use,
and in ornamentation. The cinerary urns, the food and other vessels,
and the immolation urns, all bear a marked resemblance to those of the
sister country, and lead one to the inference that the same feelings,
habits, and customs obtained in the one nation as the other. A cinerary
urn found on the Hill of Tuack is of identical shape and pattern of
ornament with the one engraved on Fig. 15 of Vol. I., while others
bear an equally strong resemblance to others already engraved. To
Professor Wilson the antiquarian world is indebted for much valuable
information concerning the early pottery of Scotland, and to his
important and standard work, the “Pre-Historic Annals of Scotland,”[71]
it owes most of the knowledge it possesses of this, and other important
branches of national history. “It is altogether impossible,” says the
learned Professor, “within the limited amount of accurately observed
facts with which the Scottish archæologist has to deal, to picture
and classify into distinct periods the pottery found in the ancient
tumuli and cairns. Many of the fictilia are so devoid of art as to
furnish no other sign of advancement in their constructors from the
most primitive state of barbarism, than such as is indicated by the
piety which provided a funeral pyre for their dead, and even so rude
a vase, wherein their ashes might be inurned.... The rudimentary
form of the true cinerary urn is that of the common flower-pot, still
retained as the easiest and simplest into which the plastic clay can be
modelled.... From this simple shape was gradually developed the varying
forms both of sepulchral and domestic pottery found deposited with the
dead; inurning the sacred ashes and the costly tributes of affectionate
reverence, or placed in the grave with offerings of food and drink
designed to sustain the deceased on his final journey to the world of
spirits.” Fig. 740 is of this form and is almost identical with the
English example Fig. 15, Vol. I. It is from the Hill of Tuack, near
Kintore, in Aberdeenshire, and was found in the usual inverted position
close to one of the monoliths of the stone circle at the place. Another
of the same form, Fig. 741, ornamented with impressed dots and incised
herringbone pattern, was dug up in 1855 on the farm of Belhelvie, in
Fifeshire. It was 4 feet 6 inches in circumference at the mouth, and
when perfect must have been about 2 feet in height. When found it was,
as is commonly the case, inverted, as shown in the engraving, and was
imperfect. Another fine example is engraved on Fig. 742. It measures
thirteen and a half inches in height, and was dug up at the Ha’ Hill
of Montblairy, in Banffshire. It bears a marked resemblance to many
English examples, both in general form and in ornamentation; it bears
encircling lines of herringbone or zigzag ornament.
[Illustration: Fig. 740.--From the Hill of Tuack, near Kintore.]
[Illustration: Fig. 741.--From Belhelvie, Fifeshire.]
[Illustration: Fig. 742.--From the Ha’ Hill, Montblairy.]
[Illustration: Figs. 743 to 745.--From Banchory, and Arthur’s
Seat, Edinburgh.]
[Illustration: Figs. 746 and 747.--From Memsie and Rathbo.]
Figs. 743 to 745 are of different form, the two larger being probably
food vessels, and the latter an “immolation urn.” The first two were
found in a cist on a farm at Banchory, in Kincardineshire, along
with an interment by inhumation, and the latter at Arthur’s Seat, in
Edinburgh. In the next engravings, Figs. 746 and 747, the larger vessel
was found in a tumulus at Memsie, in Aberdeenshire, and the smaller at
Rathbo, near Edinburgh. Figs. 748 to 750 are three interesting vessels
from Lesmurdie, in Banffshire, now in the Museum of the Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland. The largest is eight inches in height, and the
smallest five inches. Fig. 751 was found in one of a group of cists,
under a large cairn, at Sheal Loch, in the parish of Borthwick, near
Edinburgh. It is made of fine baked clay, burned to an unusually hard
and durable consistency, and measures four and a half inches in height
by about six and a half in diameter. Five perforated projections are
disposed at nearly equal distances around it, and the interior of the
vessel bears evident marks of fire. Fig. 752 is from the Montrose
Museum and was found in that burgh some years back. The other three,
Figs. 753 to 755, are “immolation urns,” as I have before termed
them, which are respectively from Old Penrith, from Dunbar, and from
Ronaldshay in Orkney.
[Illustration: Figs. 748 to 750.--From Lesmurdie.]
[Illustration: Fig. 751.--From Sheal Loch.]
[Illustration: Fig. 752.--From Montrose.]
During Scoto-Roman times, pottery, there can be no reasonable doubt,
was made in Scotland, and many examples that have been brought to
light are evidently native manufacture; there are, however, no
marked peculiarities belonging to them. Of a later period, “the
last pagan period in Scotland,” according to Professor Wilson, some
remarkable glazed urns were found, one at East Langton, the other
in Aberdeenshire. They were found in stone cists by the sides of
skeletons, and were “of rough grey ware, ornamented externally with
parallel grooves running round them, and internally covered with a
green glaze.” They appear originally to have had “two projecting
ears opposite each other, which fitted into corresponding double
ones attached to a lid, by which the vessel, when found, was closely
covered; and the whole of the projections were perforated to admit a
pin which completed the fastening.” (See Figs. 757, 758.)
