Chapter IX (2)

The period at which the introduction of tobacco into England took place is a vexed question, which it is not necessary here to attempt to solve. To Sir Walter Raleigh, Mr. Ralph Lane (his governor of Virginia, who returned to England in 1586), Sir John Hawkins (1565), Captain Price, Captain Keat, and others, have respectively been assigned the honour of its introduction and of its first use in this country. But, at whatever period tobacco was introduced, it must not, I think, be taken for granted that to that period the commencement of the habit of smoking must be ascribed. It may reasonably be inferred, from various circumstances, that herbs and leaves of one kind or other were smoked medicinally, in this country, long before the period at which tobacco is generally believed to have been first brought to England. Coltsfoot, yarrow, mouse-ear, and other plants are still smoked by the people, for various ailments, in rural districts, and are considered highly efficacious, as well as pleasant; and I have known them smoked through a stick from which the pith had been removed, the bowl being formed of a lump of clay rudely fashioned at the time, and baked at the fireside. I have no doubt that pipes were in use before “the weed” was known in our country, and that it took the place of other plants, but did not give rise to the custom of smoking.

It is difficult to assign dates to these early pipes, but the one represented in Fig. 645 is probably Elizabethan. It bears on its spur a rose. Mr. Crofton Croker considered that the smaller the pipe, the more distant its date, and therefore he assigned the diminutive example shown on Fig. 648, of its full size, to an early period. This idea, which originated in the knowledge that tobacco was an extremely expensive luxury when first imported, and as it gradually decreased in value allowed a larger indulgence to the smoker, will not, I think, hold good, for dated examples show that some of the later specimens are far less capacious than others which are of an undoubtedly earlier period. The _form_ of the pipe is generally a better criterion of age than its size, though even this cannot always be depended upon. Adopting Mr. Croker’s arrangement as to periods, the following series of examples, partly selected from pipes in my own possession, will be useful to the collector, and enable him pretty accurately to appropriate any specimens which may come under his notice. The engravings are, of course, of a reduced size. Fig. 649 is of similar form to the one above; it is probably Elizabethan.

The next example Mr. Croker assigned to the period of James I. or Charles I. It does not differ very materially in shape from the preceding specimens. Of pipes of this period, a large variety of shapes might be adduced. These forms may be understood from the figures in the accompanying group, copied from engravings of the period. The dates are, No. 1, 1630; 2, 1632; 3, 1640; 4, 1641. The latter example is of the same shape as those known to have been in use in the reign of Elizabeth, and is pretty nearly similar to Mr. Croker’s example. The same form is found in use through several reigns. The usual shape of the period, however, will be seen on Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

The barrel-shaped pipe, engraved as an example of the period comprising the Commonwealth and the reign of Charles II., is from Devonshire, and may be taken as the usual type of that era. Of this period, the examples given are chosen principally from Traders’ tokens. One (2) will be seen to be of the form usually ascribed to William III.’s reign. The dates of these specimens are 1, 1650; 2, 1666 (Dunstable); 3, 1688 (Chipping Norton); 4, probably same year (Southwark); 5, 1669 (Leeds). Pipes were made at Leeds from a peculiar vein of clay found there.

Mr. Croker considered the pipes of the reign of William III. to have had bowls of the elongated form (Figs. 662 and 663), and it would appear probable that this is correct, for at the places where his Dutch troops were stationed, the pipes of this and the accompanying form are most abundant. Barrel-shaped bowls were, however, still in use, and I have copied one from Mr. Fairholt’s book, on which the date 1689 is incised. That these long pipes were not imported in very large quantities, may be gleaned from the following highly interesting notice, which I quote from Houghton:--

“The next are _tobacco-pipes_, of which came from _Holland_,
gross one hundred and ten, chests four. I have seen some very
long ones and also small from thence, that truly are very fine.
If there comes no more, they’ll do us no great hurt. I think
they must be permitted to be patterns to set our people on work,
and if our smoakers would use none but fine ones, I question not
but we should make as fine as anybody.”[86]

From this it appears that, in 1694, only 110 gross, or four chests, of Dutch pipes were imported, and this included both sorts--the “very long ones and also small.” It is worthy of note, for comparison’s sake, that in the same year from Holland 12,000, and from Germany 23 tons, of “marbles for boys to play with,” were imported.

