Chapter XII
Irish Ceramics--Early Pottery of Ireland--The Cairns--The Crannogs--Mediæval Pottery of Ireland--Dublin--Delamain--Stringfellow--Grants by Irish Parliament--Donovan--Delft Ware--Brown Ware Manufactories--Belfast--Leathes and Smith--Delft Ware--Coates’ Pottery--China Works--Florence Court Pottery--Coal Island Pottery--Youghall Pottery--Captain Beauclerc’s Terra Cotta--Larne Pottery Works--Castle Elspie Pottery--Belleek China and Earthenware Works, &c.
The early pottery of Ireland, although bearing a general resemblance in many of its characteristics to that of England and other nations, nevertheless differs from all others in some of its features, both of form and decoration. As in other countries, the great bulk of examples of early fictile art that remain to us in Ireland, and upon which we have to found our knowledge, are the cinerary urns--the clay vessels in which, when cremation was in vogue, the ashes and burnt bones of the dead were placed for burial in cairns or otherwise--and food and drinking-vessels found (when inhumation was observed) in the grave-mounds of the people. But, in addition to this, the “crannogs,” or lake dwellings of the Irish people, afford a vast fund of information upon the form and decoration of the domestic vessels in use in former ages.
In the first volume of this work I have written much upon early fictile art, and in other works have treated so fully upon the contents of the barrows[61] of early ages, that it is not needful to pursue the subject here. I may, however, with special reference to Irish examples, quote the words of my late friend, Sir William Wilde--one of the most painstaking authorities upon Irish antiquities-and then pass on to a consideration of some of the examples that remain to us. “Irish cinerary urns have,” Sir William says, “been found under three circumstances: in small cists, placed without any ostensible mark, at least at the present day, beneath the surface of the soil, each just sufficiently large to hold one or two vessels. The chamber is sometimes occupied with the urn and its contents alone; in other cases, it also contains charcoal and portions of burned bone; and, in some instances, the flooring-stones have become vitrified upon the upper surface, thus leading us to believe that the funeral pyre was lighted over the grave after it was formed; of this, the charcoal and the vitrification of the stones afford presumptive proof. These small chambers are sometimes found near the surface, or on the periphery of the larger tumuli that usually cover cromlechs or surround extensive sepulchral chambers, and appear to be of a much more recent date than the original structure of the tumulus in which they are placed. Such minor interments may have been those of the family or descendants of the persons originally interred beneath; or the place--strong in the odour of sanctity--may have been resorted to as a burial-ground long subsequent to its original foundation, from that feeling of veneration which instinctively consecrates the resting-place of the dead. These urns are also found imbedded in the earth, in which case they are generally aggregated in cemeteries upon the sides of hills.“ As in England, so in Ireland, interments both by cremation and inhumation[62] were made, and, with the latter, vessels of clay of various forms were placed.
The material of the early Irish urns is simply coarse clay, but this varies in different localities. With some sand has evidently been more or less mixed with the clay, while “in those which show a higher degree of culture in the makers,” as Sir William Wilde says, “sand and small fragments of stone, possibly broken for the purpose, were mixed through the plastic mass, and also rubbed (perhaps to assist in drying, as well as in giving them stability) upon the inner surface, especially near the bottom. A micaceous clay here appears to answer the same end; but in some of the very fine specimens minute particles of quartz and felspar may be observed coating the interior, which, from the sharpness of their fracture, would appear to have been broken specially for the purpose. These fragments of sand or stone may also be seen in the fracture, but are never observed upon the outer surface. In colour the Irish urns differ considerably upon the outer and inner surfaces. The latter is almost invariably blackish or dark brown, the result of partial torrification, and perhaps from the heated bones and charcoal placed within them, either when soft or after they had been sun-baked.[64] The colouring generally passes through four-fifths of the mass. The outer surface is either a light red, grey, or brown. The first is most usual, and appears to be the result of the atmosphere, which was, however, excluded from the interior by the mass of the contents of the urn. The colour of the exterior usually passes for some distance within the lip. The drab or clay-coloured urns bear but little mark of fire, either within or without. The brown belongs only to the thinnest and hardest description of pottery. Assuming that the majority of the mortuary urns (except those for very distinguished persons) were constructed at the grave, the artist was indebted to the clay at hand in the locality for the materials with which he worked, and hence the great variety in the composition of our cinerary urns.”
The ornamentation upon the earliest Irish pottery, both cinerary urns and otherwise, is extremely varied, both in character and in mode of arrangement. Sometimes simply a number of dots, or punctures, pretty nearly cover the surface; at others, these punctures are intermixed in regular patterns with other ornaments. Sometimes again they exhibit ridges or raised bands more or less decorated, and at others the usual herringbone or zigzag patterns produced by incised or impressed lines are the most prominent feature. Again, in some examples, patterns produced by pressing a twisted thong into the pliant clay are met with, while incised or impressed circular, semicircular, and other lines ornament others. “Many of these lines have a pectinated appearance, as if indicated with a traverser, or a rowel-like instrument, such as that used by pastry-cooks” at the present day, and sometimes the ornament is produced by simple scratches. Other urns are one mass of ornament, rich in appearance and varied in character; and others have what may not inaptly be called flat circular medallions on their sides. Others, again, present a series of “slashes” with intervening impressed ornaments.
It is a remarkable fact, as pointed out by Sir W. Wilde, that no examples, so far as his knowledge went, occurred on which “any trace of the spire, which characterizes the decorations of some of the very oldest sepulchral monuments in Ireland,” is to be found; but a peculiar form of ornamentation, made by straight lines, is identical with that on some carved stones at the entrance to the most remarkable of these edifices--that of New Grange.
Fig. 668 is a remarkably elegant urn found in a cairn at Trillick Barr, Tyrone. In general form it is slightly contracted towards the mouth, and has two raised encircling bands, and an extended rim at the base. The lower part of the body is decorated with vertical lines, the spaces between being here and there filled in with impressed ornaments; and the portions between the encircling bands are also filled in with diagonal lines of indentations. These also are continued round the rim at the mouth, while the raised bands bear a double engrailed pattern. Fig. 669, five inches in height, was found at Ballybit, Lisnevagh, county Carlow. Like the last, it contracts slightly towards the mouth. It has three encircling raised bands, with intervening indented ones, around its centre, and these are richly ornamented. The upper portion of the vase bears a border of curved lines--a large species of engrailing--incised, and the lower portion similarly produced lines forming herringbone and “crossed” patterns; around the rim and the upper rib it is elaborately ornamented with impressed points.
Fig. 670 is of a totally different character, both in form and ornamentation. It was found in a cist, on the lands of Mackrackens, in the parish of Leckpatrick, county Tyrone, and is five inches in height. “At its greatest circumference, it is surrounded by a narrow, circular groove [much of the same character as some Celtic urns found in Derbyshire, and this groove is, as it were, clasped by five small pierced knobs, equidistant from each other. From their shape, and closeness to the vessel,” continues Mr. Geoghegan, “I cannot think they were intended for handles. There are no indentations or marks to lead us to suppose they were designed for that purpose. It appears to me their use was to retain in the groove a strong cord which twined round the urn. From this strong cord three strings could be attached, meeting in a knot, for the purpose of carrying or conveying the urn from the scene of cremation to the cist in which it was finally to be placed, or from the place where it was made.” It bears a strong resemblance in outline to the wooden vessel, Fig. 667. In the museum of the Royal Irish Academy urns of this same general form are preserved, as are also examples of almost every known variety. Figs. 671 to 675 are from that Museum, and tell their own tale, both as to peculiarity of outline and richness of decoration. An immolation urn, found within a larger vessel at Mayhora, near Castlecomer, of much the same form as Fig. 671, has been described by my friend Mr. Graves in the Archæological Journal; the lower part is elegantly ribbed.
Fig. 687, from the “Giant’s Grave,” on the Loughrey demesne, in county Tyrone, is of globular form, five inches in height, and decorated with vertical lines of indentations and encircling lines incised in the clay. Between the encircling lines at the top, as well as those at the bottom, are rows of square indentations; and inside the mouth is also ornamented.
Urns of a different character of ornamentation were discovered some years ago at Ballon Hill, between Fenagh and Tullow, county Carlow. Among these was one, more than fifteen inches in height, about fourteen inches in width at the mouth, and of “flower-pot” form, very similar to some English examples. It had two raised encircling ribs, and the upper part was ornamented with a chevron or zigzag pattern produced by impressed twisted thongs. Another was of bowl form with raised bands, and every part elaborately ornamented, the upper and lower parts bearing saltires alternating with incised lines; it was of much the same general form as the one engraved on Fig. 687. Another, of more flowing form, whose outline took a graceful jar-like curve, gradually swelling outward from the contraction below the mouth and tapering down to the foot, was ornamented with impressed thongs and incised lines. Others were found which partook of the same general shapes as other examples here engraved, and were more or less ornamented with encircling lines, zigzag and other patterns, and impressed points, curves, &c.; one or two had raised knobs. One of the richest of “immolation urns,” about two and three-quarter inches in height (and filled with small burnt bones when found), of the Irish series, also brought to light in this interment, is engraved on Fig. 665. Another remarkable urn (Fig. 666), found at Cairn Thierna, county Cork (engraved in the Archæological Journal), has its outline totally different from others, and is elaborately and delicately ornamented over almost its entire surface.
Fig. 664 carefully represents an urn found some years back at a place called Yellow Jack’s Cairn, in the townland of Altegarron, on the slopes of Divis Mountain, near Belfast. It was five inches in height, and six in diameter at the mouth. The whole surface was richly decorated with incised and impressed lines, and other ornamentation; these are sufficiently well shown in the engraving, and therefore need no description.
Occasionally covers made of the same clay as the urns themselves, and ornamented in a similar manner, have been found. One remarkable example discovered at Danes Fort had a perfect cover, or lid, with a handle at the top.