[Illustration: Figs. 753 to 755.--From Dunbar, Old Penrith, and
Ronaldshay.]
[Illustration: Fig. 756.--From Penicuik.]
[Illustration: Fig. 757.--From East Langton.]
[Illustration: Fig. 758.--From Aberdeenshire.]
As of the primitive so of the mediæval pottery of Scotland; it differs
but little from that of England, and indeed, except in a few instances,
cannot be distinguished from it. Pitchers of the usual form, perforated
jugs, bowls, dishes and platters--all were pretty nearly identical with
those of English make, and but few seats of manufacture existed. The
wares were of the commonest and coarsest kind. As in Ireland wood was
more generally used than anything else for such utensils.
Of mediæval pottery Figs. 756 to 759 are characteristic examples.
The first of these is a pitcher found in 1792, filled with coins of
Alexander II. of Scotland and Edward I. and Edward II. of England,
near Penicuick House, where it is preserved. It measures three and
three-quarter inches in height, and is perforated at tolerably uniform
distances. It is of coarse unglazed earthenware. Fig. 759 is a mediæval
pitcher found near North Berwick Abbey, in East Lothian; it bears a
marked resemblance to some engraved in Vol. I.
[Illustration: Fig. 759.]
That china was attempted to be made in Scotland in the middle of last
century is evident from the following paragraph from the _London
Chronicle_ of 1755: “Yesterday four persons, well-skilled in the making
of British china, were engaged for Scotland, where a new porcelain
manufacture is going to be established, in the manner of that now
carried on at Chelsea, Stratford, and Bow.” But nothing is known as to
the locality of the proposed works.
GLASGOW.
The first pottery established in Glasgow was, it would appear, founded
in 1749 as a delft-ware works. It was situated near the Broomielaw, in
a lane which was called the “Delft-field Lane.” “Delft-field Lane” is a
very suggestive name, and of course took its origin from the pot-works.
The name was, I am informed by Mr. Cochran, “changed to ‘James Watt
Street’ in later years. The celebrated inventor of the steam-engine
lived in this lane, and it was in one of the rooms of the pottery
that he was in the habit of working at his invention, and it is said,
perfected it. The ware manufactured at this pottery was delft ware,
and was a close imitation of the old grey Dutch ware of that name;
but about the year 1770 the proprietors began to make ‘Queen’s ware,’
or white ware. They also began to make both plain and ornamented
china, of such excellent quality that they received the compliment
of being appointed potters to the Prince of Wales. How long this
pottery lasted I have not been able to ascertain, but it was working
in full perfection in the beginning of the present century. The next
pottery which was built in Glasgow was about the year 1801, when the
“Caledonian Pottery,” on the banks of the Monkland Canal, was erected.
This is the oldest pottery now working in Glasgow, for although
Verreville was built more than twenty years before it, yet earthenware
was not made there till the year 1820.”
* * * * *
_Verreville Pottery._--In 1777, as the name implies, the Verreville
Works were built for a glass-house, by a Mr. Cookson, of Newcastle, and
a Mr. Colquhoun, of Glasgow. In 1806 they were sold to the Dumbarton
Glass Work Company, who immediately resold them to Mr. John Geddes,
with this stipulation, that he was not to manufacture crown or bottle
glass. Mr. Geddes carried on the manufacture of flint glass until 1820,
when he commenced making earthenware as well as glass. In 1835 the
works passed into the hands of Mr. Robert Alexander Kidston, who four
years afterwards added the manufacture of china to that of glass and
earthenware.
“He began,” I am told by Mr. Cochran, “by bringing skilled workmen
and artists from the principal seats of china manufacture. Figures,
porcelain basket work and flowers, were produced by workmen who had
acquired their skill in the old and celebrated porcelain works of
Derby, while Coalport and several of the most famous Staffordshire
china works supplied a general staff of potters, together with gilders,
and flower and landscape painters. Mr. Kidston carried on the business
for several years and produced a beautiful porcelain, and upon his
retiring from the business in 1846 was succeeded by the late Mr. Robert
Cochran, who carried on the works with great vigour and success. In
1856 he ceased the manufacture of china, and devoted the whole of the
works to the manufacture of earthenware. Mr. Cochran devoted great
attention and spared no expense in promoting the introduction of
labour-saving machinery. He also made great improvements in the kilns
or ovens in which the earthenware is fired, by which he reduced the
quantity of coal used to nearly one-half. It was applied successfully
in his own works of Verreville and Britannia, but was not adopted by
other manufacturers. This improvement was patented in 1852, and it is
only now that the same principle, with some slight alterations, has
been patented and is likely to be generally adopted by potters. Mr.
