Chapter IV
Chesterfield--Caskon--Heathcote--Brampton--Posset Pots--Puzzle Jugs--Welshpool and Payne Potteries--The Pottery--Walton Pottery--Wheatbridge Pottery--Alma, Barker, and London Potteries--Whittington--Bromley--Jewitt--Newbold--Eckington--Belper --Codnor Park--Denby--Bournes Pottery--Shipley--Alfreton--Langley Mills--Ilkeston--Pinxton--Pinxton China--China Tokens--Wirksworth--Dale Abbey--Repton--Encaustic Tiles--Tile Kilns, London--Tickenhall--Kings Newton--Burton-on-Trent--Swadlincote Potteries--Church Gresley Potteries--Gresley Common--Woodville--Hartshorne, &c.--Wooden Box--Rawdon Works--Pool Works--Coleorton--&c., &c.
CHESTERFIELD.
The earliest potter in Chesterfield of whom there is any record is William Caskon, or Kaskon, who died 8th Henry VIII. (1517), and the next is Ralph Heathcote, who was both a potter, brazier, and bell-founder. This Ralph Heathcote, who had married Elizabeth, daughter of John Tomson (or Tomason, as it is variously spelled), brazier, of Chesterfield, became by will of his father-in-law (will dated October 1, 1496) executor. Tomson lived in Saltergate, in a house previously held by William Forneday and Margaret his wife, which was surrendered to him in 1483. This house was afterwards, in 1501, released to “Ralph Heathcote, of Chesterfield, Potter.” This is evidenced by two deeds, one by Thomas Moore, of Cuttethorpe, releasing the messuage in Saltergate to “Ralph Hethcote, of Chesterfield, Potter”; and the other from Thomas Moore, of Cuttethorp, and James Moore, of Syrley Grange, “to Ralph Hethecote, of Chesterfield, Potter,” a bond for £20 to secure peaceable possession of the messuage in the Saltergate, Chesterfield, late in the occupation of John Tomson, deceased, and W. Forneby, deceased.”
It is evident, from a deed of 8th Henry VIII. (1517), that Ralph Heathcote took to the trade and goods of William Caskon, potter, of Chesterfield, in that year. The deed is a receipt from “Isabel Kaskon, ye daughter of William Caskon, of Chesterfield, Potter, lately deceased,” to “Rauff Hethcote, of ye same place, brasier, for her child’s part of the goodes and money of the said William Caskon.”
In 1557–8 Robert Parker, of Chesterfield, gent., and Mary, his wife, son and heir of George Parker, deceased, of the one part, and Rauf Heathcott, of Chesterfield, potter, of the other part, released a tenement in Saltergate, and lands at Tapton Lane.
The manufacture of pottery continued uninterruptedly from Heathcote’s time downwards, although the names of the potters are not always to be found. In a scarce little book, entitled “A Short Tour in the Midland Counties of England performed in the Summer of 1772,” the following interesting notice of Chesterfield occurs:--
“Chesterfield is a large town; but, as I passed through, I saw nothing uncommon but the ugly church; it is old and built of bad stone, but rendered most disgusting by its wooden spire (covered with lead) being so much warped that I discovered its crookedness at three miles distance. In the town is a manufacture of pots. At Asher and many villages in the neighbourhood camomile is much cultivated.”
Pilkington, who wrote in 1789, says, speaking of the manufactures of Chesterfield:--
“Nor should it be omitted, that a large quantity of coarse earthenware is manufactured here. In this business three potteries are worked, which afford employment to about sixty hands.”
Sir Richard Phillips, who wrote his “Tour” in 1828, says, speaking of Chesterfield:--
“There are some potteries in this neighbourhood which employ about 200 persons, at wages of from 10s. to 13s. per week, and for better workmen, from 18s. to 25s. The description of manufacture is exclusively brown ware, except in one instance, which includes black also. The number of potteries is ten, and the larger part is for home consumption, though a small proportion is sent to the Dutch market.”
BRAMPTON.
The manufacture of brown ware at Brampton has probably been established a couple of centuries. In the early part of the present century there were here six earthenware manufactories, which were carried on by the following persons:--Mrs. Blake (this now forms part of the works of Mr. Matthew Knowles); Mr. William Briddon (now continued by his son); Mr. Luke Knowles (now forming part of Mr. Matthew Knowles’ works); Mr. Thomas Oldfield (now continued by his nephew, Mr. John Oldfield); Mr. John Wright (now discontinued; it stood on what is now the site of the present rectory of St. Thomas’s Church); and that of Edward Wright and Son (still carried on by the family). At the present time there are eight manufactories, which will be separately spoken of presently. At these, brown ware of a remarkably hard and durable quality, and stoneware of the most impervious character, are made in great perfection and in immense quantities. The clays principally used are “Stone Edge,” or “Lidd clay,” found at East Moor, or Wadshelf, about three miles away, and “Brampton clay,” found in the immediate neighbourhood.
At Brampton, “posset pots” have, for some centuries, been, and still continue to be, made. Of these some notice is already given in vol. i., pp. 107, 108, and 418. The two here engraved (Figs. 95 and 96) show their general form; the one is dated 1750 and the other 1819. I have myself examples as late as 1874. Usually the name of the parties for whom they are made are incised in same manner as the pattern.
Another marked feature of Brampton, or “Chesterfield Ware,” has for a long period been the “puzzle jugs” there made. These, which are still produced on the old models, as well as in more modern applications of the principle, are made in a variety of shapes and of various sizes. In some the perforations in the neck and rim are more elaborate and intricate than in others, and some have three, five, or seven spouts. Commonly, as in Fig. 97, they are ornamented with figures or other designs in relief, but sometimes are plain.
Another usual class of design is that which includes jugs, mugs, and other vessels whose handles (Fig. 98) are formed of more or less cleverly modelled greyhounds. Some of the larger of these mugs have two, others three, and others four, handles thus formed.
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The Welshpool and Payne Potteries.--These works, belonging to Messrs. Matthew Knowles and Son, are among the largest in Brampton. They embrace the old works carried on last century by Mr. Blake, and afterwards by his widow, and those of Mr. Luke Knowles, with considerable additions. They came into the hands of Mr. Matthew Knowles about 1840, and were by him considerably enlarged. Recently he has been joined in partnership by his son, under the style of “Matthew Knowles & Son,” and the works were again in 1875 very much extended. At these works all the general descriptions of brown and stone ware goods are produced; but an immense number of articles are made for the Australian, Russian, African, and Jamaica markets, as well as for the home trade. Among the articles produced in large quantities at these works are stoneware spirit-bottles, and spirit kegs and barrels, which are much esteemed for their hardness and durability and their fine quality; ginger-beer bottles, both in stone ware and brown ware; jam jars, for wholesale preserve manufacturers (such as Grey, Dennett & Co., and others), in gallon and half-gallon sizes, in brown ware glazed inside, forming one of the staple productions of Mr. Knowles, and of which, with one exception, he is the only maker in the district; stew and sauce pots; fruit and other jars; flat dishes; turtle and beef pots; bowls and collanders; tobacco-jars, highly ornamented; “Punch” jugs of striking design, “hunting” jugs, “game” jugs, and other jugs designed and modelled with great taste; puzzle-jugs; posset-pots; candlesticks of classical design and good execution; bread-baskets; toast-racks; tea-kettles; flower-pots and vases; foot and carriage warmers; grotesque tobacco-pipes, and a large variety of other goods, besides the usual domestic vessels, are made at these works, and are as good as the common nature of the material will admit. The filters made by Mr. Knowles, of which he produces a large number, are of excellent construction, and of good design. They are among the best produced, and being in the fine deep rich colour of the “Chesterfield ware,” are very effective, and perhaps more pleasing in appearance than many others in the “Bristol ware,” &c. In china clay ware also a large variety of articles of remarkably good quality are made. It may be well to add that at these works the clay is prepared by steam. It is “blunged,” and then passed through a fine sieve, driven at considerable speed on a large flat iron boiler, heated by steam, where it is boiled to a proper stiffness. It is then passed through a pug-mill, and is ready for use. Mr. Knowles’s are the only works in Brampton where this process is adopted.
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“The Pottery.”--These works were established, in 1810, by “Messrs. Oldfield, Madin, Wright, Hewitt & Co.,” by whom they were carried on. After various changes and retirements, Mr. John Oldfield became, in 1838, sole proprietor of the works, and under his name they continue at the present time. The works have from time to time been considerably extended; they are now nearly the largest in the district, and employ a large number of hands. The goods manufactured are the usual descriptions known as “New Brampton” or “Chesterfield ware,” or, as more frequently falsely called in the London and other markets, “Nottingham ware,”--a remarkably hard, compact, and durable salt-glazed brown ware; and stoneware, which is dipped in different “slips.” In “brown ware,” the principal goods produced are dishes and bowls of various kinds; turtle, beef, butter, Dutch, stew, sauce, and other pots; bottles and jars of all shapes and sizes, and for all uses; pitchers and jugs in endless variety; churns: milk-pans and pancheons; nappies and porringers; tea and coffee-pots; Welsh trays; carriage and feet-warmers; hare-pans and dog-troughs; spirit and wine-barrels and kegs; figured flower-pots and stands; scent jars; “hunting,” “cottage,” “tulip,” and other figured jugs and mugs; moulds for puddings, blanc-mange, jellies, &c., of great beauty and of excellent and even artistic design, and many other articles. In “antique ware,” Mr. Oldfield makes remarkably effective and well-designed hunting, game, cottage, tulip, and other jugs; figured Stilton-cheese stands; fruit-dishes and trays; tea and coffee-pots; tobacco-pots, some of which, with goblet and candlestick, are very striking; watch-stands; “Toby Fill-pot” jugs; small figures of stags, dogs, &c.; grotesque and twisted pipes; puzzle-jugs, &c. In stoneware many articles are also produced, the great bulk being bottles and spirit kegs of various kinds and of every size, from one pint up to ten or more gallons in capacity; and sanitary goods.
Filters also form a staple branch of the manufacture, and these are filted up on an exceedingly good principle, with vegetable charcoal, sand, &c., on the premises, and are supplied in large quantities both at home and for exportation. The manufacture of filters was here commenced in 1826.
The clays used and the processes observed in the manufacture may be briefly alluded to as follows:--
Five kinds of clay are here used, viz., Barclay, which is procured from Stanedge, near Wingerworth. This clay is used to make the arches which are technically called “Bars,” and two of them form nearly a semicircle that spans from side to side of the ovens and whereon the pots are placed. Setting-clay is a clay that is found on the peat-moss, near Stanedge, and is quite of a sandy nature: it acquires the name from its being rolled by the hands into “nobs” and placed upon the “Bars” to “set” the pots upon; unless this was used, the pots would have to be broken to get them off the “Bars.” The Lidd-clay (what is commonly called Fire-clay) is used in the lower parts of the “Ovens” or “Kilns,” because of its being stronger to resist the fire; this clay is procured from Loads, near Holymoorside, about two miles from Brampton. The next clay is the Brampton-clay which is burnt in the upper portion of the “Ovens,” because it will not stand the amount of fire that the Lidd-clay will, although it is of a much closer body, and, when glazed, will resist the action of any acids. Mixed-clay is burnt in the middle portion of the “Ovens;” it is, as its name implies, a mixture of the Brampton and Lidd-clay, of each about equal portions to suit the fire or heat in that portion of the ovens.
At these works spirit bottles of a similar character to the one engraved on Fig. 105 were made. One was a representation of Lord Brougham, with the words, “The true Spirit of Reform.”
Among the marks used by this firm are--
ESTABLISHED 1826 J. OLDFIELD & CO. CHESTERFIELD WATER FILTER MANUFACTURERS, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL AND FOR EXPORTATION.
OLDFIELD & CO MAKERS
OLDFIELD & CO. CHESTERFIELD.
J. OLDFIELD.
The Walton Pottery was built by William Briddon, the grandfather of the present proprietor, in 1790, and at his death was continued by his son, William Briddon. This gentleman died in 1848, and was succeeded by his son, William Briddon, the present proprietor. It has consequently, from the first to the present moment, been carried on by three generations of William Briddons. The goods made are brown ware and stoneware in all their varieties. In these are produced stew, souse, turtle, beef, and butter pots; jugs of every variety; preserve and pickle jars; pancheons, bowls, and cullenders; porringers and patty-pans; bottles of every conceivable size and shape; filters; spirit-barrels and kegs; foot-bottles and carriage-warmers; tea and coffee-pots; twisted and grotesque pipes, and many other articles. In quality they are much the same as those of other Brampton manufactories.
Wheatbridge Pottery.--These works have been in the family of their present proprietor for three generations. They are now carried on by Mrs. J. Walton Wright, the widow of the late proprietor. The staple trade of the manufactory is general brown ware for the Dutch markets.
The Alma Pottery was commenced by its present proprietor, Mr. Samuel Lowe, and his then partners, about 1852. After a few years Mr. Lowe’s two partners withdrew from the concern, and it has continued in his hands solely to the present time. The goods produced are the same general kinds, both of wares and articles, as the other Brampton potteries. In brown ware and in stoneware Mr. Lowe produces filters, bottles of every kind and size, jugs and mugs, jars of various descriptions, and all the articles usually produced in these wares, and of the same general quality as those of other works in the district.
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Barker Pottery, belonging to Mr. Henry Briddon. Here all the usual articles in brown ware are made.
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The Pottery of Mr. William Briddon, Jun., produces the usual kinds of wares, and most of the articles, of the district.
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The London Pottery, belonging to Messrs. F. Lipscombe & Co., of London, was established by them for the purpose of manufacturing their filters.
WHITTINGTON.
At Whittington, pot works have existed from an early date, and are still continued. At these much good ware and many specialities of design, &c., were produced; it is only necessary to premise that the goods are commonly known by the general term of “Chesterfield ware” or “Nottingham ware”--it being a fact that London houses still sell, and persist in calling, the products of these Derbyshire works by the latter name.
The Whittington Potteries[32] are of very old establishment, having been in existence since about the middle or latter end of the seventeenth century, if not longer. Here the ordinary brown ware of the period was manufactured; the ware being of extreme hardness and closeness of texture, and having a rich warm reddish-brown colour. About the year 1800, and for some years later, the works, which were near the race-course, were held by Mr. William Bromley, who, in addition to the ordinary brown ware, made also a white, or cream-coloured, earthenware of fine quality. In this fine body he manufactured dinner, tea, and other services, principally decorated, in the prevailing manner, with transfer-printing in blue. He also practised batt-printing for some of his goods. Mr. Bromley also made some experiments in, and succeeded in producing, a very good china ware, but he did not prosecute this branch of manufacture to any extent. At that time, when Mr. Bromley was making the fine earthenware, and was experimenting on porcelain bodies, my late father, Mr. Arthur Jewitt, then a young man, was residing at Brampton, and was in habits of close intimacy with him. My father being a man of scientific, as well as of high literary attainments, and being, moreover, a good artist, took considerable interest in his friend Mr. Bromley’s manufacture, and at his own house at Brampton entered with spirit into a series of experiments in enamelling and enamel-printing, and in other processes for decorating the wares. For this purpose he caused to be erected in his own house two enamel kilns, one of which he had constructed on the ordinary simple principle of heating, and the other on the spiral principle. He also fitted up, for the purpose of these private experiments, a small printing-room, and here, being, as I have said, a good artist, he tried various processes for transferring aquatints and etchings (which he etched and prepared himself) by the batt-process, both on to the biscuit and on to the white glazed ware. By this process he produced many remarkably successful transfers; but, like the boy who dug up the seeds in his garden day by day, to see if they were sprouting, and so killed them, he was always so impatient to see the result of his experiments that he did not wait for the fire in the kilns to die out, but opened the doors, and so frequently spoiled all the pieces. Sufficient, however, remained each time to show that he was right in his experiments, and that his trials were all that could be desired.
Besides transfer-printing, he tried some interesting experiments in surface-painting on the biscuit. Only one example of this ware is known to exist, and this fortunately is now in my own possession. It is here engraved (Fig. 103). It bears a view of (I believe) Renishaw Hall, and part of the park, with deer, &c. The body is extremely light, and the painting highly artistic. It is simply surface-painted on the biscuit. It is a small flower-pot, or “bow-pot,” and saucer, and is only 3⅜ inches in height.
These experiments are highly interesting in connection with the Whittington and Brampton potteries. They were very successful, and showed that had my father devoted his time and his talents to the process, great results would have been achieved. As it was, he prosecuted his inquiries as an amateur only, and from a simple love of the art, and his name, until I made it known in the Art-Journal a few years ago, has never been publicly associated with the fictile history of the country. I felt that it was due to the memory of one of the most talented of men, and the best of parents, that I should place his name on record in connection with an art in which, for a short time, in midst of a busy literary life,[33] he took such a lively interest.
Mr. Bromley continued the works for some years, when they changed hands. He was a man of great ability and of much spirit, and did more to further the standard of excellence of the works in his district than any of his contemporaries. He had three sons, Rev. Samuel Bromley, who was a poet of no ordinary stamp, and was a Baptist missionary to Jamaica and other countries; Joseph Bromley, who entered the army; and the Rev. James Bromley, whose name is well known in connection with the Wesleyan persuasion. The works afterwards belonged to Messrs. Robert Bainbrigge & Co. The pot-works at Whittington, in the early part of the present century, were carried on by Mr. William Johnson and Mr. Aaron Madin. At the present time there are two manufactories at this place; viz. those of Mr. Samuel Lancaster, successor to Mr. Madin, and Mr. James Pearson.
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Stone Bottle Works.--These works, at Whittington Moor, were established in 1818 by Mr. Aaron Madin, and they are now carried on in his name by his son-in-law, Mr. Samuel Lancaster. The goods produced are in stoneware, brown ware, and coarse black ware. The stoneware is made of fire-clay, found underneath the Tupton coal-measures at Brampton and elsewhere, and glazed with the usual compound of flint, Paris white, Cornwall stone, barytes, and ground glass. It is of good quality, and very hard and durable. The ground ware is, as is usual in the district, salt-glazed; and the black ware, which is made of the common brick-clay, is glazed chiefly with lead-ore. The goods produced are the usual domestic and other articles made in the neighbourhood, and their quality is equal to most others.
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Whittington Pottery.--At these works, belonging to Mr. James Pearson, the usual classes of goods, as made at the other potteries of the district, are produced.
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Whittington Moor Pottery.--Mr. S. Lancaster (late A. Madin) has a manufactory of coarse pancheon ware at this place; the body, as usual, coarse red outside, and lined with a black glaze inside.
NEWBOLD.
There is a manufactory of coarse brown ware--pancheons, bread-pans, stein-pots, &c.,--carried on by Mr. W. Sharratt at this place. The productions are of much the same character as those of Whittington Moor, Tickenhall, &c.
ECKINGTON.
Pilkington in 1789 says, “A manufacture of sickles is carried on. There are also two potteries in the town.”
BELPER.
About the middle or towards the latter part of last century, a small manufactory of common coarse brown ware existed here, and about 1800 Mr. William Bourne took to the works carried on by Messrs. Blood, Webster, and Simpson, at Belper Pottery. Mr. William Bourne, sen., was, it appears, very much engaged in the business of the then new canal. Letters of his, and of his son, William Bourne, jun., in which reference is made to his connection with the canal, and show business transactions between them and Mr. Duesbury of the Derby China Works, are in my own possession. Mr. Bourne carried on the manufacture of salt-glazed blacking, ink, ginger-beer, and spirit bottles. The ordinary brown ware, produced from a less vitreous clay, found on the spot, consisted of bowls, pans, pancheons, dishes, pitchers, and all the commoner varieties of domestic vessels, and these were of excellent and durable quality. The stoneware bottles, &c., were made from a finer and more tenacious bed of clay, at Denby, a few miles distant. The finer, or figured wares, were made from clay procured from Staffordshire. By Mr. Bourne all these descriptions of goods were made, but he principally confined himself to the manufacture of stoneware bottles of various kinds. A good antique-shaped hunting jug, and other similar articles, with figures in relief, was also extensively made. In 1812, Mr. Joseph Bourne (son of William Bourne) took to the Denby Pottery (which see) then carried on by Mr. Jäger, and the two works were carried on simultaneously until 1834, when the Belper Pottery was finally closed, the workpeople, plant, and business being removed to Denby, and incorporated with those works, and the premises converted into cottages. From that time no pottery has been made at Belper. The site of the works was at Belper-Gutter, and “Pot-House Lane,” the name of one of the streets, perpetuates the manufacture.