The long-bowled pipes continued in use to the middle of last century, and representations of them may be found on engravings of the period, thus showing that they gradually merged from the bulbous into the elongated form of the time of William III., and so passed on to the wide-mouthed shape of the present day. The heel or spur also changed from the flat form--made to rest the pipe upon during or after use--to the long pointed one now so common, and which took its rise probably from the Dutch. It must be remembered, however, that the Dutch were originally indebted to England for the introduction of pipe-making into that country.

Usually the old pipes were perfectly plain, with the general exception of a milled border, impressed by hand, not in the mould, running round the mouth. It is also worthy of remark, that the bowls of many of the older pipes are _scraped_ into form after having been moulded. Sometimes ornamented examples are met with, but they are of extremely rare occurrence. Mr. Croker had one which he considered to have been of foreign make, but which I think there is little doubt is of English manufacture: and the one in my own possession (Fig. 646) presents some very interesting features; in form it closely resembles one of the examples of James I. and Charles I., and I have no doubt, from the form of the letters, that I am right in appropriating it to that period.

It is not very easy to localise pipes, for but little is known of places where they were made, and the manufacture was of course of so small an extent that it is difficult to trace it. In November, 1601, _Mr. Secretary Cecil_ alludes, in a speech, to a then existing patent of monopoly enjoyed by tobacco-pipe makers; and in 1619 the craft of pipemakers were incorporated, their privileges, according to Stowe, extending through the cities of London and Westminster, the kingdom of England, and dominion of Wales. They were governed by a master, four wardens, and about twenty-four assistants. These privileges were confirmed by subsequent monarchs. At Derby several generations of pipemakers have uninterruptedly carried on business, and it was in one of these ovens that the first pieces of Derby china were fired. The pipes made at Winchester were, in Ben Jonson’s time, great favourites; they were said to be the best then made, and far superior to those of Vauxhall and other places. In the neighbourhood of Bath, pipes were apparently made in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the makers’ names being Thomas Hunt, Henry Putley, Rich. Greenland, Rich. Tyler, and Jeffry Hunt; and some of the examples bear a shield with a branch of the tobacco-plant. At Lichfield they were made to a large extent, as also at Newcastle-under-Lyme, and indeed they were produced in most parts of the country.

From the smallness of size of these early pipes has, I presume, arisen their common name of “Fairy Pipes,” varied sometimes into “Elfin Pipes,” “Mab Pipes,” “Danes Pipes,” etc. They are also sometimes called “Celtic” and “Old Man’s Pipes,” and I have heard them designated by the characteristic name of “Carls Pipes,” a name indicative of a belief in their ancient origin.[87] In Ireland, they are believed to have belonged to the _Cluricanes_, a kind of wild, mischievous fairy-demon, and when found are at once broken up by the superstitious “pisantry.” In England, they are said to have belonged to the fairies or “old men,” but, unlike their Irish brethren, our peasantry usually preserve them, and in some districts believe that a certain amount of good luck attends their possession. I have known one of these pipes carried about the person for years, and have heard its owner--a Peak-man--declare in his native dialect, on being asked to part with it, “Nay, a’d part wi’ a towth sowner!” A quantity of these “fairy pipes” were found in the parish of Old Swinford, Worcestershire, some few years ago, “and the country folks there had a tradition that it was a favourite spot for the resort of Queen Mab and her court, and that among other appendages of royalty was a fairy-pipe manufactory, of which these were the remains.”

Broseley has been so long famous for its tobacco-pipes, that a “Broseley” is a term familiar to smokers all over the world. That this locality should have been chosen as the place _par excellence_ for their manufacture, is to be accounted for by the excellent clay of the district.

