Chapter XIII (3)

In fine hard “white stoneware,” and in fine cane-coloured ware, jugs of remarkably good design were made, and were decorated with groups in relief in the same manner; indeed, strongly resembling, both in body and in design, those of Turner, which are so well known to collectors. In Mr. Davis’s and other hands are remarkably good jugs of this kind, decorated with raised groups of figures in blue, and bearing the embossed mark to be hereafter spoken of. The handles of these jugs are formed of the leg and tail of a horse. In “green-glazed earthenware,” dessert services, flower vases, garden seats, and all the usual varieties of articles were made. The green, as a rule, was a somewhat lighter colour and not so good in quality as Wedgwood’s. The pieces were generally marked with the usual impressed mark. In fine “earthenware,” services of every kind were produced, both white, blue-printed, painted, and gilt. The glaze on the earlier pieces, it should be remarked, is of a decided blue tint, and somewhat inferior in quality. Some of the dessert-services produced in the early part of the present century are particularly interesting. On each piece is painted some flower as large as life, and coloured true to nature in every particular. The name of the plant represented is in each case pencilled at the back of the piece. The plants represented on the two examples (Fig. 870) are respectively marked as “_Althea Frutex_” and “_Virgilia helioides_.” In the late Dr. Brameld’s possession was a service of this same kind, in which the flowers were beautifully painted. The painter of these pieces was Collinson, the best flower-painter employed at the Swinton Works, and they were made between the years 1810–15. The ware is particularly light, and has a remarkably pleasant feel in handling. I have been somewhat particular in speaking of this variety of goods, because similar services were produced far more extensively at the Don Works, at Swansea, and at other places.

Of works of Art, in earthenware, the Swinton Pottery produced many vases and other objects of a high degree of excellence, both in design, manipulation, and in decoration, and were, indeed, far in advance of most of their competitors. Fig. 871 represents one of a pair of remarkably fine _pot-pourris_, which were “thrown” at the Swinton Works by Mr. Thomas Brameld the year he was out of his apprenticeship, in 1805, and were, till his death, in the possession of his son, Dr. Brameld. They are 18 inches high, and have lions’ heads for handles, while on the top of the lid is a lion couchant, the family crest, gilt. The jars are beautifully painted in Chinese subjects. The next engraving shows one of the specialities of the Swinton pottery, a “lotus vase,” from an example in Mr. Manning’s possession. It is formed of leaves, &c., and has butterflies, &c., raised, as if resting upon the leaves. The whole is carefully enamelled, and altogether forms a flower vase of surpassing beauty. It is pleasant to add that at the close of the Rockingham Works, the moulds for the production of these “lotus vases,” as well as others, including the model of the keep of Conisborough Castle,[120] which, by the way, was another of the specialities of the Swinton Works, passed into the hands of the late Mr. John Reed, of the “Mexborough Pottery,” by whose successor they continue to be made, both in the fine old green-glazed style, and enamelled.

In “Queen’s ware,” or “cream-coloured ware,” services were formerly made at Swinton. It was of a very similar quality to that made at Leeds and at Castleford, and, being unmarked, is generally ascribed to one or other of those works. In Dr. Brameld’s possession was a teapot of this material, which is said to have been made in the latter part of last century by his grandfather. It is here shown. It is of deep buff, or cream colour, with beaded edges, and bears the name and date--

Amelia Hallam,
1773.

In the late Mr. Reed’s possession, too, was a double-handled drinking cup of elegant form, with the name IOHN ALSEBROOK, and the date 1795, within an enamelled border of roses and foliage, and having on the other side a Chinese figure subject, also enamelled.

That this kind of ware was not made extensively at Swinton until after the dissolution of partnership with Hartley, Greens & Co., is perhaps to be easily accounted for in the fact that these proprietors of the Leeds Pottery, where it was manufactured so extensively and so well, being also partners here, the cream ware would be made principally at Leeds, while at the Swinton Works was produced what had not been made at the other place. From the time the works fell entirely into the hands of the Bramelds, however, this kind of ware became the staple production of the manufactory, and an immense trade was carried on in it in the Baltic and elsewhere. Not being marked, it probably often passes for Leeds ware in the eyes of collectors. In this material beautiful open-work baskets, and many other elegant articles, were made.

Transfer printing was introduced at Swinton, at all events, as early, as I have shown, as 1788, and was continued to the close of the works. In the later years, some extremely tasteful groups of flowers, butterflies, &c., were engraved and transferred in outline, and then painted in the usual manner. In dinner, tea, toilet, and other services, the designs were extremely good, and one of them, the Don Quixote pattern, became very popular.

Engine-turned tea and coffee pots, plates, &c., were also manufactured, and in manipulation were equal to any produced in ordinary earthenware. Groups of flowers, figures, trophies, borders, &c., in relief, were also introduced.

In “china” the earliest examples are two trial pieces by Mr. Thomas Brameld, which I saw in the possession of his son, the late Dr. Brameld. These are a pair of small leaves, the body of which is of good quality, painted of a salmon colour with gold veins. These are probably of the date 1820–2, and but few trials were made from that time until 1825. In 1826 china ware began to be made largely, and from that time (in this year it will be remembered the works changed their name from “Swinton” to “Rockingham”) to 1842 was one series of successes in all but profit. Tea, coffee, dinner, dessert, toilet, and other services, were made in every variety of style, from the ordinary blue printed, or white with raised blue ornaments, to the most elaborately painted and gilt varieties. Vases, and numberless ornamental articles for the drawing-room and the toilet were also made, and were generally distinguished by good taste in design, and skill in decoration. To show how Art was, by the taste of the Bramelds, made subservient to the production of things of every-day use, I give, in Figs. 874 to 876, three examples in Mr. Manning’s possession.