Some of the most curious and certainly most interesting urns which have come under my notice, were found at Drumnakilly, near Omagh, county Tyrone, in 1872–3, and have been described and figured by Mr. Wakeman. The first of these, Fig. 676, 3 feet 6 inches in circumference at the mouth, and of proportionate height, is elaborately ornamented with incised lines, “exactly of that class which we find upon the golden ornaments and other antiquities of pre-historic times preserved in our museums;” its outline bears a graceful curve from the mouth, swelling out in the middle, and gradually tapering down to the foot. Around the upper part is a series of perpendicular broad indentations with herringbone pattern between; next follow a number of encircling lines, scoriated between; and the middle part of the urn is ornamented with zigzag and other lines. Another of pretty much the same general form (Fig. 679) but devoid of ornament, contained within it an immolation urn (Fig. 680). Another (Fig. 682) is unique in its ornamentation; “its neck and lip, though exquisitely proportioned, are devoid of ornament, while the body of the vessel is encircled by a network pattern executed in bold relief; the substance of this pattern is different from, and finer in quality than, that of which the rest of the urn was composed. It is evident upon even a slight examination that this raised ornament was added after the formation and fire-hardening of the vessel, from portions of which it is easily detached.” It contained a smaller urn, both being as usual filled with burned bones. Fig. 677, 3 feet 9 inches in circumference at the neck, has an overlapping rim with a remarkably elegant outline. Figs. 681, 683, 685, of much the same form as Fig. 682, have incised lines round the neck, the body of the latter being covered with a reticulated ornament. Figs. 681 and 683 are of the same general form, but extremely rich in ornamentation.
Two unusually fine urns have been brought to my notice by Miss Stokes, of Carrig Breac, near Dunamase, and are, I believe, now in the R. I. A. Museum. The larger of the two, which is of the same general form as the Altegarron urn, Fig. 664, but rather more contracted in the upper part, has two raised encircling rims around its widest part; between these the urn is ornamented with a series of diagonal lines of impressed squares. Round the upper part is a line of curves or undulations, between elaborate diagonal indented lines as before. The lower part of the urn has around its upper and lower edges a row of undulations, and around its centre an encircling border of rude lozenge formed indentations; the whole of the rest of the surface being covered with vertical lines of square indentations, same as already described; these are of the same class as those shown in Figs. 706 and 718. The other urn in general form of outline resembles the one from Ballon Hill (Fig. 665); it is richly decorated with encircling bands of herringbone lines, and three borders, one on its neck and two on the lower part of chevron ornament.
The pottery found in the Crannogs presents many peculiarities of pattern. The vessels are considered by Mr. Wakeman, to whom the antiquarian world is indebted, in many cases, for their discovery, to be the remains of what have been used for cooking purposes. They are mostly vessels, sometimes of very large size, wide at the mouth, contracted in the neck, and gradually, with easy flow of line, tapering downwards on the sides. Mostly they appear to have had handles at the top, which take a gradual curve from the rim down to their junction with the tapering body. They are more or less decorated with punctured, incised, impressed, or other simple ornaments.
The general form of these crannog vessels will be best understood on reference to the accompanying engraving, which is a restored example from fragments found in a crannog in Drumgay Lake, near Enniskillen, and carefully described by Mr. Wakeman in the Journal of the Royal Historical and Archæological Association of Ireland. The lake wherein this crannog was discovered--the “Loch of Drumgay”--is a picturesque sheet of water, nearly midway between Enniskillen and the village of Bellinamallard, in the county of Fermanagh. The examination of these lake dwellings yielded many highly interesting and important results, and brought to light several fragments of pottery, and many other objects of antiquity. Some of the patterns of fictile ornamentation are shown on the Figs. 691 to 704, which are drawn of one half their real size. One pattern is a simple chevron; another a punched right-line ornament, very characteristic of this primitive ware; another has a series of incisions, giving the rim somewhat the effect of a cable moulding; and another is reticulated, or has what may be described as a series of saltires, all round the rim.
Some other excellent examples were yielded by the examination, by Mr. Wakeman, of a crannog in Ballydoolough[65]--a loch of about twenty-four acres in extent, a few miles from Enniskillen, not far from the old road to Tempo. The “lake dwelling” where these fragments were found, is said to be “one of the most instructive yet discovered in Ireland.” In it, “among other instructive remains, were found a very large number of fragments of pottery, along with quantities of bones of bos longifrons, cervus elephas, sus scrofa, equus asinus, and other animals, including the goat, which gave good testimony to their being portions of cooking vessels.” A restoration of one of these “crocks” is given on the accompanying engraving, Fig. 689, and its pattern is shown of a larger size on Fig. 718. “It measures three feet two inches round the mouth, and is tastefully ornamented on the rim and sides. The decoration, which was impressed upon the soft clay before the vessel was burnt, is extremely like that which appears upon silver bracelets preserved in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, and also found amongst the Cuerdale hoard.” Its colour is drab, or light yellowish red, and it is of close texture. The pattern is impressed or indented, and from its chevron character is undoubtedly early. Several varieties of this pattern occurred. The next examples exhibit simply a series of zigzag incisions of precisely the same character as is found on Celtic cinerary urns. Indeed the decoration of many of these domestic (?) vessels is exactly identical with that of some of the finest sepulchral urns found in that country. “It may be said further, that in the numerous designs found upon the crannog vessels there is not one that is suggestive of the work of Christian times in Ireland; on the contrary, the greater portion--chevrons and circular depressions--are expressive of pagan ideas of ornamental art. The log-house at Ballydoolough is almost precisely of the same size and of the same style of construction as the celebrated dwelling described by Captain Mudge in the ‘Archæologia,’ in which was found a stone hatchet.” These crannog vessels must not, therefore, be assigned to a later period than pagan times.
Some other examples from this crannog are of extreme interest. The “fragment, Fig. 719, bears upon its ear,” says Mr. Wakeman, “two figures somewhat like a St. Andrew’s Cross, but which here, I apprehend, need not be regarded as a Christian symbol. Such figures have been found in Ireland, inscribed on rocks, and upon the walls of natural or partly artificial caverns, and even within the inclosure of pagan tumuli, as at Dowth, accompanied in several instances by ‘scorings’ at present unintelligible.” Many appear in the cave of Lochnacloyduff (the loch of the dark trench, or mound) and in the “lettered caves” and the cliffs of Knockmore. These vessels are “of a dingy brown colour, and their ‘scorings’ are deeply impressed in what was a paste of unusually gritty matter. It may not be out of place to state here, once for all, that between the crannog pottery and the vases found in cairns, and usually styled sepulchral, there is apparently no difference in style of manufacture. Strange to say, both classes exhibit the action of fire more strongly upon the interior than upon the external sides or base. Their colouring upon the whole is generally similar, varying from a dull red to a dark brown, nearly black; and in no instance, as far as my observation carries, has glazing been practised.” (Wakeman.)
In another remarkably interesting lake dwelling in Lough Eyes, not far from Lisbellaw, in the same county of Fermanagh, a variety of patterns of crocks, along with bones of animals, including the “remains of bos longifrons, or ancient Celtic short-horned ox, of the red-deer, ass, sheep, goat, and pig,” were found. These were of the same general form as those already described, and they were more or less ornamented with indented patterns, sometimes arranged simply in lines and sometimes in chevron or zigzag designs. It is worthy of special note too, that several flat discs of the same material as the crocks were found with them; these were doubtless covers or lids; one of these is shown on Fig. 703.
A very unusual and clever “provision for the escape of steam during the process of boiling, or cooking, is observable in several of these earthen pots. It consists of a small circular hole in the neck or upper side of the vessel, just below the point where the lid would be supported or caught;” the lid of course resting on the narrower part of the neck. Doubtless the contraction of the neck would be formed for this special purpose. The perforation is shown on the fragments engraved, Figs. 692 and 716. Figs. 712 and 720 show, very carefully, two examples of ornamentation on pottery from this crannog; the one with incisions only, the other with both incisions and impressed ornaments, the dotted pattern being almost identical with some found in the lake habitations of Switzerland. The other woodcuts give very clear representations of other patterns found at Lough Eyes. One of these, Fig. 706, has both the impressed herringbone and rim patterns; Fig. 700 is simply “notched” on its edge; Fig. 701 has a series of incisions or “thumb-nail” indentations; Figs. 691 and 699 have the zigzag pattern; and Fig. 694 a series of lozenge-formed indentations. Figs. 715 and 717 are among the most pronounced examples of herringbone or zigzag patterns which these lake dwellings have produced, and they are, as the engravings show, exact counterparts, in appearance, character, and style, with that which forms so marked a characteristic of Celtic sepulchral urns of one kind or other.
During mediæval times the pottery of Ireland was much of the same coarse kind as described under “England” in the first volume; but little, however, is known concerning either its localities of manufacture or its general characteristics. Wood (both platters and noggins) and pewter appear to have been in much more general use for domestic purposes than earthenware, and the manufacture of the latter was consequently very small. Later on, manufactories of a finer kind of ware were established in Belfast, Dublin, and other places; of these but very meagre particulars are known.
DUBLIN.
Delamain.--A manufactory of delft-ware existed here in the Strand, in the early and middle part of last century. Before 1753 the manufactory had passed into the hands of Captain Henry Delamain, who, as stated by himself, “when the delft manufactory in this city [Dublin] failed,” “being convinced that it might be carried on greatly to the advantage of this nation, took said manufactory into his hands, built workhouses and kilns, erected a mill to grind flint and metals,” and so forth. In that year he appears to have had as a confidential manager Mr. William Stringfellow, who probably had either been the previous owner of the manufactory or one of the “most knowing persons” of those works. In the year referred to Capt. Delamain petitioned the Irish House of Commons for assistance in carrying out his undertaking. His case was thus stated:
“A.D. 1761. 1st November. Geo. II.[66]
“A Petition of HENRY DELAMAIN the Younger, of the City of Dublin, Gentleman, Setting forth:--that when the Delft Manufactory in this City failed, the petitioner being convinced that it might be carried on greatly to the advantage of this Nation, took said Manufactory into his hands, built Workhouses and Kilns, erected a mill to grind flint and Metals, and discharged debts affecting the old Manufactory, and also supported the most knowing persons that were employed at the old Manufactory, while his new one was building, to prevent their leaving the Kingdom; and purchased the Art of Printing Earthen Ware with as much Beauty, Strong Impression, and Dispatch as it can be done on paper. That the Petitioner lived above 20 years abroad, where he acquired a knowledge in the Manufactures of Delft and Earthen Ware and having taken a Circuit thro’ this Kingdom found that every Province therein is furnished with proper Materials for making thereof. That the Petitioner after many repeated experiments has discovered the secrets of Glazing Delft Ware with Coals, and Painting and Glazing Flint Ware. That the petitioner employs upwards of 40 families in his Manufactory, and proposes taking a number of Charter School Boys apprentice, by which means he will be able to supply New Manufactories with Artists; and the petitioner is willing not only to communicate all the secrets of his business to any one setting them up, but also to assist them in the construction of their kilns, &c. That the petitioner laid Specimens of the Wares made by him before the Dublin Society, who were of opinion that they were as good, and some of them better than any imported into Ireland; and found on Experiments made, that they stood boiling water without breaking or Cracking; and as it can be made near 20 per cent. cheaper than it can be imported, he apprehends a great benefit will arise, not only by preventing large sums from going out of the Kingdom for said Manufactures, but also by exporting it to Foreign Markets, and praying aid to enable him to carry on the said Manufactory, was presented to the House and read.