The white pottery found at Wroxeter is made of clay from the Severn Valley, and this shows that the Broseley or other clays were worked at a very early period of our history. The Shirlot clay, of which a few pipes were made at Shirlot and Much-Wenlock, is of a coarse texture, and very inferior to the Devon pipeclay, of which most are now made. This might lead us to suppose that the earliest manufacturers of pipes _at first used the clay found in the neighbourhood_, but discarded it for the purer clays which they obtained from Devonshire; but I feel assured the Shirlot and Wenlock pipes are not of very ancient date. In the late Mr. Thursfield’s collection were many with marks on the spur. Some of these marks exhibit the maker’s name in full, some abbreviated, others initials only, and one has a gauntlet on the bowl, with S. D. (probably the initials of Samuel Decon, who was alive in 1729) on the spur; three bowls alone only bear dates, viz., Richard Legg, 1687; John Legg, 1687; and John Legg, 1696. These three are engraved on page 293. “I have carefully examined the Broseley parish register,” Mr. Thursfield informed me, “which dates back as early as 1572, and find in 1575, 17th Elizabeth (ten years before Sir Walter Raleigh introduced tobacco), that Richard Legg had a daughter baptized. I therefore consider him to be the father of Broseley pipemakers, for even at the present day some of his descendants follow the trade in this place--from various causes no longer as masters--and still bear the family names of Richard and John Legg. A stone slab let into the front of a substantial cottage, with the words ‘Richard Legg built this, 1716,’ testifies to the well-to-do position held by the family in the early part of the eighteenth century.” The name of Ben Legg also occurs on a pipe found in Worcestershire. The names of the pipemakers at Broseley, judging from the examples I have seen, appear to commence first as follows:--Clarke in 1647, Roden in 1681, Legg 1575, Darbey 1700, Decon 1608, Evans 1615, Hughes 1641, Hartshorne 1620, James 1600, Jones 1590, Price 1608, Partridge 1718, Overton 1700, Smith 1709, Shaw 1630, Wilksone 1733, and Ward 1700. Other names (Brown, Bradley, Dry, Hart, Harper, Overley, and Roberts, for instance) occur as pipemakers here in the olden time.

More than a hundred years ago, the pipemakers began to stamp their names and residences on the _stems_ of the pipes instead of the spurs, the stems being, in many instances, 16 or 18 inches or more in length. They likewise made a small twist or bead mid stem, at such a length from the bowl, that when held between the fingers at that spot, the pipe was balanced.

A pipe-maker, named Noah Roden, brought the long pipes to great perfection, and supplied most of the London clubs and coffee-houses of that day; he died about 1829, and his business was carried on by the late William Southorn, who made great strides in improving the manufacture, and whose eldest son is now carrying on the famed business of maker of the patent and genuine “Real Broseleys.”

About the middle of last century, and since, the Rodens were famous makers of pipes at Broseley, and to them is due the introduction of “churchwardens” and “London straws,” and they were succeeded in the early part of this century by Mr. Southorn, father of the present well-known maker, Mr. Edwin Southorn. The works at present carried on by Mr. Edwin Southorn were established about 1830 by Noah Roden. In 1856 they passed into the hands of Mr. Southorn, and from that time forward their progress has been of marked improvement in every branch of the manufacture. In 1860 Mr. Southorn introduced the process of transfer printing upon pipes, the same as practised in other branches of ceramics. By this means the crests or armorial bearings, names, mottoes, or monograms of his patrons, trade marks or initials of firms, and signs and names of hotels and inns are produced, as are also other devices in colours. In 1868 Mr. Southorn introduced steam-power into his manufactory, and has rendered it available to all parts of his works; he is thus enabled to produce an enormous quantity, counting at the present time about 10,500 gross or 1,500,000 pipes in the course of a year. The “Broseleys” thus, not only in quantity but in quality--for they are the finest produced both in form, in quality of clay, in beauty of surface, and in manipulation of any made--surpass all others. In 1851, Mr. Southorn received honourable mention as “superior tobacco-pipes” at the Exhibition in that year. Mr. Southorn has also introduced the plan of dipping, or “tipping,” his pipes at the mouth-piece with green or any other coloured glaze, which is one of the most marked improvements of modern days.

The variety of pipes produced at these works is somewhat remarkable. Among these are “large bowls,” 21 inches long; “long plain,” 22 inches long; “long Broseley straws,” or “aldermen,” 27 inches long, “fit for an alderman or a king;” “long straws,” or “churchwardens,” 25 inches long, which Dr. Richardson, at the Bath meeting of the British Association, says are unquestionably the best of pipes; “London straws,” 16 inches; “Raleigh straws,” “Lord Crewes,” 27 inches long; “long Dutch straws,” 28 inches long; “short Broseley straws,” “short tips,” “plain tips,” “S. D. straws,” “dhudeens,” “peg-top straws,” “ovarium straws,” “billiard,” “cutty,” “yachting,” “Broseley meerschaums,” and a score of other kinds. One of the specialities, however, of Mr. Southorn’s productions is his “patent Broseley Narghilé.” In this “the pipe, which is formed of clay noted for its fineness and remarkably porous qualities, is enclosed for a portion of its length in a glass tube, which is filled with water; and the action of the water is to draw away the colouring matter and narcotic poison from the smoke before reaching the smoker’s mouth. The proof of this is in the gradual colouring of the water; which may be readily discharged and the tube refilled. A further effect is coolness of the extremity. The glass tubes are supplied from the Broseley pipe works in every variety of style, and we have never seen so much fine art taste combined with utility as in these, some of them vieing with the ancient Venetian glass in the combination of opaque and clear, &c. It is to be understood that by the ‘Narghilé’ is meant the attachment, or tube containing water, which is removable at the pleasure of the holder; a title that serves to recall the luxurious and costly water-pipes of Turkey, to which, in all their best qualities, this patent completely answers. The ‘patent’ Broseley pipe is manufactured specially for the Narghilé, and is the only clay pipe for which it is adapted. It is evident that a clay, either more or less porous than are these tobacco-pipes, would be equally unsuitable; and what is very remarkable, and shows the perfection to which the manufacture has been carried, these pipes are uniform in porousness, in part due to their being manufactured of the very finest and purest clay.”

