Chapter XIV: Wedgwood 247 (2)

A word or two concerning Frye. Our Irish readers will be glad to learn that he was born at Dublin, in 1710. He came to London in 1738, when, he painted a portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales for Saddlers’ Hall. At the establishment of the Bow factory he took the management. To bring the china to perfection, he spent fifteen years of his life among furnaces, which had so bad an effect upon his health that his constitution nearly broke down. In 1759 he had to go to Wales for a change of air, and in 1760 he returned to London, and we find him taking a house at Hatton Garden, where he executed some important mezzotint engravings—which, as Mr. Rudyard Kipling observes, “is another story.” He died of consumption in 1762. Perhaps Oliver Goldsmith had him in mind (who knows?) when he wrote his line—

“There the pale artist plies his sickly trade.”

To ladies it will be especially interesting to read that Frye had two daughters, who assisted him in painting the china at Bow.

Figure of Britannia with medallion of George II.

(Decorated in colours, on rococo base.)]

Readers will, before now, have come to the conclusion that the study of old china is not superlatively easy, and that the question of marks is at the best a vexed one. Should there be any who have any lingering doubts on this point, they will speedily join the majority when they come to consider the bewildering marks of the Bow factory. These same marks, be it said, have puzzled experts who have denied each other’s conclusions, though with hardly as much vehemence as the late Mr. Bret Harte’s learned society “Upon the Stanislaus,” who engaged in conflict “with the remnants of a palæozoic age” in shameful manner—

“And the way they heaved those fossils in their anger was a sin,
Till the skull of an old mammoth caved the head of Thompson in.”

We give one set of the known marks of the Bow factory, later we shall give another set no less puzzling. It is difficult to attempt to offer any definite conclusions, or to do more in the space at our disposal than to state that these are marks known to have been used at Bow, and are upon specimens in the national or well-known private collections. The letter B and the drawn bow, of course, explain themselves. The crescent in blue and the sword and anchor in red occur together on a china figure of a sportsman with a gun. It is conjectured that the introduction of a dagger may have been due to the fact that both proprietors were freemen of the City of London, and the dagger, as is well known, is part of the City arms. The triple mark of the anchor with the vertical and horizontal daggers, by some collectors is ascribed to early Chelsea, by others to Worcester; it is a disputed point.

The little figure we reproduce (on p. 50) is of a woman playing the _pastorella_. It is one of a pair of figures. The other represents a man singing. Each figure is marked in red with both anchor and dagger. The _pastorella_ represented in the figure was a musical instrument in general use previously to the introduction of the spinet. It may be remarked that at the back of each of these figures, near the base, a square hole has been pierced before glazing, for the purpose of receiving a metal stem supporting nozzles for candles. As this square hole is said never to be found on similar Chelsea pieces, it has come to be regarded as a distinctive feature of old Bow figures.

Musical Subjects.

Man with flageolet and drum, Woman with triangle.

Marked with anchor in red, cross in blue.]

Among the various articles made at the Bow factory may be enumerated the following, which have been taken from the account-books of the factory: Shepherds and shepherdesses, cupids, fluter, fiddler, harlequin, columbine, pierrot or clown, tambourine player, Dutch dancer, woman with chicken, birds on pedestals, swans, boars, squirrels, goats, as well as many miscellaneous articles for general use, such as salt-boxes, candlesticks, mugs, pickle-stands, &c. We reproduce an inkstand, four inches in diameter, of white glazed porcelain decorated with flowers, which decoration we call attention to as being characteristic of Bow. An inscription appears at the top: “Made at New Canton, 1751” (p. 49).

Since Chaucer’s day, Stratford-le-Bow has come down to us in rhyme, for the poet playfully pokes fun at the good nun in his “Canterbury Tales”:—

“And Frenche she spake ful fayre and fetishly
After the scole of Stratford-atte-Bow,
For Frenche of Paris was to her unknowe.”

But should china collectors who travel down the Great Eastern Railway wish a further fillip to remind them of Bow, sundry soap and candle factories, with stench so strong that it knocks at the railway windows, will arrest their straying thoughts. The literary reader may, when he catches glimpses of the brown and oily ooze of the River Lea, think of Coleridge’s lines to Cologne and the River Rhine.

And here at Bow linger still the memories of the old factory—a century old—where Quin as Falstaff was turned out in porcelain, and Garrick posed as Richard III. in a china figure. A match factory stands on the site of the old Bow China factory, but there is still a “China Row” to suggest the old days of “New Canton” and its wares.

Decorated in underglaze blue, in Chinese style. (Height 8-1/4 ins.)]

Decorated with oriental floral design in overglaze colour in red, green, and blue. (Diameter, 8-3/4 in.).

_In the collection of the Author._]

The discovery is interesting of fragments of old Bow porcelain, and portions of “saggers” on the site of one of the kilns while digging a drain from the match factory.

_Victoria and Albert Museum._]

The children of the neighbourhood were observed to have as playthings bits of broken china of a high-class and delicate ware, never emanating from the china shops of Bow, and Mr. Higgins, attached to the match factory, henceforth kept strict watch over the excavations, and careful examination unearthed a number of broken specimens of the Bow ware. He and his sister carefully arranged the broken pieces, and they form an excellent authority, these trays of broken china, for determining the paste and glaze, and identifying the decoration and designs of Bow. By means of this find it was possible to classify many doubtful pieces of china in well-known collections hitherto wrongly attributed to other factories. This discovery by excavation was followed many years later by a similar find at Lowestoft.

It is interesting to note that among the fragments found, not a single piece is of Delft or common earthenware, but all are of porcelain. The designs of many of them are of Chinese landscapes, with flowers, figures, and birds. Their general character may be gathered from sketch of four examples. They are all painted in blue with the exception of a cup painted with green leaves and crimson-lake flowers. None of the pieces is printed, but all are painted with a brush. The other two illustrations we give are of china ornamented in relief, the favourite pattern being the mayflower. Each of these Bow cups is a typical example. The design stands out very sharply, and is raised from the surface of the china. The cups are rather heavy for their size.