The mark used while these works were carried on in conjunction with those at Denby was this; and it may be well to remark that a series of political bottles, bearing representations of various Reform leaders, were made. On these the head of the individual--the King, Sir Francis Burdett, Earl Grey, or whomsoever was intended--formed the neck of the bottle, and the arms and bust the shoulder; political references, and the name of the political leader, were impressed on the clay. One of these, which represents the King (William IV.) is engraved on Fig. 105. It bears in front the words “WILLIAM IV.’S REFORM CORDIAL,”--the “cordial” being the brandy or other spirit it was intended to contain. Another is a representation, in smaller form, of Lord John Russell (afterwards Earl Russell); it bears, in front, the name “LORD JOHN RUSSELL,” and on a scroll which he holds in his hand are inscribed the words, “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF REFORM.” At the back is the mark Fig. 104. At these works too, I believe, quaintly designed inkstands, of which Fig. 106 is an example, were made. The projecting lower jaw formed the well for the ink, while holes on the shoulders served for places to put the pens in when not in use. They were made of the ordinary vitrified stoneware.
In 1827 a coarse-ware pottery was carried on here by Mr. Heapey.
CODNOR PARK.
The pottery at Codnor Park was built in the year 1820, by the world-renowned Butterley Iron Company, the owners of the famed iron works of Butterley and Codnor Park. At this time the Butterley works were under the management of the late Mr. William Jessop, son of one of the partners, and afterwards senior partner of the firm. Some years before this time the Company had constructed a large cast-iron bridge for the Nabob of Oude, and on its despatch a brother of Mr. William Jessop accompanied it to India to superintend its erection, taking with him several workmen, among whom was an engine-fitter named William Burton. From some cause or other the bridge was not erected by the Nabob, and after remaining several years in India, the parties returned to England. On their return, this William Burton was induced to commence the pottery, and having engaged a skilled workman from the Brampton Potteries, near Chesterfield, he commenced operations in 1821. The pottery was situated near the Codnor Park Iron Works, from which it took its name, and pretty close to the Butterley Canal, and was successfully carried on for several years. Sir Richard Phillips, in his “Tour,” in 1828, thus notes the pottery:--
“Over near Codnor Castle, I viewed a rough and ill-built manufactory, where they turn and bake those opaque bottles used for ginger-beer, soda-water, liquid blacking, &c. About 50 women and children finish 100 gross per day, and they sell the pints at 15_d._ and 16_d._ per doz., and all pints at 2_s._, and quarts at 3_s._ 6_d._ They are made of the clay of the vicinity, and the agent for selling them is Kemp, in Milk Street, London. They are harder and less liable to burst than glass bottles.”
In 1832, Mr. Burton having got into pecuniary difficulties, the works were closed. After remaining unworked for many months, the concern was, in 1833, taken by Mr. Joseph Bourne, of the Denby Pottery. They gave employment to about sixty persons.
The Codnor Park Works were carried on by Mr. Bourne until 1861, when they were finally closed, and the workmen, plant, &c. were transferred to the Denby Works, where additional work-rooms had been erected for their accommodation.
The clay was of a similar kind to that used at Denby, but owing to a larger impregnation of iron the ware produced therefrom was not equal in appearance to that made at Denby, though the bottles were highly vitreous, and had an extensive sale. This clay was obtained at Cupet Green, in the immediate neighbourhood, and the coal from Birchwood Colliery. (The hard coal is the only kind adapted for burning in the salt-glazed kilns.) London was the chief market, the crates being forwarded by canal.
The classes of goods produced at Codnor Park were all the usual classes of household vessels, and also stoneware bottles of various kinds, and of all sizes up to six gallons, and pans, bowls, jugs, pitchers, and other articles. Besides these, however, a remarkably fine, compact, light, and delicate buff-coloured terra-cotta was produced. In this were made butter-coolers, vases of various kinds, flower-baskets and pots, ewers, spill-cases, and numberless other articles. Many of these were of excellent design, and beautifully decorated with foliage and other ornaments in relief. Puzzle-jugs, &c. were also made of this material, and surface-painted with a peculiar mottled effect. The mark during Mr. Burton’s time was his name and “Codnor Park,” or simply the name “Wm. Burton,” impressed on the clay. The manufacture of ordinary household earthenware was discontinued when Mr. Bourne took to the concern, his operations being confined to the manufacture of bottles. For some of this information I am indebted to Mr. Humphrey Goodwin (through Mr. Bourne of Codnor Park), who was connected with the works from their opening in 1821 until their close.
DENBY.
The “Denby Pottery” is situated in the parish of Denby, seven miles from Derby and two from Ripley,--a village memorable as being the birthplace of Flamstead, the astronomer,--in the midst of the rich ironstone and coal-fields of Derbyshire, the former of which are said to have been regularly worked from the time of the Romans.[34] The works were commenced in 1809 by a Mr. Jäger, on the estate of W. Drury Lowe, Esq., where, some time before, a valuable and extensive bed of clay had been found to exist. This clay, previous to the establishment of the Denby Works, was used at the Belper Pottery, for the manufacture of stoneware ink, blacking, and other bottles. The Denby clay was also supplied to the Derby China Works, in considerable quantities, where it was used for saggers, and for a few other articles which were produced. In 1812, Mr. Joseph Bourne, son of William Bourne, of the Belper Pottery, succeeded Mr. Jäger, and the Belper and Denby works were carried on simultaneously until 1834, when the Belper Works were discontinued, and the plant and workpeople removed to Denby. The works were at this time much increased, and gradually extended their operations. In 1833, the Codnor Park Works (which see) passed into the hands of Mr. Bourne, and were carried on by him, along with those of Denby, until 1861, when they were closed, and the workpeople, plant, &c., as in the case of the Belper Works, removed to Denby. Considerable additions were made for this increase of workpeople, and the manufactory was much extended. In 1845, Mr. Bourne also became possessed of the Shipley Pottery (which see), and in 1856 removed those works to Denby. With the Denby Pottery are therefore incorporated those of Belper, Codnor Park, and Shipley.
Mr. Joseph Bourne having taken his son, Joseph Harvey Bourne, into partnership, the business was carried on under the style of Joseph Bourne and Son, and has so continued until the present day. Joseph Bourne died in 1860, and his son in 1869, and the works are still carried on, under the old trading style, by the family. In 1851 a medal was awarded to Mr. Bourne for his stone bottles.
In addition to the extensions required from time to time at Denby to provide for these continual augmentations arising from the closing of the smaller works, the business has so extended as to necessitate considerable additions and improvements. Excellent machinery has been applied to the blunging and other processes, and instead of the old process of getting rid of the water from the slip by evaporation, the clay is obtained therefrom by the patented process invented by Messrs. Needham and Kite, Vauxhall, London, ten of their presses being employed, turning out at least 25 tons per day of workable clay. The class of ware produced has not varied to any extent, though an advance in shape and quality is evident from a comparison with some of the earlier specimens extant. The great bulk of the stoneware produced by Messrs. Bourne and Son is the kind known as the salt-glazed stoneware, which, on account of its peculiar vitreous and non-absorbent qualities, is in great demand not only in the home market, but in all parts of the world. About the year 1836 a considerable change was made in the size and form of the salt-glazed kilns, and for these improvements Mr. Joseph Bourne obtained a patent. The old kilns were only half the height of the present ones, and had each five chimneys. To these, what may be called an upper storey has been added, and, while the lower half is fired by mouths opening into the kiln and the flame passing perpendicularly up the kiln, the upper portion is fed by fires passing out of the kiln by means of flues at the side, and the modern kilns have only one chimney, thus securing a better consumption of smoke and lessening the objectionable results which would follow from such a dense volume of smoke proceeding from a low chimney. Since this patent was taken out an additional improvement has been made by the erection on the top of each kiln of a separate small oven, in which biscuit or terra-cotta fancy articles can be burnt, these being simply burnt by the heat passing up the chimney and from the top of the kiln, but no flame or salt-glaze reaching the goods. Much thought and care as well as considerable expense have been expended during the last twenty years to perfect the manufacture of telegraph insulators, and the very large business transactions in this department proves that the enterprise of the firm has not been fruitless.
Messrs. Bourne and Son have for many years possessed the exclusive right to manufacture Mr. Varley’s Patent Double V. Insulators, and since the transfer of the telegraphs to the Government, the firm have executed immense quantities for that department of the public service. A demand having recently arisen for white-glazed ink and other bottles, additional appliances have been provided on the most approved and modern principles, which have enabled the firm to produce a class of ware of this description unrivalled alike for its excellence and appearance.
The main productions of the works are as follows:--
In bottles, which are the staple production, almost every variety are manufactured in large quantities both in the patented vitreous stone, and white glazed, varieties of ink-bottles of every shape and size are made by thousands weekly, as are also ale, porter, ginger-beer, blacking, fruit, and every other kind of bottles. Spirit and other liquor bottles, with handles, up to a very large size, are also made. Feet-warmers, carriage-warmers, and medical appliances, with or without patent screw stoppers; spittoons, tobacco-jars, churns, mortars and pestles, pipkins, bird fountains, inkstands, feeding-bottles, candlesticks, pork-pie moulds, and every variety of domestic vessels, are made. Druggists’ shop-jars, snuff-jars, spirit-barrels, pudding-moulds, &c., many of them highly ornamented, are also made. The filters are of excellent construction, and good form, and are made to purify from 5 to 30 gallons per day each.
“Hunting Jugs”--a name by which a certain class of jugs with raised ornaments consisting of hunting subjects, sometimes a stag, at others a fox, chased by horsemen and dogs; and with other relief subjects of trees, bee-hives, windmills, and men seated smoking or drinking, &c., are called--are made here to a great extent, and of the hardest and most durable quality, and with an excellent glaze. Some of these are made with greyhound handles of very clever and effective design, of the class shown on Fig. 98. Upright jugs, or canettes, of the same general character, are also made, as are also plain jugs. Jars, too, are a staple branch of the Denby manufacture, and for preserves, pickles, jellies, marmalades, &c., are considered to be of the best quality. They are made of the most approved shapes, and of every variety of size, covered and uncovered; one great advantage of this make being the great width of the mouth, ensuring cleanliness, and preventing the waste that occurs with an overhanging shoulder. The same remark holds good with regard to the stew-pots.
In terra-cotta, which is of a remarkably light and fine quality, and of a warm buff colour, many elegant articles are made. These are flower vases of various designs, lotus vases, garden and other vases, wine-coolers, water-bottles, ewers with snake handles, flower-stands, Stilton-cheese stands and trays, fern stands, fonts, Indian scent jars, butter coolers, mignionette boxes, and many other articles of artistic excellence.
The marks used by the Denby Pottery are as follows:--
But besides these, which, by the way, are only used upon some of the goods, the great bulk being made without any mark at all, there are others which it is not necessary to particularise.
SHIPLEY.
These works were commenced about 1825 on the estate of Edward Miller Mundy, Esq., of Shipley Hall, by whom the buildings were erected, in consequence of the discovery of valuable beds of clay. They were first carried on by some working potters from the Staffordshire district, and the ordinary classes of goods in “cane” or “yellow” ware were produced, as were also Rockingham ware tea-pots and other articles. These were made to a considerable extent, and of good quality, but the works did not answer. They were next taken by a Mr. Waite, a blacking manufacturer, from London, who commenced making stoneware bottles for his own blacking, and other articles of general use. Eventually, in 1845, the works passed into the hands of Mr. Bourne, of the Denby pottery, and were carried on by him. The clay at Shipley was of two kinds--one was obtained from the hard seam coal after the coal was worked, at a depth of 250 yards. This was of a beautiful and extremely fine quality, but was of itself difficult to work owing to a want of tenacity. It was found, however, that by using in equal proportions this clay and another known as the Waterloo seam, which was about 100 yards from the surface, an excellent body was produced. At this period the coal mines on the estate furnished saline and chalybeate waters, which were much in repute; and bottles, specially designed for these waters, were made in large quantities at these works. Some of these bottles are still preserved, and are of excellent material. They bear impressed on the side a garter ribbon, on which are the words In me suprema Salus, enclosing the name SHIPLEY SALINE WATER in three lines. In 1856 the Shipley pottery was closed; the workmen, plant, &c., being removed to, and incorporated with, the Denby pottery.
ALFRETON.
During the last, and the early part of the present century, brown ware of common quality, and red-ware pancheons, &c., were made at Alfreton, but have long been discontinued. Pilkington, who wrote in 1789, says, “There are also here six malt offices, and two potteries of the brown earthen ware.” The site of the last of these pot sheds, I am informed by Mr. Rowbottom, was purchased, in 1845, by the Gas Company, for their works, and during the progress of building, &c., only the commonest brown ware was seen.
CRICH.
Somewhat extensive pot works existed here, on Morewood Moor, in the middle and latter part of last century, or probably much earlier. In 1763 they belonged to a Mr. Thomas Dodd, who in that year became bankrupt. The estates were somewhat extensive, and their sale--land and houses, &c.--covered three days. The sale was “at the house of Mr. Jonathan Kendall, known by the sign of the Peacock, near Alfreton, in Derbyshire.” The following is a copy of the description of the lots in which the pot works occur:--
Lot 1. A large commodious Dwelling House, called Crich Pot House, standing in Wheatcroft, within the said parish of Crich, together with the Garden, walled round, and planted with Wall Fruit, and a Summer House within; and all the Outhouses, Barns, Stables, Cowhouses, Workrooms, Pot furnace, Warehouses and other Edifices therto belonging. And also those six several closes or parcels of enclosed land lying and being in Wheatcroft aforesaid, therto adjoining and belonging, containing by estimation about 38 acres, and being tythe free and paying a chief rent of Two pence halfpenny per ann. And also the Potter’s Clay upon all the commons or waste grounds within the Manor of Lea (within which Manor the before mentioned premises lie), all which are now in the occupation of Mr. Thomas Wheldon, or his assigns.
Lot 2. A Leasehold estate for the reversion of a term of 99 years, which commenced at Lady Day, 1744, of one acre of Land to be fenced out of the South-east corner of a certain Close in Wheatcroft aforesaid, commonly called Agnes, otherwise Annis Bottom, under the yearly rent of one pound. Upon which said acre of Land there is now built and standing a good new Pot House, with Workrooms, Pot furnace, Warehouses, and all other Edifices and Apartments necessary for a Pottery, now also in the possession of the said Mr. Wheldon.
Lot 3. A Close (being formerly three Closes) in Plaistow, within the parish of Crich aforesaid, containing about 8 acres, being tythe free, together with a Windmill, Kiln for drying Corn, and Blacksmith’s Shop, standing thereupon, being only separated from the fold-yard of the aforesaid house, called Crich Pot-house, by a narrow Lane (called Dark Lane) which said Close pays a Chief rent of £6 per ann., and is now in the holding of the said Mr. Wheldon.
Lot 4. A Dwelling House with a Barn and Cowhouse, and two Closes of Land adjoining, tythe free, in Plaistow aforesaid, containing about five acres, paying only a Chief rent of 4d. per ann., and now in the occupation of John Bacon and Mr. Thomas Wheldon.
Lot 5. A Messuage, House, Barn, and Stable, Two Cowhouses, and other Edifices in Wheatcroft aforesaid, and also a large Orchard, planted with Fruit Trees, and six several Closes therto belonging, tythe free, containing about 18 acres, formerly in the holding of William Street, deceased, paying a Chief rent of Two pence halfpenny per ann., and subject to an annuity of Twenty shillings a year, payable thereout to the Vicar of Crich, for the time being. N.B.--There’s a large quantity of Potter’s Clay in this Farm.
“The Potters’ Clay Delph,” or “Delph of Pot Clay,” is also stated to go through two other of the lots.
Mr. Robinson, who has searched into matters regarding the Crich Pottery, gives me the following particulars. They were situated near the “Pot-House Farm,” as the place is still called. The buildings still remain and are known as the “Pot-House Hillocks.” After the bankruptcy of Thomas Dodd, the works were carried on by George Bacon, and at his death passed into the hands of his son, Edward Bacon, who gave up the earthenware manufacture and converted the place into a brickyard; this also he closed about 1810. Of the ware made here, which appears to have been brown ware, like that of Brampton, nothing reliable is known. A posset-pot, formerly belonging to the landlord of the Horse and Groom, a public-house a mile off, is said to be an undoubted example; it bears the names of the then landlord and his wife--“John and Mary Wood, 1794.” A spill-board weight, bearing on one side the date 1760, with initials, and on the other the initials G B (supposed to be George Bacon) and a fleur-de-lis, is also supposed to have been made here.
LANGLEY MILLS.
Langley Mill Pottery.--This pottery was established by its present owner, Mr. James Calvert, in 1865, and was the first established in the neighbourhood. The productions are vitrified stoneware of similar character and quality to that of Messrs. Bourne at Denby. In this ware a large trade is done in ginger-beer, ink, beer, and other bottles, and all the usual domestic vessels--jars, pitchers, hot-water bottles, foot-warmers, jugs, mugs, &c.--are produced from clay found in the neighbourhood. The works are extensive and well arranged, consisting of three kilns for brown ware and one for Bristol ware.
ILKESTON.
The “Ilkeston Potteries” were established by the late Mr. George Evans in 1807, and were carried on by him until his decease, in 1832, when he was succeeded by his son, Mr. Richard Evans, the present sole proprietor of the concern. At first, and during the lifetime of Mr. George Evans, Derbyshire stone bottles alone were made, and these are still manufactured to a large extent. By the present proprietor the buildings have been considerably increased, and a general pottery added for the production of useful articles in stoneware and ornamental terra-cotta goods. The present productions of the works are in stoneware bottles, jars, pans, &c., of all sizes and of every usual form; filters of an improved construction; carriage, foot, and other warmers; sanitary pipes, and ware of every kind, &c., &c.; and in terra-cotta, vases, pedestals, flower and tree boxes and pots, garden-edgings, chimney-tops, &c., of various designs, and all the more usual productions of fire-clay goods.
PINXTON.
The village of Pinxton (a large parish in East Derbyshire, close on the borders of Nottinghamshire) is principally inhabited by colliers and other “hardy sons of toil,” who work in the ironstone mines and at the furnaces of the neighbourhood. The manor belongs to the family of Coke, the same family as the Cokes of Trusley and the Cokes of Melbourne, and to one of this family, John Coke, Esq., the establishment of the china works is owing. Mr. John Coke was the youngest brother of D’Ewes Coke, Esq., the lord of the manor; the second brother being Sir William Coke, Judge of the Supreme Court, Ceylon, who died at Trincomalee, in Ceylon. The present head of the family is Lieut.-Col. E. T. Coke, of Debdale. Mr. John Coke, who was born in 1775, passed several of the early years of his life at Dresden, and there, doubtless, acquired that love for porcelain ware which induced him to commence the manufactory at Pinxton on his return to this country. Having an idea that some clays found on the family estates near Pinxton might be made available for the manufacture of china ware, Mr. Coke entered into correspondence with Mr. Duesbury, of the Derby China Works, and sent him samples of his clays for trial and experiment. Whatever encouragement or otherwise he received from Mr. Duesbury--and I have reason to believe that encouragement was not given--the result of his own convictions and his own trials, &c., determined Mr. Coke on starting the works, and he ultimately made an engagement with William Billingsley, of the Derby China Works (which see, page 102); and having built a somewhat large and very conveniently arranged factory, commenced the manufacture of china ware in 1796.
William Billingsley was the son of William and Mary Billingsley, of the parish of St. Alkmund, Derby. In 1774 he was apprenticed by his widowed mother to Mr. Duesbury, the proprietor of the Derby China Manufactory, for five years, “to learn the art of painting upon china or porcelain ware,” as I have already shown in my notice of Billingsley on page 101, ante. In 1796 he left the Derby China Works, where he had been employed for the long period of twenty-two years, and removed to Pinxton, occupying, with his wife, his wife’s mother, and two daughters, a part of the factory built by Mr. Coke. Here Billingsley succeeded in producing that beautiful granular body which he afterwards perfected at Nantgarw and at Swansea; and here, too, stimulated by Mr. Coke’s good taste, he introduced faultless forms in his services and a high style of excellence in decoration. He brought with him several experienced workmen and artists from the Derby Works, and took into the factory, and instructed, several young people of Pinxton and its neighbourhood. His own time was thus so fully occupied with the management of the works, with the arrangement of the concern, and with the “overlooking” of the persons employed, that, unfortunately, his own skill and his own splendid colouring of roses and other flowers were lost to the manufacture; and thus we do not find that the expressed fear of his late Derby employers that “his going into another factory will put them in the way of doing flowers in the same way, which they are at present entirely ignorant of,” was sustained. In fact, while employed by Mr. Duesbury, Billingsley was in every way master of the art he had been taught; and he had acquired a peculiar method--entirely peculiar to himself--of painting roses which, with his free and truly artistic grouping and harmonious arrangement of colours, made his pieces so much sought after, that orders were constantly sent in for objects “painted with Billingsley’s flowers.” At this period of course his whole time was devoted to painting, and his heart was in his work. After leaving his employer, his attention was naturally, in the new sphere in which he found himself at Pinxton, almost wholly given to the practical instead of the Art portion of the establishment, and thus none, or scarcely any, of the known examples of Pinxton china bear evidence of being his handiwork. Indeed, it is not too much to say that, from the time when he closed his connection with the Derby Works, his Art-skill declined, but his manufacturing skill became more and more apparent.