Many of the forms adopted by Mr. Southorn are adaptations of mediæval examples, and others are of the most artistic and elegant outline. The mark used by him is usually the name “E. SOUTHORN, BROSELEY,” impressed on the stem. Sometimes his name with the royal arms appears printed on the bowl.

The other pipemakers at Broseley at the present day are Mr. William Southorn, of the late firm of William Southorn and Co.; and Richard Tomkis; but of these it is not necessary to speak.

COALBROOKDALE.

The terra cotta works belonging to the world-famed “Coalbrookdale Iron Company” were established in 1861. The beds of clay belonging to this company being peculiarly adapted for the finest and best kinds of terra cotta, they, in conjunction with others in the neighbourhood, undertook to prepare and send, for the Exhibition of 1862, examples of goods made from the various clays of the Shropshire coal fields. The result of this determination was the establishment of this branch of the company’s manufacture, and, so far as it has been carried out, it has proved eminently successful. The colour of the terra cotta is a peculiarly light buff of a pleasing and soft tint; and the quality is of the highest order both for firmness, fineness, hardness, and durability. In it the company produce vases, tazzas, pedestals, brackets, pendants, flower-pots and boxes, chimney-pots, and every variety of architectural decoration. With their well-known skill in design, and with the talented artists they employ for their metal work, it may well be supposed that this company would produce striking and beautiful patterns in their vases and other ornamental goods; and such is the case. There is a peculiar sharpness and beauty in the details of many that is far superior to that produced by some other firms. Some of the designs will be seen in the accompanying engravings.

At Lightmoor, in the same neighbourhood, the Coalbrookdale Company have extensive works for the manufacture of moulded and other bricks in white, blue, and red clays; ornamental and plain roofing tiles, many of which are of very effective shapes; garden edgings and ridge tiles of every style of design, from a simple bead to an elaborate Tudor ornament; paving tiles, &c. Nothing could better show the variety, the importance, and the high quality of the clays of this locality than do these varieties. The colour of the red quarries is rich, and improves with washing and wear, while their hardness is beyond any others. The roof tiles of this company are very extensively used (for instance, the Charterhouse Schools, near Godalming, are covered with them), and they have the reputation of being among the hardest and best produced.

MADELEY.

A small manufactory of china was established and carried on for about a quarter of a century at Madeley, by Mr. Martin Randall, who served his apprenticeship at the Coalport works; his elder brothers, Edward and William Randall, having been apprenticed at Caughley. From Coalport Martin Randall went to the Derby China Works, where he remained for some time, and became the friend of two of their famed painters, Phillip Cleve and William Pegg. From Derby he removed to London, and entered into business with a Mr. Robins, at Islington. Upon a dissolution of partnership he came down to Madeley, and fixed himself in Park Place, where for a few years he confined himself to re-decorating Sèvres china, which was procured by agents; chiefly of Baldock and Garman, in Paris. White china was obtained where feasible; but when that could not be had, dessert, tea, and breakfast services, vases, wine coolers, jardinières, and other articles, ornamented simply with blue and gold lines, dots, or sprigs of flowers, were purchased; the latter of which were removed by fluoric acid, the glaze being so blended with the body that it gave back a new surface on being passed through the enamelling kiln. The gold was so thick on the pieces that it was usually peeled off with a knife, and was then sent to London to be again reduced by acid. At first Randall used a box kiln, with charcoal; but afterwards erected an enamelling kiln, which he heated with billets of wood.