“Ordered to be reported on by Sir Arthur Gore and a Committee.”
“Sir A. Gore reported that the Committee considered the Allegations proved, and that the Petitioner deserved encouragement.[67]
“Referred to Committee of Supply.”
“Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee that a sum of £1000 be given to HENRY DELAMAIN the Younger, Manufacturer of Earthen Ware, for his encouragement, and to enable him more effectually to carry on the said Manufacture.”[68]
In the same year, 1753, Delamain having discovered a way to use coal instead of wood in the manufacture of earthenware, applied to the English Parliament for compensation for making his invention public. From the Journal of the House it appears his petition, wherein he is described as “Henry Delamain, gentleman,” was read on the 21st of January, 1754, and referred to a Committee, where, however, the whole matter seems to have ended. In it he says that “he has discovered a method of firing kilns of a particular construction,” “which perfectly burn and glaze all sorts of white ware with coal in less time and in larger quantities than the method now practised by burning of wood, and at one-third of the expense.” In a not very honourable letter, printed by Owen, Delamain speaks of his intention of applying to “the Parliament of England for a reward for having burnt and glazed delft-ware with coals,” instead of wood or turf. In this letter Delamain writes to Stringfellow that he has seen the Liverpool potters and told them of the success of his plan, and he desires him to write how well he has succeeded with the coal; he says, even “suppose it has happened quite the reverse, do you write what I desire you, for your own advantage as well as my credit; for I have set them all on fire to burn their ware with coals, and have come to this agreement with them, that you are to come over to build their kilns, for which they will pay you handsomely.” And again he says, “by all means answer to them by return of post all you can say in its favour, and more if necessary.” The letter is addressed, “to Mr. Wm. Stringfellow, at the Delft Manufactory, on the Strand, Dublin,” and dated 19th of December, 1753. Another letter, addressed to his wife, “Mrs. Mary Delamain, at the India Warehouse, Abbey Street, Dublin,” by Capt. Delamain, is to the same effect, and runs as follows:--
“To Mrs. Mary Delamain, at the India Warehouse, Abbey Street, Dublin.
Tuesday, Liverpool [Jany.] 18th, 1753.
“My D^r Poll,
“Inclos’d I send you a letter to Mr. Stringfellow the purport of it is to desire him by all means to answer some letters that will be wrote to him this night from Liverpoole to know how our large kiln has turned out; send for him on the rec^t of this and right or wrong beg of him to write it was burnt twice before I left Ireland and once since, and that it succeeds so well that not a bit of ware was smoked and that it Glazes the Ware better than Turf and Wood & makes it harder, less subject to peel, and that about two Tun or 2 and a half of coals will burn it off, give him this letter for fear he s^d forget writing them all the above particulars, let him write the night he receives mine, for as soon as his letter arrives at Liverpoole the Mayor Corporation and all the Potters will joyne in a petition for me to parliament & they will give Mr. Stringfellow a handsome some of money to build them kilns. I go to London this day and shall call in my way at Worster to see the fine new China Manufactory.”
To Delamain, doubtless, belonged the credit of introducing the use of coal in the manufacture of earthenware, and he deserved the recognition he sought, but did not succeed in obtaining, for his invention from the English Parliament. In 1755 Capt. Delamain received from the Dublin Society a grant or “bounty” of £1,100, which he expended in furthering his manufacture.
Capt. Delamain died on the 10th of January, 1757, and his death is thus curiously recorded in the Belfast News Letter of that period. “Dublin, January 15th:” “Monday last, died, universally lamented by all true lovers of their country, Captain Henry Delamain, formerly in the Duke of Saxe-Gotha’s service, Master of the Irish Delft Ware Manufactory, who, by the expense of a large fortune and unwearied application, brought that ware to such perfection as totally to prevent the enemies of our country, the French, from draining large sums yearly from this country for Burgundy and Roan ware. Mary Delamain, his widow, carries on said manufactory and hopes for the continuance of the friendship of the nobility, gentry, and whole kingdom.” On the 9th of November, 1759, Mrs. Delamain, his widow, petitioned the Irish House of Commons for further assistance to enable her to carry on and extend the business, but nothing seems to have been done for her. Mrs. Delamain, who survived her husband three years, died in March, 1760, her death being recorded in the Dublin Public Gazetteer of that date: “Tuesday last died Mrs. Mary Delamain, widow of the late Captain Henry Delamain, who was the first that brought the earthenware manufacture to perfection in this kingdom; and since his decease his said widow (endowed with all the virtues of a good Christian, tender parent, and sincere friend,) continued it with such advantage to the purchasers as to prevent the further importation of foreign wares,” &c. In 1763 the executors of Mrs. Delamain petitioned the Irish House of Commons for a further grant. The petition contains many interesting particulars, and is as follows:--
“A.D. 1761. 6th November. Geo. III.
“A Petition of SAMUEL WILKINSON and William Delamain, Esq^{res}. Executors of Mary Delamain, late of the City of Dublin, Earthen-Ware Manufacturer, was presented to the House and read, Setting forth, That the late Henry Delamain erected a Manufactory for Making of Earthen-Ware in which he discovered the Art of burning with Coal instead of Wood, and brought it to such Perfection as not only to excel any thing of the kind ever attempted in this Kingdom before, but to equal the best Foreign Ware imported: in which he expended his entire Fortune to the amount of £6,000, and upwards, as appeared to a Committee of the late Parliament who were appointed to take his Petition into consideration.
“That in the Session 1753, the House of Commons did grant him £1,000 as an encouragement for carrying on said Manufacture, and the Dublin Society upon Inspection had, and Satisfaction received of his having expended said Bounty in the Improvement of said Manufacture, did in the year 1755 confer a further Bounty on him of £1,100, which sum was also expended with the best Economy, in improving said Manufacture. That on the Decease of said HENRY DELAMAIN, his late WIDOW, MARY DELAMAIN, carried on said Manufacture with Great Success, and declined troubling Parliament in Session 1757, assured that the Manufacture would support itself: but finding that the export of the Ware to Foreign Markets was prevented by the continuance of the War, she, the said MARY, Petitioned in the Session of 1759, praying the further Sanction of Parliament, and Proved the Allegations of her Petition; but in that Session no money was granted to Private Petitions.
“That the Petitioners, since the Decease of said MARY DELAMAIN, have carried on the same Manufacture, for the advantage of the orphans of the said HENRY and MARY, in particular, and of the Nation in General, with so much success as to prevent the Import of Foreign Ware, which Annually carried out of this Country above £10,000 to France, and have supplied Dealers in every principal Seaport of this Kingdom. That Petitioners by commencing on a Small Stock are disabled of purchasing Coal and other Materials in the proper Season requisite for carrying on the Work, and lowering the price of the Ware, or employing between 2 and 300 of the poor Natives which the Apparatus is equal to; and on a Peace, of exporting to Foreign Markets about £20,000 worth every year, over and above the Home Consumption; and therefore praying the House to take their Case into Consideration, and to grant such assistance and relief as shall seem meet.
“Referred to a Committee.”[69]
A similar petition appears to have been presented by the same parties on 9th Nov., 1763, and was referred to a Committee, but no votes in either case seem to have been taken.
DUBLIN.
Donovan.--Whether Mr. Donovan, of Poolbeg Street, on the Quay, Dublin, was a manufacturer or not is uncertain, but I believe not. He purchased both English and Continental wares in the white and decorated them in his own place. He amassed a large fortune and purchased estates in Sussex. In his business he was usually known in Dublin as “The Emperor of China.” “About 1790 he had a glass manufactory at Ringsend, near Dublin, and he employed a painter to decorate pottery, and placed all sorts of fancy and imitation marks on china and earthenware.” His name sometimes occurs as DONOVAN only, and at others as
Donovan or DONOVAN Dublin DUBLIN.
A mark on Delft ware which has come under my notice is a crowned harp with the word Dublin. It is quite uncertain to whose make this is to be ascribed.
Two or three brownware manufactories also existed during last century at Dublin, and produced all the usual commoner kinds of coarse domestic vessels.
BELFAST.
Leathes and Smith.--A pottery was established here in the middle of the seventeenth century by Captain Leathes and Mr. Smith. It is thus alluded to by William Sacheverell, some time Governor of the Isle of Man (a descendant of the Sacheverells of Morley, in Derbyshire), who in 1688 made a voyage to I-Columb-Kill, which he printed in his “Survey of the Isle of Man.” He left Liverpool on the 23rd of June, 1688, on his way to I-Columb-Kill, and as “it blew very hard for a whole week” he “took the opportunity of visiting Carrick Fergus and Bellfast,” and stayed in the latter two nights, being thither invited by “the Earl of Dunagall, whither he was going with the Earl of Orrery and the Lord Dungannon.” “Bellfast,” he says, “is the second town in Ireland, well built, full of people, and of great trade. The quantities of butter and of beef which it sends into foreign parts are almost incredible; I have seen the barrels piled up in the very streets. The new pottery is a pretty curiosity, set up by Mr. Smith, the present sovereign, and his predecessor, Captain Leathes, a man of great ingenuity;” and, again, “Captain Leathes, who was chief magistrate of Belfast, and reputed a man of great integrity.” The pottery is also spoken of at a later date, 1708, by Dr. Molyneux, in his MS. tour to the Giant’s Causeway. “Here,” at Belfast, he says, “we saw a very good manufacture of earthenware, which comes nearest to delft of any made in Ireland, and really is not much short of it. It is very clear and pretty, and universally used in the north; and, I think, not so much owing to any peculiar happiness in the clay, but rather to the manner of beating and mixing it up.” The works were continued for very many years, and produced much useful ware of good quality.