The works at Pinxton were built by the side of the canal, and the workshops formed three sides of a square. These are still in existence at the present day, and are shown in the accompanying vignette, from a sketch made for the purpose. They are now converted into cottages, and are occupied by colliers and others. The kilns, &c., have entirely disappeared. The place and cottages are still called “China Square,” or “Factory Square.”
Through some misunderstanding or other, the arrangement between Messrs. Coke and Billingsley was not of long duration, and in a very few years--probably about 1800 or 1802--Billingsley left the place and removed to Mansfield, where, it is said, he for some time occupied himself in decorating and finishing china ware which he bought in the white state in Staffordshire. He afterwards, as I have already shown, removed to Torksey, Worcester, Nantgarw, Swansea, and Coalport, and died about 1827 or 1828.
Mr. Coke married in 1806 and settled at Debdale Hall, where he died in 1841, in his sixty-sixth year, leaving his estates to Lieut.-Col. Coke, their present possessor. At Debdale are preserved, with religious care, some of the finest examples ever made at Pinxton. These pieces were brought there by the founder of the works, Mr. John Coke just spoken of, and have remained there ever since. They consist of large semicircular spill-stands, mugs, &c., beautifully painted with views, one of which, a view of the family seat of Brookhill Hall, is remarkably fine. Some of the stands are grounded in the Dresden canary colour, and the whole are very choice and unique examples of Pinxton porcelain.
The group of china here engraved is a selection of pieces made during Billingsley’s time at Pinxton. The pieces are all remarkable for the beauty of the body and of the glaze, and some of them are also noticeable for the excellence of the gilding. The coffee-pot in the centre is one of a set bearing, in oval borders, views of different places either in Derbyshire or elsewhere. These landscapes are excellently painted, of a peculiar brownish effect which pervades the whole colouring, by James Hadfield, who was the best landscape painter at the works. The views on the pieces which have come under my notice are of local and other places: for instance, Pinxton Church, Darley Hall, Hartington Bridge, Ashwood Dale, Buxton, Wingerworth Hall, Tong Castle, Saltram, Menai Straits, Wanstead Church, Frog Hall, Caerphilly Castle, &c. The teapot and stand are of elegant shape, unusually narrow and carefully gilt; the stand is of peculiar form. The cup and saucer have the “Derby sprig” (Tournay sprig), as it is frequently called. The coffee-mug and flower-pot tell their own tale.
After the close of Billingsley’s connection with the Pinxton Works they were carried on by Mr. Coke with the assistance of a Mr. Banks. Afterwards Mr. Coke took Mr. John Cutts to manage the concern, and he became a partner in the works. In the later part of the time the manufactory was carried on by Cutts alone. At the close of the Pinxton Works, which took place about 1818, Mr. Cutts removed into Staffordshire--fixing himself at Lane End--where he commenced business; at first buying ware in the white and finishing it for sale. In 1811, Davies says, “There is a considerable porcelain manufactory at Pinxton, which finds employment for several hands.”
After Billingsley’s removal from Pinxton the character of the ware underwent a change. The granular body of which I have spoken as produced, and afterwards brought to such perfection, by him, was his own secret, and he zealously kept it. On leaving Pinxton this secret, naturally, went with him, and, of course, the goods produced after that time were of a different and much inferior body. The later ware approached pretty closely the ordinary china body of the time, and had a slightly bluish tint in the glaze. The decoration was also, as a rule, not equal to what it had been in the earlier days of the factory.
Among the workmen brought from Derby along with Billingsley, were Thomas Moore, a clever thrower; Ash, also a clever thrower and turner, and many others of repute. Among the painters, &c., were James Hadfield, a good landscape painter; Edward Rowland, a landscape painter; Morrell, who painted landscapes and flowers; Richard Robins, from London; William Alvey, and others, including Slater and Marriott. Alvey left Pinxton about 1803, and became master of Edingley School, near Southwell, where he died in 1867, aged about eighty-three. He had a numerous family, some of whom re-settled at Pinxton. Alvey was held in high respect at Edingley, and was possessed of remarkable natural gifts; he was an excellent musician, a clever draughtsman and colourist, a first-rate mathematician, a splendid penman, a very fair land-surveyor, and a poet of no mean order. He was fond of drawing and painting to the last.
No especial mark was used at the Pinxton Works. The number of the pattern was occasionally given, and sometimes a workman’s mark was added; and although other marks were used, none seem to have been adopted as distinctive of the works. A writing letter P and a Roman capital letter P have both been noticed as occurring on isolated specimens. A tea service, named to me by Capt. G. Talbot Coke, bears, however, inside the lid of the teapot, the word Pinxton, written in gold letters. The service is of a beautifully clear white china, with broad edges of burnished gold; a handsome arabesque border of red, blue, and gold ornamenting each piece.
One peculiarity connected with the Pinxton China Works remains to be noticed: it is the issuing of china tokens, i.e., tokens representing different values of money, made of china, and payable as money among the workpeople and others, including shopkeepers. These were issued in a time of difficulty, so that they were only temporary conveniences, and thus they possess great interest. They were of two distinct kinds. The general form was a circular disc of white china, thicker in the middle than at the edges--in fact, exactly of the form of a common magnifying glass--and bore on the obverse a figure of 5 in the centre, and the words, “Let the Bearer have in goods five shillings,” in four lines across. On the reverse a similar figure 5 and the words, “which place to account with John Coke, Pinxton. Decr. 24th, 1801,” in five lines across. The writing is in blue, and the tokens are well glazed. They were issued of various values, as 10_s._, 7_s._ 6_d._, 5_s._, 3_s._ 6_d._, 1_s._ 6_d._, and 1_s._ respectively. The one here engraved belongs to W. S. Coke, Esq., of Brookhill, and I am indebted for it to his nephew Capt. J. Talbot Coke. Others bore, as shown on the next engraving, simply the figure of value, gilt or painted on an oval disc. These tokens were used as promissory notes, and when returned to the works by their holders their value in money was given for them, and they were broken up and destroyed. They were payable in and around Pinxton, on one side as far as Sutton, but their payment did not extend to Mansfield. They were called “Mr. Coke’s coin,” or “Chainé money” (china money), in the provincialism of the locality.[35]
It is pleasant to see how the memory of the old china works at Pinxton is cherished by its inhabitants of the present day, among whom some of the people who worked there are still, at a ripe old age, living. One of these, in her eighty-fifth year, who began to work at the factory when but a child of some eleven years of age (at that time named Elizabeth Smith), and became ultimately the chief burnisher of the works, was, when I saw her a few years back, in full possession of all her faculties, and delighted in describing, with marvellous accuracy, all the processes employed. To her wonderful memory, and to that of others, as well as to documents and long personal research, I owe the information which I, in 1868, for the first time, gave in the Art-Journal, and now repeat, in regard to this interesting manufactory.
WIRKSWORTH.
Wirksworth is much more intimately mixed up with the history of the Ceramic Art than is usually imagined, and yet but little is known of the works which were there carried on, or of their productions. Dugdale, in 1799, says, “About forty years ago, a manufacture of porcelain was attempted, but it proved unsuccessful.... It was in the Holland Manor House that the unsuccessful manufacture of porcelain was attempted;” and Davis, in 1811, repeats the same thing: “In the Holland Manor House the manufacture of porcelain was attempted, about forty years ago, but proving unsuccessful, it was relinquished.” Holland House, where this manufacture was carried on, was the Manor House of the manor of Holland, otherwise Richmonds, which was given by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, to Sir Robert Holland, in which family it remained until the attainder of Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, in 1461; it afterwards belonged to Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, and was subsequently granted by the Crown to Ralph Gell. In 1745, Philip Gell leased the manor to “Robert Atkinson and Francis Parry, of Lincoln’s Inn, gentlemen,” and to “Andrew Wilkinson, of Boroughbridge, com. York, Esq., and Thomas Wilkinson, Esq., brother of the said Andrew Wilkinson.” In 1777 it was “leased by Philip Gell, Esq., of Hopton, to Richard Arkwright, of Cromford, cotton merchant.”
In this latter lease (dated 6th November, 1777), the china works are thus named: “All those several messuages, tenements, or dwelling-houses, and all other buildings, warehouses, workshops, and appurtenances, situate, standing, and being in Wirksworth, in the said county of Derby, heretofore used for the making and manufacturing of China Ware, and now in the tenure or occupation of the said Philip Gell, his assignee or assigns, tenant or under-tenants.” So that at that time the first china works had probably ceased to be in operation. In 1793, by deed dated 1st November, Richard Arkwright, Esq., assigned the remainder of the lease to Charles Hurt, Esq., of Wirksworth, in the following words: “All those several messuages, tenements, or dwelling-houses, and all other the buildings, warehouses, workshops, and appurtenances, situate, standing, and being in Wirksworth, heretofore used for y^e making and manufacturing of china, but now for picking cotton.”
My late friend, Mr. T. N. Ince, to whom Wirksworth is indebted for much patient research into its early history, thus wrote to me regarding the china works, having at my request turned his attention to the matter:--“I much regret that I did not extract from the original deed of co-partnership, which I once had in my hands, at least its date, parties, and the like. My opinion is that it was begun about the middle of last century, and did not continue more than a few years. I know the Hurts of Alderwasley, Gells of the Gatehouse and Hopton, Sir Thomas Burdett of Foremark, and many others were partners--nearly the same who were partners in the English and Welsh Mineral Company, of whose concerns were many papers in a bundle in my grandfather and father’s office, labelled ‘Tissington v. Burdett and others;’ and amongst them, Mr. Julius Cæsar Robiglio, of Hopton, gentleman, who was said to have been present at a duel in Italy, in which the then Philip Gell of Hopton slew his antagonist and fled to England with Mr. Cæsar Robiglio, who, I have heard my mother say, was a most gentlemanlike man. He died at Hopton, and was buried at Wirksworth or Carsington. The premises called ‘China House Yard’ were afterwards the property of the late Charles Hurt, Esq., senr. His son, Charles Hurt, junr., died in 1834, on whose death it was sold to the late Mr. John Wilson, maltster; whose son, Mr. Daniel Wilson, wine merchant, is the present owner.” Mr. Wilson, who has examined his title deeds specially for me, tells me they contain no information as to the china works.
Some years ago, during excavations which were being made, portions of saggers and of china were found; some of these are in my own possession.
It is said that after leaving Pinxton and other places, Billingsley attempted to establish china works here; being probably led to do so by the fact of felspar being abundant in the neighbourhood. Of this, however, there is no proof. Earthenware is also said at one time to have been made here; but of this, also, there is no proof.
DALE ABBEY.
Encaustic paving tiles were made here, within the grounds of the abbey, in the fourteenth century. The remains of the kiln in which they were fired were discovered some years back, and in and around it were several tiles and fragments of tiles.
REPTON.
Encaustic tiles were made here in the fourteenth century, and the kiln in which they were fired, and a vast number of unfinished tiles and fragments of tiles, were discovered in 1866. The site of the tile works was within the old abbey walls, and was accidentally brought to light by the boys of Repton School, who were busying themselves in levelling a piece of land for their cricket ground. During their work they came upon patches of a stiff red clay with fragments of tiles; and, presently afterwards, found some regular layers of them, face downwards. Next they came upon masses of brickwork, which, upon careful clearing, turned out to be a kiln for the firing of the tiles. Of this, and of the tiles found within and around it, I made careful measurements and drawings, and some of these are shown on the accompanying engravings.[36] The kiln, Fig. 119, consisted of two series of arches (each series consisting of six arches alternating with the same number of openings) over what may be termed two vaults, each 7 feet 6 inches long, by 2 feet 6 inches wide, and about 1 foot 10 inches in height. The arches were formed of chamfered bricks or tiles, those composing the actual arch measuring 7¼ inches in breadth at the square, or upper end; 2¾ inches in breadth at the lower end; 7¼ inches in length; 4½ inches in length on the square sides; 3½ on the chamfer; 1¼ inches in thickness at the upper end: and three quarters of an inch in thickness at the lower end. The basement, four inches in thickness, was formed of bricks or tiles. Upon this were built up, at distances of 4½ inches apart, the chamfered bricks from which the arches sprung, these being placed broadends together and so forming an hexagon. Between these the remainder of the wall, to a level with the top of the arches, was formed of encaustic tiles, which being 4½ inches square exactly fill up the width. These encaustic tiles, some hundreds in number, were of various patterns, but evidently unfinished, being quite soft and pliable. The floor of the vault was paved with tiles, and at the entrance was a stone wall on either side, and against the wall-pier was placed the curious relief tile, Fig. 120.
The tiles and fragments of tiles exhibit some examples different in form, as well as in material and in design, from any others which have come under my notice. One of these, on Fig. 121 (repeated so as to form the complete pattern in a lozenge), is of very light stone-coloured clay. The foliated pattern is in very high and bold relief, and the whole face of the tile is covered with a rich green glaze. It measures 10 inches on its angles, and 14 inches from point to point on its base, and it is 1¾ inches thick. Fig. 120 is of the same material and general character; the pattern in high relief, and the face covered with green glaze. It measures 8 inches by 6½, and is 1¾ inches thick. Another green glazed tile, also with the pattern in relief, is shown on Fig. 123. Its design, which is extremely elegant, consists of the crowned initial of the blessed Virgin, ([Illustration: M] ,) each limb of the letter M terminating in a crowned letter A and foliage. This, I take it, simply means “Ave, Maria.”
Of the ordinary class of red and yellow tiles, a very large variety of patterns was found. These consisted of single, four, nine, and sixteen tile patterns of great beauty, and, in many cases, unusual intricacy; border tiles of strikingly beautiful design; heraldic tiles representing the armorial bearings of many local families of note, as well as those of the monarch, &c.; alphabet tiles, bearing the entire alphabet in Lombardic capitals; and grotesque, astronomical, and other devices. Some of these are represented on plates I. and II., and it is worthy of remark, as showing the extent to which this manufacture was carried by the monks at Repton, that tiles still existing in, or exhumed on the sites of, many of the old churches and religious houses of this and the adjoining counties, are identical with those discovered in this kiln, and are therefore proved to be of Repton make.
Another description (to which the same remark will also apply) of tiles found in this kiln is very peculiar. On these, the pattern, in sharp and tolerably fine lines, is simply indented, or incised, into the soft clay, and not filled in with “slip.” These, which for convenience I will call “incised tiles,” are of dark blue or black colour. Some of these patterns will be found in Figs. 124 and 125. Another very singular unique tile of this class is given of its full size on Fig. 122. It bears a head within a wreath, and is covered with green glaze. Another curious and unique tile, in which the simple device of four saltires within a square has been literally cut into the clay, not impressed, was also found.
Having described the Repton kiln it will be well in the present chapter to give some few particulars of other remains of a like kind. In 1833, my late friend, Mr. H. Eginton, discovered a tile kiln on land formerly belonging to the Priory of Great Malvern. It consisted of two semicircular arches, strongly built, separated from each other by a thick and massive wall or pier. The length of the kiln was 35 feet, and the width of the openings 2 feet 3 inches. In each of the archways was a flooring of stone, about two feet from the ground, composed of three slabs in width; the centre one serving as a key-stone to the others, but more especially, in my opinion, so arranged as to allow the fumes of the charcoal to have proper access to the chamber where the tiles were placed. The place for the fire was on the ground, beneath this elevated flooring, and the earth from long action of the heat had become of extreme hardness, and had all the appearance of a thick pavement of limestone. There was no aperture for smoke, so that the process was literally that of the “smother kiln.” The arches were double, the outer being constructed of tiles, the inner of bricks, which from long action of the fire had become completely vitrified. The flooring on which the tiles were placed for burning was two inches in thickness, and at the time of the discovery a number of the tiles were found lying in their places as they did when the fire smouldered away beneath them four centuries before. The kiln was placed seven feet under ground--most probably to prevent injury to the structure from expansion by heat--and was firmly backed and bedded in with blocks of Malvern ragstone. The tiles found were identical with some of those now remaining in Great and Little Malvern churches. Another kiln was discovered in 1837, at St. Mary Witton, near Droitwich. It consisted of arched chambers similar to those at Malvern, and separated from each other in like manner by a strong intermediate central wall or pier. The arches were 2 feet 2 inches in height, 2 feet 4 inches in width, and of several feet in length, and were partly composed of tiles, partly of brick, and highly vitrified with the heat. In them, as at Malvern, a considerable quantity of charcoal was found. Other remains of kilns have been discovered in Wiltshire, in Sussex, and in Staffordshire, and in the latter county the family name of Telwright, or Tilewright, doubtless taking its origin from makers of tiles, is one of great antiquity.
Another remarkably interesting kiln was discovered in London in the course of excavations in forming the Metropolitan Railway, close to the Farringdon Street Station. The kiln, which rests upon the natural bed of clay of the locality, was found about fourteen feet below the surface level of Turnmill Street, or the natural bank of the Fleet River. Over it was an immense accumulation of rubbish, doubtless caused by the Great Fire of London. An account of this kiln has been drawn up by my friend Mr. J. E. Price, to whom I am indebted for the view of the kiln engraved on Fig. 129. It was about 16 feet long and 10 feet wide, and consisted of three parallel arches, which averaged 2 feet wide by 1 foot high, separated from each other by a pier of about 1 foot in width. These arches constituted the furnaces, and supported a level floor, which was pierced, at equal distances, with a series of openings each 2 feet long by 5 inches wide. Through these the heat would rise from below for firing the tiles. On the spaces between the apertures the tiles were probably placed for burning. There were thirty of these openings remaining, though in some instances the intervening spaces had fallen away. The entire structure is composed of plain tiles, similar to those used for roofing purposes.
LITTLE CHESTER.
A manufactory of coarse brown ware formerly existed at Little Chester near Derby. Fragments of various fictile vessels of much the same character as the Tickenhall dishes, and also of the same kind as the Chesterfield brown ware, have from time to time been found, as well as remains of a potter’s kiln. Nothing, however, is known regarding it.
TICKENHALL.
A pottery existed at this place, as early, at all events, as the reign of Queen Elizabeth; probably much earlier. This is incontestably proved by remains which have from time to time been exhumed on the spot. There can, therefore, be no doubt that pottery has for more than three centuries been uninterruptedly made at this place. In 1650, Philip Kinder, in his collections towards a History of Derbyshire, preserved in the Bodleian Library, thus wrote:--“Numa Pompilius here might have learn’t his ‘Straine of Frugalities’! Here are your best Fictilias made you; earthern vessels, potts, and pancions, at Tycknall, and carried all East England through.” This is the earliest mention of Tickenhall pottery I have met with.
Pilkington (1789) says:--“Formerly a very large quantity of earthen ware was manufactured at this place; but lately the business has very much declined. It is said, that, since the land in the neighbourhood has been enclosed, it has been difficult to meet with proper clay.”
The ordinary coarse domestic vessels--“potts and pancions” as they are called by Kinder--were made, but beyond these there were many highly-decorated ones, with human heads for handles, &c.; some fragments of these are in the possession of Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart., of Calke Abbey, to whom Tickenhall belongs. The ware was coarse, but very hard, the colour a dull brown, nearly black, in some instances with a yellow slip. Sometimes, however, it was of the ordinary red colour. A mediæval pitcher, or jug, in my own possession, which was dug up here in the course of draining operations on the site of the old works, has the body of deep red clay, very hard and compact, and its upper part is covered with a dark glaze; it has been much blistered in firing. In Sir John Crewe’s possession is a pilgrim’s bottle, found here, of the ordinary shape. It is shown on Fig. 130. He has also portions of two others, the most perfect fragment being nearly black, and the other of a reddish brown colour. Of these several other fragments have been found.
Two apparently well-authenticated examples of bowls, in the possession of Mr. W. Bemrose, jun., and formerly belonging to Mr. J. J. Briggs, are shown on Figs. 131 and 132. They are of the ordinary class of earthenware (like those of the Tofts, Taylors, &c.), of a dark brown or chocolate colour, well glazed, and ornamented with a white slip. The larger one bears a very rude representation of a fox-hunt--a fox and three dogs, and a tree. The smaller one bears a somewhat gracefully thrown lily, and other ornaments. Another example, in my own collection, is the candlestick engraved on Fig. 138. It is of precisely the same kind of ware, with white slip ornaments. The decoration of the base will be seen to bear a strong resemblance to the outer ornament of the large bowl.
Perhaps among the most interesting of existing examples are the fragments engraved on Figs. 133 to 136. These are in the possession of Sir John Crewe, Bart., and are undoubtedly authentic, having been dug up on the spot. They are heads formed of a buff clay and “touched” with a darker slip. Figs. 133 and 136 show the front and back of the principal of these fragments. The head-dress and ruff indicate the period to be at all events about the reign of Mary or Elizabeth. Fig. 134 bears the plaited cap of the same period. They are all engraved of the full size. It will be seen on reference to Figs. 137 and 139 that, in general character, these heads bear a marked resemblance to some which were found in 1854 on the site of a mediæval potwork on the North Cliff at Scarborough. Another vessel there found is engraved in vol. i., Fig. 299.
KINGS NEWTON.