Among the _débris_ were found many pieces of an ornamental character, a salt-cellar beautifully modelled, formed of three shells, with smaller shells and seaweed between, but the upper shell to hold the salt is missing. Pieces of dishes, evidently intended to hold sweetmeats, were unearthed from this sewer hole, with finely designed corals and shells and seaweeds. Some natural shells were also found, which had evidently served the artists as models. Two china pug-dogs were discovered with collars bearing roses on them.

Bow paste is exceedingly hard, and the fracture when it is broken is close and compact. The pieces as a rule are very heavy for their size, but many of the cups and saucers are almost of egg-shell thinness. The colour is milky white. Should any of our readers be possessed of Bow china, they may ratify its origin by carefully examining it, if possible, under a magnifying glass. On scrutinising the blue pieces it will be found there is a peculiarity in the glaze, which arises in this manner. At that time blue was the only known colour that would bear the intense heat of the kiln. It was always painted on the biscuit before being dipped in the glaze. It is found that certain portions of the blue, however slight, are apt, while the glaze is in a fluid state, to spread over the surface, giving it a blue tinge. The other colours as well as the gold were painted over the glaze, and set in a kiln of lower temperature. Hence the blue, being _under the glaze_, is imperishable, and the other colours from frequent use get rubbed off.

We have given a number of marks used at Bow; we supplement that list by two others, one of which is exclusively composed of signatures actually used by Thomas Frye himself.

Although none of the ware unearthed at Bow was printed, yet printed ware did come from there. In all probability it was sent to Liverpool to have the transfer engravings, so much in vogue when Bow flourished, put on the china. As early as the year 1756 this was done, for certain entries appear in the Bow books: “One pint _printed_ mug: a sett compleat of the second _printed_ teas.” Or it is possible that they were sent to Battersea to be printed. It is not a far cry from Bow to Battersea. Transfer printing on enamel was in vogue at Battersea before 1755. Horace Walpole, writing to a friend in 1755, says, “I send you a trifling snuff-box, only as a sample of the new manufacture at Battersea, which is done with copper-plates.” But Battersea and Battersea enamel—that is another story.

Various Signatures of Thomas Frye.]

It is to be hoped that this “Chat” on old Bow china will have helped readers, to whom Bow is a name, to form some idea of what went on there more than a century ago. The china cabinet holds more mysteries within it than many a good housewife dreams of. It will be seen that the difficulties of china-collecting are legion. At the modern find at Bow, lovers of china ought to be grateful, for it enabled many vexed questions to be settled, but what is Bow and what is Chelsea still puzzles experts. In all probability Bow, Bristol, and another very much debated factory, Lowestoft, will continue to offer traps and snares and pitfalls for the unwary collector (or misshapen falsities attributed to them) till connoisseurs are no more and collecting days are done. The find in 1903 at Lowestoft is as important as the find at Bow, but it is exceedingly unlikely that any more facts will ever come to light respecting these old factories; every available source of information has been tapped and all that can be known concerning them is known. The potters who made the exquisite shapes, the artists who painted the roses on bowl and beaker, have long since departed with the roses of yester-years. Their life-work is scattered. Much of it, perhaps most of it, is gone for ever. Each cup and each dish of the long-dead artist is like “a good deed in a naughty world.” To-day, with a handful of facts, collectors and connoisseurs wrangle together over theories.

Embossed pine cone ornament and green band.]

The celebrated quail pattern; floral decoration, gilded, birds touched with blue. Middle cup, floral design in crimson and green.

_In the Collection of the Author._]

Disputes have been held as to the origin of certain pieces of puzzling technique. Some experts have believed them to be Chelsea or Longton Hall. Even the “Craft Bowl,” one of the earliest pieces of Bow china, now at the British Museum, is known to have been decorated in a kiln at Kentish Town.

CHARACTERISTICS OF BOW CHINA.

Body and glaze often defective, pattern so arranged as to cover flaw. Insects often introduced for this purpose to hide imperfections. Coarse, chalky white ware, covered with glaze much pitted and speckled. The bottom often shows three marks representing points on which piece rested in kiln. The glaze is thickly applied, and fills up interstices of raised patterns. The body and glaze varied; the earlier pieces have a yellow tinge in the glaze. The bottoms of some basins and dishes are often twice as thick as the sides. The ware, owing to large amount of lead used, is discoloured.

SALE PRICES.

BOW. £ s. d.

Figures, pair, emblematical of Autumn
and Winter, 7-1/4 in. high. Christie,
February 4, 1902 16 16 0

Groups, pair, a drummer and piper, 10
in. high. Christie, February 4, 1902 48 6 0

Figures, pair, of a girl and youth, with
bagpipes, a dog and flowers, 7-1/2 in.
high. Christie, April 25, 1902 16 5 6

Groups, pair, with figures of a Chinaman,
child, and monkey; and the
companion, on scroll plinths, 9-1/2 in.
high; rare mark, B, intertwined
with the anchor and dagger.
Christie, June 20, 1902 42 0 0

Cream-jug, with flowers in relief,
coloured; impressed triangle mark.
Christie, June 24, 1902 25 4 0

Ink-stand, with ink-vase, sand-box,
candlestick, and pen-tray, painted
with landscapes and insects, the pen-tray
surmounted by a group of a
goat and two children, 9-1/2 in. wide.
Christie, July 2, 1902 17 6 6

Cream-jugs, two, with goats and bee in
relief. Christie, November 28, 1902 16 16 0

Figures of parrots, pair, holding fruit
and perched upon stumps of trees,
resting on tripod scroll, bases encrusted
with flowers, the birds are
painted in natural colours, height
7-1/2 in. and 6-1/2 in. Sotheby, November
11, 1902 33 0 0