The curious example of Belfast pottery engraved on Fig. 723 is highly interesting as bearing the name of Belfast and the date 1724. It is a “choppine,” or lady’s high-heeled shoe, and is in Delft ware. It is six inches in length and the heel is two inches in height, and is decorated in blue and white, the flowers and foliage being blue on a white and white on a blue ground. On the sole are the initials M H R, M being the surname and H and R the Christian names of husband and wife, with the name and date in writing “Belfast, 1724,” as shown on the engraving. These are painted under the glaze in blue. For the notice of this interesting example, in the possession of a lady in Belfast, to whose grandmother it formerly belonged, I am indebted to Mr. Benn, the historian of that town.
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Coates’ Pottery.--On an old map of Belfast, published in 1791, a building marked as “Coates’ Pottery” occurs. This, it is recorded by Mr. Pinkerton, was “set up by Mr. Victor Coates, at Lagan village, long before he established the well-known foundry at the same place. Red ware and a coarse kind of delft were made.”
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China Works.--On the same map of Belfast, engraved in 1791, just referred to, occurs a building marked “China Manufactory,” close by “Coates’ Pottery,” “The partners in this Belfast china manufactory,” says Mr. Pinkerton, “were Thomas Gregg, Samuel Stephenson, and John Ashmore. That they carried on the manufacture of china there for some years is certain; for on January 29, 1793, the Earl of Hillsborough presented a petition from them to the Irish House of Commons. The original petition may be seen in the Journals of the House. In it the petitioners state that, recognising the great advantages arising from a manufacture of Queen’s Ware, and other fine kinds of ware such as are made in Staffordshire, they united themselves into a company for producing such wares in Ireland, and by their exertions had carried this manufacture to a greater perfection in the County of Down, near Belfast, than was ever known in this kingdom; that they had been at great expenses in erecting buildings, and importing machinery, and in bringing workmen from foreign places; that the difference in the prices of coal between Belfast and Staffordshire had greatly exceeded their expectations, and they now prayed for pecuniary aid. A committee, consisting of the Earl of Hillsborough, Mr. Johnson, and others, was immediately appointed by the House to report on the petition; and on the 2nd of February they reported that the petitioners had fully proved their allegations. The report was then ordered to be laid on the table; but it does not appear that anything was done further in the matter.
FLORENCE COURT, COUNTY FERMANAGH.
There is a manufactory at this place where common red ware is made. The products are chiefly flower-pots and the coarser kinds of domestic vessels.
COAL ISLAND, DUNGANNON.
At this manufactory only the coarser kinds of fire-clay and terra-cotta goods--chimney-pots, flower-pots, vases, &c., are produced.
YOUGHAL.
There was a manufactory of brown ware, for pitchers and common goods, at this place. It was of old foundation.
LARNE.
Larne Pottery.--Pottery works were, I am informed by Mr. Patterson, built close to the small sea-port of Larne, county of Antrim, by James Agnew, Esq., the proprietor of the estate, and were worked under the management of his agent, Mr. Walker, from about 1850 to 1855, and afterwards for two or three years by the Greenock Pottery Company, since which time the works have been closed. The buildings still remain, but lie vacant. The goods produced were white and printed earthenware, cane ware, Rockingham tea-pots, and brown pans, crocks, and dairy and kitchen utensils of various kinds. Some of the latter named were made from local clays, and were very good of their kind. Their rubbish heaps are on the borders of Larne Lough, and the beach is strewed with fragments of pottery, the little triangular supports, saggars, &c.
CASTLE ESPIE POTTERY.
At Castle Espie, near Comber, county of Down, Mr. Samuel Minland, J.P., some years ago, I am informed by Mr. Patterson, established brick and tile works. Common pottery is now manufactured there from the local red clay. The brown glazed ware consists of dairy vessels, tea-pots, flower vases, and other plain household articles.
Captain Beauclerc, at the exhibition of 1851, exhibited two terra-cotta vases, his own modelling, made in Ireland, of Irish material. They were engraved in the “Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue,” page 257, and are here reproduced, Figs. 724 and 725. The productions were in two tints; the body of each vase being of a deep red, and the figures of a lighter and much yellower clay.
BELLEEK.
The village of Belleek, county Fermanagh, Ireland, is situated on the banks of the river Erne, near the borders of Donegal and Fermanagh and on the outskirts of the Donegal highlands. It has a station on the Enniskillen and Bundoran line; which line communicates with Dublin, Belfast, and the various other lines of the kingdom. Belleek is within three miles of Ballyshannon; six of Bundoran; four of Lough Melvin, renowned for its salmon and trout fishery, and especially famous for the Gillaroo trout. It is also within short distances of Pettigo, Garrison, Devenish Island, with its monastic ruins and a perfect round tower, the beautiful park and grounds of Castle Caldwell, and many other objects of attraction.
The manufactory, a view of which is given on Fig. 726, stands on a small island in a bend of the river Erne. Near the bridge is a large water-wheel, over 100-horse power, which gives motion to grinding-pans, lathes, turning-plates, and all the varied and skilfully designed apparatus of the works. “In the interior, the factory bears all the appearance of business and bustle. Enormous grinding-pans, in which the raw material is prepared for the hands of the artisan, rumble and roar, driven by the irresistible and constant power of the large water-wheel; the furnaces of the great ovens, in which the moulded clay is baked, roar by the draught caused by their great height; while in the workshops the lathes and turning plates whiz noiselessly round, as the soft, putty-like clay is being deftly moulded by the skilled workman into many beautiful designs.”
The works at Belleek were established in 1863 by the present proprietors, Messrs. David McBirney and Robert Williams Armstrong. Before the establishment of the works, trials were made with the felspar of the Irish locality with ordinary Cornish china clay, at the Royal Porcelain Works at Worcester. The results were so satisfactory that Mr. Armstrong, who at that time was architect to the proprietor, laid the project for forming a manufactory at Belleek before his friend, Mr. David McBirney of Dublin, a gentleman well known for his energy in aiding any movement to advance the prosperity of Ireland, and he embarked with him in the attempt to produce first-class ceramic goods in Ireland. The firm, composed of these two gentlemen, trade under the style of “D. MCBIRNEY & CO.” There are now employed at the Works about two hundred “hands,” among whom are several skilled artists; the Art director being the founder and proprietor, Mr. Armstrong.
The chief peculiarities of the ornamental goods produced at Belleek are, its lightness of body, its rich, delicate, cream-like, or ivory tint, and the glittering iridescence of its glaze. “Although the principal productions hitherto have been formed of this white ware--which either resembles the finest biscuit (of Buen Retiro or Dresden), or almost the ivory of the hippopotamus, or shines with a lustre like that of nacre--local clays have been found which yield jet, red, and cane-coloured wares. Facsimiles of sea shells, and of branches of coral, which might well be supposed to be natural, are among the principal features. The iridescent effect produced is somewhat similar to that of the ruby lustre of the famous Gubbio Majolica; that Italian enamelled ware which commands such fabulous prices, and of which an unrivalled collection is to be seen at the South Kensington Museum. Lustres were introduced many years ago for English pottery by Hancock, by Gardner, and by Stennys; and in the booths of our country fairs, rude inartistic forms, glowing with a gold or a silver lustre, are often to be seen. The effect of a good lustre may be compared to that of “shot silk,” or to the changing hues that adorn the neck of a black or dark blue pigeon, or the crested pride of a drake. Oil of turpentine, flour of sulphur, gold solution, and tin solution, constitute the gold glaze, the purple hue being due to the tin. Platinum, and spirits of tar enter, with oxide of zinc, into the composition of the silver lustre. But neither of these glazes, any more than the Italian enamel of which the secret was lost so long ago as the sixteenth century, can compare with the beauty of the Belleek ware, an idea of which can only be given by recalling the beautiful hues of a highly-polished mother-of-pearl shell. We can convey no idea of it by engravings; and it seems equally difficult to do so by written description. We may apply to it the common-place expression: ‘It must be seen to be admired;’ and certainly it must be examined to be estimated. We can, however, with some degree of accuracy, represent some of the forms produced by this manufactory.”[70] Fig. 727 is the grounds-basin of a tea-service, made for the Queen (Her Majesty being one of the early patrons of the Belleek Pottery), and presented by her to the present Empress of Germany. The basis of the design is the echinus or sea-urchin, which abounds on the coast of Donegal, and has, both the native and rarer foreign species, been utilised by the firm in many of their productions. In this instance it forms the bowl, and the supports are branches of coral.
Besides the “Royal” services--breakfast, dessert, and tea--made for her Majesty, other services have been made for H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, and others of the royal family. From the Prince of Wales’s services the engravings, Figs. 732 to 735 are selected.
Fig. 732 is the ice-pail. The base is formed of three exquisitely modelled mermaids, in Parian, who support the shell-formed base of the vase, around which a group of Tritons and dolphins in high relief are sporting in the water, with an effective background of aquatic plants. A wreath of coral surrounds the rim. The effect of the charming contrast between the dead and the iridescent surfaces is heightened by gilding the conches of the revellers. The cover or lid is as it were the boiling surging sea, from which three sea-horses have partially risen, and in the centre a Triton, riding on a dolphin, forms the handle.
Fig. 733 is a compotier, whose base represents the surface of the sea, upon which float three cardium shells. From between these spring up three small sea-horses, not, indeed, the hippocampi of the naturalist, but those of the mythologist, the figures which, in antique gems and in Italian paintings, are intended to serve as the artistic embodiment of the roll and the dash of the breaker. A trumpet-shell forms the central column, which, in its turn, supports the shell that serves as a fruit-dish.