In vases, some of the finest which had ever been produced were made at these works. At Wentworth House, the magnificent seat of Earl Fitzwilliam, among other fine examples of Swinton Art, is one which is of surpassing beauty. It was the largest china vase produced at that time in a single piece in this country. It stands three feet nine inches in height, and is three feet one inch in circumference. The base, which is of tripod form, has a blue ground, with flowers in compartments, and is massively gilt. From it rises the vase, supported on three lions’ paws in white and gold. From between the feet on each side spring branches of oak, solidly gilt, which entwine their leaves around the paws, and form an elegant border to each of the large painted subjects on the sides. The neck of the vase is in honeycomb open-work, with raised bees upon it; and the handles are of massive coral in white and gold. On each of the three sides of the vase is a large subject from Don Quixote, exquisitely painted in enamel colours. The cover has a blue ground, on which are flowers and trophies in tablets, surrounded by oak leaves and acorns in gold. It is surmounted by a large and powerfully-modelled rhinoceros, gilt. The under side of the cover, quite out of sight except when lifted off the vase, is painted in a series of small landscapes, alternating with subjects taken from Bewick’s celebrated tail-pieces. Inside the cover is the mark of the crest, and the words “Rockingham Works, Brameld,” and the date 1826. This splendid vase was painted by John Wager Brameld. At Wentworth House, too, the Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam have, along with a large number of choice examples of Chelsea, Chelsea-Derby, and other rare makes of China (which I have examined), several other notable pieces of Rockingham china. Among these are a set of three “Canova-shape” vases, painted with groups of flowers; a dessert-service of white and gold “seaweed” pattern, each piece bearing the crest and the date 1838; three of the pattern-plates submitted to William IV. in competition for the royal service; a number of example-plates of different designs; a breakfast service painted in flowers, each flower named; an elegant tray with raised flowers and a view of Arundel Castle; a pair of “monkey” beakers, nineteen inches high; and a pair of fine biscuit scent bottles, sixteen inches high, decorated with exquisite raised flowers.

In the possession of the late Dr. Brameld, who had among other things, a remarkably beautiful ice pail and other pieces of note, was the fine vase engraved in Fig. 877, which is known as the “Dragon Vase,” and occasionally by the not very euphonious name of the “Infernal Vase.” It is 3 feet 4½ inches in height, and has dragons for handles, and also a dragon on the top of the cover. Another of these “Dragon” vases is in the possession of Mr. Henry Barker. In the late Mr. Bagshawe’s collection was a set of three vases, green and gold, with swans for handles, on which are beautifully painted “named” views of “Bellagio, Lago di Come,” “Verona,” and “Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore.” Mr. Reed had pieces bearing views of Newstead Abbey, &c., and in Mr. Hobson’s possession are vases, with views of Chatsworth and other places.

The _chef-d’œuvre_ of the Rockingham China Works was, however, the truly gorgeous dessert service made for William IV., which is now preserved with the most scrupulous care at Buckingham Palace, and is, we are credibly informed, justly prized by her Majesty as among her more precious ceramic treasures. This service, which cost no less a sum than £5,000, consists of one hundred and forty-four plates, and fifty-six large pieces, and is one of the finest produced in this or any other country. The plates have raised oak borders in dead and burnished gold running over a raised laced pattern, also in gold, and the centres are splendidly painted with the royal arms, &c. The comports, which were all designed by Mr. Thomas Brameld, are emblematical of the use to which each piece has to be put. For instance, the comports for biscuit, are supported by ears of wheat; the fruit pieces have central open-work baskets of fruit; the ice pails are supported by holly berries and leaves; and in each case the landscapes are also in unison with the uses of the pieces, which are of exquisite design, and have also oak-leaf and lace decorations, so massively gilt in dead and burnished gold as to have the appearance of _ormolu_ laid on the porcelain, and each piece is decorated with views of different seats, the sketches for which were taken expressly for the purpose, and by groups of figures, &c. This service is, as I have said, at Buckingham Palace. In Dr. Brameld’s possession was the specimen plate which was submitted to, and approved by, the king, and some portions of the comports, &c.; and in Mrs. Barker’s hands was one of the comports (with views of “Langthwait Bridge,” and “Kentmore Hall,” and a group of bird-catchers), which, for its extreme beauty and rarity, is an almost priceless treasure. She also possesses a cup and saucer of the breakfast service prepared for Her Majesty. In Mrs. Reed’s possession is an unique example, being one of the specimen plates submitted for royal approval in a competition with the principal china manufacturers of the kingdom for the royal order. In this competition, twelve plates of different patterns were specially prepared and submitted by the Rockingham Works. Of these plates, the examples in Mr. Reed’s, Dr. Brameld’s, the Earl Fitzwilliam’s, Mr. Hobson’s, and other hands, form a part. In the centre are the royal arms, and the rim is decorated with oak leaves and acorns. Another unique pattern-plate belonged to Dr. Brameld, and is of the most delicate and exquisitely beautiful character. In the centre are the royal arms, and on the rim are three compartments, two of which contain groups of flowers, and the third a view, while between these the “garter” is repeated. The cost at which in the estimate it was calculated these plates could be produced, was twelve guineas each.[121]

The dessert service made for William IV. was first used on occasion of the coronation of our beloved Queen, and has only, I am informed, been used on very special state occasions from that time to the present. Although so large a sum of money was paid for it the cost of its production was so great, that the actual outlay was, I am told by those who are in the best position to know, considerably more than was charged. This royal service had some little to do with the embarrassments that caused the final stoppage of the works.[122]

In “biscuit,” figures, busts, and groups, as well as vases, of which splendid examples belong to Earl Fitzwilliam, were produced. Among other specimens that have come under my notice are a Swiss boy and girl, a fine bust of Earl Fitzwilliam, Chantrey’s sleeping child, Chantrey’s full-length statue of Lady Russell, &c.