Mr. Randall soon afterwards removed from Park Lane to a larger house at the bottom of Madeley, where he erected enamelling kilns, and also a kiln which served for biscuit and glaze. His potters were Thomas Wheeler, who was thrower and turner; Francis Brewer, modeller; William Roberts, presser; and David Morris, fire-man. Mr. John Randall, nephew of Mr. T. M. Randall, was an apprentice to the painting, and Mr. Francis Brewer, now of the Tamworth Potteries, was an apprentice to the modelling. Mr. Randall took the decorating department, but he also employed as figure painter Mr. Philip Ballard, a son of Mr. S. Ballard, solicitor, Worcester, and brother to Mr. T. Ballard, R.A. Mr. R. B. Gray, artist, now of Dorking, and father of Mr. George Gray, A.R.A., and his son Robert were flower painters; and the late Mr. Enos Raby was ground-layer, colour-maker, and gilder. Mr. Randall’s want of experience in the processes of making led to frequent errors and losses, the latter being the greater from his constant desire to produce a body which should equal Nantgarrw and Sèvres. “Too much beer” on the part of a fire-man sometimes brought down the entire kiln of ware, so that the saggers disappeared below the trial-hole, and the pieces bulged like wax, till they became fast to each other, and assumed the most fantastic forms. Too much flint in the clay, at another time, produced a chalky absorbent body, that drank up so much glaze that when fired it would fly off in the form of small daggers whilst cooling, and continue to do so for weeks. Mr. Randall, however, kept his temper like a philosopher; and at length succeeded in producing the nearest approach to the old Sèvres of any at that time made in this kingdom. It had all the mellow transparency and richness, and the same capability of receiving the colours into the glaze, of that famous ware, and had this to such an extent that the most experienced connoisseurs found it impossible to distinguish between them, excepting by the mark, which no bribe would induce him to imitate; being a strict quaker, he had a conscientious objection to doing so. From Madeley, Mr. Randall removed his business to Shelton; and here it was that the late Mr. Herbert Minton was so struck with the beauty of his productions that he made overtures to him to join his firm, which, however, he did not do; and he soon afterwards retired from business, and went to live at Barlaston, near Trentham, where he died, and was buried in a spot he had chosen for himself. Mr. Randall, who was uncle to Mr. John Randall, F.G.S., one of the celebrated painters of the Coalport works, used no mark.

JACKFIELD.

The Jackfield Pottery was one of the oldest in Shropshire, and is believed to have been worked for centuries. The potters had, at different times, probably from being expert hands, migrated into Staffordshire; and I am informed that, as early as 1560, several entries occur in the parish registers of Stoke-upon-Trent of people (potters, of course) as “_from Jackfield_.” A few years ago a coal-pit at Jackfield, which was known not to have been entered for nearly two centuries, was opened, and in it was found a small mug of brown earthenware, bearing the date 1634. The works were, probably not long after this period, carried on by a person of the name of Glover, who used the old salt glaze for his ware. He was succeeded by Mr. John Thursfield, son of Mr. John Thursfield of Stoke-upon-Trent, about the year 1713. This John Thursfield had married a daughter of Captain Webb, who had been in the wars under Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and had, while in the Low Countries, married a Dutch lady. In 1729 John Thursfield married a lady named Eleanor Morris, of Ferney Bank, who is curiously described in the Broseley register as a “sojoinner.” He died in 1751, leaving two sons--John, who built the works at Benthall; and Morris, who succeeded his father at Jackfield. The kind of ware made at Jackfield was a white stoneware, very similar to the Staffordshire make, and on some examples flowers and other ornaments were incised and coloured, that is, the outlines were cut in while the clay was soft, and the flowers and other ornaments touched afterwards with colour. Tiles of the kind usually known as “Dutch tiles” were also made. In 1763 Mr. Simpson carried on the pottery at Jackfield, and made yellow ware, and a ware the body of which was pipeclay and glazed with salt. This he sent down the Severn to the Bristol Channel for export to America--a trade which the American war of independence put an end to. Maurice Thursfield made at Jackfield a very superior black ware, highly vitrified and glazed; indeed, so highly glazed was it that it had all the outward appearance of glass. The forms, and the potting of these articles, locally known as “black decanters,” were remarkably good, and on some specimens which I have seen ornaments have been judiciously introduced. On one, in the possession of the late Richard Thursfield, Esq., of Broseley, a head and wreath are executed in gold and colour; and on others, paintings in oils, both portraits and views, and raised ornaments, are introduced. Some good examples are preserved in the Museum of Practical Geology. Maurice Thursfield died in America, where he had, it appears, considerable business connections.

In these works Mr. Rose, in conjunction with a Mr. Blakeway, soon after the death of Maurice Thursfield, began making china. The works were not, however, carried on long, but were removed to Coalport, on the opposite side of the Severn, where they were begun in some buildings which had formerly been a pottery (I believe belonging to a Mr. Young, a mercer of Shrewsbury), and where they have continued uninterruptedly to the present day.