Statuette, on scroll base, of a boy playing
a drum, painted in colours, with
gilding and encrusted with jesmine
at sides, modelled by Tebo, height
10 in. Sotheby, November 11, 1902 16 10 0

Figure. Bacchus squeezing grapes in cup,
11 in. high. Sotheby, May 17, 1920 19 0 0

Figure of girl carrying basket, and her
apron full of flowers, 5-1/8 in.
Sotheby, May 17, 1920 6 15 0

Figure of a child, emblematic of Winter,
6-3/4 in. high. Christie, July 20, 1920 8 18 6

Figure of Cupid, kneeling before a
flowering tree with a bird in the
branches, 8 in. high. Christie, July
5, 1920 4 4 0

Figure of two birds, perched on flowering
branches, 6-1/2 in. high. Christie,
July 5, 1920 6 6 0

Pair of Figures of Neptune and Pomona,
7-3/4 in. high. Christie, July 5, 1920 14 3 6

Figure of Jupiter, with an eagle and
thunderbolt, 6-1/2 in high. Christie,
July 5, 1920 8 8 0

Figure of Minerva, richly coloured, on
scroll plinth encrusted with flowers,
13-1/2 in. high. Christie, July 5, 1920 14 14 0

A nearly similar figure on white scroll
plinth. Christie, July 5, 1920 5 5 0

Pair of octagonal dishes, painted with
quails and flowering plants in the
Hizen taste, 9-1/2 in. wide. Puttick &
Simpson, July 16, 1920 10 10 0

Figure of Neptune holding a vase, and
with dolphin, on wave base, 7-3/4 in.
high. Puttick & Simpson, July 16,
1920 8 18 6

Figure of Minerva on pierced scroll base,
outlined with turquoise and gilt,
red anchor and dagger mark, 8-1/2 in.
high. Puttick & Simpson, July 16, 1920 15 15 0

Pair of Figures of a boy and girl, wearing
Eastern costumes, and with dog
and lamb, on shaped bases, with
three scroll feet, red anchor and
dagger mark, 6 in. high. Puttick
& Simpson, July 16, 1920 19 19 0

IV

OLD WORCESTER

(Marked with crescent.)

_In the Collection of the Author._]

(Transfer-printed in black.)]

IV

OLD WORCESTER

In old Worcester china there lies a magic that appeals to the collector of fine copies and adaptation from Nankin and other Chinese porcelain. The real old blue colouring of Worcester has a charm about it which cannot be reproduced nowadays. There is something personal about the productions of the old factories; the workman was proud to make his mark at the bottom of the plate or bowl he had created, much in the same manner as the masons who built Fountains Abbey left each man his mystic sign on each stone he carved.

If the reader chooses to weave a romance of airy nothingness on an old cracked bowl of Worcester blue there is substance enough, if he has the mind to do so. Mr. Austin Dobson, in one of his charming villanelles, has taught us how much lies in the dreamy depths of a plate with queer Chinese blue figures on it:—

“‘Ah, me! but it might have been!
Was there ever so dismal a fate?’
Quoth the little blue mandarin.

‘Such a maid as was never seen?
She passed, though I cried to her, “Wait.”
Ah, me! but it might have been!

‘I cried, “O my Flower, my Queen,
Be mine!” ’Twas precipitate,’
Quoth the little blue mandarin.

‘But then ... she was just sixteen,
Long-eyed—as a lily straight—
Ah, me! but it might have been!

‘As it was, from her palankeen,
She laughed—“You’re a week too late!”
Quoth the little blue mandarin.

‘That is why, in a mist of spleen,
I mourn on this old blue plate.
Ah, me! but it might have been!’
Quoth the little blue mandarin.”

Fine painted Flowers in reserved panels. Having square mark.]

Powder blue ground with white reserves decorated in blue.]

We have already given the story of old Derby china, and when Derby and Chelsea and Bow were establishing for themselves a reputation, Worcester was engaged in experimenting in the same direction in the person of one Dr. John Wall, a physician of that city. He was a man of considerable taste, and besides being a clever practitioner, he was a practical chemist, and an artist of some ability. One of his paintings hangs in the hall of Merton College, Oxford, of which he was a Fellow. He was an etcher, and designed stained-glass windows; one of his windows is at Oriel College. What William Duesbury was to Derby and the foundation of the china factory there, and what Josiah Wedgwood was to Staffordshire, that was Dr. John Wall to Worcester. His was the guiding intellect of the Worcester enterprise, which culminated in 1751, about a year after Derby had been established, in the establishment of a manufactory of porcelain in the “faithful city.”

These were restless times, very troublesome then to domestic England, and having an influence upon art. Only six years prior to this the Pretender had invaded England with an armed force, and had penetrated as far as Derby. Party feeling ran very high. It has been asserted that the industry was introduced to Worcester for political reasons, so that the Georgian party might gain votes in the county against the Jacobites, who were strong in Worcester. It seems certain enough that Dr. Wall began his experiments merely for the love of the study, but whether he was used by politicians, or whether he used them, is of no moment to us; suffice it to say that the Worcester Porcelain Company was founded in 1751, and among the prominent co-operators with Dr. Wall were William Davies, an apothecary, and Edward Cave, the founder of the _Gentleman’s Magazine_. This latter was of inestimable use to the factory for advertising their wares.

1751-1776.]

The earliest Worcester productions were based entirely on Chinese models. Small cups, without handles, of Oriental design were decorated under the glaze in blue. All the characteristics of the Nankin ware became those of Worcester. Slowly and surely they attempted with complete success some of the more brilliant colours of Eastern ceramic ware, notably from the Japanese.

(Dr. Wall period with square mark.)

Finely painted exotic birds in colour.]

The early ware of Worcester may be known by a peculiar greenness of hue in the body of the china. The first mark used was the letter W in some form or another. This letter may stand either for Wall or for Worcester, as D marked on Derby china may stand either for Duesbury, the founder, or for Derby. We reproduce several of the earliest Worcester marks. About the same time a crescent was used, which is believed to have been adopted from the arms of the Warmstrey family, in whose ancient mansion the factory was first started.