Among the artists employed at the Rockingham works it will only be necessary to name a few. These were Collinson, who painted flowers; Llandig, who was a charming fruit and flower painter; Bailey, who was the principal butterfly painter,[123] and who also painted landscapes and crests; Speight (father and son), the latter of whom painted many of the finest subjects, both landscapes and figures, on the royal service, and who also painted the heraldic decorations on the same; Brentnall, who was a clever flower-painter; Cordon, who executed landscapes and figures; Tilbury, who painted landscapes and figures; Mansfield, who was the principal embosser and chaser in gold; Aston, who was clever as a modeller of flowers; and Cowen, who was an artist of much repute, and for many years enjoyed the patronage of the Fitzwilliam family. William Eley, too, was employed as modeller, and executed some admirable works, including a fine bust of Earl Fitzwilliam.

The MARKS used at the Swinton Works are not many, but have the advantage of being particularly clear and easily recognised. They are, so far as I have been able to ascertain, the following.

It should be premised that no mark was placed on the early productions of these works, and they are, therefore, only to be ascertained by a knowledge of the body, the glaze, and the style of ornamentation used.

The following are the marks which have come under my notice:--

Fig. 878.]

This incised mark, the earliest used by these works, occurs on one of the famous “Brown China” high-shaped teapots of which I have spoken. It is a mark of great rarity.

ROCKINGHAM ROCKINGHAM

in large capital letters, impressed into the body of the ware. The same in small capital letters. These occur on early examples of “Rockingham ware,” &c. The name MORTLOCK also occurs on examples of this ware.

BRAMELD ✠✠

in capital letters, impressed. This occurs on green glazed ware, &c.

BRAMELD & CO’ or BRAMELD**

also in small capital letters, impressed.

An embossed mark, in an oval, stuck on the ware, from which it generally differs in colour, being usually in blue.

ROYAL
ROCKINGHAM
WORKS
BRAMELD

in small capitals, in four lines, impressed. This mark occurs in biscuit figures, &c.

This mark (Fig. 880) is the crest of the Earl Fitzwilliam, and was adopted in 1825–6 on the commencement of the manufacture of china, under the assistance of that nobleman, who was owner of the works. It is usually printed in _red_.

_Rockinghan Works_
(Same
crest.)
_Brameld_

Same crest.
_Rockingham Works
Brameld_
_Manufacturers to the King_

(Same crest.)
_Royal Rockingham Works
Brameld_]

in writing letters. The first of these marks occurs, with the date 1826, on the Rhinoceros Vase at Wentworth House. The others are also in writing letters in purple.

(Same crest.)
ROYAL ROCKINGHAM
BRAMELD

(Same crest.)
ROYAL ROCKINGHAM WORKS
BRAMELD]

in capital letters. Sometimes in gold.

(Same crest.)
Rockingham Works.
Brameld
Manufacturer to the King
Queen and Royal Family.]

surrounded by a wreath of roses, &c. Printed in purple.

It is only necessary to add to this account of the Swinton Pottery that collectors will find remarkably good examples of Rockingham china, for reference, in the Jermyn Street Museum, including pattern plates of the royal service.

MEXBOROUGH.

_The “Rock Pottery” or “Mexbro Pottery”_ is situated at Mexborough, a rising town near Swinton, with stations on the South Yorkshire and Midland lines of railway. The works, at first very small, were, I believe, established for the manufacture of brown and yellow wares, and for common red garden-pots, by a person named Beevers, who, with a partner named Ford--trading as Beevers and Ford--carried on the business for some years. The workrooms at this time were built close up to the rock, which, indeed, formed the back wall of the manufactory; and from this circumstance the place was called the “Rock Pottery,” a name by which it is still occasionally known. The goods at this time, and subsequently, during the proprietorship of Ford, Simpson, and Beevers, were made entirely from native clays, and were confined to “cane” or “yellow ware” dishes, jugs, &c., for household use; garden and root pots of red ware; and pitchers, &c., of a brown ware.

The works next passed into the hands of Messrs. Reed and Taylor, who also owned the works at Ferrybridge (which see), and by them were considerably enlarged. The manufacture of finer kinds of earthenware was also introduced by them, and carried on with great success. In 1839 the pottery passed entirely into the hands of Mr. James Reed, who carried it on until 1849, when he was succeeded by his son, Mr. John Reed, by whom the manufactory was conducted until his decease. It was then carried on by his executors under the management of the late Mr. C. Bullock. During the time of Mr. Reed’s proprietorship, and that of his father, considerable alterations and additions were made to the works, and new kilns erected; the character of the productions was also much improved, and several new varieties of wares were introduced. In 1873, Messrs. Sydney Woolf & Co., the owners of the “Australian Pottery,” at Ferrybridge (which see), became the purchasers of this manufactory, and they now carry it on conjointly with their other works at Ferrybridge, under the management of Mr. Bowman Heald. By Messrs. Woolf & Co. the works have been considerably extended and several new varieties of shapes and patterns introduced. They successfully compete in several classes of goods with any in the locality, and with many of the Staffordshire houses. The principal varieties of goods are,--in ordinary white earthenware,--all the most marketable varieties of painted, printed, enamelled, and gilt services of different kinds, many of which are of good design, manufactured chiefly for the home market. In dinner and toilet services, especially, some remarkably good patterns, well enamelled and gilt, are produced. In Stilton cheese stands and covers some good designs have been introduced. In Rockingham ware all the usual kinds of vessels are made. In “terra-cotta,” which is of a good colour, and of a fine and durable quality, Mr. Reed manufactured large-sized flower-vases for gardens and other decorative purposes; pendant flower-vases for conservatories, entrance-halls, &c.; root-pots of tasteful design, butter coolers, &c., &c.