The tall centre-piece (Fig. 734) is designed on a more ambitious scale. A triton or merman is blowing a conch; a mermaid is wringing and dressing her redundant locks; and a sea-horse dashes through the spray. Between these figures, which thus divide the base into three compartments, are placed three shells of the species hippopus maculata, which form convenient receptacles for bonbons, candied fruit, or other smaller delicacies of the dessert-table. A trumpet-shell is again selected to form the main stem, which is surrounded with aquatic plants; and three paludina shells are so introduced as to form suitable vases for sprays of flowers. The shell-dish, with its beautiful markings and projections, again forms the cap of the tazza.
The low compotier (Fig. 735) are modelled en suite; the idea of the entire service being that of the combination of natural objects, selected for their appropriate shape, and for their beauty of form or of sculpture, with imaginary forms. The shells which are modelled for the dishes are supported by conventional dolphins.
The tazza vase and pedestal (Fig. 736), on which hangs a wreath of flowers, dependent from rams’ heads, is a fine specimen of Irish art.
Our next engraving (Fig. 737) is a flower-stand composed of shells supported by dolphins, and is so iridescent as to have almost an unearthly appearance of liquid beauty.
“The reproduction of natural forms by Ceramic Art,” says the Art Journal, “is not by any means a novelty. We are familiar with the fish, the reptiles, and the crustacea of Bernard Palissy, with the relieved and coloured foliage of Luca and of Andrea della Robbia. In England we have seen the shells reproduced by the artists of the Plymouth china, and the delicate leaves and flowers of the old Derby ware. The designer of much of the Belleek ware has the merit, so far as we are aware, of being the first artist who has had recourse to the large sub-kingdom of the radiata for his types. The animals that constitute this vast natural group are, for the most part, characterized by a star-shaped or wheel-shaped symmetry; and present a nearer approach to the verticillate structure of plants, than to the bilateral balance of free locomotive animals. For, at all events a portion of their existence, indeed, most of the radiata are fixed to the earth. The five-fold radiation, which is most common among dicotyledonous plants, is the usual division assumed by these zoophytic creatures. From the globular shape of the commonest echinus, or sea-urchin, through the flattened and depressed form of others of the family, the transition is regular and gradual, to the well-known five-fingered star-fish, and to those wonderfully branched and foliated forms which shatter themselves into a thousand fragments when they are brought up by the dredge from deep water and exposed for a moment to the air. Under the name of frutti di mare, these sea-eggs, covered as they are with innumerable pink and white spines, form a favourite portion of the diet of the southern Italians. When the spines, by which the creature moves, are stripped off, the projections and depressions of the testa, or shell, are often marked by great beauty of pattern; and it would have been hardly possible to bring into the service of plastic art a more appropriate group of natural models. Again, in the fantastic and graceful forms of the mermaid, the nereid, the dolphin, and the sea-horse, the Belleek art-designer has attained great excellence of ideality; the graceful modelling is set off, with the happiest effect, by the contrast between the dead, Parian-like surface of the unglazed china, and the sparkling iridescence of the ivory-glazed ground.”
The productions of the Belleek works comprise all the usual services--dinner, breakfast, tea, dessert, and toilet--in large variety of patterns and of various styles of decoration, and in addition to these a vast variety of ornamental goods are produced. Figures and groups of figures, animals, &c., are also made, and are characterized by excellent modelling and judicious colouring--the peculiar Belleek glaze imparting to them a beauty all their own. Boudoir candlesticks and other choice examples of art also evidence considerable skill on the part of the artists in the modelling of the flowers and foliage and in the arrangement of the wreaths.
Among the choicest examples of actual manipulative skill produced by any manufactory are some cabinet cups and saucers, the extreme delicacy of which far surpasses the ordinary “egg-shell” china. The cup itself is the echinus, and the saucer is also tastefully modelled from the same; the body is so thin, and worked to such a degree of nicety, as to be of little more than the thickness of common writing paper. This delicate body, either plain, or tinted and gilt and then glazed with the iridescent glaze so characteristic of the Belleek ware, is unique in its appearance and matchless in its extreme delicacy. Of the same filmy body cardium and other shells are also produced, and are exquisitely tinted.
Besides the speciality of these works (the “Belleek China”) Messrs. McBirney and Armstrong manufacture to a large extent white granite ware services of every variety, and of excellent quality both in body, in glaze, and in printed, painted, enamelled, and gilt decorations. Many of the patterns are of more than average excellence, and in every respect the Irish earthenware equals the ordinary commercial classes of Staffordshire wares. The dinner-ware is especially serviceable, being a true felspathic body, semi-vitrified, and hence ranking next to the true porcelain; smooth and admirably potted. The simple ornamentation to which it has been subjected is pure in style and Art, while the article competes as to price with inferior ware in the markets of England and America. Indeed the trade with America is already large, and is regularly increasing.
Parian and ordinary white china, as well as ivory body, are also largely made in a vast variety of styles.
Not only in these home essentials is its place established; Belleek furnishes largely the “porcelain insulators” (containing 70 per cent. local felspar) used for telegraph poles, and these have been pronounced by “authorities” the best. In pestles and mortars the factory has considerable trade, and of the minor articles of patch-boxes, &c., there is enormous produce. For supremacy in these objects it is indebted to the purity of the clay and felspar, producing a clear brilliant white, and singular “compactness,” resulting in remarkable hardness and durability. In sanitary ware, cabinet-stands, plug-basins, and other articles, form a staple part of the trade of these works.
The marks used by the Belleek Company are the following:
Chapter XIII
Early Pottery of Scotland--Cinerary Urns--Mediæval Pottery--Glasgow--Delft Ware--Verreville Pottery--Garnkirk Works--Gartcosh Works--Heathfield Pottery--Glasgow Pottery--North British Pottery--Saracen Pottery--Port Dundas Pottery Company--Hyde Park Potteries--Britannia Pottery--Annfield Pottery--Bridgeton Pottery--Barrowfield Pottery--Coatbridge--Glenboig Star Works--Glenboig Fire-Clay Works--Cardowan and Heathfield Works--Paisley--Ferguslie Works--Shortroods and Caledonia Works--Paisley Earthenware Works--Crown Works--Grangemouth--Fire-brick Works--Greenock--Clyde Pottery--Dumbarton--Rutherglen--Caledonia Pottery--Portobello--Midlothian Potteries--Portobello Pottery--Kirkcaldy--Sinclairtown Pottery--Kirkcaldy Pottery--Gallatown Pottery--Boness--Boness Pottery--Prestonpans Pottery--Alloa--Alloa Pottery--The Hebrides.
SCOTLAND.
The early pottery of Scotland appears, as a general rule, to bear a close analogy to that of England both in form, in intention of use, and in ornamentation. The cinerary urns, the food and other vessels, and the immolation urns, all bear a marked resemblance to those of the sister country, and lead one to the inference that the same feelings, habits, and customs obtained in the one nation as the other. A cinerary urn found on the Hill of Tuack is of identical shape and pattern of ornament with the one engraved on Fig. 15 of Vol. I., while others bear an equally strong resemblance to others already engraved. To Professor Wilson the antiquarian world is indebted for much valuable information concerning the early pottery of Scotland, and to his important and standard work, the “Pre-Historic Annals of Scotland,”[71] it owes most of the knowledge it possesses of this, and other important branches of national history. “It is altogether impossible,” says the learned Professor, “within the limited amount of accurately observed facts with which the Scottish archæologist has to deal, to picture and classify into distinct periods the pottery found in the ancient tumuli and cairns. Many of the fictilia are so devoid of art as to furnish no other sign of advancement in their constructors from the most primitive state of barbarism, than such as is indicated by the piety which provided a funeral pyre for their dead, and even so rude a vase, wherein their ashes might be inurned.... The rudimentary form of the true cinerary urn is that of the common flower-pot, still retained as the easiest and simplest into which the plastic clay can be modelled.... From this simple shape was gradually developed the varying forms both of sepulchral and domestic pottery found deposited with the dead; inurning the sacred ashes and the costly tributes of affectionate reverence, or placed in the grave with offerings of food and drink designed to sustain the deceased on his final journey to the world of spirits.” Fig. 740 is of this form and is almost identical with the English example Fig. 15, Vol. I. It is from the Hill of Tuack, near Kintore, in Aberdeenshire, and was found in the usual inverted position close to one of the monoliths of the stone circle at the place. Another of the same form, Fig. 741, ornamented with impressed dots and incised herringbone pattern, was dug up in 1855 on the farm of Belhelvie, in Fifeshire. It was 4 feet 6 inches in circumference at the mouth, and when perfect must have been about 2 feet in height. When found it was, as is commonly the case, inverted, as shown in the engraving, and was imperfect. Another fine example is engraved on Fig. 742. It measures thirteen and a half inches in height, and was dug up at the Ha’ Hill of Montblairy, in Banffshire. It bears a marked resemblance to many English examples, both in general form and in ornamentation; it bears encircling lines of herringbone or zigzag ornament.
Figs. 743 to 745 are of different form, the two larger being probably food vessels, and the latter an “immolation urn.” The first two were found in a cist on a farm at Banchory, in Kincardineshire, along with an interment by inhumation, and the latter at Arthur’s Seat, in Edinburgh. In the next engravings, Figs. 746 and 747, the larger vessel was found in a tumulus at Memsie, in Aberdeenshire, and the smaller at Rathbo, near Edinburgh. Figs. 748 to 750 are three interesting vessels from Lesmurdie, in Banffshire, now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. The largest is eight inches in height, and the smallest five inches. Fig. 751 was found in one of a group of cists, under a large cairn, at Sheal Loch, in the parish of Borthwick, near Edinburgh. It is made of fine baked clay, burned to an unusually hard and durable consistency, and measures four and a half inches in height by about six and a half in diameter. Five perforated projections are disposed at nearly equal distances around it, and the interior of the vessel bears evident marks of fire. Fig. 752 is from the Montrose Museum and was found in that burgh some years back. The other three, Figs. 753 to 755, are “immolation urns,” as I have before termed them, which are respectively from Old Penrith, from Dunbar, and from Ronaldshay in Orkney.
