CHAPTER VII.

Hanley and Shelton—Miles—Phillips—Astbury—Baddeley—Edwards—Voyez—Palmer—Neale—Wilson—New Hall Works—Hollins—Keeling—Turner—Warburton—Clowes—Bagnall—New Hall Company—Richard Champion—Glass—Twyford—Mare—Twemlow—Old Hall Works—Meigh—Broad Street Works—Mason—Ashworth—Cauldon Place—Ridgways—Browne-Westhead & Co.—Trent Pottery—Keeling—Booth & Co.—Stafford Street Works—Church Works—Waterloo Works—Kensington Works—Burton Place Works—Clarence Street Works—Nelson Place—Phœnix and Bell Works——Bedford Works—Mayer Street—Cannon Street Works—Brewery Street—Percy Street Works—Taylor, Tunnicliffe & Co.—Biller & Co.—Albion Works—Eastwood Vale—Eastwood Works—Dental Manufacturing Company—Trent Pottery—James Dudson—Victoria Works—Charles Street Works—High Street—Eagle Works—Brook Street Works—Cannon Street—William Stubbs—Norfolk Street Works—Broad Street—Albert Works—Ranelagh Works—Swan Works—Mayer Street Works—Brook Street Works—Dresden Works—Bath Street Works—Waterloo Works—New Street Pottery—Castle Field Pottery—Henry Venables.

Miles.—In 1685 Thomas Miles, of Shelton, was a maker of white stoneware, of much the same kind as that imported from Germany and Holland. He is stated to have used the Shelton clay, such as had been used by pipe-makers, worked with other clays from Baddeley Edge.

Phillips.—Occasionally pieces are met with bearing the name of this potter, who was of Shelton.

Astbury.—Having already, in the first volume, spoken of the manner in which one of the family of Astbury discovered the use of calcined flint, and how the secret of the brothers Elers was surreptitiously obtained, it is not necessary to recapitulate it here. The Astburys were a very old and important family, as connected with the potteries, and one of them, Samuel Astbury, was uncle to Josiah Wedgwood (having married his father’s sister, Elizabeth Wedgwood), and in 1744 was one of the witnesses to the deed of his apprenticeship. The discoverer of the use of flint, it appears more than probable, was John Astbury, whose gravestone is in Stoke churchyard.The inscription on the stone is, “Here lieth the body of John Astbury, the Elder, of Shelton, Potter, who departed this life March 3rd, 1743, aged 55 years.” The use of flint was discovered about 1720, when he was about thirty-two years old, and the brothers Elers had previously left the district, about 1710. John Astbury had a son Joshua, of the Foley, who died 1780, as recorded on the same stone. Other sons were Thomas and Samuel. “John Astbury, the elder,” as recorded on his tombstone, lost a daughter Margaret, aged six, in 1728, and he had afterwards a second daughter of the same name, who married Robert Garner, potter, and was the mother of Robert Garner (father of Robert Garner, Esq., of Stoke), an eminent potter of Lane End (which see). Twyford, who shares the credit of having wormed out the secrets of the Elers, was a fellow workman, and afterwards a partner of Astbury, and was, either himself or by his descendants, connected with the family.

Baddeley.—Another of the old potteries of this place was carried on in 1750 by R. & J. Baddeley, who, at a somewhat later date, were famous for their blue ware. An interesting reference to these works will be found at page 137, vol. i., in connection with a workman named Doe. In 1794 Ralph Baddeley was in business in Shelton, and in 1796 the firm was “John & Edward Baddeley, Shelton,” as appears by their billheads of that date. The premises were afterwards used by Hicks, Meigh, & Co. (seeBroad Street Works). Of another potter of this name, William Baddeley, a notice will be found on a later page.

Edwards.—Warner Edwards had, last century, works in Albion Street, where he not only manufactured various kinds of ware, but made enamel colours for other houses. He died in 1753, and the premises were afterwards occupied by Messrs. J. & W. Ridgway. Mr. Thomas Daniel, an eminent potter, was his apprentice. During his last illness Warner Edwards handed his book of recipes to this Thomas Daniel, who was father of Spode’s clever enameller, Henry Daniel, who afterwards, in conjunction with his son Richard, was a successful manufacturer at Stoke and Hanley. It is worthy of remark that Edwards was a maker of enamel colours full twenty years before Wedgwood took out his patent for them in 1769.