The first two letters, , in script, were used when the factory was under the direction of Dr. Wall, who died in 1776. The capital W was marked in blue on early printed china. The crescent in outline was one of the earliest marks, while the second crescent filled in with blue, under the glaze, occurs on blue-printed china, which was invented about 1755.

Among other early Worcester marks are assimilations and variations of certain Chinese characters, probably from the models which the Worcester potters copied. Of the square marks, it may be observed that they do not always occur on Chinese patterns. Occasionally, too, a crescent in red is found with one of these squares in blue. Of the other ornate and curiously Eastern adaptations, it may be that they were workmen’s signatures, but they are only found on old Worcester. The love for Oriental flourishes is shown by a series of numbers. Examples from 1 to 9 are known. We reproduce the numbers 1, 4, 5, 7.

In 1756 the important invention of transferring printed impressions from copper plates was introduced at Worcester. It is debatable ground whether Battersea, Liverpool, or Worcester invented it. But in 1757 it had arrived at a wonderful state of perfection at Worcester. The engraver, Robert Hancock, was employed. Valentine Green, the great mezzotint engraver, was his pupil. A mug bearing the head of the King of Prussia, and dated 1757, is held to be one of the most characteristic pieces of this period.

Thomas Carlyle has a graphic description of one of these King of Prussia mugs, which piece of prose is worth giving in full, for we do not often see the historian of the French Revolution in the character of a china connoisseur:—

“There stands on this mantelpiece,” says one of my correspondents, the amiable Smelfungus, in short, whom readers are acquainted with, “a small china mug, not of bad shape, declaring itself, in one obscure corner, to be made at Worcester, ‘R. I., Worcester, 1757’ (late in the season, I presume, demand being brisk); which exhibits all round it a diligent potter’s apotheosis of Friedrich, hastily got up to meet the general enthusiasm of English mankind. Worth, while it lasts unbroken, a moment’s inspection from you in a hurrying along.

(Transfer-printed in black.)

With portrait of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia.

(Signed with initials of Robert Hancock), and Anchor.]

“Front side, when you take our mug by the handle for drinking from it, offers a poor, well-meant china portrait, labelled, King of Prussia: copy of Friedrich’s portrait by Pesne, twenty years too young for the time, smiling out nobly upon you; upon whom there descends with rapidity a small Genius more like Cupid, who had hastily forgotten his bow, and goes headforemost on another errand, to drop a wreath far too small for ever getting on (owing to distance, let us hope), though the artless painter makes no sign; and indeed both Genius and wreath, as he gives them, look almost like a big insect, which the King will be apt to treat harshly if he notice it. On the opposite side, again, separated from Friedrich’s back by the handle, is an enormous image of Fame, with wings, filling half the mug, with two trumpets going at once (a bass, probably, and a treble), who flies with great ease; and between her eager face and the unexpectant one of Friedrich (who is 180 deg. off, and knows nothing of it) stands a circular trophy, or imbroglio of drums, pikes, muskets, canons, field flags, and the like; very slightly tied together, the knot, if there is one, being hidden by some fantastic bit of scroll or escutcheon, with a Fame and _one_ trumpet scratched on it; and high out of the imbroglio rise three standards inscribed with names, which we perceive are intended to be names of Friedrich’s victories; standards notable at this day, with names which I will punctually give you.

“Standard first, which lies to the westward or leftward, has ‘Reisberg’ (no such place on this distracted globe, but meaning Bevern’s _Reichenberg_, perhaps), ‘Reisberg,’ ‘Prague,’ ‘Collin.’ Middle standard curves beautifully round its staff, and gives us to read ‘Welham’ (non-extant, too; may mean _Welmina_ or Lobositz), ‘Rosbach’ (very good), ‘Breslau’ (poor Bevern’s, thought a _victory_ in Worcester at this time!). Standard third, which flies to eastward or right hand, has ‘Newmark’ (that is, _Neumarkt_ and the Austrian bread-ovens, December 4th); ‘Lissa’ (not yet _Leuthen_ in English nomenclature); and Breslau again, which means the capture of Breslau city this time, and is a real success, December 7th to 19th; giving as the approximate date, Christmas, 1757, to this hasty mug. A mug got up for a temporary English enthusiasm, and for the accidental instruction of posterity. It is of tolerable china, holds a good pint, ‘to the Protestant hero with all the honours,’ and offers, in little, a curious eyehole into the then England, with its then lights and notions, which is now so deep-hidden from us, under volcanic ashes, French revolutions, and the wrecks of a hundred very decadent years.”

This mug bears the letters “R. H.” on it, the initials of the engraver.

In addition to this portrait of Frederick the Great there were others engraved of George II., George III., Queen Charlotte, the Marquis of Granby, and William Pitt. The full signature of Robert Hancock is often found on garden scenes and Watteau-like subjects.

We illustrate as a headpiece a group of two cream-jugs and a sugar-basin with black Worcester transfer-printed subjects on them.

(With subject in Watteau style transfer, printed in black.)

_In the collection of Author._]

_In Collection of Mr. W. G. Honey._]

Leaving poetry and coming to fact, we arrive at the beginning of the second period in the history of the Worcester factory. Dr. Wall, the originator of the works, had died in 1776, and it must be borne in mind by the collector that from about the year 1764, when the Chelsea works became disorganised, up to the death of Dr. Wall, some of the most exquisite creations of Worcester were produced. Several of the Chelsea artists had come to Worcester, and mugs of a choice apple-green were made in imitation of the Sèvres ware, but none of these bear the Worcester mark. Vases with rich _bleu-de-roi_ ground and salmon-scale markings, with exotic birds of rich plumage, of varied and elegant design, belong to this period, and command at the present day very high prices. Donaldson and O’Neale were two of the best painters, and painted some of the finest Worcester vases so much sought after. At the Victoria and Albert Museum, in the collection of the late Lady Charlotte Schreiber, there are some particularly fine examples.