In green glazed earthenware, dessert services, in which the plates, centres, comports, &c., are embossed with leaves, flowers, and other patterns, are made, many of them from the original moulds of the Swinton Works, which passed by purchase to the Mexborough pottery; and others of equally elegant design from moulds expressly belonging to Mexborough. In this ware garden seats, both plain and foliated, of the same designs as those produced in the old days of the Rockingham Works; and also root-pots and flower-vases, are made. Of these the “lotus vase,” of which I have already given an engraving (Fig. 872), is one of the most elegant and attractive, and is, I believe, made only at the Mexborough Pottery, as is also the model of the keep of Conisborough Castle already alluded to.

The mark used at the Mexborough Pottery, but which is only occasionally introduced, is simply the name of the proprietor,

* REED *

in large capitals, impressed in the ware.

* * * * *

_Mexborough Old Pottery._--At Mexborough was formerly another pot-work, known as the “Mexborough Old Pottery.” This was established at the end of the last century by Messrs. Sowter and Bromley,[124] who held the works until 1804, when they came into the possession of Mr. Peter Barker. Peter Barker was the son of Joseph Barker, who came out of Staffordshire as manager of the Swinton Pottery. He became partner with Mr. Wainwright at the pot-works at Rawmarsh (afterwards Hawley’s), and ultimately took to the works at Mexborough. These were continued by the brothers, Peter and Jesse Barker, who were succeeded by Mr. Samuel Barker, the son of the latter, until 1834, when they acquired the Don Pottery. By Mr. Samuel Barker they were continued until 1844. The Mexborough Old Pottery was then discontinued, and is now converted into ironworks for the manufacture of wheels for locomotives. At these works the commoner descriptions of earthenware, including blue printing, were produced.

RAWMARSH.

In the latter part of last century a pottery was carried on here by Mr. Peter Barker and his partner, under the style of “Barker and Wainwright.” He afterwards joined his brother Jesse at the Mexborough Old Pottery.

ROTHERHAM.

_North Field Pottery._--This pottery was established in 1851 by Joseph Lee, a working potter, who had previously carried on a small manufactory (now disused) in the town of Rotherham. In 1855 it was purchased by Mr. George Hawley, of Rawmarsh; who, on his death, was succeeded by his sons, the late Mr. William Hawley, father of the present proprietors, Mr. Matthew Hawley, and his two brothers. The firm was for a time carried on as “W. and G. Hawley,” but its present style is Hawley Brothers. The goods manufactured are the commoner descriptions of earthenware; and a large trade is carried on in furniture polish bottles and articles of a similar class.

* * * * *

_Holmes Pottery._--These works were built on part of the Holmes Hall Estate--the kitchen garden, in fact--formerly belonging to the Walker family, who owned the large ironworks there, where at one time the notorious Tom Payne worked. The pottery was at first extremely small, but has gradually extended itself until it is now of considerable extent. It was first worked by Messrs. Earnshaw and Greaves, who were succeeded by Messrs. Dickinson and Jackson; it was then continued by Mr. Thomas Jarvis until some few years back, when it passed into the hands of Messrs. John Jackson & Co., the present owners. The goods produced are the commoner class of white and blue printed earthenware. Some years ago an attempt at china manufacture was made here, but was abandoned.

THE DON POTTERY.

_The Don Pottery_, closely adjoining the canal at Swinton, on which it has a wharf, was established in a very small way about 1790, and considerably increased in 1800 by John Green, of Newhill. He was one of the Greens of Leeds, of the same family as the proprietors of the Leeds Pottery, and a proprietor in the Swinton Pottery. He is, in fact, stated to have been the manager of the Leeds and the Swinton potteries, and to have sustained considerable losses on the breaking out of the French war. About 1800, or a little later, he purchased a plot of almost waste and swampy land at Swinton, and, with the aid of partners, set about the erection of the present works. At this time a person named Newton, father to the more than octogenarian from whom, some years ago, I picked up many scraps of the information I record, had an enamel kiln at the back of his house at Swinton, where he used to burn such wares as he decorated. To this man, for the first twelve months, Green, of the Don Pottery, brought his pattern pieces to be fired, as he prepared them. In 1807, other members of the family united with John Green, who also had partners named Clarke; the firm trading as “Greens, Clarke, & Co.” In 1831, Mr. Green was proprietor of the Don Pottery.

In 1834 the Don Pottery passed by purchase to Mr. Samuel Barker, of the Mexborough Old Pottery; which latter works he closed in 1844, and confined his operations entirely to the Don manufactory. In 1851 the firm became “Samuel Barker and Son,” under which style it is still continued, the present proprietors being Mr. Henry Barker and Mr. Edward Barker.

From a list of goods prepared by the firm in 1808, it appears that a considerable variety was produced at that time. This list, which is in my own collection, is thus headed:--

“Greens, Clarke, & Co., Don Pottery, near Doncaster, Make, Sell,
and Export Wholesale all the various kinds of Earthenware,
viz., Cream-colour, Brown, Blue, and Green Shell, Nankin Blue,
Printed, Painted, and Enamelled, Egyptian Black, Brown, China,
&c., &c. Also Services executed in Borders, Landscapes, Coats of
Arms, &c., and ornamented with Gold or Silver.”

Of the ordinary fine earthenware made soon after the opening of the works, some specimens, whose actual date can be satisfactorily ascertained, have come under my notice, and show to what perfection in body and glaze, in manipulation, and in decoration, the manufacture had already arrived. The most remarkable of these early specimens is a jug, commonly called the “Jumper Jug,” which is of great rarity. On either side of the larger jugs is the figure of a very uncouth, coarse, and slovenly-looking man, in red coat, pink waistcoat, striped green and white under-waistcoat, orange-neckerchief, orange breeches, above which his shirt is seen, top boots, and spurs. In his hand he holds his hat, orange, with red ribands, on which is a card bearing the words “Milton for ever.” Beneath the spout, on a scroll, is the following curious verse:--

“The Figure there is no mistaking,
It is the famous Man for--_breaking_.
Oh that instead of Horse and Mare
He had but broken Crockery-ware,
Each grateful Potter in a bumper
Might drink the health of
Orange Jumper.”