Voyez.—This clever workman, a modeller, was employed byWedgwood about 1768, and “off and on” afterwards, but was a dishonourable and erratic character. He produced many clever imitations of Wedgwood and Bentley’s wares, and is said to have even stamped them with their name, which he forged, and sold the goods as their work. Occasionally his name, J. VOYEZ, is found impressed in the body of the ware.

Palmer.—John Palmer, of Bagnall, about 1680, was a salt-glaze potter, and was the one to whom the discovery of the use of salt was first told (see vol. i., page94). His son or grandson, Henry Palmer, was also a potter at Hanley (at the Church Works, in High Street, which he probably built), and was a successful imitator of Wedgwood’s productions. His Egyptian black, or basalt ware, and his jasper ware, are of great excellence and beauty and very closely resemble those of Wedgwood. He was noted for his piracy of these goods, and surreptitiously obtained Wedgwood’s new designs as they came out. His piracy was, however, after a time, carried too far, and an injunction was served upon him to restrain his making Etruscan painted vases in contravention of Wedgwood’s patent. This ended in a compromise: Palmer purchasing a share in the patent right. Intaglios and seals were also, about 1772–3, closely copied by Palmer, much to the annoyance and loss of Wedgwood and Bentley. In 1778 Mr. Palmer failed. Neale, who is said to have been a partner with Palmer so far as his London business was concerned, having arranged matters, the business at Hanley was carried on under the style of “Neale & Palmer” and “Neale & Co.” The mark of Mr. Palmer was in the same style as that of Wedgwood and Bentley—a circle with the name in raised letters (Fig.455). Some examples bear the name, stamped, “H. Palmer, Hanley, Staffordshire.” Palmer and Neale are said to have married two sisters, the daughters of Thomas Heath, of Lane Delph; and Mr. Pratt, of Fenton, a third daughter.

Fig. 455.

Neale.—Neale, the successor of Palmer, continued the business at Hanley, and produced many remarkably good and artistic articles in basalt, in jasper, and in other wares, and became, if possible, even a more close and clever imitator of Wedgwood’s wares than hispredecessor had been. In 1780 he appears to have had two partners, and to have carried on the business under the style of “Neale, Maidment, and Bailey,” and, later, as “Neale & Bailey” and “Neale and Wilson.” Usually, however, the firm was simply “Neale & Co.” Neale’s productions are much esteemed for the excellence of the body, the cleverness of design, and the sharpness of their execution. His cream-coloured earthenware, too, is of very good and fine quality. He was succeeded, I believe, by his partner Wilson. The marks used by Neale, so far as I have met with them, are “Neale & Co.,” sometimes in large and at others in small sized letters, impressed in the ware;NEALE & CO.in italic capital letters, also impressed; NEALE & CO. in Roman capital letters, also impressed; and “Neale & Wilson.” Another mark was, like Palmer’s, adopted, in form, from Wedgwood & Bentley. It is a circle, bearing the name in raised letters.

Fig. 456.

Fig. 457.