Chamberlain Marks.]

We reproduce a fine Worcester dish (10-3/4 in. by 8-3/4 in.) from the collection of Mr. W. G. Honey, recently at the Cork Exhibition. This specimen is an excellent example of the best period, and is marked with a blue crescent.

In 1783 the works passed into the hands of Mr. Thomas Flight, who, together with his two sons, Joseph and John, raised the manufactory to some eminence. In 1788, George III., with Queen Charlotte, visited the works, and the title “Royal” was added to the mark, above the word “Flight.” Later on, in 1791, Mr. Martin Barr joined the concern, the firm becoming “Flight and Barr.” It should be noted that Mr. Chamberlain, the head of the decorating department of the old factory, never came under the Flight _régime_, but established a factory of his own at Worcester. We give in order of date the various marks used both by his factory and that of the Flights.

Grainger, Lee and Co. Marks.]

These two factories continued as rivals until 1840, when they amalgamated, and the two firms formed one company. The name of Flight and Barr disappears, and the business being carried on at Messrs. Chamberlain’s premises, the new Worcester mark became “Chamberlain & Co.” In 1850 Mr. W. H. Kerr joined the company, and for a little while the firm was known as “Chamberlain, Lilley, & Kerr.” In 1852 another change took place, Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Lilley retired, and Mr. R. W. Binns entered into partnership with Mr. Kerr. From that time the manufactory, under the management of Kerr & Binns was known as “W. H. Kerr & Co.” It is important that the collector should know all these transitions in the ownership and management of the Worcester works, which has a continuous history of nearly a hundred and fifty years, a record not reached by any other English factory.

Besides the above-mentioned two main streams of Worcester porcelain manufacture, there is yet another firm which was established in 1800 by Thomas Grainger, nephew to Mr. Chamberlain. The firm became Grainger, Lee & Co., and afterwards G. Grainger & Co. We give their marks, together with the other Worcester marks, to enable our readers to identify any specimens they may possess. One of the marks in the Kerr & Binns period requires explanation. The circle with the letter W radiating from the centre was especially designed for solely marking the productions of the factory made for the use of Queen Victoria and the Royal household.

The scent-bottle which we give as illustration has double sides, the outer being ornamented with perforated work, painted and gilt. The neck is beautifully decorated with flowers on a yellow ground. It is marked “Chamberlain’s Worcester.” It is an elegant piece, and very characteristically shows, for instance, in the double sides and perforated work, the influence of Chinese models. This specimen is at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

CHAMBERLAIN-WORCESTER.

_In Victoria and Albert Museum._]

A set of three vases (15-1/2 in. high), marked “Grainger, Lee, & Co., Worcester,” have views on them of Camden Place, Bath, Redcliffe Church, Bristol, and St. Vincent’s Rock, Bristol.

Grainger & Co. Early Nineteenth Century.

_Left._ Bath, Camden Place. _Centre._ Redcliffe Church, Bristol. _Right._ Bristol, St. Vincent Rock.

(Marked in script, Grainger, Lee and Co., Worcester, with titles also in script.)]

About the time of the Exhibition of 1851 there was great energy displayed by the Worcester factory. Especially noticeable were the enamelled vases, dishes, and ewers. This Worcester enamel is a variety of Limoges work (the Limoges being on copper and the Worcester wholly porcelain), which consists of applying semi-opaque white enamel of varying strength, produced by superimposing more or fewer layers in gradation upon a deep rich ground of blue. These enamels were designed to copy the fifteenth and sixteenth century work, and succeeded very well in their object. Later, Worcester essayed to produce jewelled porcelain, in which Berlin and Vienna had excelled a century before. It won especial praise at Paris in the 1867 Exhibition, and became a great financial success.

Whether it be with the Limoges ivory or with the newer Japanese designs which entered into the later Worcester productions, the Royal manufactory of the “faithful city” has always held its own with the foreign rivals and competitors at international exhibitions. At Berlin, Paris, Vienna, at Philadelphia, at Chicago, the success of modern Worcester is evidence enough of its vitality.

CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD WORCESTER CHINA.

In the early period a simplicity characterised the productions. “Mandarin” designs from Chinese models prevailed. These old Worcester under-glaze blue pieces have a tone unlike any other English factory, and more nearly approach the Oriental quality of depth. Blue and white dishes with pierced borders, and open basket-work dishes were a feature.

Transfer printing _over_ the glaze is one of the characteristics of the factory.

In the second period of Worcester were produced the elaborate vases in the style of Dresden and of Sèvres, the finest examples of Worcester.

The third period of over-elaboration in decoration marks the decline of Worcester.

The porcelain is thin and of very beautiful quality, having an ivory-like texture. There is a greenish tint in the paste when subjected to a strong light.

The varieties of bodies used at Worcester from time to time make any generalisation obviously impossible. It is only by handling specimens that the true feeling of Worcester may become instinct in a collector.

SALE PRICES.

WORCESTER. £ s. d.