In the early part of this century a pottery--spoken of in 1836 as the “new pottery”--was established here by Mr. John Myatt, for brown and yellow stone-wares. Here, too, at the same time, near the Calcuts, extensive brick and tile-works were then and still are carried on.

* * * * *

JACKFIELD ENCAUSTIC TILES.--Many years ago Mr. Peter Stephan (still at this date a modeller at Coalport), son of Stephan the potter, who was a Frenchman, and at one time at Derby and afterwards of Jackfield, where he had a small pottery, produced some strikingly good arabesque patterns in blue printing. His mark was an anchor with cable, impressed in the body of the ware; and also the crest of an anchor on an heraldic roll, with his name above (see Figs. 683 and 684), and printed in blue on the bottom of the ware. His pieces are of rare occurrence. He also made encaustic tiles. These were the first made in this district.

* * * * *

_The Jackfield Works._--The site of the present works carried on by Craven, Dunnill, & Co., for the manufacture of Encaustic and Geometrical tiles, is that of the above old pottery in Jackfield, in which Hargreaves and Craven for several years made geometrical tiles by the clay-dust process, and encaustic tiles from plastic clay; but the buildings being old and dilapidated, Mr. H. P. Dunnill formed a limited liability company, consisting of seven shareholders, for rebuilding and carrying on the concern. The old buildings were taken down, a considerable extent of land added to the premises, and on this land the present handsome new works were erected. They now cover an extent of nearly two acres of ground, and are fitted with machinery and arrangements specially adapted to the requirements of the trade, each department succeeding the other in perfect rotation; so that the clay goes into the blunging-house at one point, from thence into the slip-kilns, mill-room, damping-houses, press-shops, encaustic rooms, drying-stove, seggar-house, firing and glaze-kilns, sorting-house, warehouses, packing-room, and finally, having in the various processes gone the circuit of the manufactory, passes into the railway lurries to be conveyed to various parts of the kingdom and abroad. The fine clays of Jackfield and Broseley are largely used in the manufacture, and within the grounds of the works there is a pit in which, from a depth of thirty-five yards, is brought up by steam-power a beautiful red clay, of very fine tone of colour. The firm justly pride themselves on the colour and quality of their plain tiles; and the hardness of their buff tiles--a point much desired by the trade--is very noticeable. The colour and hardness of body of their dove tiles are also very apparent. In encaustic tiles many beautiful designs by Waterhouse, Goldie, Gibbs, Bentley, and other architects are produced. At the instance of one of the firm, Mr. A. H. Brown, M.P. for Wenlock, a noticeable arrangement has been made in the interest of the work-people. Any profit made after ten per cent. paid to the proprietors is equally divided between them and the work-people, and the latter have thus a direct interest to do their work in the best manner, so as to add to the reputation of the firm. Glazed tiles for hearths, of great variety and beauty of pattern, are made here, and also glazed wall tiles in white, cream, celadon, and other tones. The company also produce majolica tiles of the richest class, with an endless variety of printed, painted, and art tiles for decorative purposes. The quality of the tiles is remarkably good; the colours are pure and clear, the body hard and durable, and the glaze firm. Many of the patterns are of extreme beauty and excellence. The marks adopted, impressed on the back of the tiles, are--

HARGREAVES
&
CRAVEN

HARGREAVES CRAVEN
DUNNILL & CO
JACKFIELD
N^R IRONBRIDGE SALOP

CRAVEN DUNNILL & CO
LIMITED
JACKFIELD
N^R IRONBRIDGE SALOP

HARGREAVES
CRAVEN DUNNILL & CO
JACKFIELD

CRAVEN
DUNNILL & CO
JACKFIELD
SALOP

CRAVEN
& CO

* * * * *

BENTHALL WORKS.--The manufactory of encaustic tiles, mosaics, and majolica, which has for the last twenty-two years been carried on by Messrs. Maw, at the Benthall works, near Broseley, was initiated at Worcester (as named in my account of the works of Mr. St. John in that city) in the year 1850, where Messrs. Maw commenced experimenting on the processes of manufacture on the premises formerly occupied by the Worcester Porcelain Manufactory, when under the hands of Messrs. Flight and Barr, and afterwards used for the production of encaustic tiles by my late friend Mr. Fleming St. John and his partners, by whom the moulds, &c., which had been used by them in the manufacture of encaustic tiles were sold to Messrs. Maw. These gentlemen at once saw that a much wider field was open to them in the production of tiles than had previously been attempted at Worcester. In 1852, Messrs. Maw, feeling the necessity for carrying on the manufacture in a neighbourhood which would produce both the coal and the clay, abandoned the works at Worcester, and removed their moulds, plant, &c., to the Benthall works, near Broseley, where another seven years was spent by them in a series of costly experiments with no immediate profit except the experience gained by which they have subsequently built up the business. Their first effort was to thoroughly investigate and experiment upon the clays of the Shropshire coal-field, as well as the plastic materials found throughout the kingdom, many of which no one had before attempted to turn to economic account.