This man, who was known all the country round as “Orange Jumper,” was a very eccentric character, and a great mover in the political “stirs” of his county. He was a horse-breaker at Wentworth, and many extraordinary stories are remembered in connection with him. One of these, as connected with the story of this jug, is worth repeating. In the great Yorkshire election of 1807--the most costly and the most strongly contested election on record--when the candidates who were so mercilessly pitted against each other were Lord Milton, Wilberforce, and Lascelles, “Orange Jumper” was employed to carry dispatches regularly backwards and forwards from York to Wentworth House, the seat of Earl Fitzwilliam, the father of Lord Milton, who eventually won the election, and was returned as the colleague of Wilberforce. Orange was the Fitzwilliam colour, and blue that of Lascelles (son of the Earl of Harewood), his opponent; and on one occasion “Jumper” was seen entering York decked out as usual in orange, but riding on an ass gaily decorated with bright blue ribands. On being jeered at for this apparent inconsistency in wearing both colours, he replied that _he_ wore the right colour, orange, and that his ass was only like other asses, for they were all donkeys that wore blue! The election was gained by the party he espoused, and in commemoration these jugs,[125] with his portrait and verse, were made. They are marked

Don. Pottery.

pencilled in red on the bottom.

An engraved pattern-book was issued by the firm, in the same style, and of the same size, as that of Hartley, Greens, & Co., of the Leeds Pottery. A careful comparison of the two books reveals the fact, that whereas in the latest edition of that of Leeds 269 patterns are engraved, in that of the Don Pottery 292 are given. It also reveals the important fact that many of the Don patterns are identical with those of Leeds, the engraver of the former having evidently traced from those of the latter (Leeds) in preparing his plates. Many of the remaining patterns are slightly altered from Leeds, while others do not appear in the book of those works at all. In this pattern-book Figs. 1 to 8 are covered tureens; 10 to 12 are leaves; 13 to 18, covered vegetable dishes; 19 to 23, sauce tureens with covers, stands, and ladles; 24, a two-handled drinking cup; 26 to 30, butter-boats; 31 to 49, dishes and plates, &c.; 50 to 69, fruit bowls, side dishes, &c.; 70 to 76, perforated, open-work, and embossed baskets and stands, some of which have covers, and are precisely of the same kind as those of the Leeds works; 77, a perforated chestnut tureen, like that of the Leeds works; 78, also perforated and embossed; 79 to 83, perforated dishes and plates; 84 to 91, covered sugar bowls, &c.; 92 to 96, spoons and strainers; 97 to 110, bowls, &c.; 111 is a melon bowl of the same kind as those made at Leeds; 113 to 116 are egg cups and stands; 118 to 130, cruets, &c.; 131, an asparagus holder, like the Leeds; 139 to 145, mugs and jugs; 146, a toast rack; 147, an invalid’s feeding cup; 148 to 159, dishes, tureens, &c.; 160 and 161, vegetable trays in compartments; 163 to 176, ice pails and domestic vessels; 177 to 183, ink stands; 184, 185, flower-pots; 186 to 202, toilet services and shaving basins; 201 is a _scaphium_; 206 is a quintal flower horn; 207, a pastile-burner; and then come candlesticks, egg-cups, flower-vases, flower-stands, vases, crosses with cup for holy water, &c. Another series of plates, the figures numbered from 1 to 54 and from A to K, are devoted to tea equipages, consisting of a remarkable and very striking variety of teapots, coffee-pots, milk jugs, sugar bowls, cake trays, tea canisters, basins or bowls, tea, coffee, and chocolate cups and saucers, &c., &c. On each plate throughout the series the name “_Don Pottery_” is engraved in a scroll.

Open-work baskets, tureens, &c., twig baskets, in which the “withies” were of precisely the same form as those of Leeds and Wedgwood, &c., perforated plates, dishes, tureens, spoons, ladles, and other articles, ice-pails, salt-cellars, flower-vases, cruets and stands, inkstands, seals, bird fountains, smelling-bottles, and, indeed, every variety of articles, as well as services of all descriptions, and ornamental vases of several designs, were made in these wares, and such as were adapted for the colour were made in green glazed ware. Of teapots, many patterns, with raised groups, trophies, &c., and others for loose metal “kettle-handles” are also engraved.

In the cream-coloured ware, and also in the fine white earthenware, excellent dessert and other services were made, and were painted with flowers, &c., with a truth to nature which has seldom been equalled. In my own collection are also some remarkable plates of small size of fine earthenware. In these the underside of the plate is left white, while the whole of the rest is tinted of a deep buff. The edge, and a line on the inner side of the rim, is black, and in the centre of each plate is a landscape, which has all the beauty and effect of a well-executed Indian ink drawing.