Dish, circular, the centre painted with
butterflies, the border with exotic
birds in panels, and butterflies in
medallions in borders of dark blue
and gold, 10 in. diameter. Christie,
February 4, 1902 54 12 0

Cups and saucers, pair two-handled, with
exotic birds and insects in medallions,
in gilt foliage borders on dark
blue scale ground. Christie, February
4, 1902 90 6 0

Bowl, the exterior painted with exotic
birds, flowering trees and insects in
scroll panels, with gilt borders on
dark blue scale-pattern ground, gilt,
with foliage, the interior painted
with birds on white ground; 11 in.
diameter; square mark. Christie,
May 2, 1902 152 5 0

Plates, pair, painted with groups of
flowers and fruit in the centre in
rich crimson scroll-pattern borders
gilt with flowers and foliage, 9 in.
diameter. Christie, June 20, 1902 35 14 0

Cup and saucer, two-handled, painted
with birds and insects in shaped
panels, on pale canary scale-pattern
ground. Christie, July 9, 1902 22 11 6

Dessert dish, centre, scale-blue ground,
painted with exotic birds, foliage and
flowers in white panels of unusual
shape, and surrounded by festoons
of flowers and lattice designs in
chased gold, also painted with
flowers in colours at back. From
the service made for Lady Mary
Wortley Montague. Sotheby, November
11, 1902 101 0 0

Plates, pair, painted with festoons and
sprays of flowers in panels with gilt
scroll borders on dark blue scale-pattern
ground. Christie, November
28, 1902 35 14 0

Teapot and cover, scale-blue ground,
painted in panels of exotic birds,
square mark. Sotheby, May 4, 1903 33 0 0

Dish, large circular, painted with exotic
birds, branches and insects in scroll
panels with gilt borders, 13 in.
diameter, with dark blue scale-pattern
ground. Christie, May 28, 1903 132 16 0

Jug, large, moulded with foliage in low
relief, and bearded mask under the
spout, and painted with exotic birds
and foliage, butterflies and other
insects in colours in two large and
three smaller panels, in gilt scroll
borders on a dark blue scale-pattern
ground, pink flowers in panels on
the neck 11-1/4 in. high. Christie,
May 8, 1903 147 0 0

Jug, oviform, painted with birds and insects
in scroll panels with gilt borders,
7 in. high. Christie, June 10,
1903 79 16 0

Four old small modelled leaf Dishes,
painted with flowers in the Chinese
taste in blue, crescent mark, and
four others. Puttick & Simpson,
May 28, 1920 2 2 0

Old Worcester teapot and cover painted
with wheel pattern and gilt, 5-1/4 in.
high, a saucer dish, a coffee cup and
two saucers similar, all with square
mark, and a saucer marked Flight
and crescent. Puttick & Simpson,
July 16, 1920 9 9 0

Dessert service, by Flight, Barr and
Barr, painted with named flowers on
white ground, with gilt gadrooned
edges, consisting of a pair of sugar-tureens
and covers, a centre-dish on
foot, ten shaped dishes and twenty-four
plates. Christie, July 5, 1920 42 0 0

Tea service, painted with flowers and
foliage and dark blue panels, in the
Oriental taste, consisting of a teapot,
cover and stand, two cream-jugs,
milk-jug, sugar-basin, two bowls,
twelve coffee-cups, nineteen tea-cups,
thirty-two saucers, two
egg-cups, four circular dishes and
eighteen plates. Christie, July 5,
1920 57 15 0

Tea Service, painted with flowers in
colours, in the Oriental taste, and
dark blue bands, consisting of a teapot,
cover and stand, sugar-basin
and cover, cream-jug and cover,
canister, bowl, two dishes, eight tea-cups,
six coffee-cups, and nine
saucers. Christie, July 5, 1920 71 8 0

Plate, Powder-blue, Dr. Wall period,
octagonal 9 in., with reserve panels
in white with landscape and flowers.
Having mark of crossed swords, together
with imitation Chinese mark.
Sotheby, May 17, 1920 15 10 0

Set of covered Vases and two Beakers,
Dr. Wall period, decorated with vermilion,
green, and gilt; in Chinese
style with flowers and fabulous bird.
Shoulders of vase and rims of covers
and beakers, fine turquoise ground
vase, 10-1/2 in., beakers 6-3/4 in.
Sotheby, June 11, 1920 35 0 0

Pair of Plates, Flight, Barr and Barr.
Views of Barking Abbey and Melrose
Abbey. Scroll borders of mazarin,
blue, heavily gilt. Sotheby, June
11, 1920 4 4 0

Vase, painted with birds in heart-shaped
panels with gilt scroll borders on
mottled dark blue ground, 9-3/4 in.
high. Christie, July 20, 1920 204 15 0

Teapot and cover, painted with wheel
pattern, 5-1/2 in. high, and two bowls,
similar, 4-1/2 in. diameter, square
mark. Puttick & Simpson, July 16,
1920 7 17 6

Teacup, coffee-cup and saucer, of the
same service, a cream-jug, a saucer
dish, square marks, and a chamber
candlestick, crescent mark 7 17 6

Pair of old square dishes, painted with
groups of flowers in dark blue borders
gilt with scrolls, 8-1/4 in. square.
Christie, July 5, 1920 25 4 0

Three Mugs, transfer-printed, with portraits
of the King of Prussia and
military trophies, by R. Hancock,
1757, 4-1/2 in. and 3-1/2 in. high. Christie,
July 5, 1920 17 17 0

Cylindrical Mug, transfer-printed, with
a portrait of Shakespeare and Muses,
4-3/4 in. high; and a smaller ditto,
with a portrait and figure of Fame.
Christie, July 5, 1920 16 16 0

Milk Jug and Cover, and a coffee-cup
and saucer decorated with panels in
pale blue, painted with fruit, with
royal blue and gilt rims. W mark.
Sotheby, May 17, 1920 26 0 0

Plate, Powder-blue, Dr. Wall period,
saucer-shaped, of Chinese form, decorated
with exotic birds and insects,
7-1/4 in., square mark. Sotheby, May
17, 1920 13 0 0

Teapot, fluted, with cover, painted with
garlands of flowers, and with marbled
turquoise and dark blue borders and
gilt, crescent mark, 5 in. high.
Puttick & Simpson, July 16, 1920 16 10 0

V

PLYMOUTH AND BRISTOL CHINA

_At Victoria and Albert Museum._]

V

PLYMOUTH

The name of Plymouth stands high in the records of English china factories. Its porcelain was the first hard porcelain produced in this country. Other English chinas melted when placed inside the pieces in the Plymouth kilns.