During Scoto-Roman times, pottery, there can be no reasonable doubt, was made in Scotland, and many examples that have been brought to light are evidently native manufacture; there are, however, no marked peculiarities belonging to them. Of a later period, “the last pagan period in Scotland,” according to Professor Wilson, some remarkable glazed urns were found, one at East Langton, the other in Aberdeenshire. They were found in stone cists by the sides of skeletons, and were “of rough grey ware, ornamented externally with parallel grooves running round them, and internally covered with a green glaze.” They appear originally to have had “two projecting ears opposite each other, which fitted into corresponding double ones attached to a lid, by which the vessel, when found, was closely covered; and the whole of the projections were perforated to admit a pin which completed the fastening.” (See Figs. 757, 758.)
As of the primitive so of the mediæval pottery of Scotland; it differs but little from that of England, and indeed, except in a few instances, cannot be distinguished from it. Pitchers of the usual form, perforated jugs, bowls, dishes and platters--all were pretty nearly identical with those of English make, and but few seats of manufacture existed. The wares were of the commonest and coarsest kind. As in Ireland wood was more generally used than anything else for such utensils.
Of mediæval pottery Figs. 756 to 759 are characteristic examples. The first of these is a pitcher found in 1792, filled with coins of Alexander II. of Scotland and Edward I. and Edward II. of England, near Penicuick House, where it is preserved. It measures three and three-quarter inches in height, and is perforated at tolerably uniform distances. It is of coarse unglazed earthenware. Fig. 759 is a mediæval pitcher found near North Berwick Abbey, in East Lothian; it bears a marked resemblance to some engraved in Vol. I.
That china was attempted to be made in Scotland in the middle of last century is evident from the following paragraph from the London Chronicle of 1755: “Yesterday four persons, well-skilled in the making of British china, were engaged for Scotland, where a new porcelain manufacture is going to be established, in the manner of that now carried on at Chelsea, Stratford, and Bow.” But nothing is known as to the locality of the proposed works.
GLASGOW.
The first pottery established in Glasgow was, it would appear, founded in 1749 as a delft-ware works. It was situated near the Broomielaw, in a lane which was called the “Delft-field Lane.” “Delft-field Lane” is a very suggestive name, and of course took its origin from the pot-works. The name was, I am informed by Mr. Cochran, “changed to ‘James Watt Street’ in later years. The celebrated inventor of the steam-engine lived in this lane, and it was in one of the rooms of the pottery that he was in the habit of working at his invention, and it is said, perfected it. The ware manufactured at this pottery was delft ware, and was a close imitation of the old grey Dutch ware of that name; but about the year 1770 the proprietors began to make ‘Queen’s ware,’ or white ware. They also began to make both plain and ornamented china, of such excellent quality that they received the compliment of being appointed potters to the Prince of Wales. How long this pottery lasted I have not been able to ascertain, but it was working in full perfection in the beginning of the present century. The next pottery which was built in Glasgow was about the year 1801, when the “Caledonian Pottery,” on the banks of the Monkland Canal, was erected. This is the oldest pottery now working in Glasgow, for although Verreville was built more than twenty years before it, yet earthenware was not made there till the year 1820.”
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Verreville Pottery.--In 1777, as the name implies, the Verreville Works were built for a glass-house, by a Mr. Cookson, of Newcastle, and a Mr. Colquhoun, of Glasgow. In 1806 they were sold to the Dumbarton Glass Work Company, who immediately resold them to Mr. John Geddes, with this stipulation, that he was not to manufacture crown or bottle glass. Mr. Geddes carried on the manufacture of flint glass until 1820, when he commenced making earthenware as well as glass. In 1835 the works passed into the hands of Mr. Robert Alexander Kidston, who four years afterwards added the manufacture of china to that of glass and earthenware.
“He began,” I am told by Mr. Cochran, “by bringing skilled workmen and artists from the principal seats of china manufacture. Figures, porcelain basket work and flowers, were produced by workmen who had acquired their skill in the old and celebrated porcelain works of Derby, while Coalport and several of the most famous Staffordshire china works supplied a general staff of potters, together with gilders, and flower and landscape painters. Mr. Kidston carried on the business for several years and produced a beautiful porcelain, and upon his retiring from the business in 1846 was succeeded by the late Mr. Robert Cochran, who carried on the works with great vigour and success. In 1856 he ceased the manufacture of china, and devoted the whole of the works to the manufacture of earthenware. Mr. Cochran devoted great attention and spared no expense in promoting the introduction of labour-saving machinery. He also made great improvements in the kilns or ovens in which the earthenware is fired, by which he reduced the quantity of coal used to nearly one-half. It was applied successfully in his own works of Verreville and Britannia, but was not adopted by other manufacturers. This improvement was patented in 1852, and it is only now that the same principle, with some slight alterations, has been patented and is likely to be generally adopted by potters. Mr. Cochran died in 1869, and was succeeded in the Verreville Pottery by his son, also named Robert Cochran, by whom the works are still carried on. The goods manufactured are principally for the home trade, and consist of white, sponged, printed, and enamelled ware. No marks have ever been used except the initials of the proprietors stamped on the ware.” Verreville it is said was the first work in Scotland where china was manufactured.
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Garnkirk Works.--These works were established about half a century ago by Messrs. Sprott, by whom--and later by Mr. Mark Sprott--they were carried on. They are now continued by the trustees of the late Mr. Mark Sprott (Messrs. Sprott, Gillespie, and Cameron), under the style of the “Garnkirk Fire Clay Company.” The goods produced at these works are the ordinary classes of fire-clay and terra-cotta articles, including ornamental chimney shafts and smoke-valves of good design and excellent mechanical construction; sanitary pipes and other appliances; architectural enrichments; garden edgings and balustrades of more than average beauty in design, of which examples are given in Figs. 760 to 762; garden vases of great variety in design and of different sizes; fountains, notably an example of five tiers, supported by figures of dolphins and cranes, with basin twenty-four feet in height and sixteen feet across, erected in the public park at Aberdeen; busts, statuary, both single figures and groups, including Baily’s lovely conception of “Eve at the Fountain,” “Gleaner,” “Minerva,” “Bacchus,” “Atlas,” &c.; pedestals, brackets, and every other variety of ornamental goods, as well as fire-clay, bricks, blocks, &c. The markets principally supplied are the home, and those of France, Germany, Russia, and the East and West Indies. The mark used is simply the word Garnkirk impressed in the clay.
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The Gartcosh Works were established by Mr. James Binnie, in 1863, and have since then been considerably extended. The produce of these works is terra-cotta vases, tazzas, pedestals, fountains, &c., of remarkably good design and of fine and durable quality; ornamental and plain garden edgings; gothic, clustered, and other chimney tops; ridge, flooring, and roofing tiles; cattle, horse, and dog troughs; copings; sewage and sanitary pipes of every description; glazed and unglazed fire bricks, furnace blocks, and all other goods for fire-resisting purposes. The clay is found about fifty fathoms below the surface, at Gartcosh; the strata being from eighteen to twenty-five feet in thickness. It is found underlying large beds of sandstone in what is called the limestone series, which lies between the upper and lower coal series of this district. The following is the analysis: silicic acid or silica, 60·96; alumina, 37·00; peroxide of iron, 1·16; lime, 0·64; magnesia, 0·24; total, 100.00.
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Heathfield Pottery.--At these works Messrs. Ferguson, Miller, & Co. produced some admirable vases in terra cotta, which were shown at the 1851 Exhibition, and are here engraved. One of these (Fig. 764) was a vase of large size and excellent modelling; it bore a frieze of figures typical of the great gathering in 1851. Fig. 765 shows, among its other ornaments, a nuptial procession, designed in the style of the antique; these figures were modelled with great accuracy, and are arranged in an artistic manner. The works passed in 1862 into the hands of Messrs. Young (which see); the moulds, &c., including those of these vases, became the property of the Garnkirk Company.
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Glasgow Pottery.--These works were established in 1842, by Messrs. J. & M. P. Bell & Co., in Stafford Street, Glasgow, for the manufacture of white and printed earthenware, and soon rose to the first rank among the potteries of Scotland. Particular attention was from the first paid not only to the excellence of body of the ware, but to improvement in form and in style of decoration. In these particulars they were eminently successful, and in 1851 received honourable mention at the Great Exhibition. Later on the manufacture of china was commenced, and later still the fine white and pearl granite wares, and white and decorated sanitary wares. The works are of great extent, and produce all the usual varieties of goods in dinner, breakfast, tea, toilet, dessert, and other services, as well as all the usual classes of articles, and in every variety of style, from the plain white or cream colour to the most richly enamelled and gilt patterns. The earthenware services are of more than average excellence of quality, and the china, both body and glaze, of superior class. Some of the dessert plates issued by Messrs. Bell, with hand-painted groups of flowers and perforated or open-work rims, are equal to most English makes; while some of the tea services are of tall classic form and of excellent taste in colour and decoration. In parian Messrs. Bell & Co. produce some admirable vases with figures in relief, and other ornamental goods; the quality is far above the average. The old marks used by the Glasgow Pottery are the following: Fig. 782, an eagle holding a roll, on which is inscribed the name of the pattern, and, underneath, the initials of the firm, J. & M. P. B. & Co.; Fig. 783, the Warwick vase and the name, J. & M. P. BELL & Co. The later marks are (Fig. 784), a garter bearing the initials of the firm, J. & M. P. B. & Co., surrounding the trade mark of a bell; the name of the pattern below. These are all printed on the ware, while another, impressed in the body, is a bell with the initials J. B. (Fig. 785). Another is a bell only (Fig. 786).
Some of Messrs. Bell & Co.’s exhibits are shown in the engravings Figs. 766 to 781.
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North British Pottery.--These works on Dobbies Loan, produce the ordinary qualities of earthenware goods.
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Saracen Pottery.--The Saracen Pottery was established in 1875 by Messrs. Bayley, Murray, and Brammer, at Possilpark. The firm manufacture Rockingham, cane-coloured, Egyptian black, jet, and mazarene blue wares on an extensive scale, mostly, in tea-pots, jugs, and other useful domestic articles, both for the home and foreign markets. The mark used is the initials of the firm and name of the works
B M & Co SARACEN POTTERY.