About 1810–12, _china_ of an excellent quality was, to a very small extent indeed, made at the Don Pottery, and examples of this are of extreme rarity. In Mr. Manning’s possession is a coffee mug of excellent body, and of remarkably good soft glaze, well painted with Chinese subjects, which is marked “Don Pottery” in very small letters, pencilled in red. This interesting specimen is the only marked one which has come under my notice. Two other specimens of this very rare china ware, which are equally curious and interesting with the one just spoken of, are here engraved. One is a jug which will hold rather more than a pint, and has a curious story attached to it. The china body of which it was made was mixed by Godfrey Speight and Ward Booth, both of whom were originally from Staffordshire; the latter, it is said, was brought from that county “with a whole regiment of hands” to work at the new Don Pottery, of which he became the manager. The jug was painted by his son, Taylor Booth, who was brought up with Enoch Wood, of Burslem, and afterwards was at the old Derby China Works, and given to Speight, from whose aged son’s hands it passed into my own. It is beautifully painted with groups of flowers on either side, and a sprig of jasmine beneath the spout, and has a broad gold line round the top. The curious part of the story connected with this jug is, that in the body of which it is composed, by one of those strange and unaccountable freaks to which potters as well as other people are liable, are two of the fingers of a noted malefactor, Spencer Broughton, who was gibbeted on Attercliffe Common at the close of the last century. It appears that a party of the Don and Swinton potters, who had been to Sheffield for a carousal, and had stayed there till the small hours of the morning, were, when not sober, returning over the moor, when, on passing the gibbet on which the gaunt skeleton of the malefactor still hung, as it had for years, in chains, one of them, saying, “Let’s ha’ a rap at him,” picked up a stone and threw it, knocking off the bones of two of the fingers. These were picked up, and carefully carried home as trophies of the exploit; and some time afterwards, when trials in the manufacture of china were being made, they were brought out, calcined, and mixed with some of the body. Of this body a seal was made, “with a gibbet on it,” and the jug (Fig. 882) just described. This story I had from the lips of one of the party of potters, a man then fast nearing “fourscore years and ten” in age. The horrible and brutal taste displayed by the potters has, it must be admitted, its use in authenticating the example, and in giving it, at all events, an approximate date.

The other example is a comport (Fig. 881) of remarkably fine body and excellent glaze, and has a plant of the tiger-lily exquisitely painted of natural size, occupying the whole of its inside.

In fine cane-coloured ware, tea-services, jugs, &c., were made, and were ornamented with figures, borders, and other designs in relief. Of this kind of ware the accompanying engraving of a sugar-box will serve as an example. It is ornamented with figures, trophies, &c., in relief in black and is marked “Green’s Don Pottery.”

In green glazed ware flower-vases of large size, root-pots, dessert and other services; in red ware, scent jars of bold and good design, large-sized mignonette vases, and many other articles; and in “Egyptian black,” teapots, cream-ewers, jugs, &c., were made.

The “brown china” spoken of in the list of goods was the “Rockingham Ware,” which was attempted to be made at the Don Pottery, and is still made of the common marketable quality.

A considerable trade was carried on with Russia, with France and Belgium, and with South America, to which markets the greater part of the goods produced were consigned.

At the “Don Pottery” at the present day, Messrs. Barker produce all the usual varieties of the commoner classes of earthenware to a large extent; the works giving employment to between two and three hundred hands. In toilet services many excellent patterns are produced, both enamelled, gilt, and lustred. They also produce dinner, tea, dessert, and other services, as well as all the usual varieties of goods for home and foreign consumption, including in “Egyptian black,” teapots, cream-ewers, &c., Rockingham ware, and “cane,” or yellow ware.

Some of the painted patterns recently introduced are of good design, and their pressed jugs are of superior shape.

The marks adopted by these works have been but few, and these only very occasionally used. They are, so far as I have been able to ascertain, as follows:--“Don Pottery” pencilled in red on the bottom of the vessel, or “DON POTTERY” impressed on the bottom of the pieces.

GREEN
DON POTTERY

also impressed.

The first of these (Fig. 884) was impressed, the second (Fig. 885) was printed and transferred on the ware. It was the first mark used by Samuel Barker, and was adopted by him on purchasing the Don Pottery on its discontinuance by the Greens.

The first of these marks (Fig. 886), also in transfer printing, an eagle displayed rising from out a ducal coronet, was adopted by the firm when it became Samuel Barker and Son, at which time the old mark was discontinued. The eagle displayed is not now used, the firm having adopted the old mark of the demi-lion rampant holding in his paws the pennon, and enclosed within a garter, beneath which are the initials of the firm, “S. B. & S.” (Fig. 887) On the ribbon of the garter is usually given the name of the pottery, as for instance YORK.

DENABY.

The Denaby Pottery was established for the manufacture of fire-bricks, &c., but was, about 1864, taken by Mr. John Wardle (from Messrs. Alcocks, of Burslem), who was shortly afterwards joined in partnership by Mr. Charles W. Wilkinson, the business being carried on under the style of “Wilkinson and Wardle.” The works were situated near the railway, from which they had a siding direct into the premises. The goods produced were the general ordinary classes of printed earthenware, pearl body, cream ware, &c., which were of good ordinary quality. In these all the more popular and favourite patterns were produced, and all the copper plates being new, were sharp and fresh in appearance. Dinner, tea, coffee, toilet and other services were produced, as well as jugs and other articles, some of which are of really good and effective design. Yellow, or cane-coloured ware, was also made, as well as tiles for external decorative purposes. These were made from clay found at Conisborough, where branch works were established. The mark adopted by the firm, for what reason it is difficult to divine, unless it be that the wares were intended to pass for Staffordshire make, was the Staffordshire knot, with the words “Wilkinson and Wardle, Denaby Potteries.” These works, after an existence of a few years only, were closed in 1869 or 1870, and the buildings converted into bone and glue works.

KILNHURST.

At Kilnhurst, a place which one would naturally say took its name from pot-works, is a manufactory of earthenware, known as the “Kilnhurst Old Pottery.” This was established about the middle of last century, soon after the Act for the navigation of the river Don was obtained. It was erected on the estate of the Shore family. It was held at the beginning of this century by a potter named Hawley, who had also a pottery at Rawmarsh. From him it passed into the hands of George Green (one of the family of the Greens at Leeds), by whom, on the 25th of April, 1832, they were purchased by Messrs. Brameld & Co. (subject to Mr. Shore, the owner, accepting them as tenants), at a valuation, Mr. Green to retain all the manufactured goods, copper plates, moulds, &c., and to reduce as much as convenient the stock of raw materials. In 1839 it came into the hands of Messrs. Twigg Brothers. It is now carried on by the surviving partner, Mr. John Twigg, who produces the usual varieties of earthenware, and has made some unsuccessful trials in china.

WATH-UPON-DEARNE.

The “Newhill Pottery” was established, about 1822, by Mr. Joseph Twigg, who up to that time had the management of the Swinton Old Pottery, by whom, in partnership with his sons John, Benjamin, and Joseph Twigg, it was carried on until about 1866, when it passed into the hands of Messrs. Binney and Matthews, who were shortly afterwards succeeded by Messrs. Dibb and Coulter. In April, 1872, the works were purchased by Messrs. Bedford and Richmond, the present proprietors. The goods produced are the ordinary useful classes of earthenware, both for home consumption and for export. In these all the usual services and articles of every-day use are made, both in white, in printed (in which some good patterns are employed), sponged and coloured varieties, and they are produced of the usual qualities.

WAKEFIELD.

A pottery existed on Wakefield Moor in the latter part of the seventeenth century, where vessels were made from clay found on the spot. This clay Houghton, in 1693, calls “The potters’ pale yellow clay of Wakefield Moor.”

POTOVENS.

The village of Potovens lies about two miles from Wakefield, and, as its name implies, takes its origin from some old potteries established at this place. Ralph Thoresby in his Diary (1702) says, under date of March 16th, “From Wakefield then by Allerthorpe (Alverthorpe) and Silkhouse to the Pott-Ovens (Little London, in the dialect of the poor people), where I stayed a little to observe not only the manner of their forming their earthenware--which brought to mind the words of the prophet, ‘As clay in the hands of the potter, so are we in the Lord’s’--but to observe the manner of building the furnaces, their size and materials, which are small, and upon the surface of the ground, confirming me in my former apprehensions that those remains at Hawcaster-rigg (Philosoph. Trans. No. 222) are really the ruins of a Roman pottery.” These works were carried on, about the time, or in the time, when Thoresby wrote, by one Caleb Glover. In his will, dated 29th of January, 1728, recorded in the Rolls Office, February 6th, 1729, this Caleb Glover “of Pott-Ovens, pott-maker,” bequeaths to his wife all his chattels excepting his “working tools and oven house,” and to his son Daniel Glover he leaves all his “working tools belonging to the trade of a pot-maker, and the pot oven.” He was succeeded at his death, in 1728–9, by this son Daniel Glover, who continued the works. No manufactory of the kind now exists at this place, and the name of the village itself is somewhat ambiguous, for it is occasionally known as Wrenthorp.

YEARSLEY.

The earliest, and, indeed, only potters of whom anything is known at this place, are members of the Wedgwood family, as recounted in my “Life of Josiah Wedgwood” (p. 583), where these works were first brought into notice. One branch of the Wedgwoods of Staffordshire settled at Yearsley, in the Yorkshire Wolds, at an early date, and commenced pot-making, which was carried on successfully for some generations. In 1682 John Wedgwood, of Yearsley, was “buried in woollen,” as were also in 1692 William Wedgwood, and in 1690 Isabell, who was wife of one of these. John, the son of this John Wedgwood, who died in 1707, was, I have reason to believe, the John Wedgwood whose name appears on the puzzle jug here engraved, with the date 1691. It is in the Museum of Practical Geology, in the Catalogue of which museum is an engraving of the opposite side from Fig. 888. It is of brown ware body, coated with green lead glaze, and has, round the body, the name “John Wedg Wood 1691. incised in writing letters.

The ware made by the Yorkshire Wedgwoods was the common hard brown ware, made from the clays of the district, and consisted, of course, mainly of pitchers, pancheons, porringers, and other vessels of homely kind. From researches I have made, I have succeeded in tracing out, with tolerable accuracy, a pedigree, of the Yorkshire Wedgwoods for seven or eight generations, ranging from the middle of the seventeenth century down to the present time, when their descendants are still living in the district, not as potters, but in other equally useful walks of life.

So well known were the Wedgwoods of this district, that one member of the family has been immortalised in song, thus:--

“At Yearsley there are pancheons made
By Willie Wedgwood, that young blade.”

For this interesting fragment of a Yorkshire ballad I am indebted

MM

to my late friend the Rev. Robert Pulleine, Rector of Kirkby Wiske.

“Pancheons” are thick coarse earthenware pans, made of various sizes, and used for setting away milk in, and for washing purposes. They are made in several localities, and besides being sold by earthenware dealers, are hawked about the country by men who make their living in no other way.

Several fragments of brown pottery have at one time or other been dug up at Yearsley, and, among the rest, a brown earthenware oven, green glaze, semicircular, open at top, with a hollowed ledge round the inner side about half way, and a flat bottom, having two handles at the sides, and between them a crinkled ornament, bearing some letters and the date 1712.

WORTLEY.

The works at Wortley, near Leeds, were established in 1795 by Mr. John Cliff, father of the present Mr. Joseph Cliff, the head of the now firm of “Joseph Cliff and Son,” for the manufacture of fire-bricks, for which the clay of the locality was considered highly valuable. In 1820 the manufacture of clay retorts was commenced and continued very largely until 1830, when it gradually died out, but was revived about 1850 and has continued to the present day one of the most successful branches of the trade--the retorts being considered to be both better and cheaper than those in iron. About 1847 the manufacture of drain-pipes was added, and these were, and still are, made at the rate of several miles per week; blast-furnace lumps being also largely made, and, owing to their excellent quality, extensively used. In 1866, terra-cotta was added to the other productions of this firm and is still carried on. About the same time white and coloured glazed bricks were made, and now form one of the staple trades of the works, as do plumbago crucibles, the manufacture of which was introduced in 1869.

The goods principally produced by Mr. Cliff are, in terra-cotta, vases, tazzas, and pedestals; figures and brackets; capitals, trusses, keystones, terminals, and other architectural enrichments; flower-boxes, baskets, and suspenders; chimney-shafts, and many other articles, some of which are characterized by extreme chasteness of design and by excellence of finish. In stoneware, tubes, pipes, and sanitary goods of every description; troughs, mangers, and sinks; enamelled retorts for gas, and chemical goods, &c. Fire and other bricks and tiles are also very extensively made, as are garden edgings, fire-backs, for which a patent has been obtained by the firm. Messrs. Cliff and Son were awarded a medal in 1862, and at the Paris Exhibition of 1867.

HEALEY.

A mediæval pottery existed here, in the parish of Masham, in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Its site was on the spot where Healey church now stands, the ground bearing the name of “Potters Field.” When the church was erected in 1848 considerable quantities of “wasters” and fragments of pottery were dug up by the workmen.

COLSTERDALE.

A pottery of a similar character existed at this place on a spot called “Potter’s Pit.” Here many vessels have been found, as well as the clay pits which had been worked for their manufacture. The place was, according to some old maps, a very ancient enclosure from the moor.[126]

END OF VOL. I.

PRINTED BY VIRTUE AND CO., LIMITED, CITY ROAD, LONDON.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] For articles upon this subject see the “Reliquary, Quarterly Archæological Journal and Review,” vol. ii.; Bateman’s “Ten Years’ Diggings;” Jewitt’s “Grave-Mounds and their Contents;” Sir John Lubbock’s “Pre-historic Times,” &c.

[2] Lib. III. c. 5, § ii.

[3] Warne’s “Celtic Tumuli of Dorset.”

[4] From Borlase’s “Nænia Cornubiæ”--a recently published and most excellent work on the early antiquities of Cornwall; it contains a vast amount of valuable information upon discoveries of Celtic pottery in that county, and enables me, through the courtesy of its author, to present these remarkable looped examples to my readers. This work is a valuable addition to archæological literature.

[5] Wright.

[6] “The Durobriva of Antoninus Identified and Illustrated.” 1828.

[7] Vol. i. p. 1.

[8] Vol. iv. p. 80, and vol. vi. p. 179.

[9] In the furnace of one kiln was a layer of wood ashes from four to five inches thick. The kiln, in a very perfect state, was covered in again undisturbed.

[10] “Collectanea Antiqua.”

[11] Artis.

[12] Sloane MSS., 958, fol. 105.

[13] “Illustrations of Roman London,” p. 79, and “Collectanea Antiqua,” vol. vi. p. 173.

[14] Conyers had previously described the red, lustrous (Samian) ware, and also the vessels termed Castor ware, with figures of animals and foliage, but which he did not find in the kilns.

[15] Stone ware, the kind imported from Cologne, was commonly called _Cullen_. In 1626, too, Abraham Cullen took a patent for the making of these stone pots. It is this kind of ware to which Conyers refers.

[16] Wright.

[17] “The New Forest, its History and Scenery,” by John R. Wise (Smith, Elder, & Co.), p. 214.

[18] “Archæologia,” xxxv. 91.

[19] Vol. ii. p. 36.

[20] Vol. v. p. 159, and vol. vi. pp. 52 to 67.

[21] This curious and unique potter’s mould is in my own possession.

[22] For a further account of this ware see p. 51.

[23] “Col. Ant.,” vol. v. p. 193.

[24] _Journal of the British Archæological Association_, vol. vi. p. 64.

[25] These three engravings are reproduced from Messrs. Buckman and Newmarch’s “Ancient Remains of Cirencester,” an admirable and truly useful work, to which I refer my readers for much information.

[26] It was also a common practice to place a tile as the covering of a cinerary urn.

[27] This is extremely interesting, as illustrating the custom of funeral garlands, which still obtains in some parts of our country.

[28] These glasses were made rounded or pointed at the bottom; thus they must have been filled while held, and could not without spilling have been set down till emptied. From these the name of “tumblers” takes its origin. For a drinking-cup and wine-pitcher, see our cut, Fig. 225, and for two of these “tumblers,” see Figs. 228 and 231.

[29] See notice of pot-works at King’s Newton on a later page.

[30] For an account of the pottery here discovered see the “Reliquary, Quarterly Archæological Journal and Review,” vol. ii. p. 216.

[31] Marryatt.

[32] See p. 79, _ante_.

[33] _Arch. Journ._, vol. iv. p. 29.

[34] Edwards.

[35] Vol. iii. p. 63.

[36] Page 182.

[37] Lansdowne MSS., 108, fol. 60.

[38] Probably written about ten years before printed.

[39] Page 98, _ante_.

[40] Not 1693, as stated by Chaffers, who has evidently not understood that the date given by Houghton is “old style.”

[41] Aubrey, in his “MS. Natural History of Wiltshire,” had also, a few years previously, thus spoken: “In Vemknoll, adjoining the lands of Easton Pierse, neer the brooke and in it, I bored clay as blew as ultra marine, and incomparably fine, without anything of sand, &c., which perhaps might be proper for Mr. Dwight for his making of porcilaine. It is also in other place, hereabout, but ’tis rare.”

[42] I perceive that Mr. Chaffers, in the 1870 edition of his work, says: “the discovery of the two patents granted to John Dwight ... now published for the first time, in treating on this matter,” &c.; but here he is in error. In 1863 Mr. Woodcraft printed abridgments of these very patents, and to these abridgments Mr. Chaffers is indebted for the knowledge he possessed of them. In 1864 I, too, gave notices of these patents, four years before the date of his publication.

[43] November.

[44] This is evidently the material for the white-brown and white gorges to be made of, which were to be decorated with incised lines.

[45] November.

[46] Guineas.

[47] Those entries which I thus indicate are all crossed out in the MS. Evidently they have been crossed out as the money was withdrawn.

[48] October, 1862.

[49] This collection afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. C. W. Reynolds, and has since been dispersed by auction.

[50] See page 90.

[51] Page 98.

[52] See “Stamford.”

[53] See under “Blackfriars Road.”

[54] It would seem from this that General Conway and Mrs. Dimer had figures, &c., probably their own modelling, fired privately.

[55] See “Runcorn.”