Not so well known as Josiah Wedgwood, of the Staffordshire potteries, William Cookworthy, of Plymouth, Quaker, chemist, porcelain maker, is worthy of a niche in the gallery of dead princes of ceramic art, and his is a name that will never be forgotten by those who know the history behind the old Plymouth vases and mugs and statues.

It is true the enterprise was a failure. It only ran fourteen years, and was, in 1774, transferred to Bristol. It is true that Lord Camelford, one of his partners, laments the three thousand pounds expended on it. But it is more than true that the results of William Cookworthy’s efforts were no failure.

The brief life history of the Quaker dreamer (we know he must have been a dreamer, for he translated some of Swedenborg’s works into English) is remarkable. At the age of fourteen, the eldest of a family of six fatherless children, he tramped from Plymouth up to London and commenced his apprenticeship to a chemist. His mother battled on, eking out her slender means by dressmaking. Later on, when William Cookworthy came home, his mother lived under his roof and became a leading favourite with the great people he knew. The poor Devon lad who wearily tramped to London over down and dale, dreaming golden dreams, came home to entertain Dr. Wolcot, the famous “Peter Pindar” of vitriolic pen, Sir Joseph Banks, Captain Cook, and the fighting Earl St. Vincent, who remarked, “whoever was in Mr. Cookworthy’s company was the wiser and better for having been in it”; while Smeaton, the builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse, was an inmate of his house during the erection of the lighthouse.

In an early letter of Cookworthy’s we find him speaking of a certain unnamed, strange individual who came to him with some china earth. “’Twas found in the back of Virginia, where he was in quest of mines; and having read Duhalde, discovered both the petuntse and kaolin. ’Tis the latter earth he says, is the essential thing towards the success of the manufacture. He is gone for a cargo of it, having bought the whole country of the Indians where it rises.” We hear no more of this mysterious individual; but we do hear of extensive and painstaking researches by Cookworthy, till at length he is rewarded by discovering the very earth he wanted, in Cornwall, on the estate of Lord Camelford.

He established himself at Coxside, at the extreme angle which juts into the water at Sutton Pool. The buildings subsequently became a shipwright’s yard, and even then bore the name China House. We wonder, do they exist now?

The early examples of Plymouth are clumsy, sometimes very coarse and rough. Experience was wanting in firing. Most of the pieces were disfigured by fire-cracks. Of those decorated in blue the colour had run into the glazing. But Cookworthy did one thing—he was the first to produce cobalt blue direct from the ore.

The white ware of Plymouth, in which is introduced as ornament shells and seaweed and coral, is very artistic, and is one of the features of Plymouth, although none of this ware is marked. They mostly consist of salt-cellars, pickle-cups, and what would now be used to put roses in. The salt-cellar we illustrate is one of a pair in the Bethnal Green Museum; it has a plain, white body and cloudy glaze, and is unmarked. Similar shapes are believed to have been made at Bow. We reproduce a dainty piece, a shell dish of beautiful design, and ask—was Cookworthy a failure?

During the latter part of the fourteen years that Plymouth produced her china, Cookworthy, then nearing his seventieth year, thought to emulate Sèvres and Dresden, and employed several artists for decoration. He engaged the services of a French artist named Soqui from Sèvres, and he and Henry Bone, of Plymouth—one of his own apprentices—produced some finely-painted birds and flowers.

The mark of the Plymouth china is blue on the early clumsy pieces, and later was neatly drawn in red, sometimes blue. It is the chemical symbol for tin, being doubtless adopted by Cookworthy to denote that his materials came from the tin district. It is like the figure four, with a little curved loop at the beginning.

_In the Fry Collection at Bristol._]

We reproduce a fine specimen of a splendid vase, hexagonal shape, sixteen inches high, in the possession of the Fry family at Bristol. It is richly decorated with festoons of finely modelled raised flowers, with painted butterflies and borders. This was the forerunner of the exquisite Bristol vase made by the firm which bought Cookworthy’s life secrets.

Devon and Plymouth suggest Elizabethan days and one man’s name flashes uppermost, but—

“Drake he’s in his hammock, but a thousand mile away
(Capten, art tha sleepin’ there below?),
Slung atween the round shot in Nombre Dios Bay,
An’ dreamin’ arl the time o’ Plymouth Hoe.”

But there are heroes of peace and the arts of peace and that art of all arts, the art of self-effacement and William Cookworthy is one.

Under-glaze Mandarin Decoration in Blue.]

BRISTOL.

For several centuries earthenware was made at Bristol, and a very fair quality of blue delft was produced there, but it is not of the old potteries of Bristol that we shall speak, but of the manufacture which was transplanted from Plymouth to Bristol. We have related the struggles of William Cookworthy to establish Plymouth porcelain. The strenuous efforts to perfect the china were carried on by Richard Champion, of Bristol, merchant, who bought Cookworthy’s patent, and established the manufactory of hard porcelain at Bristol. Champion had, it appears, been associated with Cookworthy as partner when the works were at Plymouth.

In 1775, when Champion presented a petition to the House of Commons to be granted the patent right for a further period of fourteen years to himself, he was vigorously opposed by Josiah Wedgwood, who represented that by granting a patent to Champion, it would be detrimental to trade and injurious to the public, urging, among other grounds, that “the use of the natural productions of the soil ought to be the right of all.” Wedgwood presented a memorial to Parliament, and a fierce controversy ensued. “Much might be said on both sides,” as Sir Roger De Coverley observes, and much _was_ said on both sides.

At first blush it seems hard that Cookworthy and Champion, who found the earth and worked hard at developing the manufactory in the West, should have no protection given to their secret. But Wedgwood, who speaks with authority, urged that when he invented his Queen’s Ware he did not apply for a patent, which would have limited its public utility. “Instead of one hundred manufactories of Queen’s Ware, there would have been one; and instead of an exportation to all quarters of the world, a few pretty things would have been made for the amusement of the people of fashion in England.”