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Port Dundas Pottery Company.--These works were established for the manufacture of stoneware articles about the year 1819. In the earlier years of its existence there were several changes in the proprietorship, but for the last thirty years it has remained in the hands of, and been carried on by, Mr. James Miller. The works, from a somewhat small beginning, have attained considerable proportions. In 1856 they contained three salt-glaze ovens, in which were manufactured chemical vessels and apparatus of various kinds, spirit bottles, jars, &c.; and about this time many of the towns in the North of Scotland, finding the desirability of having a good water supply introduced, had recourse to high-pressure stoneware water-pipes for that purpose, which were manufactured in large quantities at these works. Several towns and many country mansion houses at the present time have their water supply conducted through miles of the Port Dundas pipes. In the same year a new glaze was introduced, giving to the ware a cream-coloured appearance, much purer and cleaner for many purposes than the old brown salt glaze, and with this a great demand sprang up for stoneware beer bottles for warm climates, and the works consequently have been greatly enlarged to meet the increased demand.
By far the greatest portion of ware made in Port Dundas is thrown on the potter’s wheel, the motive power for which was supplied, until 1866, by girls, who turned a large driving wheel communicating with a pulley under the workman’s wheelhead by a rope. The proprietor in that year endeavoured to introduce steam power for this purpose, but so strong was the opposition of the throwers that the machines and accompanying shafting, &c., lay aside for three years unused. They were then erected in a distant part of the works, and apprentices all but forced to work on them. These, however, had not been long fitted up when the workmen, seeing the immense advantages to be derived from their use, gladly availed themselves of the offer of the proprietor to substitute steam machinery for hand-power throughout the whole factory, the immediate result of which was to raise the piece-work earnings of the workmen from 30 to 49 per cent.; they had one attendant less to pay, a part of whose wages the workman kept to himself, while a proportion of it was paid to the Company for the use of the steam-power and up-keep of the machinery. The speed of the wheel requiring to be varied according to the different operations performed upon it, is now under the complete control of the workman’s foot, and not as formerly at the will, or according to the strength of, the assistant wheel-turner. In this way a complete revolution was quietly effected in the stoneware potting of Scotland, and the incentive having been given, orders came from many potteries in England to the Scotch machine maker for similar steam machines.
With the introduction of the cream-coloured stoneware glaze the ovens had to undergo extensive alterations, the old salt-glaze cupboard kilns giving place to much larger sagger ovens, in which the ware is now burned. The improvement in the appearance of the ware having brought it into much greater demand, the works rapidly extended, until at the present time, in the Port Dundas Pottery with its branch work, the Crown Pottery, there are fifteen ovens in regular operation.
The wares produced are beer, ink, and spirit bottles; preserve, acid, butter, and druggist’s jars; chemical vessels and apparatus, and every kind of article made in stoneware, water filters, Rockingham and cane ware.
All the goods made are stamped with the name of the firm in an oval stamp.
The home markets are supplied with all descriptions of general ware, immense quantities of preserve jars, &c. Export bottlers in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Liverpool, are supplied with stone bottles. Water filters, Rockingham, and cane ware are regularly shipped to the colonies and the continent of Europe. Two years ago a process of printing on the unfired stoneware body was perfected and patented by this firm, eminently suitable for consumer’s labels, trade marks, &c., no extra firing in the shape of muffle or hardening-in kiln being required.
The Company exhibited their manufactures at the Chilian Exhibition held in Santiago in 1875, and there received the first prize gold medal for the general excellence of their wares. The clay from which this stoneware is made is obtained only from the Devonshire mines, is very free from iron, and burns a light buff colour. Somewhere about 10,000 tons are annually used in Glasgow, nearly the whole of which is brought by sea from the port of Teignmouth to the Clyde. Very little preparation and no mixing with other ingredients is required before passing into the hands of the workman; after being milled it is ready to be fashioned into all kinds of articles. It is also singular in this respect that the articles are glazed before being burned; and by one process of firing to a very high pitch of heat--higher than that to which any other kind of pottery ware is subjected--a hard, vitreous, and very sonorous ware is produced, glazed inside and out with a transparent glaze, which allows the buff colour of the clay to be seen, and which is quite proof against the action of both alkalies and acids, rendering vessels made by this ware highly suitable for storing and transporting acids and other chemicals. For many years London and Bristol were the chief seats of the stoneware trade, and workmen had to be obtained from the south to carry on business in Scotland; but apprentices were speedily trained in Glasgow to supply all wants, and in turn to feed largely the southern potteries. At present there is more pure stoneware manufactured in Glasgow than anywhere else, so that it has really become the seat of the stoneware pottery of the kingdom.
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Hyde Park Potteries.--This manufactory was established about 1837 by Mr. John McAdam. His productions are ordinary stoneware bottles, jars, spirit casks, feet and carriage warmers, pans of various kinds, and all the ordinary classes of stoneware goods.
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Britannia Pottery.--These large works at St. Rollox, Glasgow, belonging to Messrs. Cochran & Co., produce all the usual varieties of ordinary earthenware goods in granite and cream-coloured ware for South America; and printed, enamelled, painted, and gilt wares for the home markets. The works were established in 1855, by Mr. Robert Cochran, the senior partner of the Verreville Pottery Company (which see), and the present partners are Mr. Alexander Cochran (son of the above) and Mr. James Fleming. The works contain six biscuit and seven glost ovens.
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Annfield Pottery.--Messrs. John Thomson and Co., at the Annfield Pottery, Gallowgate, formerly manufactured both china and earthenware goods for the home and foreign markets. The works have been closed some time.
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Bridgeton Pottery.--The “Bridgeton Pottery” was built in 1869 by its present owner, Mr. F. Grosvenor, who for some years previous to that time had been a partner in the “Caledonian Pottery” at Glasgow. The goods manufactured are the usual classes of articles in stoneware, including chemical wares, bottles for various uses, spirit jars, bottles, &c., and Rockingham ware tea-pots. In 1870 Mr. Grosvenor took out a patent for the manufacture of bottles and jars by machinery, and he has also invented an improved bottle stopper.
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Barrowfield Pottery.--Established by their present owner, Mr. Henry Kennedy, in 1866, these extensive works produce in large quantities all the usual classes of articles of “glass-lined stoneware,” including “glass-lined bottles and jars” for domestic and other purposes, both for home and foreign markets. The mark used by Mr. Kennedy is three Bottles side by side beneath a ribbon bearing the words “Established 1866.”
COATBRIDGE.
Glenboig Star Works.--The Glenboig Star Fire Brick Works produce bricks, retorts, furnace-blocks and similar goods.
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Glenboig Fire-Clay Works.--These works belong to the Glenboig Fire-Clay Company, and produce sewage and sanitary pipes, &c., retorts, fire-bricks, &c.
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Cardowan and Heathfield Works.--The first of these works, belonging to Messrs. John Young and Son, was built in 1852 by Messrs. John Hurll and John Young, previous to that time of the Garnkirk Company. The clay is the Garnkirk seam, and is of much the same character as the Stourbridge clay. The Heathfield Works were acquired about 1860 from Messrs. Miller and Ferguson (which see), and were largely extended and altered, and improved machinery introduced. The clay was won at 350 feet, passing through a solid bed of freestone of 120 feet, giving off much water; the seam itself is known as the Glenboig seam of clay, as it was first wrought at the “Glenboig Works,” with which Mr. Young was also till quite recently, a partner. At the “Cardowan Works” the firm manufacture the usual varieties of fire-bricks, blast-furnace blocks, gas retorts and fittings, vases, garden edgings, and plain and ornamental chimney shafts. At the “Heathfield Works” they produce fire-bricks, and vitrified salt-glazed pipes for sewerage and water purposes, and invert sewer blocks and all the usual salt-glazed articles. In 1874 Messrs. Hurll and Young dissolved partnership; Mr. Young, along with his sons John and Robert, being now the sole proprietors. The product of these works when in full work is about 20,000 fire-bricks per day and about 1,500 yards of pipes weekly.
PAISLEY.
Ferguslie Fire-Clay Works.--These extensive works were established in 1839, and are carried on by Messrs. Robert Brown and Son. The productions are mainly chimney shafts in great variety and of good design, sewage pipes and sanitary goods of all kinds, garden vases and tazzæ, flower boxes, suspenders, fern and flower stands, &c. of various designs; statuary, both single figures and groups, architectural enrichments, pedestals, brackets, garden edgings, fire and other bricks and tiles, copings, finials, &c.
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Shortroods and Caledonia Works.--These are brick and tile works connected with the Ferguslie Works of Messrs. Robert Brown and Co.
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Paisley Earthenware Works.--Messrs. Robert Brown and Co. established these works in 1876, and at them produce white enamelled earthenware goods of a similar quality to those of Staffordshire. Their principal productions are cabinet stands and lavatories of every requisite shape both for domestic and shop fittings, plug basins, pans, and other sanitary appliances, baths of every kind (a speciality being the larger baths, five feet six inches in length, a size rarely attempted in earthenware), washing tubs, sinks, &c., plumber’s fittings, washhand-table tops, with and without toilet ware, plain and coloured pavement and wall tiles, &c.
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Crown Works.--At the Crown Crucible Works, belonging to Messrs. Robert Brown and Son, plumbago crucibles and kindred goods are manufactured. The marks are a crown and name, BROWN PAISLEY, and a crucible within an oval border surmounted by a crown.
GRANGEMOUTH.
Fire-brick Works.--These works, belonging to the Grangemouth Coal Company, were established in 1842. The clay, which is of good quality, is got at a depth of about forty-eight fathoms, under lease from the Earl of Zetland. The productions of the works consist of ornamental vases, and tazzæ of various patterns; statuary, both single figures and groups; fountains, vases and plinths; flower-stands and pots; chimney shafts, some of which are highly decorated in relief; pedestals, brackets, &c.; and salt-glazed pipes, grate backs, bricks, tiles, &c. The company received honourable mention for their goods at the Exhibition of 1851, and at the Hamburg Exhibition of 1866 had a medal awarded to them for their vases and ornamental figures.
GREENOCK.