Cochran died in 1869, and was succeeded in the Verreville Pottery by
his son, also named Robert Cochran, by whom the works are still carried
on. The goods manufactured are principally for the home trade, and
consist of white, sponged, printed, and enamelled ware. No marks have
ever been used except the initials of the proprietors stamped on the
ware.” Verreville it is said was the first work in Scotland where china
was manufactured.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Figs. 760 to 762.]
[Illustration: Fig. 763.]
_Garnkirk Works._--These works were established about half a century
ago by Messrs. Sprott, by whom--and later by Mr. Mark Sprott--they were
carried on. They are now continued by the trustees of the late Mr. Mark
Sprott (Messrs. Sprott, Gillespie, and Cameron), under the style of the
“Garnkirk Fire Clay Company.” The goods produced at these works are
the ordinary classes of fire-clay and terra-cotta articles, including
ornamental chimney shafts and smoke-valves of good design and excellent
mechanical construction; sanitary pipes and other appliances;
architectural enrichments; garden edgings and balustrades of more than
average beauty in design, of which examples are given in Figs. 760 to
762; garden vases of great variety in design and of different sizes;
fountains, notably an example of five tiers, supported by figures of
dolphins and cranes, with basin twenty-four feet in height and sixteen
feet across, erected in the public park at Aberdeen; busts, statuary,
both single figures and groups, including Baily’s lovely conception of
“Eve at the Fountain,” “Gleaner,” “Minerva,” “Bacchus,” “Atlas,” &c.;
pedestals, brackets, and every other variety of ornamental goods, as
well as fire-clay, bricks, blocks, &c. The markets principally supplied
are the home, and those of France, Germany, Russia, and the East and
West Indies. The mark used is simply the word _Garnkirk_ impressed in
the clay.
* * * * *
_The Gartcosh Works_ were established by Mr. James Binnie, in 1863,
and have since then been considerably extended. The produce of these
works is terra-cotta vases, tazzas, pedestals, fountains, &c., of
remarkably good design and of fine and durable quality; ornamental and
plain garden edgings; gothic, clustered, and other chimney tops; ridge,
flooring, and roofing tiles; cattle, horse, and dog troughs; copings;
sewage and sanitary pipes of every description; glazed and unglazed
fire bricks, furnace blocks, and all other goods for fire-resisting
purposes. The clay is found about fifty fathoms below the surface,
at Gartcosh; the strata being from eighteen to twenty-five feet in
thickness. It is found underlying large beds of sandstone in what is
called the limestone series, which lies between the upper and lower
coal series of this district. The following is the analysis: silicic
acid or silica, 60·96; alumina, 37·00; peroxide of iron, 1·16; lime,
0·64; magnesia, 0·24; total, 100.00.
* * * * *
_Heathfield Pottery._--At these works Messrs. Ferguson, Miller, & Co.
produced some admirable vases in terra cotta, which were shown at the
1851 Exhibition, and are here engraved. One of these (Fig. 764) was a
vase of large size and excellent modelling; it bore a frieze of figures
typical of the great gathering in 1851. Fig. 765 shows, among its other
ornaments, a nuptial procession, designed in the style of the antique;
these figures were modelled with great accuracy, and are arranged in an
artistic manner. The works passed in 1862 into the hands of Messrs.
Young (which see); the moulds, &c., including those of these vases,
became the property of the Garnkirk Company.
[Illustration: Figs. 764 and 765.]
[Illustration: Figs. 766 to 769.]
[Illustration: Fig. 770.]
[Illustration: Figs. 771 to 781.--Messrs. Bell and Co.’s 1851
Exhibits.]
* * * * *
_Glasgow Pottery._--These works were established in 1842, by Messrs. J.