Without going further into the details of a controversy which trenches upon questions of political economy two facts stand out, and the reader can judge of them as he will. The patent was granted by Parliament to Richard Champion, who was subsequently ruined, and left England to die in South Carolina; and secondly, hard paste was made at Plymouth and Bristol (never before or since in England), while the manufacture of the less difficult soft-paste porcelain and of pottery was carried on by the Staffordshire factories and Wedgwood.

_At the Victoria and Albert Museum._]

During the struggle between Wedgwood and Champion one curious incident occurred. When the Bill was before the House of Lords for discussion, one of Champion’s witnesses left London for Bristol without permission. As it was necessary to bring him back at once, as the end of the session was at hand, he was recalled by an “express,” which travelled the 240 miles to Bristol in twenty-seven hours!

In 1775 was passed (15 George III., cap 52) “an Act for enlarging the term of Letters Patent granted by his present Majesty to William Cookworthy, of Plymouth, Chymist, for the sole use and exercise of a discovery of certain materials for making Porcelain, in order to enable Richard Champion, of Bristol, merchant (to whom the said Letters Patent have been assigned), to carry the said discovery into effectual execution for the benefit of the public.”

So we shortly find the Bristol factory in full swing. The stock of Plymouth, and the tried workmen, were transferred to Bristol. First of all, attention was paid to common blue and white ware as likely to demand a ready sale, and to be profitable. As in the case of Worcester and other factories, Champion took Oriental models, and some of his ware is confounded with other makers who used the same models. The blue was of good colour, and dinner, tea, and coffee services, as well as jugs and mugs, were turned out, sometimes marked with the Bristol cross, but oftentimes without any distinguishing mark at all, to the confoundment of the latter-day collectors.

Bristol was very successful in imitating the commoner forms of Chinese ware. We reproduce a teapot and cup and saucer. It will be observed that the cup follows the original model, and has no handle.

The usual mark of Bristol was a plain cross, sometimes in blue, sometimes in red, and often in neutral tint, or slatey-grey. The crossed swords of Dresden, accompanied by the Bristol cross and the figures 10, appear on one specimen.

Some of the following marks which we give have been assigned to Bristol. Figures sometimes occur as well as the cross; these are believed to denote the painters engaged on the piece, and are often marked in red. On one known Bristol piece, a date occurs. But to collectors of Bristol porcelain there is one test which also applies in more marked degree to the Plymouth ware; this is the series of spiral ridges which may often be observed on the surface of the ware when held in reflected light.

We have alluded to the somewhat heated controversy between Josiah Wedgwood and Richard Champion, who had transferred the plant from Plymouth and had applied for an extension of Cookworthy’s patent to himself. Josiah Wedgwood, we think somewhat unfairly, alleged that both Plymouth and Bristol factories were still in an experimental stage; he belittles their art, which “neither the ingenious discoverer nor the purchaser, for want, perhaps, of skill and experience in this particular business, have been able, during the space of seven years already elapsed, to bring to any useful degree of perfection.”

This is not the place to enter into the merits of a dead conflict between Staffordshire and Bristol. That Bristol was not merely an experimental factory is more than proved by the specimens which have come down to us, specimens, be it said, that are more eagerly sought after than many of Wedgwood’s productions, since they are of hard porcelain which Staffordshire never made, and which hard paste has never again been made in England, either before or since.

One of the choicest examples of the highest art of Bristol is preserved in the national collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It is stated to have been “the best that the manufactory could produce.” It was made in 1774-5, within a few months of the establishment of the works at Bristol. This example is interesting too, as being one of the few examples of the Bristol works, of which the exact date can be ascertained.

In the year 1774 Edmund Burke was nominated for Bristol, the capital and richest city of the west. A fierce election contest followed, in which Burke was returned as one of the members. During this election he was the guest of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of Bristol, and it was then that Burke ordered a splendid set of china from Champion. We reproduce the cup and saucer of this service. It is profusedly and massively gilt in dead and burnished gold, the wreaths of laurel being in green, which was Burke’s electioneering colour.

_From service ordered by Edmund Burke._]

Each piece, as will be seen, bears the monogram of Mrs. Smith, “S. S.” interlaced, formed of wreaths of roses in pink and gold, and also the arms of the family. This service is marked with the usual Bristol cross.

It is obviously absurd to have asserted that such china was merely experimental. The collector of to-day has more than hall-marked Bristol porcelain. Recently, at Christie’s Auction Rooms, £168 was paid for two small cups and a tea tray, and, alas! Cookworthy and Champion died unsuccessful men. If they are recognised to-day as martyrs to the ceramic art, their own generation were somewhat stiff-necked to their genius and enterprise.

_In the Fry Collection._]

The vase which we reproduce shows to what perfection the manufacturers had reached. Among the decorators of Bristol was Henry Bone, afterwards an R.A., and miniature enameller to the Royal Family. Bone was apprenticed to Champion for seven years, dating from January, 1772.

This vase, in the possession of the Fry family of Bristol, is of hexagonal shape and is 12-1/4 inches in height. The landscapes are excellently painted, and it has well-modelled female busts on two of its sides, from which hang festoons of raised flowers in white. This vase and the other splendid and almost priceless vases in the possession of the same family are not marked. It appears that although only Champion’s name appears on the documents in connection with the Bristol factory, he had partners who assisted him financially, one of whom was Joseph Fry, whose only return, when the factory was discontinued, for the money he had sunk into the concern, was the set of vases now in the hands of his descendants.

We now come to the last act of Bristol. Wedgwood writes to Bentley in a letter, dated August 24, 1778, concerning Champion’s failure: “Poor Champion, you may have heard, is quite demolished; it was never likely to be otherwise, as he had neither professional knowledge, sufficient capital, nor scarcely any real acquaintance with the materials he was working upon. I suppose we might buy some _Growan Stone_ and _Growan Clay_ now upon easy terms, for they have prepared a large quantity this last year.”