The results of these experiments have been illustrated in an extensive series of specimens of the clays or plastic slates of Great Britain presented by Mr. Geo. Maw, F.S.A., to the Government Museum of Practical Geology, in Jermyn Street, and printed in the supplement to the catalogue by Sir H. De La Beche and Mr. Trenham Reeks. In 1857, after all these years of patient labours, the manufacture was commenced on a commercial scale, which for several years barely paid its expenses; but from that time to the present continual additions have been made to the works to meet the increasing demand for their productions. In 1871 supplementary works were commenced at the Tuckies, about two miles from the Benthall works, celebrated as the spot where the late Lord Dundonald carried on his experiments in the manufacture of coal-gas.

Messrs. Maw have from the first laid themselves out for applying the very highest art and architectural talents to their manufactures, and, in 1856, commissioned Mr. M. D. Wyatt to design a series of patterns of geometrical mosaic, which were issued as a small lithographed volume of fourteen pages. This little book, which first established their reputation as art manufacturers, was subsequently superseded by a much larger volume, published in 1867, including the designs of Digby Wyatt, George Goldie, J. P. Seddon, George E. Street, J. Burgess, and others, as well as the reproduction of all the best obtainable examples of ancient tiles, geometrical, and Roman mosaic, majolica, &c.

In 1851 Messrs. Maw began the manufacture of plain tiles, geometrical mosaic, and the ordinary encaustic tiles of two colours, to which their productions were for several years limited: but since 1857 their progress has been marked by the continual grafting on of specialities, the yearly production of new colours, and new phases of ceramic art applied to tiles. In 1861 they commenced the manufacture of very small tesseræ for the formation of pictorial mosaics, and produced for the Exhibition of 1862 their well-known mosaic of “_The Seasons_,” here engraved (Fig. 695), and which is now in the South Kensington Museum, from a design expressly made for them by Digby Wyatt. The result was so successful that Mr. Wyatt commissioned Messrs. Maw to execute a mosaic frieze for the inner quadrangle of the New India Office.

The production of coloured enamels for the surface decoration of majolica tiles next occupied their attention, and after years of experimenting, all the colours employed in the ancient tiles of Spain or Italy were successfully reproduced, as well as others which were unknown to the mediæval and Moorish manufacturers.

A stone chimney-piece, enriched with tiles executed for the International Exhibition of 1862, was their first attempt in the application of enamels and majolica in architectural work. Shortly afterwards the successful decoration of ceilings was carried out in the corridors of the India Office. And now the production of majolica tiles and enamelled terra cotta for all kinds of internal and external decoration forms an important branch of Messrs. Maw’s manufacture. Among the more important of their works in enamelled terra cotta may be mentioned the beautiful staircase executed for Sir D. Majoribanks, a portion of which was exhibited in the International Exhibition of 1871, and the chimney-pieces manufactured for the board-room of the South Kensington Museum, and the Museum of Science and Art, at Edinburgh. Messrs. Maw were the first in this country to produce the transparent celeste, or turquoise blue, employed in ancient Chinese enamels, specimens of which were exhibited in the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

Among their more recent productions may be mentioned tesseræ for mosaic work, decorated with rich enamels; embossed tiles; “_sgrafito_,” a ware the decoration of which is produced by the cutting away of superimposed layers of different coloured clays, after the fashion of cameo carving; “_slip painting_,” the production of a pattern by the painting of liquid clay on a ground of another colour, and the whole glazed over, after the first burning, with transparent coloured enamels; “_pâte sur pâte_,” tiles in which the design in high relief is superimposed on a ground of a different colour; mixed coloured glasses and enamels for the decoration of pottery, by which the most subtle and brilliant effects are produced; _terra cotta and Parian plant-markers_, forming an economical and indestructible substitute for the old wooden and iron name tallies. On these the names of trees and shrubs are written in a permanent black enamel and burnt in.