& M. P. Bell & Co., in Stafford Street, Glasgow, for the manufacture
of white and printed earthenware, and soon rose to the first rank
among the potteries of Scotland. Particular attention was from the
first paid not only to the excellence of body of the ware, but to
improvement in form and in style of decoration. In these particulars
they were eminently successful, and in 1851 received honourable
mention at the Great Exhibition. Later on the manufacture of china was
commenced, and later still the fine white and pearl granite wares, and
white and decorated sanitary wares. The works are of great extent, and
produce all the usual varieties of goods in dinner, breakfast, tea,
toilet, dessert, and other services, as well as all the usual classes
of articles, and in every variety of style, from the plain white
or cream colour to the most richly enamelled and gilt patterns. The
earthenware services are of more than average excellence of quality,
and the china, both body and glaze, of superior class. Some of the
dessert plates issued by Messrs. Bell, with hand-painted groups of
flowers and perforated or open-work rims, are equal to most English
makes; while some of the tea services are of tall classic form and
of excellent taste in colour and decoration. In parian Messrs. Bell
& Co. produce some admirable vases with figures in relief, and other
ornamental goods; the quality is far above the average. The old marks
used by the Glasgow Pottery are the following: Fig. 782, an eagle
holding a roll, on which is inscribed the name of the pattern, and,
underneath, the initials of the firm, J. & M. P. B. & Co.; Fig. 783,
the Warwick vase and the name, J. & M. P. BELL & Co. The later marks
are (Fig. 784), a garter bearing the initials of the firm, J. & M. P.
B. & Co., surrounding the trade mark of a bell; the name of the pattern
below. These are all printed on the ware, while another, impressed in
the body, is a bell with the initials J. B. (Fig. 785). Another is a
bell only (Fig. 786).
[Illustration: Figs. 782 to 786.]
Some of Messrs. Bell & Co.’s exhibits are shown in the engravings Figs.
766 to 781.
* * * * *
_North British Pottery._--These works on Dobbies Loan, produce the
ordinary qualities of earthenware goods.
* * * * *
_Saracen Pottery._--The Saracen Pottery was established in 1875
by Messrs. Bayley, Murray, and Brammer, at Possilpark. The firm
manufacture Rockingham, cane-coloured, Egyptian black, jet, and
mazarene blue wares on an extensive scale, mostly, in tea-pots, jugs,
and other useful domestic articles, both for the home and foreign
markets. The mark used is the initials of the firm and name of the works
B M & Co
SARACEN POTTERY.
* * * * *
_Port Dundas Pottery Company._--These works were established for
the manufacture of stoneware articles about the year 1819. In the
earlier years of its existence there were several changes in the
proprietorship, but for the last thirty years it has remained in the
hands of, and been carried on by, Mr. James Miller. The works, from a
somewhat small beginning, have attained considerable proportions. In
1856 they contained three salt-glaze ovens, in which were manufactured
chemical vessels and apparatus of various kinds, spirit bottles, jars,
&c.; and about this time many of the towns in the North of Scotland,
finding the desirability of having a good water supply introduced, had
recourse to high-pressure stoneware water-pipes for that purpose, which
were manufactured in large quantities at these works. Several towns
and many country mansion houses at the present time have their water
supply conducted through miles of the Port Dundas pipes. In the same
year a new glaze was introduced, giving to the ware a cream-coloured
appearance, much purer and cleaner for many purposes than the old brown
salt glaze, and with this a great demand sprang up for stoneware beer
bottles for warm climates, and the works consequently have been greatly
enlarged to meet the increased demand.
By far the greatest portion of ware made in Port Dundas is thrown on
the potter’s wheel, the motive power for which was supplied, until
1866, by girls, who turned a large driving wheel communicating with
a pulley under the workman’s wheelhead by a rope. The proprietor in
that year endeavoured to introduce steam power for this purpose, but
so strong was the opposition of the throwers that the machines and
accompanying shafting, &c., lay aside for three years unused. They
were then erected in a distant part of the works, and apprentices all
but forced to work on them. These, however, had not been long fitted
up when the workmen, seeing the immense advantages to be derived from
their use, gladly availed themselves of the offer of the proprietor to
substitute steam machinery for hand-power throughout the whole factory,
the immediate result of which was to raise the piece-work earnings
of the workmen from 30 to 49 per cent.; they had one attendant less
to pay, a part of whose wages the workman kept to himself, while a
proportion of it was paid to the Company for the use of the steam-power
and up-keep of the machinery. The speed of the wheel requiring to
be varied according to the different operations performed upon it,
is now under the complete control of the workman’s foot, and not as
formerly at the will, or according to the strength of, the assistant
wheel-turner. In this way a complete revolution was quietly effected in
the stoneware potting of Scotland, and the incentive having been given,
orders came from many potteries in England to the Scotch machine maker
for similar steam machines.
With the introduction of the cream-coloured stoneware glaze the ovens
had to undergo extensive alterations, the old salt-glaze cupboard kilns
giving place to much larger sagger ovens, in which the ware is now
burned. The improvement in the appearance of the ware having brought
it into much greater demand, the works rapidly extended, until at the
present time, in the Port Dundas Pottery with its branch work, the
Crown Pottery, there are fifteen ovens in regular operation.
The wares produced are beer, ink, and spirit bottles; preserve, acid,
butter, and druggist’s jars; chemical vessels and apparatus, and every
kind of article made in stoneware, water filters, Rockingham and cane
ware.