At this pleasant little village (so celebrated for its hall, now in ruins, where Charles I. passed a night, and as being the place from which the family of Hardinge, now represented by “Baron Hardinge, of Kings Newton,” takes its origin) one of the finest assemblages of examples of Anglo-Saxon Ceramic Art has been brought to light,[37] and here, in recent times, pottery of a good quality and excellent character has been made. The Anglo-Saxon urns[38] were, there can be no possible doubt, made from the same bed of clay from which the modern specimens have been produced, but it seems not to have been worked in intermediate times. About 1852 Mr. Henry Orton (brother to James Orton, author of “The Three Palaces,” “Excelsior,” &c., and himself a writer of no mean repute under the nom de plume of “Philo”), then of the Chauntry House, Kings Newton, considering the bed of clay at this place well adapted for useful and ornamental purposes, erected workshops, sheds, and kilns, and commenced the manufacture of garden-vases, chimney-tops, flower-boxes and pots, brackets, and a large variety of other articles. These he produced both in their natural colour and surface-painted and gilded, and many of them were of excellent design. From one of the beds of clay a fine red terra-cotta was produced, and from another a fine buff colour was made. Mr. Orton was so impressed with the importance of these beds for ceramic purposes, that he caused a number of domestic and ornamental articles to be made in the Staffordshire potteries from Kings Newton clay, and the results were highly satisfactory. Circumstances, however, occurred which prevented his plans being matured, and after a large expenditure of time and money on his part they were abandoned. The place is now carried on as a steam brick yard, and the clay is of so good and tenacious a quality that the maker stamps the name of KINGS NEWTON on each brick produced.
Of the articles made from this clay (which, being very few, are now of the utmost rarity), I possess examples. One of these is a butter-cooler, with perforated cover and twisted handles, formed of red unglazed clay of remarkably fine and compact character. Another is a pressed jug, with groups of relief flowers, in a chocolate-coloured clay; partly lined with white slip inside, and glazed in its natural colour. The other examples are a terra-cotta flower-vase and stand of fine light buff-coloured clay, and a two-handled goblet or drinking-cup, silver lustred, and of excellent quality. This is made of the brown, or chocolate, clay. The probability is that some day these clays may be turned to better account than that of making bricks for railway tunnels.
BURTON-UPON-TRENT.
In 1794 a manufactory was established in the neighbourhood of Burton-on-Trent by Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart., of Drakelow, and C. B. Adderley, Esq., of Hams Hall (ancestor of the present statesman, the Right Honourable C. Adderley, M.P.), who died in 1826. In June, 1795, William Coffee, one of the modellers at the Derby china works, was engaged for these works. On page 98 I have given a copy of a letter relating to this engagement; and another letter, also in my possession, dated “Burton on Trent, June 4th, 1795,” says, “Sir,--My being your debtor makes it my duty to inform you immediately of my arrival here, and likewise of my engagement with Sir Nigel Gresley, and Mr. Adderley, lest you should suppose I had forgot the obligation I lie under to you,” etc. The works were, I have ascertained, situated “within fifty yards of Gresley Hall, near the village and castle of Gresley, in the county of Derby,” with also a place in Burton itself. From some cause or other the project did not answer the expectations of Sir. N. Gresley and Mr. Adderley, and about the year 1800 the works passed from them into the hands of Mr. William Nadin, the father of Mr. Joseph Nadin of Arthurlie, Burton-on-Trent. Mr. Nadin only carried on the manufactory for four or five years, when, it having proved a failure, he discontinued it, and was succeeded by Mr. Burton, of Linton, Derbyshire, who continued the works for a few years and then closed them.
During Mr. Nadin’s time the usual classes of ordinary Staffordshire wares were made, as also was china. In the latter, one great speciality was boots, shoes, and slippers, which were extensively produced, and variously ornamented. His now aged son, Mr. J. Nadin, wrote me, in reference to these, “My father made a large number of china boots and shoes, and I well remember when about six years old, walking up to my ankles into a pond of water in a pair of these boots (Wellington in shape).” He also tells me that when his father “had these works, he received an order for a magnificent dinner-service--the price was fixed at £700--for Queen Charlotte, through Colonel Desbrow, her Chamberlain, but he was never able to execute it, as the china always came out of the ovens cracked and crazed, though he employed the very best men he could obtain.” The Duke of Kent is said to have paid the works a visit, accompanied by Colonel Desbrow. No examples of the productions of these are, so far as my inquiries go, now known to be in existence.
About 1832 Mr. William Edwards, a solicitor, of Derby (brother-in-law of the second Mr. William Duesbury of the Derby china works), in conjunction with a Mr. Tunnicliffe, commenced an earthenware (yellow ware) manufactory at the Hay, Burton-on-Trent. Later on the manufacture of china or “artificial marble” was commenced; workmen having been brought from the Potteries and from Derby. The works, which were in High Street, only continued in operation for a very few years, and the productions were not marked. Mr. Edwards, in his ornamental ware, confined himself mainly to the production of figures, but they were, both commercially and artistically, complete failures. “Mr. Edwards’s artificial marble gods and goddesses, made at the Burton-on-Trent works, came out of the oven with their limbs twisted into every conceivable form.” On Mr. Edwards’s failure the works were closed, and he removed to Butt House, near Woodville, at that time known as Wooden Box. Mr. Edwards employed some really good workmen, amongst whom was a clever modeller named Wornell, who, besides, was an excellent stuffer of birds. Some good examples of Wornell’s work are in the possession of Mr. Abram Bass, by whom much of this information has kindly been supplied to me.
SWADLINCOTE.
Swadlincote Potteries.--The works of Messrs. Sharpe, Brothers, and Co. were established, and erected, by the late Mr. Thomas Sharpe, in 1821, and were carried on by him, alone, as “Thomas Sharpe” until 1838, in which year he died. They were then continued by his brothers under the style of “Sharpe, Brothers, and Co.,” under which firm they are still carried on; the sole proprietor being the last surviving brother, Mr. Edmund Sharpe. The productions of the firm are the same as those of the general district, viz., the “Derbyshire Ironstone Cane (or Yellow) Ware” (a name by which this ware has for upwards of a century been known, and which is the speciality of the district); buff drab ware, fire-proof ware, Rockingham ware, mottled ware, and black lustre ware. In “Derbyshire Ironstone” plain and pressed jugs and mugs; bowls of various kinds; ewers and basins, tea-pots, cups, and jars of various kinds; beef, jelly, bread, stew, and other pans; and every description of household vessels are made, as they are also in the buff drab ware. In the Rockingham, mottled, and black lustre wares, tea and coffee pots in endless variety of patterns, “Bohemian,” “American,” “Rebecca,” “Shakspere,” “Fuchsia,” “Ivy,” “Chinese,” “Cottage,” “Mandarin,” “Royal Flute,” “Gipsy,” &c., &c.; pressed and plain jugs and mugs of good designs; and many other useful articles are made. Blue printed goods are also produced.
Among many ornamental specialities of these works may be named the “Toby Fill-pot” jugs, which are made in both coloured and Rockingham ware, on much the same model as the older jugs of that name; one is shown on Fig. 140.
Sanitary earthenware is a great speciality of these works, and is produced in cane-colour, white, and blue printed varieties, as well as, occasionally, of a highly decorative character. In these, plug-basins, closet-basins with Sharpe’s Patent Direct Action, requiring no fans, but acting on the principle of a hollow rim with graduated perforations; traps, cabinet wash-hand stands of excellent and convenient construction, and other articles, are extensively made. Besides the Home trade, Messrs. Sharpe export in large quantities to Canada, the United States, Nova Scotia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Australia, Africa, the Sandwich Islands, Germany, Holland, Russia, Prussia, Hungary, &c.
The mark used by Mr. Thomas Sharpe was simply the name THOMAS SHARPE, or T. SHARPE, impressed in the ware. That of the present firm is the monogram S. B. and Co. within a wreath of oak and ivy, and the words SHARPE’S PATENT, as here engraved.
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Swadlincote Pottery.--These works were established in 1790 by the late Mr. John Hunt, of Swadlincote, and were, after his death, continued by Mr. Thomas Woodward, whose son, Mr. James Woodward, is their present proprietor. They were at first small, but being the first of the kind in the place soon got into repute, and fire bricks were constantly being fetched by cart to Leicester, Derby, Wirksworth, &c. Fire bricks, fire clay, for Sheffield steel works crucibles, and iron furnaces, were the sole productions till 1859, when the manufacture of sewage pipes, terra-cotta chimney-pots, vases, &c., was added, and since then marble, white, and cane-coloured sanitary earthenware has been introduced, and is largely made. In this department lavatory and closet fittings of every variety are produced. Some of the constructions are peculiar to these works, and are--especially the patent “Wash-out” arrangement,--in high repute. Majolica and Rockingham ware are also largely made. The mark adopted by Mr. Woodward is “the anchor, with a portion of cable twisted round it, forming a monogram of J. W.,” as engraved on Fig. 142.
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Swadlincote Mills.--Established by Moses Cartwright about 1837, but now carried on by Mr. Edward Grice, who produces all the usual sanitary and terra-cotta goods of the district.
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Waterloo Pottery.--This pottery was established by Messrs. Robinson and Rowley in 1815, and has been successively worked since their time by Mr. Robinson alone, Mr. James Staley, and Messrs. Staley Brothers. From these last the works passed in 1875 to Messrs. Mason and Adcock, the present proprietors. They produce, extensively, all the usual descriptions of Derbyshire cane ware, yellow ironstone, and buff, Rockingham, and mottled wares. No mark is used.
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Old Midway Pottery.--Established many years ago by a Mr. Granger, these works passed from him to Mr. Richard Staley, sen., and they are now carried on by Messrs. Richard Staley, John Staley, and John Brookes, under the style of “Richard Staley and Sons.” The operations of the firm are confined to Derbyshire fire-proof cane ware, Rockingham ware, and buff ware; and in these they produce all the usual domestic and other articles. The mark is the name, with the word “Fireproof” added upon dishes, &c.
CHURCH GRESLEY.
Church Gresley Pottery.--These works were originally built about the year 1790, by a Mr. Leedham, for the purpose of manufacturing coarse ware wash-pans. About 1816 Mr. W. Bourne bought the works, enlarged them, and commenced the manufacture of Derbyshire ironstone cane ware, which has been made here ever since. Since Mr. Bourne’s time the works have been carried on successively by Mr. Edwards (see Burton-on-Trent), Messrs. Shaw and Harrison, and Mr. Henry Wileman, at whose decease in 1864 they were taken by Mr. T. G. Green, the present proprietor.
Cane-coloured ironstone, Rockingham, mottled, black lustre, buff, and other wares are made; and at an adjoining manufactory, built by Mr. Green in 1871, ordinary earthenware, painted, lined, sponged, and cream colour, and other wares are made in all the usual services and domestic articles. Mr. Green has taken out patents for a process of moulding earthenware, and for a bat-making machine.
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Commonside Pottery.--These works are of old establishment. At first the commonest description of earthenware was made, and afterwards Mr. Edward Grice carried them on for the manufacture of sanitary goods and chimney-pots. From him they passed, in 1873, into the hands of Messrs. Mason, Gough, and Till. In 1874 Mr. Mason left the firm, and the style since then has been “Till and Gough.” Yellow, Rockingham, and buff wares are made of the usual quality, and in the same general variety of articles, as in the other Derbyshire potteries. No mark is used.
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Commonside Works.--Mr. Edward Grice, who, after leaving the above, established these works in 1867, manufactures sanitary and terra-cotta goods of various kinds.
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Hill Top Works.--These were established in 1810, by Mr. John Cooper, who was afterwards joined in partnership by Mr. Massey, and afterwards by Mr. Banks, the firms being successively “John Cooper,” “Cooper and Massey,” and “Cooper and Banks.” They next belonged to Mr. Henry Ansell. The sole proprietor now is Mr. Nehemiah Banks. The wares produced are the ordinary “Derbyshire Ironstone Cane Ware,” buff ware, Rockingham ware, and black lustre ware. In these all the usual household articles are produced in large quantities for home and foreign markets. Horticultural ware is also largely made; the garden, sea-kale, and other pots, and seed-pans, &c., being of superior quality.
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Hillside Works.--These are devoted to the manufacture of fire-clay goods.
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Other manufactories in the district are Mr. R. Quinton’s brown ware and stone-bottle works; Mr. E. Jones’s pancheon and flower-pot works, and the works of Mr. W. Cotterell.
About 1846, Mr William Edwards, formerly of Derby, and later of Burton-on-Trent, commenced a yellow-ware manufactory at Ashby Holes, Gresley Common, which he carried on for a few years. (See Burton-on-Trent.)
WOODVILLE, OR WOODEN BOX, HARTSHORNE, GRESLEY, &C.
Woodville, the modern and more euphonious name given to the village of “Wooden Box,” is five and a half miles from Burton-on-Trent. The original name arose from an old wooden “box,” or hut, which formerly stood on the site of the present toll-house, where a man used to sit to collect toll, but which was afterwards burned down. The original “box,” it may be added, was an old port-wine butt, from Drakelow Hall, and in this the collector, Diogenes-like, spent his days. In 1800 only two houses existed here, the “Butt House,” belonging to the then Earl Ferrars and the residence of his son Lord Tamworth, and a farmhouse. On this farm some valuable beds of clay were found to exist, and a Mr. Peake, from the Staffordshire pottery district, established a small manufactory on the spot. From this manufactory the trade of the district has entirely taken its rise, and it is now noted for extensive manufactories of Derbyshire ironstone ware; cane-coloured, Rockingham, black, buff, and brown wares; sanitary goods, terra-cotta, &c. Its inhabitants are principally potters and colliers, and it has risen to the importance of being a parish of itself--part of the parish of Hartshorne, in Derbyshire, and of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, being taken for the purpose--the main, or High, street separating those two counties. Near Woodville is the modern hamlet of Albert village, and it has a branch-line on the Midland Railway.
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The Hartshorne Potteries were established in 1818 by Mr. Joseph Thompson, the father of the present proprietors, Richard and Willoughby Thompson, who now trade under the style of “Thompson Brothers.” The goods made by this firm are Derbyshire ironstone-ware, brown stoneware, cane ironstone ware, buff stoneware, yellow ironstone ware (enamelled white inside), and black and Rockingham wares, and terra-cotta goods. Sanitary and drain-pipes, flooring and other tiles, fire-bricks and building bricks, &c., are also produced. The former mark of this pottery was--
J THOMPSON
or
JOSEPH THOMPSON _WOODEN BOX POTTERY_ DERBYSHIRE
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Hartshorne Pottery.--These works were established about 1790 by James Onions, who was succeeded by Luke Copeland. The works were next carried on by Messrs. Read, Malkin and Co., and afterwards by Read and Malkin only, and next by G. S. Read alone, who continued proprietor for thirty or forty years. Mr. Read died in January, 1860, and in March of the same year the concern passed into the hands of its present owner, Mr. J. B. Rowley. The goods produced are “Derbyshire Ironstone” or cane-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, Mottled ware, Buff ware, and Black Lustre ware of the usual quality and character. In these, bowls of various kinds, jugs of all descriptions, jars, dishes, tea and coffee-pots, mugs, and almost every article for domestic use, are extensively made.
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Woodville Tile Works.--At these works, established by Messrs. Barry and Co., sanitary goods and geometric and other tiles are made. The tiles are “encaustic, mosaic, geometrical, and white-glazed tiles for baths, &c.,” of average quality. In terra-cotta, vases, chimney-tops, and other ornamental goods are produced, as are also fire-backs for stoves, &c.
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Woodville Pottery.--This manufactory was established in 1833 (in which year it was built) by Messrs. Thomas Hall and William Davenport, both of whom are now deceased. In 1858 the works passed into the hands of Messrs. Thomas Betteridge and Thomas Nadin. In 1863 Mr. Nadin retired from the concern, which, from that time to the present, has been carried on solely by Mr. Thomas Betteridge. The goods produced are the usual classes of Derbyshire cane-coloured ironstone, Rockingham, mottled, and buff wares of the district. In these all the ordinary articles--jugs, tea and coffee-pots, dishes and bowls, jars, and other domestic vessels--are made in considerable quantities. The quality is that of the entire district.
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Albion Works.--The Albion Fire Clay Works, established by the present proprietors, Messrs. Hosea Tugby & Co., produce all the usual fire-clay goods, bricks, tiles, &c. The firm have patented a “continuous direct action kiln.”
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Woodville Potteries.--These works were established about 1810 by the late Mr. Watts, who was joined in partnership by his relative, Mr. Cash, and it has remained in the same family to the present day. The present proprietors are Mr. William Cash and his son Mr. Thomas Cash, who still trade under the style of “Watts and Cash.” The productions of this pottery are the Derbyshire “ironstone” or “yellow” ware, buff-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, &c., of the ordinary qualities, in which all the usual varieties of domestic vessels, services, &c., are largely manufactured, principally for the American and other foreign markets. The local clay from which these goods are produced “is peculiar to this district, and is not found precisely the same anywhere else;” it was not brought into use for ceramic purposes until the establishment of these works.
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The Rawdon Pottery was built by the fourth Marquess of Hastings, on whose estate it was situate, and was first worked by John Hall, who was succeeded, on his failure, by John Brunt, who carried it on until his death. He was succeeded by his son, Mr. Thomas Brunt, who, however, did not succeed in the business, and in 1861 the works passed into the hands of the present proprietors, Messrs. Smith, Dooley, and Co. The goods produced are the usual varieties of articles in “Derbyshire Ironstone,” or cane-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, buff ware, and cream-coloured ware.
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The “Pool Works” for terra-cotta fire-bricks and sanitary tubes, at Woodville, near Burton-on-Trent, were established about the year 1830, by the late Mr. Joseph Walker Bourne, yellow earthenware manufacturer, of Church Gresley, who purchased the property of the late Sir Roger Gresley, Bart., of Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire, and established the works for the manufacture, on a small scale, of fire-bricks for his earthenware manufactory. After the death of Mr. Bourne, in 1840, the present proprietor, Mr. Edward Ensor, then of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, purchased the business, and the year following sent his second son, Henry Loader Ensor, at the age of fourteen years, to learn, and eventually manage, the business. At that time the works consisted of a 4-horse power condensing engine to grind and prepare the fire-clay; two small hovels or sheds, and two small brick-kilns, covering an extent of 4,000 yards, the whole make not exceeding 20,000 bricks per week, and only seven men and six boys being employed. The market for the bricks was the local earthenware manufactories and collieries, and a few towns in the immediate neighbourhood; the bricks being carted to the Ashby and Burton Canals. About that time, the clay being found suitable for making crucibles for steel refiners at Sheffield, their manufacture was introduced into that market, and has gradually grown into a very important branch of the trade of the district. In 1845 Mr. Ensor, senr., came to live in his present residence, Gresley Cottage, and took the active management of the business. In 1846 the Midland Railway opened the line from Burton to Leicester, with branches to Woodville and Swadlincote, thus opening up a means of cheaper transit for the valuable productions of the neighbourhood. From this time the different manufactories and collieries greatly increased, and other branches of the trade were started, such as salt-glazed sanitary pipes and terra-cotta chimney-tops, &c. About 1850 Mr. Ensor purchased the Pool property from Mr. Mammatt, and soon after this his eldest son, Edward, having returned from South Africa, took part in the management of the business. In 1864, Mr. Ensor having seen the Hoffman Patent Brick Kiln at Wakefield, and being struck with the saving of fuel effected in burning common bricks, purchased the right of the sole use of the patent in this district, and erected kilns, drying-sheds, &c., intending to burn all his goods by this system, but found it essential to introduce many improvements and alterations, as the Hoffman system, although well adapted for common red bricks (which require little heat), was not adapted to fire-brick and terra-cotta, which requires very great heat. Mr. Ensor succeeded in inventing a process by which he retained the heat so effectively that 3 cwt. of small coal more successfully burnt 1,000 bricks than 20 cwt. of good rough coal did in the most approved old-fashioned kilns. At this time, i.e. in 1865, the works consisted of four high-pressure engines for grinding and preparing the clay for the different branches of the manufactory. The machinery for grinding the fire-clay was two pairs of iron rollers and pug mill; that for the terra-cotta clay was different, and consisted of edge runners of great weight revolving in an iron pan, to reduce the clay into a fine powder before passing through sieves and the pug mill. At this time Carr’s “Patent Disintegrator,” for mixing and reducing manures, &c., was seen by Mr. Ensor, to whom it occurred it might be adapted to this process, and he erected one, adding to it many improvements, and eventually so constructed it that it is now the most valuable clay reducer ever used. The machine is circular, made of iron, and consists of four rows of bars, each running in opposite directions at the speed of 400 revolutions per minute; the clay being put in the centre, is forced out through the bars, thus reducing it into the finest powder, and pulverising from 50 to 150 tons in a day of 10 hours, according to the texture of the clay. About 1868, through an itinerant firebrand causing a strike amongst the colliers of the district, and thus almost stopping the different trades of the district through want of coal, and its consequent high price, experiments were tried by Edward Ensor, jun., who ultimately patented “a process for an improved system of burning all kinds of earthenware, salt-glazed, sanitary, and terra-cotta goods, fire, blue, and common bricks, tiles, &c., lime, and other commodities.” A kiln on this principle was erected, and has been a perfect success, and is still in use at these works for burning salt-glazed sanitary goods, and at several other manufactories for bricks, in each case effecting a saving of 75 per cent. in fuel and in labour. The works at the present time occupy an area of 40,000 yards, and employ about 290 persons. Another patent adopted at these works is the “Patent Wire Rope Tramway” for conveying any material any distance up to one mile over hilly or broken ground; which has been so improved as to be made to drain the pits of water by pumping, hoisting the clay out of the pits from a depth of about 20 yards to the surface, and conveying it to the machinery for making up into bricks, and to the railway for conveyance to the different steel-melting districts. The fire-bricks made here are sent to every quarter of the globe, being largely used by Government on colonial military stations in the erection of cooking-ranges, ovens, and boilers; and for sugar refineries in China and the East, as well as for glass, earthenware, gas, iron and steel works in our own country. Fire-place backs are also extensively made. The salt-glazed sanitary goods are of excellent and durable quality, and, being highly vitrified in the body, are capable of withstanding the action of the acids in sewage, &c. In terra-cotta, the only art-branch carried on at the Pool Works, vases, tazzas, pedestals, brackets, trusses, and ornamental bricks are produced, many of which are of very good design; the colour is a light stone.