The special processes employed by Messrs. Maw have been made the subject of a number of patents, among which may be mentioned their mill machinery, used in the preparation of clay for the manufacture of tiles by Prosser’s process; the _steam blunger_, by which the rough clay is levigated, sifted, and refined ready for drying on the slip-kilns, without the intervention of manual labour; the manufacture of encaustic tiles out of pulverised nearly dry clay, and their patent press worked by steam power for the pressing of tiles, which is the only successful application of steam power to screw presses which has yet been attained.

The geometric and tesselated pavements produced by Messrs. Maw are of the most elegant, elaborate, and beautiful character, and the tesseræ and tiles of which they are composed are made with the utmost mechanical accuracy, and of the finest quality both in body, in colours, and in glaze. The patterns they have prepared are of exquisite beauty and of endless variety, and suitable for every possible purpose both for public and private buildings.

The encaustic, or figured tiles, for pavements, are also a great speciality of Messrs. Maw’s works, and are, like those of other makers, produced in immense variety and in large quantities. They are made in two, three, four, or more colours combined, the colours used being buff or yellow, red, black, blue, chocolate, white, cream, fawn, green, &c., and of various sizes, the usual dimensions being 6 and 4¼ inches square. The patterns are, in many instances, taken from the best remaining ancient examples, and in others have been specially designed for Messrs. Maw by Sir Digby Wyatt, Owen Jones, and the best authorities of the day; and many of the pavements thus produced are matchless both in design, in general effect, and in beauty and brilliancy of colour. Messrs. Maw are not content with producing simple quarries, to be arranged in the usual varieties of ways, but they have introduced entire pavements, over which is spread one grand design covering its entire surface; many entire patterns occupying not the usual old numbers of 4, 9, 12, 16, or 24 tiles, but 144 and other numbers. These are peculiarly rich and effective, and particularly well adapted for halls, vestibules, corridors, &c.

The marks used by Messrs. Maw are--

MAW & CO MAW & CO MAW & CO MAW & CO
BENTHALL BROSELEY BENTHALL BROSELEY
WORKS BROSELEY SALOP
BROSELEY
SALOP MAW & CO

The enamelled hearth-pavements and wall-tiles are another great speciality of these works, and are of unsurpassable richness and beauty, as are also their majolica tiles and fire-place linings. These are produced in every possible variety, and are remarkable not only for the richness and delicacy of the colours which are used, and for their purely artistic and masterly combination, but for the excellence of both body and glaze, and the scrupulous accuracy of forms for fitting together. The same remark applies to the embossed and indented tiles, and also to those which are partially pierced for open work. They are all equally good, and bear evidence of that thorough appreciation of art which pervades all the productions of the Benthall works. The engravings (Figs. 702 and 703) show two of their majolica chimney-pieces. The first is of the finest majolica, with a fire-place lining of encaustic, or enamel, tiles, which would also be used for the hearth. The decorations are in high and bold relief, and being coloured with pure artistic taste, have a charming and very striking effect. It is 4 feet 8 inches in height, and 7 feet in width, and is, of course, furnished with a marble shelf at the top--which, however, is not shown in the illustration.

The next shows another of these chimney-pieces entirely complete; it is, like the other, of majolica. The ornaments are in bold relief, set off with an excellent arrangement of groundwork and colour; the hearth is formed of encaustic, or enamelled, or mosaic tiles; and the fender is of majolica.

Another branch of ceramics--that of “Art Pottery”--has recently been added to Messrs. Maw’s manufactory. This is the production of vases, &c., in majolica, a branch which they are eminently qualified to bring to perfection. In this branch vases, tazzas, and other articles, more or less decorated with raised or surface ornamentation, are produced. They are of excellent design, the body light but compact, and the decorations of remarkably good and artistic character.

BROSELEY.

The _Broseley Tileries_, at Broseley, are said to be the oldest brick and tile works in the district, and they have for more than a century been in the hands of the family of the present proprietor, Mrs. Penelope Jane Thorn. They are now under the management of Mr. H. M. Bathurst. The goods produced are encaustic and geometrical glazed and unglazed tiles, ornamental ridge tiles, roofing and pavement tiles of various kinds, sanitary pipes, &c.

_Benthall Potteries._--These works, carried on by the “Benthall Pottery Company,” under the management of Mr. Allen, produce the ordinary yellow and other common wares.

COALMOOR.

At Coalmoor, near Horsehay, a pottery of common coarse ware formerly existed. The hovels are still standing, but converted to other purposes.