All the goods made are stamped with the name of the firm in an oval
stamp.
The home markets are supplied with all descriptions of general
ware, immense quantities of preserve jars, &c. Export bottlers in
Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Liverpool, are supplied with stone bottles.
Water filters, Rockingham, and cane ware are regularly shipped to
the colonies and the continent of Europe. Two years ago a process of
printing on the unfired stoneware body was perfected and patented by
this firm, eminently suitable for consumer’s labels, trade marks, &c.,
no extra firing in the shape of muffle or hardening-in kiln being
required.
The Company exhibited their manufactures at the Chilian Exhibition
held in Santiago in 1875, and there received the first prize gold
medal for the general excellence of their wares. The clay from which
this stoneware is made is obtained only from the Devonshire mines, is
very free from iron, and burns a light buff colour. Somewhere about
10,000 tons are annually used in Glasgow, nearly the whole of which is
brought by sea from the port of Teignmouth to the Clyde. Very little
preparation and no mixing with other ingredients is required before
passing into the hands of the workman; after being milled it is ready
to be fashioned into all kinds of articles. It is also singular in this
respect that the articles are glazed before being burned; and by one
process of firing to a very high pitch of heat--higher than that to
which any other kind of pottery ware is subjected--a hard, vitreous,
and very sonorous ware is produced, glazed inside and out with a
transparent glaze, which allows the buff colour of the clay to be
seen, and which is quite proof against the action of both alkalies and
acids, rendering vessels made by this ware highly suitable for storing
and transporting acids and other chemicals. For many years London and
Bristol were the chief seats of the stoneware trade, and workmen had
to be obtained from the south to carry on business in Scotland; but
apprentices were speedily trained in Glasgow to supply all wants, and
in turn to feed largely the southern potteries. At present there is
more pure stoneware manufactured in Glasgow than anywhere else, so that
it has really become the seat of the stoneware pottery of the kingdom.
* * * * *
_Hyde Park Potteries._--This manufactory was established about 1837 by
Mr. John McAdam. His productions are ordinary stoneware bottles, jars,
spirit casks, feet and carriage warmers, pans of various kinds, and all
the ordinary classes of stoneware goods.
* * * * *
_Britannia Pottery._--These large works at St. Rollox, Glasgow,
belonging to Messrs. Cochran & Co., produce all the usual varieties of
ordinary earthenware goods in granite and cream-coloured ware for South
America; and printed, enamelled, painted, and gilt wares for the home
markets. The works were established in 1855, by Mr. Robert Cochran, the
senior partner of the Verreville Pottery Company (which see), and the
present partners are Mr. Alexander Cochran (son of the above) and Mr.
James Fleming. The works contain six biscuit and seven glost ovens.
* * * * *
_Annfield Pottery._--Messrs. John Thomson and Co., at the Annfield
Pottery, Gallowgate, formerly manufactured both china and earthenware
goods for the home and foreign markets. The works have been closed some
time.
* * * * *
_Bridgeton Pottery._--The “Bridgeton Pottery” was built in 1869 by
its present owner, Mr. F. Grosvenor, who for some years previous to
that time had been a partner in the “Caledonian Pottery” at Glasgow.
The goods manufactured are the usual classes of articles in stoneware,
including chemical wares, bottles for various uses, spirit jars,
bottles, &c., and Rockingham ware tea-pots. In 1870 Mr. Grosvenor took
out a patent for the manufacture of bottles and jars by machinery, and
he has also invented an improved bottle stopper.
* * * * *
_Barrowfield Pottery._--Established by their present owner, Mr. Henry
Kennedy, in 1866, these extensive works produce in large quantities all
the usual classes of articles of “glass-lined stoneware,” including
“glass-lined bottles and jars” for domestic and other purposes, both
for home and foreign markets. The mark used by Mr. Kennedy is three
Bottles side by side beneath a ribbon bearing the words “Established
1866.”
COATBRIDGE.
_Glenboig Star Works._--The Glenboig Star Fire Brick Works produce
bricks, retorts, furnace-blocks and similar goods.
* * * * *
_Glenboig Fire-Clay Works._--These works belong to the Glenboig
Fire-Clay Company, and produce sewage and sanitary pipes, &c., retorts,
fire-bricks, &c.
* * * * *
_Cardowan and Heathfield Works._--The first of these works, belonging
to Messrs. John Young and Son, was built in 1852 by Messrs. John Hurll
and John Young, previous to that time of the Garnkirk Company. The
clay is the Garnkirk seam, and is of much the same character as the
Stourbridge clay. The Heathfield Works were acquired about 1860 from
Messrs. Miller and Ferguson (which see), and were largely extended and
altered, and improved machinery introduced. The clay was won at 350
feet, passing through a solid bed of freestone of 120 feet, giving off
much water; the seam itself is known as the Glenboig seam of clay, as
it was first wrought at the “Glenboig Works,” with which Mr. Young
was also till quite recently, a partner. At the “Cardowan Works” the
firm manufacture the usual varieties of fire-bricks, blast-furnace
blocks, gas retorts and fittings, vases, garden edgings, and plain
and ornamental chimney shafts. At the “Heathfield Works” they produce
fire-bricks, and vitrified salt-glazed pipes for sewerage and water
purposes, and invert sewer blocks and all the usual salt-glazed
articles. In 1874 Messrs. Hurll and Young dissolved partnership;
Mr. Young, along with his sons John and Robert, being now the sole
proprietors. The product of these works when in full work is about
20,000 fire-bricks per day and about 1,500 yards of pipes weekly.
PAISLEY.
_Ferguslie Fire-Clay Works._--These extensive works were established
in 1839, and are carried on by Messrs. Robert Brown and Son. The
productions are mainly chimney shafts in great variety and of good
design, sewage pipes and sanitary goods of all kinds, garden vases and
tazzæ, flower boxes, suspenders, fern and flower stands, &c. of various
designs; statuary, both single figures and groups, architectural
enrichments, pedestals, brackets, garden edgings, fire and other bricks
and tiles, copings, finials, &c.
* * * * *
_Shortroods and Caledonia Works._--These are brick and tile works
connected with the Ferguslie Works of Messrs. Robert Brown and Co.
* * * * *
_Paisley Earthenware Works._--Messrs. Robert Brown and Co. established
these works in 1876, and at them produce white enamelled earthenware
goods of a similar quality to those of Staffordshire. Their principal
productions are cabinet stands and lavatories of every requisite shape
both for domestic and shop fittings, plug basins, pans, and other
sanitary appliances, baths of every kind (a speciality being the
larger baths, five feet six inches in length, a size rarely attempted
in earthenware), washing tubs, sinks, &c., plumber’s fittings,
washhand-table tops, with and without toilet ware, plain and coloured
pavement and wall tiles, &c.
* * * * *
_Crown Works._--At the Crown Crucible Works, belonging to Messrs.
Robert Brown and Son, plumbago crucibles and kindred goods are
manufactured. The marks are a crown and name, BROWN PAISLEY, and a
crucible within an oval border surmounted by a crown.
GRANGEMOUTH.
_Fire-brick Works._--These works, belonging to the Grangemouth Coal
Company, were established in 1842. The clay, which is of good quality,
is got at a depth of about forty-eight fathoms, under lease from the
Earl of Zetland. The productions of the works consist of ornamental
vases, and tazzæ of various patterns; statuary, both single figures and
groups; fountains, vases and plinths; flower-stands and pots; chimney
shafts, some of which are highly decorated in relief; pedestals,
brackets, &c.; and salt-glazed pipes, grate backs, bricks, tiles,
&c. The company received honourable mention for their goods at the
Exhibition of 1851, and at the Hamburg Exhibition of 1866 had a medal
awarded to them for their vases and ornamental figures.
GREENOCK.
_The Clyde Pottery._--The “Clyde Pottery” works were built and
established by Messrs. James and Andrew Muir and others in 1815, and it
is still the property of the Muir family, the present proprietors being
the daughters of the late Andrew Muir. The business was first carried
on by the proprietors under the style of the “Clyde Pottery Company,”
with Mr. James Stevenson as manager. Mr. Stevenson was succeeded in the
management by Thomas Shirley, to whom the business was transferred,
and who altered the name of the firm to Thomas Shirley & Co. In 1857
the Messrs. Shirley were succeeded by the “Clyde Pottery Company
(Limited),” with James Brownlie as manager. This company acquired the
ground adjoining the pottery known as the “Blubber Yard” (from the fact
that formerly the blubber obtained at the whale-fishing was boiled
there), and this piece of ground gave ample scope for extending the
works. The “Clyde Pottery Company (Limited)” existed for five years,
and was then succeeded by the present firm, who carry on the business
under the old style--the “Clyde Pottery Company”--and who, in taking
over the lease, also acquired the ground adjoining already referred to,
and have extended the works so as to do double the business of any of
their predecessors. The firm consists of three members--John Donald,
Robert Gibson Brown, and John McLauchlan--the two last taking the
active management of the concern. The goods produced are the ordinary
qualities of cream-coloured, sponged, painted, printed, pearl-white,
enamelled, and gilt, suitable for the home trade, and various kinds of
ware also to suit particular foreign markets. The mark used upon goods
is “C. P. CO.” (Clyde Pottery Company). The markets supplied
are the Home, Scotch, and Irish; and considerable business is done
abroad with Calcutta, Mauritius, Rangoon, Java, Newfoundland, and
Canada.
DUMBARTON.
There were pot-works at Dumbarton in the latter part of last and the
beginning of the present century. About 1800, or thereabout, Anthony
Amatt, originally of Derby, and afterwards with Champion, of Bristol,
worked at Dumbarton. He afterwards returned to Bristol, and died there
in 1851, aged ninety-two.
RUTHERGLEN.
_Caledonian Pottery._--The “Caledonian Pottery” at Rutherglen, near
Glasgow, was established at Glasgow about 1780 by a joint stock
company, and from the company was acquired, about 1825, by the
grandfather and father of the present head of the firm of Murray and
Co., by whom the manufactory is carried on. In 1870 the works were
removed from Glasgow to Rutherglen, about a couple of miles from that
city. At first fine porcelain and china were made; then cream-coloured
printed ware, with Rockingham and salt-glazed wares. In 1851 the demand
sprang up for stoneware ale and other bottles, and this has become
one of the staple trades of Glasgow and the surrounding district. The
goods now produced are the usual classes of “Bristol” glazed stoneware,
salt-glazed stoneware, cane ware, and Rockingham and Egyptian black
wares. In these classes of goods all the usual domestic articles are
very extensively made, both for the home and continental markets. The
quality produced is much above the average in excellence, and the goods
of this firm are in much repute. A speciality of Messrs. Murray and
Co. is their patent “spongy iron filter” which has been officially
recommended by Royal Commission and has been awarded a medal. It is
one of the most perfect and useful of filters, and its principle of
construction is thoroughly good. The mark used by Murray and Co. is a
lion rampant.
PORTOBELLO, NEAR EDINBURGH.
_Midlothian Potteries._--The Midlothian Stoneware Potteries at
Portobello and Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, were established about
1857 by Mr. W. A. Gray, for the manufacture of general stoneware goods,
but they had, I am informed by him, been in existence as earthenware
works for upwards of a century before that time. They are now carried
on under the style of “W. A. Gray & Sons.” The goods produced are all
kinds of stoneware, and the more ordinary descriptions of earthenware.
In the first are all the usual descriptions of spirit jars and bottles,
spirit barrels, bowls and pans, jugs and pitchers, butter, beef, and
jam-pots, bottles, feet and carriage warmers, &c.; and in earthenware
many useful articles. They are principally supplied to the home market.
* * * * *
_Portobello Pottery._--These old-established works at Portobello,
near Edinburgh, were established in 1770, and are now carried on by
Messrs. A. W. Buchan & Co. For a number of years they turned out
ordinary white earthenware and Rockingham ware, but since 1842 the
manufacture has been entirely confined to stoneware. In this ware
bottles of various kinds, jars, jugs, feet and carriage warmers,
spirit bottles, and all the usual classes of goods, are extensively
manufactured, principally for the home markets. The mark of the firm is
a star.
KIRKCALDY.
_Sinclairtown Pottery._--Messrs. George McLachlan & Son were
manufacturers of ordinary earthenware at this place; the works are now
closed.
Other manufactories are, the _Kirkcaldy Pottery_ belonging to
Messrs. David Methven & Son, and the _Gallatown Pottery_ belonging
to Messrs. Robert Heron & Sons.
BONESS.
_The Boness Pottery_, as it is now called, dates from 1766. It was
originally planned and partly constructed by a Mr. Roebuck, an
enterprising Englishman, largely engaged in the coal and iron trade
in this district, who for some time lived in Kenneil House, belonging
to the Duke of Hamilton. For some cause Mr. Roebuck left for England,
and the pottery came by purchase into the possession of a Mr. Cowen,
and afterwards, in 1799 of Mr. Alexander Cumming, who carried it on
successfully for a number of years; then his nephew James Cumming
carried on the business, and although it only consisted of three kilns
it became one of the largest potteries in Scotland, if not the very
largest. Earthenware and brown ware were manufactured in all their
branches. The firm had another manufactory, called the “South Pottery,”
where brown ware was made for the home markets. In the possession of
the present firm is a punch bowl manufactured in these works with the
following inscription painted upon it:
“What art can with the potter’s art compare?
For of what we are ourselves of such we make our ware.”
It was made in the time of Thos. Cowen, and bears the date 1794. They
have in their possession also other, but undated, specimens of the
productions of the early manufactory. At the death of James Cumming the
works passed into the hands of his nephew, William Cumming, and being
sold in 1836 were bought by James Jamieson, and carried on for a number
of years, under the firm of James Jamieson & Co., and afterwards by the
son of Mr. Jamieson under the same style; the proprietors being John
Marshall and James Jamieson. After Mr. Jamieson’s death that part of
the works belonging to him was, in 1854, bought by Mr. John Marshall
and carried on, on his own account, until 1867, when he was joined by
Mr. William McNay as a partner, under the style of John Marshall & Co.
These works were the first in Scotland to adopt Needham’s patent for
manufacturing clay. The productions are the ordinary useful classes
of earthenware goods in dinner, tea, toilet, and other services, and
all the usual domestic articles; these are produced in white, sponged,
printed, painted, enamelled and gilt styles, and are supplied both to
home and foreign markets.
PRESTONPANS.
_Prestonpans Pottery._--There were, until 1838, two old pot-works,
each more than a century old, in Prestonpans; in that year they
were both closed. In 1836 Messrs. Belfield & Co. established the
“Prestonpans Pottery,” which they still carry on; the goods produced
being Rockingham tea-pots, cane jugs, &c.
ALLOA.
_Alloa Pottery._--These works were established in 1790 by Mr. James
Anderson, and were afterwards carried on by Mr. William Gardner; in
1855 they passed by purchase into the hands of the present proprietors,
Messrs. W. & J. Bailey. At first the works, under Mr. Anderson,
produced common brownware pans and crocks, and by Mr. Gardner the
addition was made of Rockingham ware tea-pots. By the present firm
this branch of manufacture has been considerably improved, and so
greatly extended that at the time I write, I am informed, no less than
twenty-six thousand tea-pots can be produced by them per week. Majolica
and jet ware goods are also largely made and are of good quality,
and a speciality of the firm is its artistic engraving of ferns and
other decorations of the finer qualities of tea-pots, jugs, &c. The
productions of the Alloa Pottery, besides a home trade, are exported in
large quantities to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France,
America, &c., and medals have been awarded to them at the Paris and
Philadelphia Exhibitions. The excellent quality of the Alloa goods
“arises from the nature of the clay got in the neighbourhood,” and
the density of colour and softness to touch of the glaze are highly
commendable.
THE HEBRIDES.
Hand-made pottery is still made, and used, in all its primitive
simplicity. The following letter, which I am permitted to print,
is so full of interesting matter concerning this curious phase of
fictile art, that I give it entire. It was addressed by W. Morrison,
Esq., M.P., to my friend, Mr. W. H. Goss, and dated from the House of
Commons. It runs as follows:
“The circumstances under which I came upon the hand-made pottery
were as follows. In conversation with a Scotch friend on
archæological matters, he happened to mention that _hand-made
pottery_ is still used in the Hebrides. Taken in connection
with the fact that the inhabitants of some of the islands still,
I believe, live in the same circular dry stone huts, with their
cattle under the same roof, of which so many traces remain on
Dartmoor, Ingleborough in Yorkshire, the Yr Eifel Hills in
Carnarvonshire, and with the curious speculations contained in
the introduction to the popular tales of the West Highlands,
by Mr. Campbell, this fact seemed to be of some archæological
interest. Mr. Tyler, in his ‘Early History of Mankind,’ gives
many instances of the old savage instruments having lasted to
our times, _e.g._, the flint knife used to cut cabbages by
some old woman in Orkney, the bone ‘barker’ from Cornwall, in
Christy and Blackmore Museums, the stone hammer for breaking the
shells of whelks in Brittany, and so on.
“My friend gave me an introduction to Mr. D. Munro, the
chamberlain of Sir James Matherson, Bart., at Stornoway, in the
Lewes, and Mr. Munro promptly sent me a complete tea-service
consisting of teapot, milk-jug, sugar-basin, slop-basin, egg
cups (or probably dram cups), cups and saucers, and marmalade
pot! which he had purchased for the magnificent sum of 10s.
from an old woman at Stornoway, who was actually using them
in the year of grace 1868 at her tea table. The pottery is
evidently hand-made, and is of a very rough quality and form,
baked, but not turned on the wheel. I gave half the set to the
Blackmore Museum at Salisbury, and half to the Christy Museum,
at 103, Victoria Street (visible on Fridays between 10 and
4 p.m. by ticket obtained at the British Museum; no doubt a
letter enclosing stamped envelope would save the trouble of an
application to the British Museum). The pottery is in a case in
the secretary’s room. I am not sure if this room is shown to the
public, but of course it would be shown to any one having an
object in view.
“The remarkable thing is, that the pottery is distinctly copied,
rudely enough, from modern pottery. The forms are ordinary
Tottenham Court Road forms, and their continued use in an island
with a regular steamboat service from Glasgow strikes me as very
curious.
“Of course the view of the pottery is open to you, and all the
information contained in this letter. I should prefer, however,
not having my name published, unless to substantiate any
statements I have made.”
Manufactories of brown ware, of delft, of common earthenware, and
fire-clay goods, have also existed, or exist, in other parts of
Scotland.