The beds of clay on this property are as follows:--The principal, or fire-clay, found at a depth of from 10 to 30 yards, is a bed of about 6 feet in thickness, “and is proved to be equal to any bed in the kingdom.” There are also valuable beds of clay for terra-cotta and salt-glazed ware, both above and below the fire-clay: these consist of, first, common marl, generally blue in colour, from 2 to 4 yards in thickness (this is intermixed with small ironstones, round and oval in form); then a thin bed of clunch; next a thin vein of coal or smut, about a foot in thickness, but of little value; then another bed of marl, from 3 to 5 feet, with small pieces of ironstone intermixed, generally kidney-shaped; then the fire-clay, 6 feet; next 1 foot of smut or coal; then a bed of clay called “bottle clay,” good for brown earthenware, of similar character to the Chesterfield and Denby ware, but used by the firm for pipes, from 6 to 9 feet in thickness; then a very hard light-coloured clay, full of silica, which is used for terra-cotta, &c.
* * * * *
Woodville.--Messrs. Barry & Co. manufacture all the usual varieties of glazed stoneware sewerage and drain-pipes.
* * * * *
Wooden Box Pottery.--This manufactory was established by Mr. Thomas Hallam in 1817. Since his time it has been successively worked by Mr. Robinson, Messrs. Harrison and Cash, Messrs. Hallam & Co., and Messrs. Watts and Cash. Its present proprietor is Mr. Thomas Nadin, who manufactures ironstone, cane, buff, and Rockingham wares of the usual kinds and qualities as the other Derbyshire manufactories. No mark is used.
* * * * *
Mount Pleasant Works.--In 1847 the late Mr. John Knowles, of Matlock, established these works for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, fire-clay goods, and terra cotta. These he continued till his death in 1869, when they were carried on by Mrs. Knowles, his widow, till 1871; since that time they have been continued by the trustees of Mrs. Knowles, under the style of “John Knowles & Co.” Besides all the usual classes of bricks, tiles, stove-backs, garden edgings, salt-glazed sanitary and drain-pipes, &c., some highly ornate chimney-tops, and garden vases of good design are made. The firm are also proprietors of crucible and cement fire clays.
* * * * *
Coleorton Pottery.--Established in 1835 by Messrs. Wilson, Lount, and Proudman. On the retiring of the latter partners, the works were carried on by Mr. Thomas Wilson alone, and so continue. The productions are yellow, buff or cane, and Rockingham wares, in which all the usual domestic articles are made. The ware is of more than average excellence in quality. The “buff” is made of a mixture of Devonshire china clay and the local clay found close by the works, from which the yellow ware is made; it is found about nine yards below the surface, underlying a seam of coal. The London and other home markets are supplied. No mark is used.
Chapter V
Stoke-upon-Trent--Josiah Spode--Copeland and Garratt--Copeland and Sons--Mintons--Hollins--Trent Pottery; Jones--Albert Street Works--Copeland Street Works--Glebe Street and Wharf Street Works--Copeland Street--Bridge Works--London Road; Goss--Kirkham--Campbell Brick and Tile Company--Harrison and Wedgwood--Bankes--Hugh Booth--Ephraim Booth--Wolf--Bird--Adams and Son--H. and R. Daniel--Boyle--Reade--Lowndes and Hall.
The large and commercially important, as well as thickly populated district, known as the “Staffordshire Potteries,” or more commonly called simply “The Potteries,” comprises a number of towns known as the “Pottery Towns,” and other places adjoining them. These are Burslem, Hanley, Shelton, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Longton, Etruria, Cobridge, Fenton, Longport, and Dresden. Of these, Stoke-upon-Trent, although far from being the oldest, or largest, or busiest, is the great railway centre, and head of the electoral district; the parliamentary district of Stoke-upon-Trent (which returns two members to Parliament) comprising these towns just named, with a few other out-lying places. Some of these towns are corporate, and Newcastle-under-Lyme is both a corporate and parliamentary borough. It is estimated that in this pottery district considerably over thirty thousand persons are employed in, or dependent on, the staple trade of the place, that of china and earthenware manufacture.
STOKE-UPON-TRENT.
Spode.--Copeland.--The first notice of the name of Spode that I have met with in connection with potting is an entry of the “hiring” of Josiah Spode by Thomas Whieldon, in 1749. This I was the first to make public from the original book of Whieldon’s accounts in my possession. It is as follows:--
1749. £ s. d. April 9. Hired Siah Spoade, to give him from this time to Martelmas next 2_s._ 3_d._, or 2_s._ 6_d._ if he Deserves it. 2d year 0 2 9 3d year 0 3 3 Pd. full earnest 0 1 0
This entry is of considerable historical interest, as being the first hiring of Josiah Spode, who, being born in 1733, would at that time be sixteen years of age, and was the founder of the family which subsequently rose to such eminence in the art. The “hiring” being for three years, and at wages ranging from 2_s._ 3_d._ to 3_s._ 3_d._ per week, while other men at the same time were being paid from 5_s._ 3_d._ to 7_s._ per week, would appear to have been a kind of apprenticeship, or, at all events, a “finishing touch” to the learning of the trade. From April till Martinmas, which is the great time for all hirings in the pottery trade, the payment was to be at 2_s._ 3_d._ per week, “or 2_s._ 6_d._ if he deserves it,” with the prospect of a rise of sixpence per week in successive years. He appears to have fully worked out his time, and to have been found deserving. Two other entries in the same book, showing successive hirings, after the expiration of the first term of three years, are as follows:--
1752. £ s. d. Feby. 22. Hired Josiah Spoad for next Martlemas, per week 0 7 0 I am to give him earn. 0 5 0 Pd. in Part. 0 1 0 Pd. do. 0 4 0
1754. Feby. 25. Hired Siah Spode, per week. 0 7 6 Earnest. 1 11 6 Pd. in part. 0 16 0
Thus in 1752 he got 7_s._ a week, and an earnest of 5_s._; and in the following year he was raised to 7_s._ 6_d._ per week, with the unusually high earnest of £1 11_s._ 6_d._ At this time he must have been married, for in the same year, 1754, it appears the second Josiah Spode was born. But little is known of the early life of this second Josiah Spode; the probability, however, is that his father, after leaving Whieldon’s service, commenced a small manufactory on his own account, and that he learned the business with him. About 1770, Spode (the son at that time being about sixteen years old) is stated to have taken the works at Stoke, previously carried on by Messrs. Turner, or Turner and Banks. He is said also to have introduced, about 1784, transfer printing into Stoke. Previous to this time Mr. William Copeland, of London (a native of Stoke), who travelled in the tea trade, made the acquaintance of Mr. Spode and offered to undertake a commission to sell his tea ware and other goods to his customers. The enterprise was very successful, and a warehouse was taken in Fore Street, Cripplegate, London, for the general sale of Spode’s goods. Trade increasing rapidly, Mr. Copeland, who became a partner with Mr. Spode, afterwards, in 1779, purchased the property, 37, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and, at the back, in Portugal Street, opened an immense depot for the sale of pottery goods, in the place where stood the theatre (originally built by D’Avenant in 1662, and rebuilt by Rich in 1714), famous as being the house in which Garrick first appeared; the original Joe Miller flashed out his witticisms; and where the Recruiting Officer, the Beggars’ Opera, &c., were first produced. This establishment was managed by Mr. Copeland; the manufactory being conducted entirely by Mr. Spode. Mr. Spode’s son, who was ultimately taken into partnership with his father, was for a time in the London house, but on the death of the latter, in 1797, he returned to Stoke, and devoted himself to the manufactory. In 1800 Mr. Spode commenced making porcelain in addition to earthenware, and was the first to introduce felspar into its composition. In 1805 he introduced an opaque porcelain, known as “ironstone china,” which he manufactured to a very large extent, and exported in immense quantities to France and other countries. In 1806 H.R.H. the Prince of Wales visited the works, and Mr. Spode was appointed potter to him. The porcelain, the ironstone china, and the ordinary earthenware manufactured at this time were of the very highest character, both in body, in glaze, and in decoration; indeed, in all three of these respects they rank with the best of the period.
The first partnership was Spode and Copeland,[39] and next, Spode, Son, and Copeland. After the death of the elder Spode it again became Spode and Copeland, and next, on the son of the latter, who was afterwards alderman, being taken into partnership, Spode, Copeland, and Son, and was so carried on until the elder Mr. Copeland’s death, in 1826. In 1827 the second Mr. Spode died, and was succeeded by his son, the third Josiah Spode, who, however, only survived his father two years, and died in 1829. Until 1833 the business was carried on by the executors of the third Josiah Spode, of Hawksyard (his only son, also named Josiah, being a minor), and Mr. Alderman Copeland. In that year the entire concern was purchased by Mr. Alderman William Taylor Copeland, who shortly afterwards took into partnership his principal traveller and town correspondent, Mr. Thomas Garrett. The firm then became “Copeland and Garrett,” and was so continued until 1847, when a dissolution took place. From that time till 1867 the style of the firm remained simply “W. T. Copeland, late Spode.” In that year Mr. Copeland took his four sons into partnership, and from that time to the present the firm has continued under the name of “W. T. Copeland and Sons.”
Mr. Alderman Copeland was Lord Mayor of London in 1835–6. He sat as member of Parliament for Coleraine from 1828 till 1832, and for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1837 till 1852. Losing his seat in that year, Mr. Copeland was re-elected in 1857 and sat till 1865, when he retired from the representation. He was the grandson of Mr. William Copeland, yeoman, of the Holly Bush, in the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, and son of the partner of the first Mr. Spode. The will of Mr. William Copeland, of Holly Bush, was dated November 10th, 1775, and proved December 28th, 1786. A daughter named Hannah, mentioned in that document, became the wife of the late Mr. William Astbury, of the family whose name is intimately mixed up with the history of the pottery of the district. Mr. Alderman Copeland died in 1868.
Of the productions of the present firm it is manifestly impossible to give even a brief resumé; the bare enumeration of the different articles in porcelain and earthenware would occupy many closely printed pages. It will only be possible to note, here and there, one of their art-productions. For services, both breakfast, dinner, dessert, tea, and toilet, the firm ranks among the very highest in order, and these are produced both in china and in earthenware, and every variety of ornamentation; in the former from the simple gold or coloured lines and borders, and in the latter from the commonest sponged patterns, to the most profuse and lavish relief and painting. One of their highest efforts, and deservedly so, in the way of services, is the dessert service made especially for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, in 1866, which is one of the greatest triumphs of ceramic art yet achieved. The service consists of 198 pieces, comprising a centre, eight compotiers, two cream-bowls, two ice-pails, twelve sweetmeat compotiers, seventy-two cups and saucers, and fifty plates. The commission was given shortly before the Prince’s marriage, and hence, as all the decorations are floral, the orange blossom was allowed to become a prominent object in each group; and it would be impossible to conceive flowers more exquisitely painted than they are; they were painted by Mr. Hürten and others. The centre piece is a double assiette montée, the principal compartment being supported by seated figures representing the four quarters of the globe, and each bearing an appropriate symbol. These were the work of Joseph Durham, R.A., and are miniature reproductions of those which support the statue of “Albert the Good,” in the Royal Horticultural Society’s Gardens. The four raised fruit-dishes are elevated upon groups of three figures each, typical of the twelve months of the year, admirably modelled by Mr. F. Miller. The four smaller ones, by Mr. G. Halse, equally well typify the elements, earth, air, fire, and water. The plates, as well as the pieces I have named, are of the purest porcelain, and are exquisitely and elaborately perforated. They are divided into panels of fruit and flowers, surrounded by ribbons and festoons in raised and chased gold, and in the centre of each is the monogram of the Prince and Princess of Wales. There are no two pieces alike, although all harmonize well together.
Three pieces of this beautiful royal service, the centre, one of the compotiers, and a cream-bowl, are engraved, Figs. 150, 156, and 159, and will show better than any description can the high class of art-workmanship which they exhibit.
One of the greatest improvements in ordinary earthenware which has been effected by this eminent firm, who have always exercised a laudable desire to keep pace with, or to be leaders of, the improved Art-taste of the age, is the production of what they appropriately term an “Ivory-tinted body.” In this kind of ware they produce table, dessert, and toilet services of every conceivable design, and of various degrees of decoration. In the dinner and dessert services the delicate, soft, warm tone of the ivory tint is peculiarly grateful to the eye, and has a charming effect when “set” out on the white linen cloth. The tone of colour which Messrs. Copeland have succeeded in producing has all the softness of the finest examples of old Wedgwood cream-coloured ware, but without its somewhat harsh yellowness. Nothing could be less grating to the eye of taste than this soft tint, and doubtless in many homes of taste the warm “ivory body” will take the place of the cold white of the general classes of earthenware. It only remains to say that in that peculiar body every variety of pattern, from the rich old Spode with its Eastern brilliant combinations of gold and rich patches of colour, down to the most ordinary painted borders, are made. One service which has particularly struck us as beyond average in excellence is the “Stork.” Those examples in which the pattern is in relief, and heightened in gold, are peculiarly rich and good. The shape of the tureens and vegetable-dishes are of great elegance and beauty. The ivory body is one of the greatest achievements of the period.
In porcelain, vases, tazzas, bottles, and other articles of every conceivable form, and decorated in an endless variety of ways both in painting, in alto-relievo figures and flowers, and in massive jewelling, gilding, and enamelling, are produced, and are of the most costly and elegant character. Services, both of the most sumptuous and severely simple character, are also produced in every style of art, and on every scale of cost.
And here it becomes necessary to say a word as to some of the achievements in colour of this firm. Of these, a new turquoise (which Messrs. Copeland have christened “Cerulean blue”) is the richest and fullest produced, and is remarkable for its brilliant intensity; the Sardinian green is also very good, and the vermilion finer and more rich than has at any time, or in any place, so far as my experience goes, been produced. This is especially apparent upon a Japanese dessert plate, where the decorations are upon pure enamel, requiring a very high degree of heat, and where the colours come out more brilliantly than on any other examples I have seen. On this plate, which is a chef-d’œuvre of Messrs. Copelands’ art, the border is purely Japanese, and the centre essentially English, but all equally perfect and equally beautiful; it is, in fact, an original and brilliant conception, true to the spirit and principles of Japanese design, but in no respect a copy of any of the productions of the artists of that nation. The birds are exquisitely painted by Weaver, one of the best painters of this class, and the remainder by artists of equal celebrity in their several walks of decoration.
The “Satsuma ware” produced by Messrs. Copeland is of the most exquisite beauty, and of rare excellence both in the matchless quality of the body, the peculiarly waxy and very lovely surface of the glaze, the pure taste which characterises its decoration, and admirable manipulation apparent in each piece. In this ware, as in others produced by the firm, it is a literal truism to say “perfection can no farther go!” Vases and other decorative articles are produced in this Satsuma ware, and take rank with the finest productions of any age or any country.
Messrs. Copeland and Son are large producers of plain, and painted, and enamelled tiles for internal decoration, and these, from the excellence they have attained in the “body,” and the skill displayed in design and in ornamentation, have become a speciality of the firm. They are produced in endless variety, and for every purpose, but one of the most striking and attractive novelties in this kind of mural decoration, is that of a continuous design for a whole room, as first attempted by them for Mr. Macfarlane. Of this speciality, I gave the following notice in the Art Journal for December, 1875:--
“One of the most pleasing, and, at the same time, novel and effective, adaptations of fictile art to internal mural decoration yet attempted, has just been successfully accomplished by Messrs. Copeland and Sons, of Stoke-upon-Trent. To this, having been favoured with a private view of the decorations, we desire to draw attention. The lining of entire rooms with wall-tiles is, of course, no new thing, but has been repeatedly done, and in a variety of styles, by different firms and at different periods; but it has been left to Messrs. Copeland to strike out an entirely new idea in the mode of treatment. Mr. Macfarlane, whose Art-productions in metal we have often commended in the pages of the Art Journal, has recently erected in Glasgow a magnificent mansion, which, as might be expected from a man of such extensive knowledge and such pure taste, will enshrine many works of high-class examples in various walks of Art. In several of the apartments of this mansion--the billiard and bathrooms, for instance--Mr. Macfarlane desired to introduce some new feature which should, if possible, inaugurate what might with propriety be called a nineteenth-century style of decoration. He therefore wisely consulted Messrs. Copeland, who, acting on his idea, prepared a series of designs which, while adhering faithfully to the classic laws of Art, were, both in subject and in treatment, strictly characteristic of the present day. The general design is a terra-cotta dado of full Indian red tone of colour, walls of pale celadon tint, and a frieze painted in monochrome, in continuous subjects apposite to the uses of the various rooms, which are thus covered with tiles, in one grand design, from floor to ceiling. The walls between the dado and frieze are covered, as just stated, with celadon tiles placed diagonally, with the joints made just sufficiently apparent to give a geometrical break to the surface, and so remove what otherwise might be a sameness in appearance; while those of the frieze (which are of a pale yellow-ground colour, well adapted for throwing out the figures, and which, when the room is lit up, disappears, and gives the effect of a luminous sky to the pictures) are placed horizontally, and their edges fitted with such mathematical precision and nicety that their joints are invisible. The whole of the tiles have a dead, or purely fresco surface, and are most perfect for the purpose for which they are intended; and from their peculiar hardness and other characteristics--the result of much anxious thought and experiment--are perfectly impervious to the action of damp, and cannot fail to be permanent.
“The frieze (three feet in height) of the billiard-room represents, in four separate groupings on the four sides of the apartment, the sports of the British race; one side being devoted to ‘Health,’ in which youthful games conducing to that essential, from infancy, with its doll and other playthings, to boyhood and youthhood, with hoop, cricket, skating, curling, snowballing, and so on; another to ‘Strength,’ with its central allegorical figure and groups representing pole-leaping, shot-throwing, wrestling, football, hockey, boxing, &c.; a third to ‘Courage,’ a central allegorical figure supported by genii, the one proclaiming, and the other crowning, deeds of heroism in the army, in saving lives from shipwreck, fire, and other casualties, and the wild sports of our Eastern empire and North American colonies; and the fourth to ‘Fortitude,’ in which the central group surrounding the allegorical figure is composed of lifelike portraits of such men as Livingstone, Burton, McClintock, Layard, and others; the remaining portions showing athletes contesting in a foot-race, and crews in a boat-race. The friezes of this room, painted in monochrome, are the work of Mr. R. J. Abraham (son of the Art-director of the works), who recently won the Art-Union prize, and is a gold medallist, and Mr. Besche, a skilful artist, whose works are in high repute. The frieze of the heating-room of the Turkish baths, which is lined in a precisely similar style to the other, is entirely composed of tropical plants and flowers, arranged in a masterly and effective manner, and painted, even to the most minute detail, with consummate skill and with true artistic feeling. This frieze, which is painted in sepia with its fullest and best effect, is entirely the work of Mr. Hürten, and is a worthy example of his pencil both in arrangement and in treatment. The whole of the plants represented are, without an exception, studies from nature, sketched and arranged for this special purpose from the plants themselves in the magnificent conservatories of the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth; and they are in each individual instance reproduced with pre-Raphaelite accuracy and precision.
“The friezes are masterpieces of Art as well as of manipulative skill. They reflect the highest credit on Messrs. Copeland and their Art-director, Mr. Abraham, by whom they have been produced, and who have thus inaugurated a new, and what we pronounce to be a successful style, of internal decoration--one that is sure to be followed in many a mansion and home of taste in our country and abroad. Mr. Macfarlane will have reason to be proud of his acquisition, and has the satisfaction of feeling, that with the aid of Messrs. Copeland and their skilled staff of artists, he has originated a novel feature in Art-decoration, and carried it to an enviably successful issue. Messrs. Copeland are renowned for the excellence of their work and for the true artistic feeling and skill which characterise everything that passes from their hands, and their present productions will, if that be possible, add to their celebrity.”
Tiles for flower-boxes, lily-pans, garden-seats, slabs for chimney-pieces, table-tops, fire-places, &c., and for every other purpose, as well as door-plates, are also largely produced and highly decorated.
In Parian--the next best material to marble--statuary and busts, as well as other objects, are extensively made. This is another speciality of the firm, and one the discovery of which belongs to them. It is, in fact, the development of the old and ever-famous Derby biscuit ware,[40] rendered finer and more commercially, as well as artistically, available by the careful attention of the Messrs. Copeland. It was introduced by them about 1846, and is said to have been then made at the suggestion of Gibson the sculptor; from that time to the present it has been extensively manufactured by every house--by Copeland’s, perhaps, more extensively than any other. Among the more recent of their finest works in Parian, are the “Infancy of Jupiter,” “Lady Godiva,” “Nora Creina,” the “Flute-player,” the “Reading Girl,” busts of “A Mother” and of “Love,” all by Monti; “Young England” and “Young England’s Sister,” a very charming pair by Halse; a “Shepherd Boy,” “Spring,” and “Summer,” by L. A. Malampre; and “Master Tom” and “On the Sea-Shore,” by Joseph Durham, R.A. Among their other special works, Foley’s “Ino and Bacchus,” Durham’s “Chastity” and “Santa Filomena,” Monti’s “Night” and “Morning,” and a score or two others, are brilliant examples. Besides figures, groups, and busts, a large number of other beautiful objects of various kinds are produced in Parian.
The more ordinary classes of goods for general use and consumption are all of good quality, whether produced in the ordinary earthenware, the stoneware, or any other kind of body, and in all these classes Messrs. Copeland are very large producers. Their “crown ware” has so good a body as to stand the heat of the hard kiln, and thus to take the richest tints of crimson, &c. The ship fittings--the Atlantic washtop slab especially--are considered to be among the best produced. It ought also to be added, that Messrs. Copeland were the first to introduce those elegant and most convenient novelties, “Gordon Trays,” which they produce in a variety of forms.
The principal artists employed are Hürten, who has attained, and deservedly so, the distinction of being one of the best flower-painters in Europe; Weaver, whose birds are equal to those of any other painter; Besche, a figure and general painter of great power and excellence; and Abraham, Junior (a gold medallist), a figure painter of much promise. Besides these, a number of other talented artists are employed, and the staff of enamellers, ground-layers, and gilders, includes some of the best obtainable in each department. In these works, too, female talent has been highly cultivated, many of the productions of the paintresses evidencing pure feeling and cultivated taste. The whole is under the control of Mr. R. F. Abraham, as Art-director of the establishment. Mr. Abraham, who was formerly at Coalport with Mr. Rose, was a student of Antwerp and Paris, and is a successful follower of the school of Etty. The softness of touch, the purity and delicacy of feeling, and the sunny mellowness of tone, as well as the chasteness of design and correctness of drawing, produced on the best pieces of his productions, show him to be a thorough artist, and place him high above most others in this difficult art, while his intimate knowledge of all the phases and intricacies of Art, and of all the processes of the manufacture, render him peculiarly fitted for the post to which he has been called.
The marks successively used by this firm in its various changes are as follows:--
Sometimes impressed in the body, and at others pencilled on the glaze; also SPODE in larger capital letters.
Also impressed, or painted, or printed on the ware.
Printed in blue on the bottom of the goods of that description.
These, with immaterial variations in detail, were all printed on the ware.
SPODE, SON & COPELAND or SPODE & COPELAND, both impressed and printed.
All the above printed on the ware.
The following are the dates when some of the most celebrated printed patterns were first introduced:--“Castle,” 1806; “Roman,” 1811; “Turk,” 1813; “Milkmaid,” “Dagger-border,” “Tower,” “Peacock,” and “New Temple,” 1814; “New Nankin,” “New Japan,” and “India,” 1815; “Italian” and “Woodman,” 1816; “Blossom” and “Pale Broseley,” 1817; “Waterloo” and “Arcade,” 1818; “Lucano” and “Ship,” 1819; “Panel Japan,” “Geranium,” and “Oriental,” 1820; “Font” and “Marble,” 1821; “Bud and Flower,” “Sun,” “Bonpot,” and “Union,” 1822; “Double Bonpot,” “Blue Border,” and “Filigree,” 1823; “Image” and “Persian,” 1824; “Etruscan” and “Bamboo,” 1825; “Blue Imperial” and “Union Wreath,” 1826.
MINTON & CO.
Mr. Thomas Minton, the founder of these works, was born in Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, in 1765, and received his education at the Shrewsbury Grammar School. He had an only brother, Arthur Minton, and a sister, Elizabeth. On leaving school, Thomas Minton was apprenticed to an engraver (probably Hancock), at the Caughley China Works, at Broseley, one of his fellow-apprentices (also a Salopian) being Richard Hicks, who became founder of the firm of Hicks, Meigh, and Johnson. On the expiration of his apprenticeship, Thomas Minton continued to be employed for a time at the Caughley China Works under Mr. Turner, and then removed to London, where he engraved some patterns for Josiah Spode, whose London warehouse was at that time in Portugal Street. From London, having married, he removed into Staffordshire, in 1788 or 1789, where the rapidly increasing demand for blue printed earthenware gave promise of a good opening for so skilful a draughtsman and engraver as he had become. On removing into Staffordshire, he set up as a master-engraver, at Stoke-upon-Trent, his residence and engraving shop being one of a block of buildings then called Bridge Houses, so called from being close to Trent Bridge, which houses had been erected by Thomas Whieldon, the first partner of Josiah Wedgwood. Here he became very successful, one of his chief employers being Josiah Spode, for whom he engraved a tea-ware pattern called the “Buffalo,” which continued in demand for many years; the “Broseley,” so called from being first produced at the Caughley Works, Broseley, by Mr. Turner, and which, like the “Willow Pattern,” remains a favourite stock pattern to the present day; the famous “Willow;” and many others. In the latter he was assisted by Mr. Henry Doncaster of Penkhull; the original plate from which this pattern was thus engraved passed from Mr. Doncaster into the hands of Mr. Wildblood, engraver, of Burslem, and from him into the possession of Minton & Co., where it appropriately remains, as do also some drawings and other interesting relics. Mr. Minton had two apprentices, one of whom, Greatbatch (father of the eminent artist William Greatbatch, engraver of the “Waterloo Banquet”), became chief engraver, and manager of that department at Messrs. Spode and Copeland’s.
In 1793, having determined to commence the manufacture of earthenware, Mr. Minton purchased a plot of land, the site of the present manufactory, of Mr. John Ward Hassals, and commenced building on a very small scale. The following account of the early progress of the works has been kindly written for me by Mr. Stringer:--
“To start with, there was one ‘Bisque,’ and one ‘Glost’ oven, with slip house, for preparing the clay, and only such other buildings and appliances as were necessary to make good working commencement. Mr. Minton formed an engagement with the brothers Poulson, who owned the works opposite to the land he had purchased, known as the ‘Stone Works,’[41] and who were potters on a small scale, and, as was then the practice, had houses on the works, now converted into potters’ workshops. They belonged to an ancient family which had been located at Boothen for several centuries. Mr. Joseph Poulson was the practical potter, and his brother Samuel was modeller, mould maker, and useful man of all work. It was not until May, 1796, that Mr. Minton’s works were in operation. Considering the magnitude of the present operations of the firm, which has recently adopted the globe for its trade mark, it may not be uninteresting to quote from an old cash-book, which has been fortunately preserved, an item or two to show from what a very humble beginning great results have arisen. We find the amount paid the first week, which appears to have been a sort of broken week (perhaps there had been some merry-making to celebrate the opening);--
1796. £ s. d. May 21. By paid wages, coals, &c., this week 12 19 5½ „ 28. „ „ „ „ 29 1 2½ June 4. „ „ „ „ 32 9 7½ Sept. 17. „ Joseph Poulson 18 weeks’ wages, to this day inclusive 18 18 0
“The average weekly amount under the above head of wages, &c., was within a trifle of £50, but still showing real progress.
“The first item on the contrary side is--
1796. £ s. d. May 23 @ June 3. To received for goods sold, ready money 33 10 10½
This would be for goods sold to the pot-sellers who hawked their wares about the country; and we find £596 10_s._ 2_d._ was received under this head during the remaining months of the first year. The next year’s transactions showed a satisfactory advance in every respect, as did every subsequent year; and amongst the circumstances favouring Mr. Minton’s prosperity may be named--first, that aided by Mr. Poulson’s experience as a potter, and his own good taste as an engraver and designer, he produced a quality and style of ware that commanded a ready market; and in his brother, Mr. Arthur Minton, who had established himself in the trade in the metropolis, a ready and devoted agent to extend the trade; so much so that the business done by him in 1800 amounted to nearly £2,000. He was also fortunate in having the acquaintance of Mr. William Pownall, a merchant of Liverpool, who aided him with capital to extend his operations, and who was, for a few years, a sleeping partner in the business. Mr. Joseph Poulson was in a short time after the opening of the works admitted as a partner, and the firm traded as ‘Minton and Poulson’ for a short time, and then the style was altered to ‘Minton, Poulson, and Pownall.’ Mr. Poulson remained a partner until his death in 1808; and it would seem that up to this period, china or soft porcelain was made at the stone-works, but was abandoned as unprofitable until Mr. Herbert Minton’s experiments in after years were fully successful.”
On the failure of the eminent firm of John and William Turner, of Lane End, the first named entered the service of Thomas Minton, and became, in fact, the practical potter of the firm after the death of Poulson. He effected great improvements in the bodies and glazes, and in the general character of the productions of the works. Soon after Mr. Minton had commenced business, a scheme having been set on foot for monopolising the sale of Cornish clay, he and his partners purchased an estate of eighty-four acres on Hendra Common for a comparatively trifling sum, and also certain rights and a leasehold interest in Treloar Common, where there was abundance of china clay and stone, as also other valuable minerals. Having secured the property, Mr. Minton took steps to associate with him the leading manufacturers to work the mines. In this he appears to have been successful, and the first meeting of “the Hendra Company” was held at the Swan Inn,[42] Hanley, on the 8th of January, 1800, Mr. Thomas Byerley in the chair, who represented the firm of Josiah Wedgwood and Byerley; Hollins, Warburton & Co., by Mr. John Hollins and Mr. John Daniel; Mr. William Adams, in person; and Minton, Poulson, and Pownall, by Mr. Minton and Mr. Poulson. These manufacturers composed the whole of the Company, and they agreed to purchase a part of Minton, Poulson, and Pownall’s property. Mr. John Brindley, of Longport, was appointed agent to the Company. The minutes of the meetings are brief in the extreme, and there is no recital as to the objects of the Company, but there are a few particulars which may interest the present race of manufacturers as contrasting their present improved position, as regards the supply of material, with what it was in those days. July 24, 1800, stone was ordered to be sold at 50_s._ per ton at Etruria wharf, and 42_s._ at Runcorn; fifteen tons were a boat-load. A vessel, called the Venus, brought to Runcorn ninety-nine tons, and the freight was £72 7_s._ 9_d._ China clay was £6 per ton at Polemear.
It would seem that Mr. Minton had visited Cornwall several times--the first time in 1798, and we are afforded an insight into the difficulty and expense of travelling at that period, by the fact that the cost of each journey was nearly thirty pounds. It seems that Mr. Minton must have got the mines into something like working order during these visits, as an immediate supply of clay and stone was available at the time the Company was formed, and there is proof of this in the following document:--
“I, John Varcoe, farmer, resident in Treloar, of the parish of St. Denis, in the county of Cornwall, have this day agreed with Thomas Minton, of Stoke-upon-Trent, in the county of Stafford, to let to the said Thomas Minton all my right of lower tin bounds in Trelavour Common, for the purpose of the water for washing china clay, so long that Thomas Minton, or his representatives, may carry on the clayworks in Lord Arundel’s lands, or in Hendra Common--but not to hinder any streaming--with privilege of making pools for the use of the works, at the yearly rent of one pound and eleven shillings and sixpence, to commence at Michael. next. As witness our hands the 26th day of July, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-nine.
“JOHN VARCOE. THOMAS MINTON.
“Signed in the presence of CHARLES BAGNALL. JAMES KENT.”
Difficulties of all kinds sprung up. Sometimes the water-courses were obstructed; robbery of all kinds was going on; and there were also the exacting demands of lords of the manor to battle with and satisfy. Bad roads, imperfect machinery and methods of getting the minerals, were other stubborn facts tending to abate “the pleasures of landlordism.” The property was within three miles of St. Austel, but Charlestown was then the port of shipment, and the cost of transit thither in waggons over the wretched roads was 8_s._ per ton; cost of raising, working, and casking, £1 15_s._; and other expenses, raised the value free on board there to £4 15_s._ Freight from Charlestown to Liverpool 12_s._, dues 2_s._ 6_d._, canal freight to the Potteries, 11_s._ 6_d._, and making a moderate allowance for capital invested, the clay could not be delivered at less than £6 15_s._ per ton.[43] As a trading concern the Hendra Company was not a profitable one; but it afforded the proprietors for twenty years a supply of good and pure material, and checked any attempt at monopoly. The clay mines were abandoned, but as there were good tin lodes on the property, and other minerals, the investment proved not a bad one.
From the first establishment of the Pottery works at Stoke, their success was unbroken, and not only were great advances made in processes of manufacture, but they were so much enlarged, that at the time of Mr. Minton’s death in 1836, they were among the most important in the district. Mr. Minton married, on January 1st, 1789, Miss Sarah Webb, of Bruton Street, London, and by her had a family of four sons, two of whom were the Rev. Thomas Webb Minton and Herbert Minton, and six daughters. After his marriage, his mother-in-law, Mrs. Webb, resided with them, and was a valuable acquisition to him in his business; keeping his books and accounts, and being, in fact, the financial manager of the concern. She received and paid all money, and superintended the entire office arrangements, thus leaving Mr. Minton at liberty to devote his entire time to the manufactory and to the engraving. Mrs. Minton, also, so far as the cares of her home and family would permit, took her share in the business.
Mr. Herbert Minton, the second son, was born at the house erected at the works, at Stoke-upon-Trent, in March, 1792, and when old enough, was, with his brother and sister, sent to a dame-school kept by Miss Cheadle, at the only house, beyond what is now the Queen’s Inn, at that time existing on the Liverpool Road, the remainder being fields and gardens. At that time the Mintons had removed from the house at the Works to one on Talbot Bank (now Hill Street, corner of Commerce Street). Later on, Herbert Minton (as was also his brother) was sent to Audlem Grammar School, under the Rev. Nicholas Breakspear, where he remained until nearly fourteen, when he was placed in his father’s manufactory. In 1808, when only sixteen, he had attained such proficiency in the business that he became traveller and salesman, and represented the house both in London and the provinces; and this he continued till more pressing engagements necessitated his more general attendance at the works.
“He was ever at the works, before any one else in the morning, and frequently at five o’clock. In the depth of winter, or however inclement the weather, at all seasons of the year, nothing hindered his early commencement of the duties of the day. Lucifer-matches were unknown in those days, and he, therefore, usually brought a tinder-box in his pocket--the old flint and steel affair. He thus procured a light and made himself a fire. Then he would proceed to examine the stock in the warehouses, that he might be enabled to order what was necessary to replenish it, and thus keep the printers and others constantly at work. He also devoted a certain portion of his time to the mixing-room, in order to keep up the supply of bodies, glazes, &c. Then he would proceed to the counting-house, where I,” says Mr. Stringer, “was an assistant-cashier under his special superintendence. To convey an idea of his peculiar nicety and accuracy in this department of his labours, I may relate the fact that, on a certain Saturday evening, after examining my cash account, Mr. Herbert told me that I was one halfpenny short in my balance. He was aware of my usual accuracy, and was surprised even at this trifling mistake. I opened my cash-box for further examination, when, to my good fortune, I discovered the missing halfpenny within it standing on its edge. This rectified the supposed mistake, and afforded us both a hearty laugh.”
In 1817, Thomas and Herbert Minton were admitted into partnership with their father, the firm being “Thomas Minton and Sons.” In 1821, the elder brother, Thomas Webb Minton, quitted the works, for the purpose of studying for the Church, and he was ordained in 1825, taking his first curacy at Chesterfield, and afterwards at St. Cuthberts, Darlington, and other places. He died in 1870, at Darlington, where he was incumbent of the Church of the Holy Trinity. In 1828 the partnership was dissolved, although Mr. Herbert Minton continued to devote his energies to the development of the concern. On his father’s death, in 1836, he again took up the business, and shortly afterwards took into partnership Mr. John Boyle, under the style of “Minton and Boyle.” In 1841, Mr. Boyle withdrew from the firm, and, about 1842, became a partner with Mr. Wedgwood; and in 1845, Mr. Michael Hollins, nephew to Mrs. Minton, joined the firm under the style of “Herbert Minton and Co.” In 1849 a nephew of Mr. Minton’s, Mr. Colin Minton Campbell, now M.P. for North Staffordshire, joined the firm under the same style. In 1858, Herbert Minton died, and Messrs. Hollins and Campbell continued the manufactory. The present head of the firm is Mr. Colin Minton Campbell, M.P.; the trading style being simply “Mintons.”
Up to 1798, white, cream-coloured, and blue printed wares only were made at these works. In that year, semi-transparent porcelain was made, and continued until 1811, when it was abandoned, and earthenware only again produced. In 1821 it was again produced, and soon afterwards china was commenced and has been a staple branch to the present day. In 1825 some of the more skilled workmen from the Derby works found employment with Mr. Minton, and brought their skill to bear on his productions. “Among these were Steele, Bancroft, and Hancock, as painters in fruit and flowers.” In 1836 Mr. Herbert Minton, as will be shown, first conceived the idea of making encaustic paving tiles. Mr. John Simpson held the position of principal enamel painter of figures and the highest class decorations, from about 1837 to 1847, when he removed to London to take charge of the porcelain painting at Marlborough House. Mr. Samuel Bourne, of Norton-in-the-Moors, Staffordshire, who had been apprenticed to Messrs. Wood and Caldwell, to learn the art of enamel-painting, and who had attained by his industry and talents a high reputation, entered the service of Mr. Minton, in 1828, as chief designer and artist, and continued to render the firm occasional services until 1860, when the infirmities of increasing years necessitated his retirement.
In 1849 M. Arnoux, son of a celebrated manufacturer of hard porcelain at Toulouse, visited Stoke, bringing with him an introduction from Mr. Evans, of Birmingham; when it was arranged that M. Arnoux should superintend and carry out the patent which, in 1839, Mr. Minton, in conjunction with Dr. Wilton George Turner, had taken out. This was for “an improved porcelain,” “made from Kaolin or Cornish clay, made into cream and passed through sieves; Dorsetshire or similar clay treated in like manner; and pure feldspar, all in certain proportions and mixed with great care.” In this, the bisque was produced by submitting it to a less heat than usual before glazing, and then, when dipped, subjecting it “to a greater degree of heat than is usual for the mere purpose of glazing, and effecting the glazing at the same time.” The glazes were also of peculiar composition. Beyond various experiments, this was not carried out until 1849, when this hard paste porcelain for chemical purposes was brought to such perfection, that it was pronounced to be better than that of Meissen or Berlin. There was, however, so much risk in firing this ware, in consequence of the difficulty of procuring a sagger capable of withstanding the necessary heat, that the manufacture was abandoned, and M. Arnoux turned his attention to the artistic decoration of the ordinary manufacture, and to his continual zeal and ability, combined with the enterprise which has always distinguished the firm, England is indebted for the highest honours in this branch of their national industries.
M. Emile Jeannest was engaged as sculptor, and in 1854 he left and took an appointment with Messrs. Elkington, in whose service he died.
M. Carrier de Belleuse succeeded M. Jeannest, and remained some years, when he returned to Paris, and attained so high an eminence as a sculptor that he has been placed on the Commission for the Sèvres Manufactory.
He was succeeded by M. Protât, who, after having executed some of the stone statues now adorning the India Office, returned to France.
Previous to this, Parian was, about 1842, introduced, and formed a staple branch of Messrs. Minton’s productions. In 1851 Herbert Minton and Augustus John Hoffstaedt took out a patent for “improvements in the manufacture.” In the same year Herbert Minton and James Nasmyth took out a patent for “certain improvements in machinery.” In the same year, 1851, the “Great Exhibition” was held, and resulted in an award of great merit to this firm, an honour which each successive exhibition, whether English or foreign, has augmented. In 1850 Majolica was added to the other art-productions of this manufactory, and in this it still stands pre-eminent. No firm has surpassed them in the sharpness of details; the purity of colours; the excellence of glaze, or the artistic character of these goods, which comprise every description of both useful and ornamental articles. In 1851 Della Robbia and Palissy ware were also here commenced.
The history of the manufacture of encaustic and other tiles by Minton, Hollins & Co. is the history of the entire modern trade in these useful and beautiful articles. In 1828 Herbert Minton first turned his attention to the subject, but was prevented by circumstances from fully developing his plans. In 1830 Mr. Samuel Wright, of Shelton, took out a patent for “a manufacture of ornamental tiles.” This, in January 1844, he supplemented by another patent for the “manufacture of ornamental bricks and quarries for floor pavements and other purposes.” Mr. Wright’s experiments were highly satisfactory, but from various causes, although he executed several orders, they were not commercially successful. Becoming weary of his almost resultless experiments, he sold his moulds and patent rights to Mr. Minton, who agreed to pay him a royalty of 10 per cent. on all the tiles sold. Mr. Minton commenced the manufacture in a single room next to the present throwing-house at the earthenware works, and only three men were at first employed. He was much aided in his task by the late Mr. George Leason, a practical potter, who had been brought up under him.
“Mr. George Berks,” says Mr. Stringer, to whom I am indebted for the following notes, “who was a man of good general attainments, did what modelling was required. One of the earliest improvements effected by Mr. Minton was the substitution of brass moulds for the plaster ones used by Mr. Wright, which enabled the maker to beat up the clay so as to give a sharper edge to the tile. Before that alteration the edges had to be cut after they were taken from the plaster mould. A decided advantage was thus gained; but innumerable other difficulties had to be encountered, chiefly arising from the irregular contraction of the clays. Sometimes the inlaid parts would at a slight tap at the back of the tile fall out, or the tiles would become stained in the firing; and in short all sorts of ill luck and misadventures were the weekly result. The tiles were at first fired in a small oven at the china works which would hold about 700 tiles, and he and his fellow labourers used regularly to go there to witness the drawing of the oven. Time after time they found nearly the whole contents spoilt in one way or other, and they were carted away to form part of the foundations on which many of our pottery streets now stand. If it so happened that 100 out of the 700 proved fairly good, the fact was a source of encouragement to all concerned. Repeated failures were, however, only followed by further experiments. Mr. Minton was ever confident that skill and perseverance would in the end prove a success; but surely never was any man’s patience or pocket more sorely or severely tried. Occasionally a few orders were satisfactorily executed, but they were on a comparatively small scale. In April, 1836, Mr. Minton sent to Mr. Josiah Booker, of Liverpool, a plan for tiling his hall, and this gentleman adopted Mr. Minton’s suggestions; and it would seem gave the order with the view of forming an opinion of the tiles for the purpose of exportation; little imagining the difficulties that had to be got over before they could be successfully introduced at home. The prices quoted to Mr. Booker were 15s. per square yard, and 6_d._ per tile of 6 inches square for the border, being about one-half the prices Mr. Wright had charged them. In 1837, a hall pavement was laid in the mansion of Sir John P. Orde, Bart., at Kilmoray, Loch-Gilp-Head, N.B. It should be remarked that, at this time, the only colours made use of were buff, red, and chocolate. In November, 1836, after the death of his father, Mr. John Boyle joined Mr. Minton as partner, and so continued until December, 1841. This gentleman had a keen eye to the profitable working of the manufactures, and often cast uneasy glances at the corner near the throwing-house, and at length began to urge that that department ought to be abandoned. It was on one of these occasions that Mr. Minton uttered the well-known words, “Say no more on the subject, Mr. Boyle. I will make these tiles if they cost me a guinea each!” We do not hear that any other remonstrance followed this rebuke. The late Harriette, Duchess of Sutherland, was one of the early patrons of the tile manufacture; and, indeed, the Staffordshire potteries generally are much indebted to her Grace for the great encouragement she ever gave, and the interest she ever took in every improvement calculated to elevate the character of our manufactures, and advance the prosperity of the district. Her example and influence amongst the nobility afforded much encouragement to the British potter, and tended greatly to the attainment of that success in the art which has been so marked of late years. The tiles were extensively introduced at Trentham Hall, and some of the finest of the early specimens are to be found there. The first work of great importance that was undertaken was the floor of the Temple Church, London. Lewis N. Cottingham, Esq., F.S.A., made an examination of the Chapter House, Westminster, in January, 1841, in order to procure suitable examples for the tiles proposed to be used in the restoration of the Temple Church. On the removal of portions of the boarded floor the pavement was found to be in a very perfect state, few tiles being broken, and the colours in many parts as brilliant as when laid down. Mr. Minton undertook to reproduce the various designs composing this ancient pavement. It was a work of great labour and difficulty; but was accomplished to the satisfaction of the architect, and all others interested in the work. The charge made was merely nominal, taking into account the great expenditure necessarily involved at a time when so many difficulties still attended the manufacture. Mr. Minton was a diligent collector of old tiles, and friends amongst the nobility, gentry, and clergy, in all parts of the country, ministered to his taste, and sent him either examples or sketches of such as they met with in their travels; nothing pleased him better than to receive choice specimens and to superintend their reproduction. The late Mr. Welby Pugin furnished Mr. Minton with many tile drawings, some of which he had designed during his many night journeys to Staffordshire, whilst engaged in the extensive works for Lord Shrewsbury, at Alton Towers and Cheadle Church.”
In June, 1840, Mr. Richard Prosser took out a patent for making a variety of articles from clay in a powdered state, viz., buttons, tesseræ, floor tiles, glazed tiles, &c., by pressure; by preference using screw presses of different powers for articles containing up to and including fifty square inches of surface in each piece; articles of larger surface, and of course requiring a greater pressure, being made by hydraulic press, the pumps of which were worked by steam. Patents were taken for England, France, and America. That for France lapsed in consequence of a condition of the French patent law requiring the process being worked in that country within six months of its date; the political condition of France at that time, in the opinion of the patentee, not being safe for the investment of capital. Of this patent and its application, the following notes, drawn up for me by Mr. John Turley, are of especial interest.
“The English patent was very early introduced to the firm of Minton and Boyle, of Stoke-on-Trent. Mr. Minton took a lively interest in it, but not so Mr. Boyle. Mr. Prosser sold the half part of the English patent to Mr. Minton. Arrangements were made for the prompt commencement of making glazed tiles, tesseræ, and buttons, at Messrs. Minton and Boyle’s works. Two work-rooms were given up to Mr. John Turley, engineer, who at first placed six button presses in one, and a large tile-press in the other, and commenced making white glazed tiles (6 in.) and buttons in these works in August, 1840. Prior to this time, white glazed or Dutch tiles (6 in.) could be bought in the London market for less money than paid to the journeyman potter for making this article at Stoke. The demand for white glazed tiles was soon very great, and has subsequently become a staple article of manufacture in most potting districts by this process. Buttons, tiles, and tesseræ continued their progress in numbers manufactured until 1843, when, on March 8th, the process of making tesseræ was exhibited by Mr. Turley at the Society of Arts, London--Lecture by Cowper; Paper read by Blashfield--and 290 boxes of buttons, three dozen in each, given away at the doors. March 11th, 1843, the same press and process was exhibited by Mr. Turley at the Marquess of Northampton’s soirée, as President of the British Association--a brilliant gathering, at which were present Prince Albert, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, a number of bishops, and about thirty foreign princes. The late Prince Consort took so much interest in the process, that Mr. Prosser and Mr. Minton decided that a description of the process and a drawing of the press as then seen at work should be prepared forthwith, and presented to his Highness, which was done, and presented on the 15th of March, 1843. This paper, with copy of drawing of the press, was reproduced in Dr. Ure’s ‘Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures,’ edited by Robert Hunt. After this introduction to the Society of Arts and the British Association, Mr. J. M. Blashfield, Digby Wyatt, and Owen Jones, by their designs and favourable influences, brought the geometrical floor tile with its many colours, in combination with the encaustic floor tile, into extensive use in the rebuilding of churches, noblemen’s mansions, and other public buildings.
“In August, 1840, he commenced making buttons and tesseræ with six presses, and continued progressing until December, 1841, when twenty-five presses were at work; September 5, 1842, sixty-two presses at work; and at March, 1844, ninety presses at work, with ninety women and one hundred and eighty girls. The girls working half-days and at school half-days--one girl being required to place on setters for firing the produce of one press. The first six months of 1844 the firm received orders for 27,123 great gross, and sold 22,519 great gross. Infringements were now rife in various directions. Most of them were stopped on receipt of notice. Two were costly suits: one, by Mr. Thomas Prosser (who held the American Patent) versus Mr. Henry Van Wart, as an American merchant, for sending into the States buttons made in England irrespective of the American patentee; the other suit was for infringement in making--R. Prosser and H. Minton versus Chamberlain and Lilly. This trial ended August 22, 1845, at Bristol, and its issue was, that Chamberlain and Lilly should work under license. February 3, 1845, an arrangement was made between Minton and Prosser and Mr. H. Van Wart to close the American suit. The course for the sale was again clear for buttons, and progress was made in the manufacture and sale thereof for a few years, when an abrupt termination took place from the unfavourable surroundings and the inability of the patentees to agree as to the future manufacture.
In 1845 were made 33,928 great gross. „ 1846 „ „ 50,493 „ „ „ 1847 „ „ 26,784 „ „ „ 1848 „ „ 1,289 „ „
when button-making ceased at Stoke.”
In August, 1845, Mr. Michael Daintry Hollins joined Mr. Minton in the general manufacturing business; and the tile department formed a separate concern, under the style of Minton, Hollins, & Co. Mr. Hollins was a nephew of Mr. Minton’s deceased wife (who was Miss Hollins, of Shelton,) and had been educated for the medical profession. In 1846, Mr. Samuel Barlow Wright, son of the original patentee, was admitted to a share in the business of the tile works, under the style of Minton, Hollins, and Wright. The patent of Mr. Wright was for fourteen years, and was renewed for seven years in 1844. At that period the works continued to be conducted at a loss, and but a small amount of business was done. It may be safely asserted that during the entire existence of the patent, so far from profit being the result, Mr. Minton had sacrificed many thousands of pounds to perfect the manufacture; to say nothing of the extraordinary liberality of his gifts of tiles. In other hands the manufacture might have proved a pecuniary success at an earlier period; but Mr. Minton was lavish in his expenditure in adopting every mechanical or other improvement--hydraulic presses under Prosser’s patent, Napier’s steam hammer, &c.--that promised further success.
Previous to the year 1848, the only process of printing which had succeeded for the decoration of pottery, was the one from engraved copper-plates. In this process all the lines that form the picture are cut into the metal, and these lines were filled in by the printer with the required colour, which had previously been mixed with boiled oil. The impression was then taken on tissue paper, at the ordinary copper-plate printing press, and from the paper transferred to the ware. In that style the picture or ornament was formed by a succession of lines, so that it was almost impossible to produce an even layer of colour, so desirable in flat-surface ornamentation. In 1848, Messrs. Collins and Reynolds, who had for some years carried on in London the business of decorative and picture printers, submitted to Mr. Minton some trials they had made of transferring to pottery impressions taken on paper from the flat surface of metal or stone, instead of from the engraved lines; and by that process broad and flat layers of colour could be produced, and several colours transferred at the same time to the ware. These first-trials were made with ordinary pigments; and, therefore, only served to show the power of transferring the impression from the paper to the ware. Mr. Minton perceived at once that the process would, in all probability, prove of advantage, and supplied the proper enamelling colours for further experiments. It was now found, however, that these colours were much more difficult of management than the ordinary pigments. This arose from their being mixed with so large a proportion of glass, which necessitated the use of stronger oils to carry the colour; and this again caused the colour, when of sufficient strength, to blister in the kiln. Mr. Minton was not, however, discouraged; and, believing that the difficulties would ultimately be overcome, he joined the experimenters in taking out a patent for the process. The patent is dated the 14th March, 1848, and is entitled “for improvements in ornamenting china, earthenware, and glass.” The difficulties so early encountered were very long in being overcome; months, and even years, of disappointment and loss followed, and it was only after innumerable trials had shown what particular oils and of what strength were required for different colours, that the obstacles were finally surmounted, and the process established as an additional and improved means of mechanical decoration. The process was applied to the decoration of earthenware and china generally, both useful and ornamental; but has proved to be more successful with flat surfaces. It was at an early period applied to ornamenting glazed tiles, and quickly supplanted the old and more expensive method of ground-laying. Mr. Pugin was the earliest patron of these tiles, and introduced them into the new palace of Westminster; the walls of the smoke-room of the House of Commons being the first instance of their use. Numerous specimens were shown at the Exhibition of 1851, and again at Paris in 1855, on which occasion the inventor and manager (Mr. Alfred Reynolds) obtained a first-class certificate. And here it should be remarked that Messrs. Minton took every opportunity of bringing before the Jury the merits of those in their employ, whom they considered deserving of distinction for the service they had rendered to them. There is now a very extensive trade done in these tiles, which are very beautiful and every variety of design. They are applied to wall decoration generally, also to hearths, the sides of fire-places, the making of flower boxes, and to a variety of other useful and ornamental purposes. In this improvement both beauty and cheapness are combined. To speak of the merits of these, even briefly, would occupy a chapter; it is sufficient to say that they are of every possible variety of design--floral, geometrical, mythological, historical, and otherwise,--and that the combinations of colours and the arrangement of the patterns give them a brilliancy all their own. Later on the partnership with Mr. Hollins terminated, and that gentleman continued the manufacture of encaustic and other tiles. (See page 213.)
Of the variety of productions of Minton’s works in former, and at the present times, it is impossible to speak in detail. So varied, so distinct, and so extensive are they in material, in body, in style, in decoration, and in uses, that anything like a detailed account becomes impossible. In stoneware, all the ordinary articles--jugs, mugs, bottles, &c.--are extensively produced; many of the designs of the pressed jugs being marked by pure taste and simplicity of design. In ordinary earthenware, dinner, tea, breakfast, toilet, and other services, and all the usual articles, are made in great variety, from the ordinary white and blue printed wares, up to richly enamelled and gilt patterns.
One of the processes successfully adopted by Minton’s is that of pâte-sur-pâte, a process in which the artist, instead of using colour, employs liquid clay, in which he paints, or rather “lays on” his design; the whole being afterwards glazed. In this process M. Marc Solon, formerly of Sèvres, is particularly successful, and the trays, plaques, &c., produced by him are characterised by pure but severe taste, and masterly treatment. His monogram, the combined letters M and S, distinguish his best works.
In imitation of bronze Messrs. Minton have succeeded far beyond anything before attained, in producing not only a perfect colour, but a thoroughly metallic appearance; their drinking cups and other articles in bronzed porcelain are well designed and of high character. The Persian ware also is of the highest class both in point of correct adaptation of Persian designs and in manipulative treatment.
The pierced or perforated articles are marvels of lightness and of skill. These, which are among the most difficult tasks for the potter, are, as emanating from Minton’s, perfect in every minute detail; they are gems for any cabinet.
In china, besides all the usual services--dinner, tea, breakfast, dessert, déjeuner, toilet, trinket, etc.--an endless variety of fancy and ornamental goods are produced. Notably among these are vases, ewers, tazzæ, and other articles of extreme beauty, and of every style of decoration. A marked feature in these is the embossed gilding of borders, &c. by a process patented by the firm. In Parian, the statuary, busts, groups, vases, ewers, and other articles, equal those of almost any manufactory; while in majolica, della Robia, and other goods, the productions of this firm stand pre-eminent. The engravings, Figs. 205 to 264, give a fair idea of the marvellous beauty and variety of Minton’s goods. Whatever emanates from their factory, indeed, may safely be pronounced to be perfect and unsurpassed, both in design, in manipulation, in body, in glaze, and in colouring. Messrs. Minton rank among the foremost houses throughout the world in those specialities of manufacture to which they have devoted their unbroken attention. The richness and elaborate character of some of the designs, and the faultlessly artistic treatment of others, are shown on the examples I have selected for illustration.
The marks used by Messrs. Minton from time to time are the name “MINTON” impressed on the body of the ware; the names “MINTON,” “MINTON & BOYLE,” “MINTON & CO.,” etc., printed on the surface; and an imitation of the Sèvres double L, with the initial M added. This latter mark, of which two examples are given on Figs. 255 and 256, is pencilled in blue on the ware; it occurs on fine porcelain tea services, richly painted and gilt, and of remarkably good, and sometimes very elaborate, design. Sometimes also the letter M alone (Fig. 221) occurs. Of late years, too, an ermine spot (Fig. 222) in gold or colours has occasionally been used.
The name MINTON impressed, or “stamped,” in the body of the ware, was not used until 1861, so that this will be a guide to possessors in appropriating examples.
Sometimes the words “FELSPAR CHINA,” “NEW STONE” or “SEMI CHINA” occur.
Other marks used by Messrs. Minton are shown on Figs. 266 to 270.
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Hollins.--The history of the famous works of Messrs. Minton, Hollins, & Co., and of the rise and development of their manufacture of encaustic, enamelled, majolica, and other tiles, has already been given on pages 195 to 206, and therefore need not be repeated. In 1868, as there stated, the partnership ceased, and from that time the manufacture of tiles passed into the hands of, and has been continued solely by, Mr. Michael Daintry Hollins, under the old style of “Minton, Hollins, & Co.” The productions of the works, as of old, consist of unglazed encaustic, and tesselated, or rather, geometrical, tiles for pavements; glazed encaustic tiles for fire hearths; majolica and enamelled tiles for grate cheeks, flower-boxes, wall-linings, &c.; and plain and painted tiles for various species of decoration. These are all made from the same moulds, and of precisely the same excellent quality both in body and decoration as under the old firm; the business is, indeed, in every respect the same as before the dissolution.
The engravings, Figs. 271 to 282, show some of the designs of Minton, Hollins, & Co., and are of the highest style of art. The unglazed and the glazed encaustic tiles for pavements are made of the hardest and most durable materials that have yet been discovered--far beyond those of many other makers--and the workmanship as well as the designs are of a superior order. They are made in the simple red and buff patterns of mediæval times, as well as in various combinations of colours; among these are black, white, buff, chocolate, salmon, green, blue, red, grey, yellow, &c., and these are varied in their combinations to an almost endless variety.
In majolica tiles, for flower-boxes, many effective and appropriate designs are made; these are of bold relief and richly coloured. Among the patterns are tulips and other flowers in high relief, painted true to nature, and of remarkable richness. Earthenware tiles, printed or painted, not in relief, are also largely produced for the same purpose.
For wall decoration, fire-place cheeks and linings, and other purposes, the variety of tiles produced by the firm is very extensive, and embraces almost every class of design. In these are some with the patterns (notably the lily) all in very high relief, and the colouring of the richest and most effective character.
Others have their patterns painted by hand on the flat surface, by skilled artists; and others, again, are transfer-printed, or a combination of printing and painting. Some form a more or less rich diaper, and others are separate or continuous patterns, while others again form borders of more than usual elegance.
Among special patterns may be named a series of masterly designs of Morning, Noon, Evening, and Night, represented by well-conceived figures in blue on a black ground; a series of emblematic designs of the Seasons, printed in chocolate or other monochrome on the white or buff surface; and a series of allegorical, mythological, and fabulous subjects, each treated in the same admirable manner. The body of some is of fine white earthenware, very hard and durable, and others are buff, grey, or cream-coloured, and in each of these bodies the tiles are produced of many patterns and of every degree of finish.
The geometric or tesselated pavements are of every conceivable variety; the tiles composing them being made of different forms and of all shades of colour, but all produced with the utmost mechanical nicety so as to “fit” in ever-changing variety. A notable feature in the tiles of this firm is the richness, the clearness, and the purity of the colours and the excellence of the glaze; these features, added to faultless quality of body, to high-class artistic treatment of patterns, and to excellence of mechanical workmanship, place them high in estimation. Messrs. Hollins were very extensive exhibitors at the Philadelphia Exhibition, 1876, and their productions excited great interest and admiration. One of their main attractions was a lovely chimney-piece composed of tiles exquisitely painted with humming birds, &c., and over it a lovely painting of a mother and her children executed with perfect artistic taste and feeling on thirty tiles; this great achievement in ceramics is shown on Fig. 277. Another notable exhibit was a reredos in mosaic (Fig. 282), and in mosaic also was a fine head of Washington. The rest of their exhibits consisted of every possible variety of tiles, and all of equal excellence. The marks used are “MINTON HOLLINS & CO. PATENT TILE WORKS, STOKE ON TRENT”; “MINTON & CO. Patent, STOKE ON TRENT”; “MINTON HOLLINS & CO. STOKE ON TRENT”; “M. H. & Co.,” &c., at the back of the tiles.
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Trent Pottery.--These works were established in 1861 by Mr. George Jones, the head of the present firm of “George Jones and Sons.” Messrs. Jones manufacture all the ordinary description of ordinary earthenware; from the gaily-decorated articles required in Africa and in South America, and the spotless white granite for the United States, to stoneware, and printed, enamelled, and gilt wares, for home use and for the Colonies. The firm also make a large and striking variety of articles in majolica, in which they successfully vie with most houses in the trade. In this they make both useful and ornamental articles, most of which are of a high order of art, being well modelled, carefully finished, and of a quality that will bear comparison with most others. Some of the productions exhibited at Paris in 1867 (when they obtained a medal), at London in 1871, and at Vienna in 1873, are shown by Figs. 283 to 306. The imitation Palissy ware is highly successful. In vases, candelabra, centre and side pieces, flower shells, and numberless other articles, Messrs. Jones have produced many striking and good designs. Some of these are shown on the engravings; others, especially an aquatic centre-piece of four heights, in Cupids, shells, dolphins, and coral; a flower-pot, in which the magnolia forms the basis of ornamentation; and an ewer abundantly decorated with lizards, snakes, &c., are bold, good, and highly effective in design. The mark used by Messrs. Jones is simply the monogram composed of the initials G J joined together.
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Albert Works, and Copeland Street Works.--(Poole, Stanway, & Wood.)--The business of this firm was established in 1859 in the Albert Works, Liverpool Road, by Messrs. George Turner, Joseph Emery Hassall, and William Bromley, as a Parian manufactory only. In 1863, the present much larger works were built. In 1862, Mr. Bromley retired from the concern, and in 1863 Mr. Thomas Peake joined it, and the firm continued as “Turner, Hassall, & Peake” until 1871, when the latter withdrew, and was succeeded by Mr. Poole, when the style became “Turner, Hassall, and Poole.” In 1873 Mr. Hassall retired, and was succeeded by Mr. Stanway, and the firm then became “Turner, Poole, and Stanway.” Later on Mr. Turner also retired from the firm, and Mr. Josiah Wood, having entered into partnership with the remaining partners, the style was altered to its present form of “Poole, Stanway, and Wood.” At first Parian only was made, but after a time the decoration of china (bought in the white) was added. After this had been done for about ten years the manufacture of china was commenced, and is now a large and profitable branch of the business. The present productions of these works are Parian, principally statuary, of the higher quality in body, in colour, and in workmanship; china, in which tea, breakfast, dessert, trinket, and other services, vases, figures, groups, &c., are made in every style of decoration, and of excellent quality; majolica, in all the usual varieties of articles; and terra cotta, in which they produce water-jugs, fern-stands, tobacco-jars, filters, candlesticks, flower-vases, tea-pots, &c. The speciality of the works is, however, in Parian, and in this they rank very, and deservedly, high; in this the novelty was introduced by Mr. Turner of decorating the Parian body with majolica colours. By this means a greater clearness and brilliancy as well as softness of colour is attained, “crazing” is avoided, and a more pleasing effect and finish gained. The operations of the firm are not confined to the home markets, but a considerable trade is done with foreign ports. The terra cotta goods are produced in red and cane colour, and richly enamelled. The body is remarkably fine and even, and very hard, compact, and durable. In statuary Parian, a large variety of groups, single figures, animals, and ornamental pieces are produced. The groups and figures, both after the antique and original designs by celebrated modellers, are of a high degree of excellence. Notably among these is a very charming pair, “Night” and “Morning,” by Carrier. Busts, too, are produced very extensively, and of various sizes, both copied from classic models and of modern celebrities. In centre-pieces, compotiers, &c., Messrs. Poole, Stanway, & Wood are particularly successful. A set of four, with juvenile figures representing the Seasons, are peculiarly graceful and elegant, the open-work dishes of these and others being of admirable design and faultless finish; as is also another in which the stem is surrounded by three cleverly modelled Cupids. The tinting of these is pleasing and artistic; the creamy richness of the body (of course unglazed) giving a peculiar softness to the flesh, while the drapery and accessories, being delicately coloured and glazed, impart a finish to the designs that is very charming. A centre-piece with a pedestal rising from three gracefully modelled female figures, and supporting an exquisite open-work dish, is of peculiar elegance; the angles of the tripod base are formed of boldly modelled sea-horses, whose curled tails rise gracefully up and support three smaller dishes. A very successful and powerfully conceived design is a comport in which the base is formed of three young Tritons, who, surrounding an elegant lyre standard, alternate with the same number of shells; above them rises the open-work bowl.
It is interesting to add that one of the partners of this firm, Mr. Josiah Wood, is a worthy descendant of a long line of potters; his grandfather, Aaron Wood, himself a famous potter, was the son of Aaron Wood (who was apprenticed to Dr. Thomas Wedgwood), and the brother of the celebrated Enoch Wood, of whom notices are given in other parts of this volume. Mr. Stanway, another of the partners, is the son of William Stanway, whose fifty years’ connection with the Wedgwoods I have spoken of in my “Life of Wedgwood” and alluded to in another part of this volume.
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Glebe Street Works, and Wharf Street Works.--These two manufactories belong to Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater, and are entirely confined to the production of Parian goods, of which they are among the largest and most extensive producers, both for the home markets and for exportation. The Glebe Street Works were commenced in 1850, by a clever Italian figure-modeller named Giovanni Meli, who produced clever groups and single figures, till 1865, when he sold the entire business, with its plant, moulds, and machinery, to Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater, and returned to Italy with the full intention of there commencing a terra cotta manufactory. This he relinquished, after a short trial, mainly through the lack of a suitable native clay or marl for the making of his saggers. Giovanni Meli then went to Chicago, where he succeeded in his wishes, and established a manufactory of the kind he had attempted in Italy, and there he continues to the present time. The Wharf Street Works were commenced in 1858 by Mr. Leveson Hill, after whose death, which occurred shortly afterwards, they were carried on by his executors until 1870, when they were sold to Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater, who thus became proprietors of both concerns. By them the works have been considerably enlarged, and as their business operations are rapidly extending, they bid fair to rank among the largest in the district.
The operations of the firm are entirely confined to Parian, and in this they produce statuary groups and figures in large variety; statuettes and busts, both classical, portrait, and imaginative; vases of endless form, variety, and size; centre-pieces and comports of elegant design; flower-stands; brackets and pedestals; bouquet-holders trinket-caskets; cream-ewers; jugs, and a considerable variety of fancy articles.
By giving their constant and undivided attention to this one branch of ceramic art (Parian), Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater have succeeded in so improving it both in fineness and purity of body and in tone of colour, as to render their productions of far higher than average merit. They have studied excellence of body, originality of design, and cleverness of workmanship, as before that of marketable cheapness, and in this they have done wisely. In material, they rank with the best productions of many competing firms, while in fineness of surface and careful manipulation they are scarcely excelled.
Among the designs produced by this firm are many of more than average merit, and they are issued, in some instances, of large size.--“Clytie,” a clever reproduction, is a bust of about twenty-two inches in height, whilst several others (Gladstone, Disraeli, Cobden, Tennyson, Dickens, and other modern celebrities) are of various heights. Among their principal groups are “Innocence Protected,” “Penelope,” “The Power of Love,” “Cupid Betrayed,” “Cupid Captive,” “Golden Age,” “Rock of Ages,” “Guardian Angel,” “The Immaculate Conception,” “Christ and St. John,” and “Virgin and Child;” and in single figures are many well designed and faultlessly produced. These are all good, and the same remark will apply to the remainder of the figures and busts. The centre-pieces, comports, and flower-holders, are characterized by the same good taste in design and the same excellence in finish; their variety is great, and many of them have a freshness and originality in conception that is very encouraging. Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater are very successful in their original portrait busts, many of which they have produced, both for private purposes and for sale. Among the latter, the busts of Abraham Lincoln, Charles Sumner, and Governor Andrew, have had a very extensive sale in the United States, to which market, indeed, the greater part of their general statuary and other goods is sent. An excellent portrait statuette of Queen Victoria may also be reckoned among their successful productions. In addition to the States and the home markets, the firm export largely to Canada, the Colonies, and Germany. They use no mark.
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Copeland Street.--Messrs. Billington & Co. manufacture the commonest descriptions of china in all the usual services.
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Bridge Works.--Formerly worked by Messrs. Davenport & Co., W. Adams & Co., Minton, Hollins & Co., Jones & Co., and Grose & Son, this manufactory is now carried on by Hancock & Whittingham for the production of the usual useful classes of earthenware.
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Walker & Carter.--The manufactory now carried on by this firm belonged formerly to Wolf, and next to his son-in-law Hamilton, and later was worked by Z. Boyle & Co., W. Adams & Co., and Minton, Hollins & Co. The present firm manufacture the ordinary classes of earthenware.
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London Road (and Eastwood Vale).--The works of Mr. William Henry Goss were commenced in 1858 for the production of Parian, ivory-porcelain, terra cotta, &c., and their progress from that time as pure art-productions has been very marked. The most famous of the specialities of Mr. Goss’s manufacture are porcelain floral jewellery and dress ornaments, in which brooches, hair-pins, scent-diffusers, crosses, and other beautiful articles are made; jewelled porcelain, in which vases, scent-bottles, tazzæ and other ornaments are produced; and vessels to be filled with perfumes, including illuminated scent-vases, pomade-boxes, rice-powder jars, pastil and scented ribbon burners, &c., these latter being made largely for the great Paris and London perfumehouses. The process of modelling jewelled porcelain, just alluded to, which is of extreme richness and beauty, is the invention of Mr. Goss, who, many years ago observing that the enamel jewels on the old Sèvres porcelain frequently dropped, or were rubbed, off, turned his attention to the subject. The process adopted at Sèvres was as follows: a gold foil was stamped into circles, ovals, and other required forms for the reception of the enamels, which were then pencilled on, and fired before applying them to the article they were intended to decorate. After being vitrified into imitations of uncut rubies, emeralds, &c., they were stuck on to the surface of the porcelain with a flux, and again fired. The adhesion was by this process often incomplete, and thus it frequently occurred that part of the design became rubbed away. The process invented by Mr. Goss for this mosaic jewellery, is, to indent the designs for the intended jewelled decoration in the dry or moist clay before baking, and in these to insert the jewels, which are all previously cut, and thus attain an increased brilliancy. Being inserted into the hollow or recess prepared for them, they are made secure. The process is an extremely delicate but very ingenious and beautiful one, and the effect produced is richer and finer than is attained by any other processes. Real pearls are often also introduced by Mr. Goss with good effect. For this and other purposes Mr. Goss has taken out a patent “for improvements in manufacturing articles of jewellery, dress ornaments, dress fastenings, smoke-shades for lamps and gas-burners, and the handles of cups and other vessels of ceramic materials”--an invention peculiarly applicable to the “manufacture of brooches, earrings, the heads of scarf-pins, hair-pins, and shawl-pins, the trinkets called charms, bracelets, necklaces, stud and ring fittings,” and a vast number of other articles. The floral brooches, crosses, &c., are of great beauty, and in delicacy of modelling remind one of the famous Bristol and Derby floral plaques. Some are produced in pure white bisqué, others are tinted in the natural colours of the flowers represented, and others are in ivory-porcelain prepared by a patented process.
In Parian, for which Mr. Goss ranks deservedly high, busts, statuary, vases, tazzas, scent-jars, bread-platters, and many other ornamental goods, are made. Notably among these are admirable busts of Charles Swain and of myself, the author of this work; this forms the frontispiece to the first volume. This fine work of Art was modelled expressly for the purpose in 1875, and is pronounced by those capable of judging to be a fine and highly successful example of Ceramic Art. These are modelled by Mr. W. W. Gallimore, under the personal and artistic supervision of Mr. Goss. They, as are all the busts which emanate from this combined source, are of the highest style of Art in point of pose and poetic treatment, and of the most careful character in manipulative workmanship. As portrait-busts they rank far above the average, and are, indeed, perfect reproductions of the living originals. It is not often that this can be said of portrait-busts, but it has been a particular study of Mr. Goss, and of his coadjutor, Mr. Gallimore, and they have succeeded admirably.[44] Of Mr. Gallimore it may be well to say a word or two. He at one time was engaged as a modeller at the Belleek Works in Ireland, and while there, by the bursting of a gun, lost his right arm. His modelling has, therefore, ever since then, been entirely done by his left hand, and, strange as it may seem, is far better than when he had both.
One of Mr. Goss’s specialities is ivory porcelain, and this he produces of the full soft mellow tone which characterizes the finest ivory, while, from the nature of the body he has by constant experiments and study succeeded in producing, it is far more lasting and durable, and capable of more decoration, than the ivory itself. It possesses all the delicate beauty of the ivory, with, as just stated, more durability, and, unlike it, is unchangeable. In this material one of Mr. Goss’s most successful productions is a pierced scent-bottle of the pilgrim-bottle or puzzle-jug form. Its centre is double pierced in a very elaborate pattern, and judiciously heightened with lines of gold.
In terra cotta, which is of peculiarly fine quality and rich colour, water-bottles and all the usual articles are made, a speciality being the fern-leaves with which they are decorated. All kinds of enamel colours and lustres are made at these works. The name W. H. GOSS is sometimes stamped in the ware, and on the other higher class goods the crest, a falcon rising, ducally gorged, is used.
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London Road.--In 1856 a field on the London Road was found to contain a valuable mine of red clay, and a manufactory of floor, roof, and ridge tiles, &c., was commenced. This property was purchased by Mr. W. Kirkham, who still continues the works. In 1862 Mr. Kirkham built a manufactory for the production of Parian, terra cotta, and general earthenware for the home and foreign markets. To this he has more recently added the making of door-furniture, brass-founders’ fittings, knobs, mortars and pestles, chemists’ goods, stoneware, &c.; a patent is also worked for the production of porcelain bottle-stoppers, feeding-bottles, &c. The terra cotta goods, comprising water-bottles, ornamental flower-pots and stands, table-jugs, spill-cases, tobacco-jars, and an infinite variety of other articles, are of a high degree of excellence, both in body, in form, in colour, and in style of ornamentation. In colour it is of a deep, rich, full red, and is remarkably close, compact, hard, and durable in texture. The ornamentation consists of embossed borders of more than average relief; printed groups of Etruscan figures, borders, groups of flowers, &c.; rich enamelling in various colours; and dead and burnished gilding. Some of the fern decorations are graceful, natural, and elegant; and those with the Etruscan figures and the enamelled borders are in pure taste. The table-jugs are of excellent form, many being good examples of severe Art, and their decorations are faultless.
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The Campbell Brick and Tile Company.--The company to whom this manufactory belongs was formed in 1875 for the purpose of carrying on the business of Mr. Robert Minton Taylor, who had till that time conducted it at Fenton. A new manufactory was, in 1876, erected at Stoke, when the Fenton business was transferred to it. In addition to this, new buildings and machinery have been erected for the production of all kinds of bricks, roofing and other building tiles, &c. The works were established at Fenton, as just stated, by Mr. Robert Minton Taylor--nephew to the late Mr. Herbert Minton, and until the past few years a partner in the firm of Minton, Hollins & Co.--in 1868, on a dissolution, consequent on effluxion of time, of the old firm. The productions of these works, as were those at Fenton, are encaustic, mosaic, geometrical, and majolica tiles, and in these every variety of design, from the purely ornate to the severe classic, are made.
The encaustic tiles are produced not only in the usually simple red and buff colours, but also in various combinations of buff, red, blue, green, yellow, white, black, brown, grey, and every shade of compound colour. The designs are very effective and pure, and are the result of considerable study on the part of the artists employed in their preparation. The geometric tiles are of every conceivable form and of great variety in colour; they are prepared with mathematical nicety, and produce remarkably rich and effective pavements.
One of the specialities of these works are majolica and coloured tiles. These are of the highest possible class of beauty and excellence, and the richness of the colours and their harmonious combinations cannot be surpassed: they are perfect works of Art, and are a great and marked advance upon any which have preceded them. Some have the ornament in relief--sometimes approaching even to alto-relievo--and exquisitely modelled: the ornament consisting of arabesques, foliage, flowers, birds, &c., in endless variety. In reproduction of natural objects, as the hawthorn, the bramble, the violet, the primrose, the anemone, the lily, and the lilac, Mr. Minton Taylor is particularly happy: the effect is strikingly beautiful. The tiles, of course, are adapted for wall decorations of churches, &c., for ceilings, grate-cheeks, lining of fire-places, flower-boxes, friezes, inlaying in cabinet work, &c., but not for floors.
Among the other features of these works are the tesselated pavements, which are careful reproductions of examples of the Romano-British period. In these the antique character is well preserved, the designs copied with scrupulous accuracy, the colours kept strictly to the originals, and the effect of the rich guilloches admirably preserved. Tile hearths, too, are a speciality of Mr. Minton Taylor’s, and these are produced in great variety and of extreme beauty: they are among the most successful adaptations of ceramic decorative Art to domestic purposes. The principal designs are by E. Welby Pugin, John Gibbs, J. Seddon, Dr. Dresser, and others.
The mark used by Mr. Minton Taylor while at Fenton was the name “ROBERT MINTON TAYLOR, TILE WORKS, FENTON, NEAR STOKE-ON-TRENT,” arranged in various ways, and impressed or raised on the back; or the initials ^{R M T}{F T W} used in the same way. That of the present firm (the proprietor of which is Colin Minton Campbell, Esq., M.P., and the manager, Mr. Robert Minton Taylor) is a compass W+^N{S}E encircled by the words “CAMPBELL BRICK & TILE CO., STOKE-UPON-TRENT.”
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Harrison and Wedgwood.--John Harrison, of Newcastle, and afterwards of Cliff Bank, Stoke, a man possessed of some means, but little taste, entered into partnership with Josiah Wedgwood on the latter first commencing business. He was not a practical potter, but was taken into partnership by Wedgwood for the advance of capital. They carried on the business at what was Mr. Aldersea’s pottery, at the top of Stoke, opposite the works of Hugh Booth. Here, besides agate and other knife-hafts, they made the ordinary kinds of wares then in demand, both “scratched” and blue. In 1754 they entered into partnership with Thomas Whieldon, and later on the works were, I believe, bought and pulled down by Josiah Spode.
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Bankes.--Mr. R. Bankes and Mr. John Turner, in 1756, made white stoneware on what, later, formed a part of Josiah Spode’s premises. In 1762 Mr. Turner removed to Lane End, and about 1780 discovered a valuable vein of clay at Green Dock; this he turned to profitable and artistic use in the making of his fine and celebrated cane-coloured and other wares.
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Aldersea.--John and Thomas Aldersea were makers of tortoiseshell, clouded, and other wares.
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Hugh Booth, of Cliff Bank, was one of the leading manufacturers of the district. His productions were common cream-coloured, mottled, and, I believe, lustre-wares. He died unmarried in June, 1789, aged 57, and was succeeded by his brother, Ephraim.
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Ephraim Booth (an alderman of Plymouth), who took into partnership his two sons Hugh and Joseph, and carried on the business under the firm of “Ephraim Booth and Sons.” The eldest of these sons, Hugh Booth, married Ann, daughter of Thomas Lovatt, Esq., and died in 1831. This firm was somewhat extensive, and produced blue printed and other wares. The heading of their bills in 1792 was “Eph^m Booth & Sons, Potters to His Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence and St. Andrew’s, in the Kingdom of Great Britain, Earl of Munster, in the Kingdom of Ireland.” “Stoke, Staffordshire.” At that time (1792) some of their productions were “barrel-shape” and other jugs, “ewers and basons,” “cups and saucers, bell-shape handled,” “coffees and saucers, fluted,” all “printed Dresden pattern;” “tureens and ladles, green edge, cream-coloured glaze;” sallads, baking dishes, fish-drainers, oyster-shells, pickle leaves, egg-cups, peppers, mustards, scollop shells, sauce tureens, all stands either “green edge,” “blue edge,” or “blue and green;” tea-pots, milks, bread and butter plates, &c., “narrow flute, printed Dresden pattern,” &c.
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Wolfe.--Mr. Thomas Wolfe was a very successful manufacturer, the latter part of last century. He died in 1818, and was, I believe, succeeded by his son-in-law, Mr. Robert Hamilton, and afterwards by Messrs. W. Adams and Co.
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Bird.--Daniel Bird, the “flint potter,” as he was called, at Cliff Bank (afterwards Mayers), made agate-ware knife-hafts and buttons, and the usual earthenware of the period.
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The manufacturers at Stoke in 1829, were, according to Shaw, Spode; Minton; H. and R. Daniel, who here made only porcelain, their earthenware works being at Shelton; Adams, in one part of whose works the first steam-engine for grinding flints is said to have been erected; Zachary Boyle & Son, near the churchyard, who made both china and earthenware; Thomas Mayer (Cliff Bank), formerly Daniel Bird’s, who was called the “flint potter,” through his having ascertained the exact proportions of flints and clays required “to prevent cracking in the oven”; and Ward and Forrester. In 1843, there were Spode and Copelands; Messrs. Mintons; Messrs. William Adams and Co., who at one time or other had five separate manufactories, three of which had formerly been Mr. Wolfe’s, the fourth the Bridge Works, and the fifth Hugh Booth’s; Messrs. Henry and Richard Daniel; Mr. Zachary Boyle; Messrs. Samuel and George Reade; and Messrs. Lowndes and Hill.