The Clyde Pottery.--The “Clyde Pottery” works were built and established by Messrs. James and Andrew Muir and others in 1815, and it is still the property of the Muir family, the present proprietors being the daughters of the late Andrew Muir. The business was first carried on by the proprietors under the style of the “Clyde Pottery Company,” with Mr. James Stevenson as manager. Mr. Stevenson was succeeded in the management by Thomas Shirley, to whom the business was transferred, and who altered the name of the firm to Thomas Shirley & Co. In 1857 the Messrs. Shirley were succeeded by the “Clyde Pottery Company (Limited),” with James Brownlie as manager. This company acquired the ground adjoining the pottery known as the “Blubber Yard” (from the fact that formerly the blubber obtained at the whale-fishing was boiled there), and this piece of ground gave ample scope for extending the works. The “Clyde Pottery Company (Limited)” existed for five years, and was then succeeded by the present firm, who carry on the business under the old style--the “Clyde Pottery Company”--and who, in taking over the lease, also acquired the ground adjoining already referred to, and have extended the works so as to do double the business of any of their predecessors. The firm consists of three members--John Donald, Robert Gibson Brown, and John McLauchlan--the two last taking the active management of the concern. The goods produced are the ordinary qualities of cream-coloured, sponged, painted, printed, pearl-white, enamelled, and gilt, suitable for the home trade, and various kinds of ware also to suit particular foreign markets. The mark used upon goods is “C. P. CO.” (Clyde Pottery Company). The markets supplied are the Home, Scotch, and Irish; and considerable business is done abroad with Calcutta, Mauritius, Rangoon, Java, Newfoundland, and Canada.
DUMBARTON.
There were pot-works at Dumbarton in the latter part of last and the beginning of the present century. About 1800, or thereabout, Anthony Amatt, originally of Derby, and afterwards with Champion, of Bristol, worked at Dumbarton. He afterwards returned to Bristol, and died there in 1851, aged ninety-two.
RUTHERGLEN.
Caledonian Pottery.--The “Caledonian Pottery” at Rutherglen, near Glasgow, was established at Glasgow about 1780 by a joint stock company, and from the company was acquired, about 1825, by the grandfather and father of the present head of the firm of Murray and Co., by whom the manufactory is carried on. In 1870 the works were removed from Glasgow to Rutherglen, about a couple of miles from that city. At first fine porcelain and china were made; then cream-coloured printed ware, with Rockingham and salt-glazed wares. In 1851 the demand sprang up for stoneware ale and other bottles, and this has become one of the staple trades of Glasgow and the surrounding district. The goods now produced are the usual classes of “Bristol” glazed stoneware, salt-glazed stoneware, cane ware, and Rockingham and Egyptian black wares. In these classes of goods all the usual domestic articles are very extensively made, both for the home and continental markets. The quality produced is much above the average in excellence, and the goods of this firm are in much repute. A speciality of Messrs. Murray and Co. is their patent “spongy iron filter” which has been officially recommended by Royal Commission and has been awarded a medal. It is one of the most perfect and useful of filters, and its principle of construction is thoroughly good. The mark used by Murray and Co. is a lion rampant.
PORTOBELLO, NEAR EDINBURGH.
Midlothian Potteries.--The Midlothian Stoneware Potteries at Portobello and Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, were established about 1857 by Mr. W. A. Gray, for the manufacture of general stoneware goods, but they had, I am informed by him, been in existence as earthenware works for upwards of a century before that time. They are now carried on under the style of “W. A. Gray & Sons.” The goods produced are all kinds of stoneware, and the more ordinary descriptions of earthenware. In the first are all the usual descriptions of spirit jars and bottles, spirit barrels, bowls and pans, jugs and pitchers, butter, beef, and jam-pots, bottles, feet and carriage warmers, &c.; and in earthenware many useful articles. They are principally supplied to the home market.
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Portobello Pottery.--These old-established works at Portobello, near Edinburgh, were established in 1770, and are now carried on by Messrs. A. W. Buchan & Co. For a number of years they turned out ordinary white earthenware and Rockingham ware, but since 1842 the manufacture has been entirely confined to stoneware. In this ware bottles of various kinds, jars, jugs, feet and carriage warmers, spirit bottles, and all the usual classes of goods, are extensively manufactured, principally for the home markets. The mark of the firm is a star.
KIRKCALDY.
Sinclairtown Pottery.--Messrs. George McLachlan & Son were manufacturers of ordinary earthenware at this place; the works are now closed.
Other manufactories are, the Kirkcaldy Pottery belonging to Messrs. David Methven & Son, and the Gallatown Pottery belonging to Messrs. Robert Heron & Sons.
BONESS.
The Boness Pottery, as it is now called, dates from 1766. It was originally planned and partly constructed by a Mr. Roebuck, an enterprising Englishman, largely engaged in the coal and iron trade in this district, who for some time lived in Kenneil House, belonging to the Duke of Hamilton. For some cause Mr. Roebuck left for England, and the pottery came by purchase into the possession of a Mr. Cowen, and afterwards, in 1799 of Mr. Alexander Cumming, who carried it on successfully for a number of years; then his nephew James Cumming carried on the business, and although it only consisted of three kilns it became one of the largest potteries in Scotland, if not the very largest. Earthenware and brown ware were manufactured in all their branches. The firm had another manufactory, called the “South Pottery,” where brown ware was made for the home markets. In the possession of the present firm is a punch bowl manufactured in these works with the following inscription painted upon it:
“What art can with the potter’s art compare? For of what we are ourselves of such we make our ware.”
It was made in the time of Thos. Cowen, and bears the date 1794. They have in their possession also other, but undated, specimens of the productions of the early manufactory. At the death of James Cumming the works passed into the hands of his nephew, William Cumming, and being sold in 1836 were bought by James Jamieson, and carried on for a number of years, under the firm of James Jamieson & Co., and afterwards by the son of Mr. Jamieson under the same style; the proprietors being John Marshall and James Jamieson. After Mr. Jamieson’s death that part of the works belonging to him was, in 1854, bought by Mr. John Marshall and carried on, on his own account, until 1867, when he was joined by Mr. William McNay as a partner, under the style of John Marshall & Co. These works were the first in Scotland to adopt Needham’s patent for manufacturing clay. The productions are the ordinary useful classes of earthenware goods in dinner, tea, toilet, and other services, and all the usual domestic articles; these are produced in white, sponged, printed, painted, enamelled and gilt styles, and are supplied both to home and foreign markets.
PRESTONPANS.
Prestonpans Pottery.--There were, until 1838, two old pot-works, each more than a century old, in Prestonpans; in that year they were both closed. In 1836 Messrs. Belfield & Co. established the “Prestonpans Pottery,” which they still carry on; the goods produced being Rockingham tea-pots, cane jugs, &c.
ALLOA.
Alloa Pottery.--These works were established in 1790 by Mr. James Anderson, and were afterwards carried on by Mr. William Gardner; in 1855 they passed by purchase into the hands of the present proprietors, Messrs. W. & J. Bailey. At first the works, under Mr. Anderson, produced common brownware pans and crocks, and by Mr. Gardner the addition was made of Rockingham ware tea-pots. By the present firm this branch of manufacture has been considerably improved, and so greatly extended that at the time I write, I am informed, no less than twenty-six thousand tea-pots can be produced by them per week. Majolica and jet ware goods are also largely made and are of good quality, and a speciality of the firm is its artistic engraving of ferns and other decorations of the finer qualities of tea-pots, jugs, &c. The productions of the Alloa Pottery, besides a home trade, are exported in large quantities to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, France, America, &c., and medals have been awarded to them at the Paris and Philadelphia Exhibitions. The excellent quality of the Alloa goods “arises from the nature of the clay got in the neighbourhood,” and the density of colour and softness to touch of the glaze are highly commendable.
THE HEBRIDES.
Hand-made pottery is still made, and used, in all its primitive simplicity. The following letter, which I am permitted to print, is so full of interesting matter concerning this curious phase of fictile art, that I give it entire. It was addressed by W. Morrison, Esq., M.P., to my friend, Mr. W. H. Goss, and dated from the House of Commons. It runs as follows:
“The circumstances under which I came upon the hand-made pottery were as follows. In conversation with a Scotch friend on archæological matters, he happened to mention that hand-made pottery is still used in the Hebrides. Taken in connection with the fact that the inhabitants of some of the islands still, I believe, live in the same circular dry stone huts, with their cattle under the same roof, of which so many traces remain on Dartmoor, Ingleborough in Yorkshire, the Yr Eifel Hills in Carnarvonshire, and with the curious speculations contained in the introduction to the popular tales of the West Highlands, by Mr. Campbell, this fact seemed to be of some archæological interest. Mr. Tyler, in his ‘Early History of Mankind,’ gives many instances of the old savage instruments having lasted to our times, e.g., the flint knife used to cut cabbages by some old woman in Orkney, the bone ‘barker’ from Cornwall, in Christy and Blackmore Museums, the stone hammer for breaking the shells of whelks in Brittany, and so on.
“My friend gave me an introduction to Mr. D. Munro, the chamberlain of Sir James Matherson, Bart., at Stornoway, in the Lewes, and Mr. Munro promptly sent me a complete tea-service consisting of teapot, milk-jug, sugar-basin, slop-basin, egg cups (or probably dram cups), cups and saucers, and marmalade pot! which he had purchased for the magnificent sum of 10s. from an old woman at Stornoway, who was actually using them in the year of grace 1868 at her tea table. The pottery is evidently hand-made, and is of a very rough quality and form, baked, but not turned on the wheel. I gave half the set to the Blackmore Museum at Salisbury, and half to the Christy Museum, at 103, Victoria Street (visible on Fridays between 10 and 4 p.m. by ticket obtained at the British Museum; no doubt a letter enclosing stamped envelope would save the trouble of an application to the British Museum). The pottery is in a case in the secretary’s room. I am not sure if this room is shown to the public, but of course it would be shown to any one having an object in view.
“The remarkable thing is, that the pottery is distinctly copied, rudely enough, from modern pottery. The forms are ordinary Tottenham Court Road forms, and their continued use in an island with a regular steamboat service from Glasgow strikes me as very curious.
“Of course the view of the pottery is open to you, and all the information contained in this letter. I should prefer, however, not having my name published, unless to substantiate any statements I have made.”
Manufactories of brown ware, of delft, of common earthenware, and fire-clay goods, have also existed, or exist, in other parts of Scotland.