Wilson.—Robert Wilson, the successor to the firm of Neale & Wilson, continued the manufactory, but devoted himself mainly to cream-coloured earthenware, more or less decorated. His name is occasionally met with simply as WILSON impressed in the body of the ware, and occasionally in connection with a crown and the distinctive mark C (Fig.457). Robert Wilson was for a long time sole manager to Neales; and he, and the still more celebrated potter, Elijah Mayer, whose works and residence were just opposite the Church Works, married two sisters of the name of Mayer, but of different families. After the retirement or death of Wilson his brother David carried on the works (1802). It was afterwards D. Wilson & Sons; then Assignees of Wilson; then Phillips & Bagster. The Phillips of this firm was Jacob, brother to Jonathan Phillips, of Oxford Street, London, and uncle to the present Messrs. Phillips of Oxford Street. The firm was then Bagster alone for a while, after which the manufactory and house adjoining, where Bagster had resided, came into the market and were purchased by Joseph Mayer, son and successor of Elijah Mayer, whose works and residence, as I said before, were immediately opposite the road. The Church Works were then (1831) rented by William Ridgway & Co., Mr. Ridgway being Joseph Mayer’s cousin; and I should here mention that Job Ridgway, thefather of William and John Ridgway, had married the sister of Elijah Mayer, Joseph’s father. Joseph Mayer had in his employ a clever modeller named Leonard James Abington, who was also a fair chemist, and so much in favour with his employer that the latter placed him in partnership with William Ridgway, and he was the ‘Co.’ It was shortly after this (about 1833) that Joseph Mayer ceased potting, and let his works to William Ridgway & Co. in addition to the Church Works. He, however, retained some warehouses and stabling offices adjoining his residence, and had these crammed with some of the best of his stock, Egyptian black, cane, chocolate, brown, and Queen’s ware, some of the latter elaborately perforated and painted—an indescribable jumble of most beautiful pottery,—and there it remained locked up until his death in 1860. To return to the Church Works: the next addition to the firm, as soon as he was old enough to enter it, was William Ridgway’s son, Edward John, the title of the firm being changed to William Ridgway, Son & Co. In course of time William Ridgway retiring, the two manufactories were carried on by his son, Edward John Ridgway, and L. J. Abington, and it was styled Ridgway & Abington. It was ultimately Edward John Ridgway alone, and is now Powell & Bishop, Mr. E. J. Ridgway having built large works in Bedford Road called the Bedford Works.

TheNew Hall Worksare historically interesting as being the first in which porcelain was successfully made in Staffordshire, and to them, therefore, must be ascribed the introduction of that art into “the Potteries,” since become so famous and so extensive. In my account of the Bristol china works[51]I have shown how Richard Champion’s patent (who had purchased the patent right of William Cookworthy, of Plymouth,) was sold to a company of Staffordshire potters. This transfer of rights took place in or about the year 1777. The company consisted of six persons, viz., Samuel Hollins, of Shelton, Anthony Keeling, of Tunstall, John Turner, of Lane End, Jacob Warburton, of Hot Lane, William Clowes, of Port Hill, and Charles Bagnall, of Shelton. Of these six persons the following are brief notices:—

Samuel Hollins, a maker of the fine red-ware tea-pots, &c., from the clay at Bradwell, previously worked by the brothers Elers, wasof Shelton, and was the son of Mr. Hollins, of the Upper Green, Hanley. He was an excellent practical potter, and made many improvements in his art. He was afterwards one of the partners of the New Hall China Works, and his successors in the manufactory were his sons, Messrs. T. & J. Hollins.Anthony Keeling, of Tunstall, was son-in-law of the celebrated potter, Enoch Booth, having married his daughter Ann. Keeling succeeded Enoch Booth in his business, which he carried on successfully for many years. He erected a large house near the works, but in 1810, retired on a small independence to Liverpool, where he died a few years afterwards. He was the principal support of a small sect calling themselves “Sandemanians,” who had their place of worship in his works.John Turner, first of Stoke, and then of Lane End, father of Messrs. John and William Turner, was one of the most clever and successful potters Staffordshire ever produced, but one about whom little has been written. Many of his productions in black and in jasper, &c., are quite equal to those of Wedgwood, and, indeed, are often mistaken for the work of that great man. Mr. Turner’s cream ware, too, as well as his stone ware, of which his jugs are best known to collectors, rank high in excellence both of design and manipulation. In 1762 Mr. Turner commenced manufacturing at Lane End, and made many improvements in the art, and by the discovery of a vein of fine clay at Green Dock was enabled successfully to compete not only with other potters, but with Wedgwood himself. Mr. Turner is stated to have been deputed, with Wedgwood, by the Staffordshire potters, to oppose the extension of the patent to Champion.Jacob Warburton, of Hot, or Holt Lane, a man highly respected by every class, and who lived until the year 1826, was born in 1740, and passed his long and useful life as a potter, in which art he rose to considerable eminence in his early years in connection with his father and brothers, and later on his own account, and, in partnership with others, in the New Hall Works. He was the “last member of the old school of potters, the early friend and contemporary of the ‘father of the Potteries,’ Josiah Wedgwood, with whom he was for many years in the habit of confidential intercourseand friendship. Numerous are the benefits which the public derived from the united exertions of the talents and abilities of these two venerated characters, on every point connected with the local interest and prosperity of the Staffordshire Potteries.” Besides being one of the most clever and energetic potters, “he was a good scholar, and a man of pure taste; he had read extensively, and his memory was tenacious in a very extraordinary degree. He was equally distinguished for his moral and convivial habits of mind, for the soundness of his intellect and the goodness of his heart. He spoke fluently the French, Dutch, and German languages, and was learning the Italian up to the very period of his death.” He retained his activity of body and mind to the last, and, though eighty-six years of age, set out the day preceding his death to walk to Cobridge. He died while a friend was reading to him. Mr. Warburton, who was a Roman Catholic, was twice married. For some years before his decease he had retired from business, and died at his residence, Ford Green, in the parish of Norton.William Clowes, of Port Hill, was, it is said, only a sleeping partner in the concern.Charles Bagnall, of Shelton, who had previously been with Joshua Heath, was a potter of considerable experience, in the middle of last century. He was probably a son of the potter of the same name, who was a maker of butter-pots in Burslem in 1710–15. He became one of the partners in the New Hall Works a century ago. The family has been connected with Staffordshire for many generations.

Anthony Keeling, of Tunstall, was son-in-law of the celebrated potter, Enoch Booth, having married his daughter Ann. Keeling succeeded Enoch Booth in his business, which he carried on successfully for many years. He erected a large house near the works, but in 1810, retired on a small independence to Liverpool, where he died a few years afterwards. He was the principal support of a small sect calling themselves “Sandemanians,” who had their place of worship in his works.

John Turner, first of Stoke, and then of Lane End, father of Messrs. John and William Turner, was one of the most clever and successful potters Staffordshire ever produced, but one about whom little has been written. Many of his productions in black and in jasper, &c., are quite equal to those of Wedgwood, and, indeed, are often mistaken for the work of that great man. Mr. Turner’s cream ware, too, as well as his stone ware, of which his jugs are best known to collectors, rank high in excellence both of design and manipulation. In 1762 Mr. Turner commenced manufacturing at Lane End, and made many improvements in the art, and by the discovery of a vein of fine clay at Green Dock was enabled successfully to compete not only with other potters, but with Wedgwood himself. Mr. Turner is stated to have been deputed, with Wedgwood, by the Staffordshire potters, to oppose the extension of the patent to Champion.

Jacob Warburton, of Hot, or Holt Lane, a man highly respected by every class, and who lived until the year 1826, was born in 1740, and passed his long and useful life as a potter, in which art he rose to considerable eminence in his early years in connection with his father and brothers, and later on his own account, and, in partnership with others, in the New Hall Works. He was the “last member of the old school of potters, the early friend and contemporary of the ‘father of the Potteries,’ Josiah Wedgwood, with whom he was for many years in the habit of confidential intercourseand friendship. Numerous are the benefits which the public derived from the united exertions of the talents and abilities of these two venerated characters, on every point connected with the local interest and prosperity of the Staffordshire Potteries.” Besides being one of the most clever and energetic potters, “he was a good scholar, and a man of pure taste; he had read extensively, and his memory was tenacious in a very extraordinary degree. He was equally distinguished for his moral and convivial habits of mind, for the soundness of his intellect and the goodness of his heart. He spoke fluently the French, Dutch, and German languages, and was learning the Italian up to the very period of his death.” He retained his activity of body and mind to the last, and, though eighty-six years of age, set out the day preceding his death to walk to Cobridge. He died while a friend was reading to him. Mr. Warburton, who was a Roman Catholic, was twice married. For some years before his decease he had retired from business, and died at his residence, