Chapter II (1)

Liverpool Pottery--Shaw’s Delft Ware--Shaw’s Brow--Zachariah
Barnes--Sadler and Green--Transfer Printing--Wedgwood’s
Printed Ware--Drinkwater’s Works--Spencer’s Pottery--Richard
Chaffers--Reid and Co.’s Works--The Penningtons--Patrick’s Hill
Works--The Flint Pottery--Herculaneum Works--Warrington Pottery
and China--Runcorn--Prescot--St. Helen’s--Seacombe.

LIVERPOOL.

It would, perhaps, scarcely be expected that in such a busy, bustling, and gigantic place of enterprise and commercial activity as Liverpool--in the midst of shipping of every description, and surrounded by the most enormous and busy undertakings of one kind or other--we should successfully look for the full and perfect accomplishment of so quiet, so unostentatious, so peaceful, and so delicate an art as that of the potter. But thus it is; and Liverpool, which counts its docks by tens, its wharves and stores by hundreds, its shipping by thousands, and its wealth by millions--which can boast its half-million inhabitants, its overground and under-ground railways, and every appliance which skill and enterprise can give or trade and commerce possibly require--which has undertaken the accomplishment of some of the most wonderful and gigantic schemes the world ever knew, and has carried them out in that spirit of commendable and boundless energy that invariably characterises all its actions--has not been behindhand with its more inland and more modest neighbours in the manufacture of delicate porcelain, and of pottery of the most fragile nature.

It is more than probable that in mediæval times the coarse ware of the period--the pitchers, porringers, dishes, &c.--was made on the banks of the Mersey. The first mention of pottery, however, occurs in 1674, when the following items appear in the list of town dues:--

“For every cart-load of muggs (shipped) into foreign ports,
6_d._ For every cart-load of muggs along the coasts, 4_d._ For
every crate of cupps or pipes into foreign ports, 2_d._ For
every crate of cupps or pipes along the coast, 1_d._”

Fig. 1.]

_Shaw’s Delft Ware Works._--The earliest potwork of which there is any reliable information, appears to have been that of Alderman Shaw, situated at Shaw’s Brow, which afterwards became a complete nest of pot-works belonging to different individuals. At these works was most probably made the earliest known dated example of Liverpool delft ware. This is a large oblong-square plaque, unique in its size and decoration, which is preserved in the Mayer museum, and is shown on Fig. 1. It is of fine delft ware, flat in surface, and measures 2 feet 7 inches in length, by 1 foot 8 inches in depth, and is nearly three quarters of an inch in thickness. The body is composed of the ordinary buff-coloured clay, smeared, like what are usually called “Dutch tiles,” on the face with a fine white clay, on which the design is drawn in blue, and then glazed. The plaque represents the village of Great Crosby as seen from the river Mersey, and bears the name and date, “A WEST PROSPECT OF GREAT CROSBY, 1716,” on a ribbon at the top. In the foreground is the river Mersey, with ships and brigs, and a sloop and a schooner. The large ship in the centre of the picture has a boat attached to her stern, and another boat containing two men is seen rowing towards her, while on the water around them are a number of gulls and other sea-birds. On the sandy banks of the river are several figures, consisting of a woman with a basket on her arm, apparently looking across the river; another woman, also with a basket on her arm, walking with a long stick; a man also walking with a stick; a gentleman on horseback; and a man driving an ass before him. Beyond these figures rise the sandbanks, covered with long grass and heather, in which is a rabbit warren. The warren keeper’s house is shown, as are also numbers of rabbits. Beyond this again, in the open space, are a number of figures: men are seen galloping on horseback; women are carrying baskets; men are walking about, some with dogs, others without; and the intermediate space is pretty well studded with cattle, rabbits, and birds; a milkmaid milking one of the cows. Behind this, again, the ground is divided by hedgerows into fields, in which are cattle, people walking to and fro, and a milkmaid carrying a milkpail on her head. In the background is the town of Great Crosby, including the school-house and numerous other buildings, with long rows of trees, palings, gates, and other objects incidental to the scene. To the left of the spectator is Crosby windmill, still standing; and those who are best acquainted with the aspect of the place, as seen from the river at the present day, say that little alteration has taken place in the village; that this view, taken a hundred and fifty years ago, might well pass for one just executed.

Concordia Parua Res Crescunt

THIS SEAT WAS ERECTED BY
JOHN HARRISON AND
HENRY HARRISON OF
LEVERPOOLE 1722

Fig. 2.]

Another plaque, Fig. 2, is of a few years later date, 1722. It is affixed to the wall over one of the seats of old Crosby Church, and bears the arms of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, viz., _argent_, a royal tent between two parliament robes, _gules_, lined _ermine_; on a chief _azure_, a lion of England; crest, a Holy Lamb in glory, _proper_; supporters, two camels, _or_; motto, “_Concordia parvæ res crescunt._” Below is the inscription--“THIS SEAT WAS ERECTED BY JOHN HARRISON AND HENRY HARRISON, OF LEVERPOOLE, 1722.” This plaque measures sixteen inches on each side, and is nearly an inch and a half in thickness. It is of precisely the same kind of ware as the view of Crosby, and was doubtless the production of the same establishment. John and Henry Harrison are said to have been natives of Crosby, the grammar school of which village they erected and endowed, after having made large fortunes as merchants in London, the trust being held by the Company of Merchant Taylors. Mr. Mayer mentions that another of these curious plaques, or slabs, was attached to the front of a house at Newton-cum-Larten. It was circular, and bore the arms of Johnson and Anton impaled, with the date 1753. The Mr. Johnson whose armorial bearings it represents, was afterwards Mayor of Liverpool, and formed St. James’s Walk. He married Miss Anton, an heiress, and built the house where the slab was affixed, and which is believed to have been made and presented to him for that purpose by his brother alderman, Mr. Shaw, the potter. Another dated example is a mug in the Mayer museum shown on the accompanying engraving. It is decorated with borders in blue and black, and bears on its front the initials and date

P
I · R
1728

There were, it appears, two potters, at least, of the name of Shaw--Samuel Shaw, who died in October, 1775, and Thomas Shaw, who, I believe, was his son. The works were, as I have stated, at a place which, from that circumstance, took the name of Shaw’s Brow, a rising piece of ground on the east side of the rivulet that ran at the bottom of Dale Street. Here the early pot-works were established, and here in after years they increased, until the whole “Brow” became one mass of potter’s banks, with houses for the workmen on both sides of the street; and so numerous were they that, according to the census taken in 1790, there were as many as 74 houses, occupied by 374 persons, the whole of whom were connected with the potteries. At these works, Richard Chaffers, to whom credit is due for the advances he made in the manufacture of porcelain, was apprenticed to Shaw, and on the Brow he established his own manufactory. In 1754 the following very interesting little notice of these pot-works occurs in “The Liverpool Memorandum Book:”--

“The chief manufactures carried on here are blue and white
earthenware, which at present almost vie with China. Large
quantities are exported for the colonies abroad.”

Of about this period are some examples in the Mayer museum. Fig. 4 is a magnificent punch-bowl, measuring 17½ inches in diameter, and of proportionate depth. It is of the ordinary Delft ware; its decorations painted in blue. At the bottom of the bowl, inside, is a fine painting of a three-masted ship, in full sail, with streamer flying at the mast-head, the Union Jack at the jib, and a lion for a figure-head. This bowl was “made for Captain Metcalfe, who commanded the _Golden Lion_, which was the first vessel that sailed out of Liverpool on the whale fishery and Greenland trade, and was presented to him on his return from his second voyage, by his employers, who were a company composed of the principal merchants of Liverpool, in the year 1753.” The size of the bowl, and the excellence of its decorations and workmanship, show to what perfection Shaw had arrived in this manufacture. Among other articles besides mugs and punch-bowls, were char-pots; these, like the rest, are of Delft ware, and usually decorated with fishes around their outsides. One (Fig. 5) bears the initials I. B. Figs. 6 and 7 are two mugs, of the same body and glaze as the plaques already described. The larger one, a quart mug, is ornamented with flowers, painted in blue, green, and black, and bears the initials and date T. F. 1757, the initials being those of Thomas Fazackerley, to whom it was presented by its maker, a workman at Shaw’s pottery. In 1758, Mr. Fazackerley having married, his friend made the smaller of the two mugs, a pint one, on which he placed the initials of the lady, Catherine Fazackerley, and the date C. F. 1758 within an oval on its front. This mug is decorated with flowers, painted in green, yellow, and blue. Fig. 8 is one of a pair of cows, 4¾ inches in height; the upper half of each lifts off. They are excellently modelled, and painted in flowers, evidently by the same artist as the Fazackerley mugs, in yellow, blue, and green. Fragments of figures were, I believe, found in excavating on the site of Shaw’s pottery.

Another dated example of about this period is a fine Delft ware bowl, on the outside of which are painted birds, butterflies, and flowers, and on the inside a man-of-war, painted in blue and colours, with the inscription, “Success to the _Monmouth_, 1760.”

A most interesting matter in connection with the Delft ware works at Shaw’s Brow is the fact of a number of broken vessels being discovered on its site during excavations for building the Liverpool Free Library and Museum, in 1857. On that occasion an old slip-vat was found containing clay, which might probably have been prepared as early as 1680. The clay was of the common coarse kind, the same as the general body of Delft ware. Of this clay so discovered Mr. Mayer had a vase thrown and fired. Some of the Delft cups, &c., exhumed are shown on Figs. 9 to 14. These are all of a pinkish white; one only having a pattern painted in blue. Another example of Delft ware (Fig. 15), said to be of Liverpool make, in Mr. Mayer’s collection, is one of a pair of flower vases, of good design, with heads at the sides, and elaborately painted in blue. It is marked on the bottom--

W
D A

in blue. Another example (Fig. 16), said to be of Liverpool make, is the puzzle jug, and bears the very appropriate motto, painted in blue--

“Here, Gentlemen, come try y^r skill,
I’ll hold a wager, if you will,
That you Don’t Drink this liq^{r} all
Without you spill or lett some Fall.”

_Zachariah Barnes._--another maker of Delft ware in Liverpool--was a native of Warrington, and brother to Dr. Barnes, of Manchester. He was born in 1743, and having learned the “art, mystery, and occupation” of throwing, &c., commenced business as a potter in the old Haymarket, at the left-hand side in going to Byrom Street. He is said to have first made China, but afterwards turned his attention to Delft ware, and soon became proficient in the art. The principal varieties of goods made by him were jars and pots for druggists; large dishes, octagonal plates and dishes for dinner services; “Dutch tiles;” labels for liquors; potted-fish pots, &c., &c. Of the druggist’s jars, of which he made considerable quantities, it is said that the labelling in his time underwent no less than three changes from alterations in the pharmacopæia.

The large round dishes made by Barnes were chiefly sent into Wales, where the simple habits of their forefathers remained unchanged among the people long after their alteration in England; and the master of the house and his guest dipped their spoons into the mess and helped themselves from the dish placed in the middle of the table. Quantities of this ware were sent to the great border fairs, held at Chester, whither the inhabitants of the more remote and inaccessible parts of the mountain districts of Wales assembled to buy their stores for the year. The quality of this ware was very coarse, without flint, with the usual Delft-like thick tin glaze. But Barnes’s principal _forte_ lay in the manufacture of square tiles, then much in vogue. When these tiles were required to be printed, that part of the work was done by Messrs. Sadler and Green. So large was the sale of this article, that Mr. Barnes has been heard to say he made a profit of £300 per annum by his tiles alone, he having a monopoly of the trade. He also made large quantities of pots for potting char, which were sent to the lakes. The ovens were fired with turf brought from the bogs at Kirkley, and on the night of firing, the men were always allowed potatoes to roast at the kiln fires, and a certain quantity of ale to drink.

Fig. 17.]

The labels for different kinds of liquors, to which I have just alluded as being largely made by Barnes, were of various sizes, but generally of one uniform shape; the one engraved (Fig. 17) being five a and half inches long. Examples in the Mayer Museum are respectively lettered for Rum, Cyder, Tent, Brandy, Lisbon, Peppermint, Wormwood, Aniseed, Geneva, Claret, Spruce, Perry, Orange, Burgundy, Port, Raisin, and other liquors. They are of the usual common clay in body, faced with fine white slip and glazed.

The tiles made by Zachariah Barnes were usually five inches square, and about a quarter of an inch in thickness, and were used for lining fire-places, forming chimney-pieces, and other domestic purposes. Originally, the tiles were painted in the ordinary Delft style, with patterns of various kinds--flowers, landscapes, ships, groups, &c.--usually in blue, but sometimes in colours. A _plaque_ of Liverpool Delft, painted in two or three colours (in the possession of Mr. Benson Rathbone), is shown on Fig. 18; it represents a bird in a cage, the perspective of which is more curious than accurate.

_Sadler and Green._--The tiles to which I have alluded bring me to a very interesting part of the subject of this chapter. I mean the introduction of _printing_ on earthenware, an invention which has been attributed to, and claimed by, several places, and which will yet require further research to entirely determine. At Worcester it is believed the invention was applied in the year 1756, and it is an undoubted fact that the art was practised there in the following year, a dated example of the year 1757 being, happily, in existence.[2] At Caughley transfer-printing was, as I have already shown, practised at about the same period. At Battersea, printing on enamels was, it would seem, carried on at about the same date, or probably somewhat earlier. At Liverpool it is certain that the art was known at an earlier period than can with safety be ascribed to Worcester. A fine and exquisitely sharp specimen of transfer-printing on enamel, dated 1756, is in Mr. Mayer’s possession. It is curious that these two earliest dated exemplars of these two candidates for the honour of the invention of printing on enamels and earthenware, Liverpool and Worcester, should be portraits of the same individual--Frederick the Great of Prussia. But so it is. The Worcester example is a mug, bearing the royal portrait with trophies, &c., and the date 1757; the Liverpool one an oval enamel (and a much finer work of art), with the name, “J. SADDLER, Liverp^l. Enam^l.”

The art is said to have been invented by this John Sadler, of Liverpool, in 1752. In Moss’s “Liverpool Guide,” published in 1790, it is stated:--“Copper-plate printing upon china and earthenware originated here in 1752, and remained some time a secret with the inventors, Messrs. Sadler and Green, the latter of whom still continues the business in Harrington Street. It appeared unaccountable how uneven surfaces could receive impressions from copper-plates. It could not, however, long remain undiscovered that the impression from the plate is first taken upon paper, and thence communicated to the ware after it is glazed. The manner in which this continues to be done here remains still unrivalled in perfection.”

John Sadler, the inventor of this important art, was the son of Adam Sadler, a favourite soldier of the great Duke of Marlborough, and was out with that general in the war in the Low Countries. While there, he lodged in the house of a printer, and thus obtained an insight into the art of printing. On returning to England, on the accession of George I., he left the army in disgust and retired to Ulverstone, where he married a Miss Bibby, who numbered among her acquaintance the daughters of the Earl of Sefton. Through the influence of these ladies he removed to Melling, and afterwards leased a house at Aintree. In this lease he is styled “Adam Sadler, of Melling, gentleman.” The taste he had acquired in the Low Countries abiding with him, he shortly afterwards, however, removed to the New Market, Liverpool, where he printed a great number of books--among which, being himself an excellent musician, one called “The Muses’ Delight” was with him an especial favourite. His son, John Sadler, having learned the art of engraving, on the termination of his apprenticeship bought a house from his father, in Harrington Street, for the nominal sum of five shillings, and in that house, in 1748, commenced business on his own account. Here he married a Miss Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Mr. Parker, watchmaker, of Seel Street, and soon afterwards became engaged in litigation. Having got together a good business, his fellow townsmen became jealous of his success, and the corporation attempted to remove him as not being a freeman of Liverpool, and therefore having no right to keep a shop within its boundaries. Disregarding the order of removal, the corporation commenced an action against him, which he successfully defended, and showed that the authorities possessed no power of ejection. This decision was one of great importance to the trading community, and opened the door to numberless people who commenced business in the town.

Mr. John Sadler was, according to Mr. Mayer, the first person who applied the art of printing to the ornamentation of pottery, and the story of his discovery is thus told:--Sadler had been in the habit of giving waste and spoiled impressions from his engraved plates to little children, and these they frequently stuck upon pieces of broken pot from the pot-works at Shaw’s Brow, for their own amusement, and for building dolls’ houses. This circumstance gave him the idea of ornamenting pottery with printed pictures, and, keeping the idea secret, he experimentalised until he had nearly succeeded, when he mentioned the circumstance to Guy Green, who had then recently succeeded Mr. Adam Sadler in his business. Guy Green was a poor boy, but spent what halfpence he could get in buying ballads at the shop of Adam Sadler. Sadler liking the lad, who was intelligent beyond his age or his companions, took him into his service and encouraged him in all that was honourable. John Sadler having, as I have said, mentioned his discovery to Guy Green, the two “laid their heads together,” conducted joint experiments, and having ultimately succeeded, at length entered into partnership. This done, they determined to apply to the king for a patent; which, however, under the advice of friends, was not done.

The art was first of all turned to good account in the decoration of tiles--“Dutch tiles,” as they are usually called--and the following highly interesting documents relating to them, which are in the possession of Mr. Mayer, and to whom the antiquarian world is indebted for first making them public, will be read with interest:--

“I, John Sadler, of Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster,
printer, and Guy Green, of Liverpoole, aforesaid, printer,
severally maketh oath that on Tuesday, the 27th day of July
instant, they, these deponents, without the aid or assistance
of any other person or persons, did within the space of six
hours, to wit, between the hours of nine in the morning and
three in the afternoon of the same day, print upwards of twelve
hundred Earthenware tiles of different patterns, at Liverpoole
aforesaid, and which, as these deponents have heard and believe,
were more in number and better and neater than one hundred
skilful pot-painters could have painted in the like space of
time, in the common and usual way of painting with a pencil;
and these deponents say that they have been upwards of seven
years in finding out the method of printing tiles, and in making
tryals and experiments for that purpose, which they have now
through great pains and expence brought to perfection.

“JOHN SADLER.,
“GUY GREEN.

“Taken and sworn at Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, the
second day of August, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six,
before William Statham, a Master Extraordinary in Chancery.”

“We, Alderman Thomas Shaw and Samuel Gilbody, both of
Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, clay potters, whose
names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby humbly certifye that
we are well assured that John Sadler and Guy Green did, at
Liverpoole aforesaid, on Tuesday, the 27th day of July last
past, within the space of six hours, print upwards of 1,200
earthenware tiles of different colours and patterns, which is
upon a moderate computation more than 100 good workmen could
have done of the same patterns in the same space of time by the
usual painting with the pencil. That we have since burnt the
above tiles, and that they are considerably neater than any we
have seen pencilled, and may be sold at little more than half
the price. We are also assured the said John Sadler and Guy
Green have been several years in bringing the art of printing on
earthenware to perfection, and we never heard it was done by any
other person or persons but themselves. We are also assured that
as the Dutch (who import large quantities of tiles into England,
Ireland, &c.) may by this improvement be considerably undersold,
it cannot fail to be of great advantage to the nation, and to
the town of Liverpoole in particular, where the earthenware
manufacture is more extensively carried on than in any other
town in the kingdom; and for which reasons we hope and do not
doubt the above persons will be indulged in their request for a
patent, to secure to them the profits that may arise from the
above useful and advantageous improvement.

“THOMAS SHAW,
“SAMUEL GILBODY.”

“Liverpoole, August 13th, 1756.

“SIR,

“John Sadler, the bearer, and Guy Green, both of this town, have
invented a method of printing potters’ earthenware tyles for
chimneys with surprising expedition. We have seen several of
their printed tyles, and are of opinion that they are superior
to any done by the pencil, and that this invention will be
highly advantageous to the kingdom in generall, and to the town
of Liverpoole in particular.

“In consequence of which, and for the encouragement of so useful
and ingenious an improvement, we desire the favour of your
interest in procuring for them his Majesty’s letters patent.

“ELLIS CUNCLIFFE,
“SPENCER STEERS,
“CHARLES GOORE.

“Addressed to Charles Pole, Esq., in London.”

In the Mayer museum are found, among other invaluable treasures, some enamels on copper bearing impressions from copper-plates transferred to them, and having the name of “_J. Sadler, Liverp^l, Enam^l_,” and other examples of enamels and of earthenware with the names of “_Sadler, Sculp._,” or of “_Green_.” Messrs. Sadler and Green appear to have done a very profitable and excellent business in the printing on pottery. The process was soon found to be as applicable to services and other descriptions of goods as to tiles; and these two enterprising men produced many fine examples of their art, some of which, bearing their names as engravers or enamellers, are still in existence. Josiah Wedgwood, always alive to everything which could tend to improve or render more commercial the productions of his manufactory, although at first opposed to the introduction of this invention, as being, in his opinion, an unsatisfactory and unprofitable substitute for painting, eventually determined to adopt the new style of ornamentation, and arranged with the inventors to decorate such of his Queen’s ware as it would be applicable to, by their process. The work was a troublesome one, and in the then state of the roads--for it must be remembered that this was before the time even of canals in the district, much less of railroads--the communication between Burslem and Liverpool was one of great difficulty. Wedgwood, however, overcame it, and having made the plain body at his works in Staffordshire, packed it in waggons and carts, and even in the panniers of pack-horses, and sent it to Liverpool, where it was printed by Sadler and Green, and returned to him by the same kind of conveyance. The works of Sadler and Green were in Harrington Street, at the back of Lord Street, Liverpool, and here they not only carried on their engraving and transfer-printing for other potters, but made their own wares, and carried on an extensive business. It was here that they printed ware for Josiah Wedgwood. Of this connection of Wedgwood with the Liverpool works, Mr. Mayer thus writes:--

“About this time Josiah Wedgwood was making a complete
revolution in the art of pottery; and four years after Messrs.
Sadler and Green’s invention was announced to the world,
Wedgwood brought out his celebrated Queen’s ware. Dr. Gagerly
seizing upon the new style of ornamentation invented in
Liverpool, he immediately made arrangements with the proprietors
for decorating his hitherto cream-coloured Queen’s ware by their
process; and accordingly I find him making the plain body at
Burslem, and sending it in that state to Liverpool by waggon,
where it was printed, and again returned to him by the same
conveyance, except in the case of those orders that must go by
sea, fit for the market. This he continued to do until near the
time of his death, when we find by invoices in my possession
that ware was sent to Liverpool and printed by Mr. Guy Green
as late as 1794. A little before this time, his manufactory
at Etruria having been made complete in all other branches of
the art, and the manufacture at Liverpool being much decayed,
he engaged many of the hands formerly employed there: amongst
the indentures is the name of John Pennington, son of James
Pennington, manufacturer of china, dated 1784, to be taught the
art of engraving in aquatint, and thus he was enabled to execute
the printing on his own premises in Staffordshire, thereby
saving the expense of transport to and fro. In proof that Mr.
Wedgwood did this, I may quote a few passages from letters to
his partner, Mr. Bentley, in London. He says:--

“‘1776.--We wrote to Mr. Green in consequence of your letter,
acquainting that a foreign gentleman wanted a series of ware
printed with different landskips, but that he would not confirm
the order without knowing how many different designs of
landskips we could put upon them.’

“Mr. Green’s answer is:--

“‘The patterns for landskips are for every dish a different
landskip view, &c.; about 30 different designs for table, soup,
and dessert plates, and a great variety for various purposes of
tureens, sauce boats, &c.’

“‘1768.--The cards (address) I intend to have engraved in
Liverpool, &c.’

“‘1769.--One crate of printed tea-ware.’

“On the other hand I find letters from Mr. Green to Mr.
Wedgwood:--

“‘1776.--Your Mr. Haywood desires the invoice of a box of
pattern tiles sent some time ago. As I did not intend to make
any charge for them, I have no account of the contents. The
prices I sell them for to the shops are as follows:--For black
printed tile, 5_s._ per dozen; green vase tile, 4_s._ ditto;
green ground, 4_s._ ditto; half tiles for borders, 2_s._ 9_d._
ditto; rose or spotted tiles, 3_s._ 6_d._ ditto, &c.’

“‘1783.--I have put the tile plate to be engraved as soon as
I received your order for doing it; but by the neglect of the
engraver it is not yet finished, but expect it will be completed
tomorrow.’

“‘1783.--Our enamel kiln being down prevented us sending the
goods forward as usual.’

“‘1783.--The plate with cypher was done here. I think it would
be best to print the cypher in black, as I am much afraid the
brown purple that the pattern was done in would not stand an up
and down heat, as it would change in being long in heating.’

“‘1783.--For printing a table and tea-service of 250 pieces (D.
G.) for David Garrick, £8 6_s._ 1½_d._

“‘1783.--Twenty-five dozen half-tiles printing and colouring, £1
5_s._’

“The last invoice I find from Mr. Green is dated

“‘1793.--I am sorry I cannot make out the invoice you request of
goods forwarded you, April 4, for want of having received your
charge of them to me. Only directions for printing these came
enclosed in the package.’

“‘1798.--To printing two fruit baskets, 1_s._’

“This last item, of course, does not imply that Mr. Wedgwood
had the chief of his work done here, but no doubt the articles
were required to match some service previously sold, of which
Mr. Green had possession of the copper plates. In the following
year Mr. Green retired from business to enjoy the fruits of his
long and successful labours. The following memorandum, in the
handwriting of Mr. Sadler (from Mr. Sadler’s receipt-book in my
possession, date 1776), will give an idea of the extent of their
business:--

“J. Sadler and G. Green would be willing to take a young man
about 18 into partnership for a third of their concern, in the
printing and enamelling china, earthenware, tile, &c., business,
on the following conditions:--1st, That he advances his £200 for
the third part of the engravings and other materials necessary
for the business (N.B.--The engravings alone have cost above
£800). 2nd. That he should give his labour and attendance for
twelve months without any share of the profits, in consideration
of being instructed completely in the business. 3rd. After the
expiration of twelve months, the stock in ware should be valued
as low as is common in such cases, and he should immediately
enter as a partner into the profits of the whole concern
throughout, either paying the value for his third share of such
stock, or paying interest for it till it is cleared off. The
value of the stock is uncertain, being sometimes £200 more than
other time; but reckon it at the least may be about £600. The
sole reason of taking a partner is, J. Sadler not choosing to
confine himself to business as much as heretofore.”

Specimens of these early printed goods, bearing Wedgwood’s mark, are rare. The curious teapot (Fig. 19) will serve as an example. It bears on one side a well-engraved and sharply printed representation of the quaint subject of the mill to grind old people young again--the kind of curious machine which one recollects in our boyish days were taken about from fair to fair by strolling mountebanks--and on the other an oval border of foliage, containing the ballad belonging to the subject, called “The Miller’s Maid grinding Old Men Young again.” It begins--

“Come, old, decrepid, lame, or blind,
Into my mill to take a grind.”

The teapot is marked WEDGWOOD. In the possession of Mr. Beard, of Manchester, is a fine dinner service of the printed “Queen’s ware,” and other pieces of interest. In the Museum of Practical Geology is an example of this printing, the design on one side of which is a group at tea--a lady pouring out tea for a gentleman, and on the opposite side the verse:--

“Kindly take this gift of mine,
The gift and giver I hope is thine;
And tho’ the value is but small,
A loving Heart is worth it all.”

Examples of Liverpool made pottery, printed by Sadler and Green, are also of uncommon occurrence. In the Mayer Museum the best, and indeed only series worthy the name in existence, is to be found, and to these wares I direct the attention of all who are interested in the subject.

Of TILES printed by John Sadler and Guy Green, many examples are in existence--a large number, some bearing their names, being in Mr. Mayer’s Museum. Of these I also possess examples, and others again are found in other collections. They are remarkable for the sharpness of the engraving, the wonderful clearness and beauty of the transfers (the ink used being evidently far superior to that usually used at the present day), and excellence of the glazes. They are printed either in black, green, red, or purple, and the devices are extremely varied. It is interesting to add, that the same copper-plates which were used for decorating these Delft ware tiles were used also for ornamenting mugs, jugs, &c., of finer earthenware. Adam Sadler died on the 7th of October, 1788, aged eighty-three, and his son, John Sadler, the 10th of December, 1789, aged sixty-nine, and they were buried at Sefton.

* * * * *

_Drinkwater._--Another Delft ware pottery was situated at the bottom of Duke Street, in a small street which, from that establishment, took the name which it still retains, of “Pot-House Lane.” These works were conducted by Mr. George Drinkwater (who was born in the neighbourhood of Preston), brother to Mr. James Drinkwater, who, in the navy, acquired considerable riches and honour, and was ancestor of Sir John Drinkwater. The works were not, however, of very long continuance, and except they can be authenticated by evidence of descent, &c., the productions cannot be distinguished from those of the other potteries of the time. In the Mayer museum are some authenticated specimens of Drinkwater’s make, among which a large plate, twenty-three inches in diameter, is the most interesting.

* * * * *

_Spencer._--Another potwork of a similar kind was established by a Mr. Thomas Spencer, at the bottom of Richmond Row. These works were, however, carried on only for a few years, when Mr. Spencer removed to the “Moss Pottery,” near Prescot, where he continued to make coarse red ware for common use.

* * * * *

_Chaffers._--One of the most noted men connected with the ceramic art in Liverpool was Richard Chaffers, who made great advances in that art, and to whom his native town owed the introduction of the manufacture of china. He was the son of a shipwright of considerable eminence and means; was born in Mersey Street, Liverpool, in the year 1731, one year only after the birth of Josiah Wedgwood; and was apprenticed to Mr. Alderman Shaw, the Delft ware potter, of whom I have already spoken. About 1752 he commenced business on his own account, for which purpose he took, or erected, some small works on the north side, and nearly at the bottom of Shaw’s Brow, where he began making the ordinary kind of Delft ware of the period, the same as he had learned to manufacture during his apprenticeship. These productions he, as well as the other makers in Liverpool, in great measure exported to what were then our American colonies, now the United States of America. In the manufacture of this ordinary blue and white ware--the staple of the trade as it then existed--Chaffers continued for some years actively employed. From the Delft ware Chaffers passed on to the manufacture of fine white earthenware, and produced an excellent body, and an almost faultless glaze. The rapid strides which Wedgwood was making in the art served as a strong incentive to Richard Chaffers, and he determined to go on improving until his productions should equal those of his great rival. In this, of course, he did not succeed, but he _did_ succeed in making the pottery of Liverpool better than that of most localities. A dated, though not very early, example of Chaffers’s make is fortunately in the Mayer museum and is here engraved (Fig. 20). It is, Mr. Mayer says, “a pepper-box of the hour-glass shape,” painted in blue on a white ground, with a chequered border at top and bottom, and the name,

Fig. 21.]

round the waist. “So well known was the ware of Mr. Chaffers in the American colonies,” continues Mr. Mayer, “that it was a common saying of a person that was angry, that ‘He’s as hot as Dick’s pepper-box,’ alluding to those made by Mr. Chaffers, who exported a very large portion of his manufacture to the then English colonies.” But here I think he is decidedly in error. The example is, no doubt, a pounce-box or pounce-pot of the ordinary and not at all uncommon form, and was made and painted with his name and date so prominently, for use on his own desk. This pounce-box remained in the family of its maker until it was presented to Mr. Mayer by the grandson of Richard Chaffers, Mr. John Rosson.

In 1754 or 1755 William Cookworthy, of Plymouth, as I have already shown in my account of those works, discovered the “moor stone, or growan stone, and growan clay”--two important materials in the manufacture of china--in Cornwall, and in 1768 he took out his patent for the manufacture of porcelain from those materials. Chaffers having determined upon prosecuting researches into the nature of china ware, and of endeavouring to produce it at Liverpool, entered into a series of experiments, but finding that the “soap-stone” was essential for his purpose, and that the district where it was found was held by lease for its production, so as to keep the monopoly of its use to Cookworthy and those whom he might supply with it, he determined to try and seek the stone in a fresh locality. About this time a Mr. Podmore, who had for some years been employed by Josiah Wedgwood, and who was a good practical potter, and a man of sound judgment, left Wedgwood’s employment, intending to emigrate to America, and establish himself as a potter in that country. To this end he went to Liverpool, intending thence to embark for the colony. On reaching Liverpool, he called upon Mr. Chaffers, who was then the leading man in the trade at that place, and the result of their meeting was, that Mr. Chaffers finding Podmore to be a man of “so much intelligence and practical knowledge, induced him, by a most liberal offer, to forego his American project, and enter into his service.” This Podmore entirely confirmed the views of his new master as to the importance of getting a supply of the Cornish materials, and the two practical men together soon effected improvements in the then manufacture of earthenware, and laid their plans for future operations. Of the manner in which Chaffers set about his search, and the successful results at which he arrived, Mr. Mayer gives the following graphic account:--

“Mr. Chaffers’s object now was to come into the field with
Staffordshire _pari materiâ_, if I may be allowed that play
upon words. He therefore determined to set out for Cornwall
upon the forlorn hope of discovering a vein of soap-rock. The
operations would be most expensive and laborious, somewhat akin
to the process of boring for coal in our country. But where
was he to begin? On whose estate, was it to be found? What
description of men was he to employ? He was, however, in the
prime of manhood, of untiring energy, of fine address, and,
what was then necessary, an excellent horseman. He obtained
letters of introduction from the Earl of Derby, Lord Strange,
his eldest son, and other men of consequence in our county, to
some of the leading landowners in Cornwall, then attending their
duties in Parliament. In those days there were no mail-coaches
and railways to aid the weary traveller. A stout horse was the
only means of conveyance for a man of the higher class. Imagine
Mr. Chaffers, having taken leave of his wife, and his numerous
family and friends, mounted with a pair of saddle-bags under
him, containing a supply of linen, &c., a thousand guineas,--the
first instalment to pay the wages of the miners,--a brace of
pistols in his holsters, pursuing his journey to London. He
had made considerable progress in practical geology, though
the science was then but little cultivated. Having, during his
stay in London, obtained permission to bore for soap-rock from
more than one of the principal proprietors of mountain land he
judged most likely to yield it, he proceeded to Cornwall and
commenced operations. His first efforts were not successful.
He moved to another quarter with no better result; in a word,
he expended large sums of money without finding the wished-for
vein. Somewhat disheartened but not subdued, he determined to
return home, where his presence was much wanted. He did not,
however, intend to abandon, but only suspend, his operations.
He accordingly assembled all the miners in his employ, and
announced to them, to their great regret, his determination.
Previously to his departure, he scrupulously paid every man his
wages. One of them was missing: he was told the man in question
was gone up the mountain to try another place. He then left
that man’s wages in the hands of the ‘captain of the gang,’
and, mounting his horse with a heavy heart, took leave of the
men, to whom his animated and conciliatory manners had greatly
endeared him. The road to the nearest town, the name of which
I never could learn, was precipitous and rugged. A traveller
on horseback made so little progress, that a mountaineer on
foot, by taking a short cut over the rocky crags, could easily
come within earshot of him. After journeying for some time, he
thought he heard a faint cry in the distance; he dismounted,
and, ascending a hill, plainly saw the signal of discovery
flying from a lofty peak. It appeared that the man who had
separated from his fellow-miners, and pursued his researches
alone, had discovered a vein, and finding Mr. Chaffers had
left them, he hoisted the preconcerted signal, and pursued him
across the mountain with the pleasing intelligence, shouting at
times to attract the somewhat dispirited traveller’s attention.
Mr. Chaffers immediately returned, took the whole gang into
permanent employment, and obtained an ample supply of the
long-sought-for clay, which was conveyed to the nearest port,
and shipped thence to Liverpool. On its arrival the vessel
entered with its precious freight into the Old Dock, dressed
in colours, amidst the cheers of the assembled spectators.
During his absence, Mr. Chaffers had regularly corresponded
with his wife, but on his arrival in London on his return home,
the continued fatigue he had endured, together with anxiety of
mind, brought on a dangerous fever, under which he laboured for
several weeks. He was unknown at the inn where he stayed; but
the landlord, seeing that his guest--a very handsome man--had
the dress and demeanour of a gentleman, called in an eminent
physician, who sedulously and skilfully attended his patient.
The doctor examined his saddle-bags, and having ascertained
his name and address from the letters and papers therein,
communicated to his anxious wife all the particulars of his
illness, and concluded with the consoling intelligence that ‘he
could that day pronounce him out of danger.’ As soon as he could
travel, he delighted his family and friends with his presence in
Liverpool. No sooner had Mr. Chaffers arrived at home, than he
set to work with his new materials, and soon produced articles
that gained him much reputation, as was frankly acknowledged by
the great Wedgwood, to whom Mr. Chaffers presented a tea-set
of his china ware, and who, on looking at one of the cups,
admiring the body and examining the colours used in decoration,
exclaimed, ‘This puts an end to the battle! Mr. Chaffers beats
us all in his colours and with his knowledge; he can make
colours for two guineas which I cannot produce so good for
five!’”

William Cookworthy discovered the Cornish stone about the year 1754 or 1755, and Richard Chaffers must soon afterwards have prosecuted his researches in the same direction, for in December, 1756, we find him making his “porcelain or china ware” in considerable quantities, both for home sale and for exportation. This is shown by the evidence of _Williamson’s Liverpool Advertiser and Mercantile Register_ for the 10th of December, 1756, in which the following advertisement, discovered by Mr. Mayer, occurs:--

“Chaffers and Co., China Manufactory.--The porcelain or china
ware made by Messrs. Richard Chaffers & Co., is sold nowhere in
the town, but at the manufactory on Shaw’s Brow. Considerable
abatement for exportation, and to all wholesale dealers.
N.B.--All the ware is proved with boiling water before it is
exposed for sale.”

Liverpool may therefore boast of producing its china in 1756, if not in 1755, which is an early date in the annals of English porcelain manufacture. Not only, however, in this year did Richard Chaffers and Co. make china-ware, but another firm, that of William Reid and Co., held at the same time, as I shall presently show, the “Liverpool China Manufactory,” where they produced blue and white ware in considerable quantities.

Of the “china ware” made by Richard Chaffers some excellent examples are in the Mayer collection. They are unmarked, but remained in the possession of the family until they passed from Chaffers’s descendant to Mr. Mayer. One of these is the cup (Fig. 22.) It is, of course, of “hard paste,” and is of remarkably compact and excellent texture. It is painted, after the Indian style, with figure and landscape of good and rich colours, and is faultless in manipulation and in its glaze. Examples of Chaffers’s china are of exceeding rarity, but in the Mayer collection is a fine jug, bearing in front a portrait of Frederick the Great, with trophies of war on either side. This jug has the peculiarity of being painted inside as well as out. At the bottom, inside, is the Prussian Eagle in a border; in the spout is a trophy, and all around the inside of the vessel roses and other flowers are spangled about.

Chaffers carried on his works for some years, making both earthenware and china--the former largely, the latter but to a limited extent--but was suddenly cut off in the midst of his usefulness, and at an early age. It appears that Podmore, his foreman, being seized with a malignant fever, and beyond hope of recovery, sent a message to Chaffers, expressing “his wish to see his dear master once more before their final separation.” With this request Mr. Chaffers, who was a man of full and sanguine habit, most kindly but unfortunately complied, and at once visited the sufferer. The consequence was he took the fever, and soon afterwards died, and master and servant were interred near to each other in St. Nicholas’s churchyard. “This unfortunate event, by taking away both master and principal assistant, put an end to the prosecution of the trade, and was the commencement of the breaking up of that branch of the art which Mr. Chaffers had mainly brought to such a high state of perfection. A great number of the potters ultimately emigrated to America, whilst many of the best hands transferred themselves to the service of Mr. Wedgwood, or were hired by other Staffordshire manufacturers.”

* * * * *

_Reid & Co._--About the year 1753 or 1754, I believe, works were established in Liverpool by a Mr. William Reid, who afterwards took a partner and conducted his business under the style of Reid & Co. These works, in 1756, were called “the Liverpool China Manufactory.” In that year Messrs. Reid & Co. opened a warehouse in Castle Street, as is shown by the following announcement in Williamson’s _Liverpool Advertiser_ of November 19, 1756:--

“Liverpool China Manufactory.--Messrs. Reid & Co., proprietors
of the China Manufactory, have opened their warehouse in Castle
Street, and sell all kinds of blue and white china ware, not
inferior to any make in England, both wholesale and retail.
Samples sent to any gentlemen or ladies in the country who will
pay carriage. Good allowance for shopkeepers and exporters.”

In 1758, Messrs. Reid & Co. removed their warehouse to the top of Castle Hey, where, having largely increased their business, they occupied much more extensive premises. In the same year they were found advertising for apprentices for the painters in the china manufactory. In 1760, again, the works appear to have considerably increased, and “several apprentices for the china work” were advertised for, as well as “a sober, careful man, who understands sorting and packing of ware and merchants’ accounts.” Messrs. Reid & Co. continued in business many years, and produced, besides their “china ware,” a considerable quantity of the ordinary blue and white earthenware, most of which was exported.

* * * * *

_Pennington._--Another of the principal manufacturers of Liverpool pottery was Seth Pennington, of whose works, as well as those of his two brothers, a few words may well be here introduced. Of the Penningtons, three brothers were potters, and each had separate works. Their names were James, John, and Seth, and they were sons of John Pennington, a maltster, by his wife, formerly a Mrs. Johnson, of Everton. James Pennington, the eldest, had his works on Copperas Hill, but produced only the commoner varieties of ware, and being dissipated, and having done his youngest brother a serious injury by divulging a secret in the mixing of colour, he removed to Worcester, where he obtained employment, and where, at a later period, one of his sons painted a fine dinner service for the Duke of York.

John Pennington, the second son, had his pot-works at Upper Islington, which he carried on for some time. Ultimately he sold the concern to a Mr. Wolf, “who being a scientific man, made great improvements in the ware, but ultimately finding it did not answer, as the Staffordshire potters were making such rapid strides towards monopolising the whole trade, he gave up the manufacture, and the works were closed, never to be resumed.”

Seth Pennington, the youngest of the three brothers, it appears, had his pot-works in that nest of potters, Shaw’s Brow. His factories were very large, extending as far as Clayton Street, and were conducted with much spirit. At these works, Seth Pennington, besides the ordinary classes of earthenware then in use, and which he produced in large quantities both for home consumption and for exportation, made a remarkably fine kind of ware that successfully competed, for vases and beakers, with the oriental, both in its colour, its glaze, and its decoration. He also produced many remarkably large and fine punch-bowls both in Delft ware, in fine earthenware, and, latterly, in china. The largest size bowl I have met with was made by Pennington, at these works, and is here shown. This fine bowl, which is 20½ inches in diameter and 9 inches in height, is painted in blue on the usual white ground. Outside it is decorated with a landscape with two bridges in the foreground, on which men are standing to fish, trees, houses, church, &c., &c. Inside the upper part of the bowl is decorated with a series of six trophies, composed of flags, swords, cannons, drums, trumpets, spears, &c., divided from each other by different kinds of shot, viz., chain, crescent, arrow or triangle shell with fusee burning, cross or bar, and grape. In the centre, and filling up the inside of the bowl, with the exception of the border, is a group of ships and boats on the water, with the inscription beneath it--

Success to the Africa Trade,
George Dickinson.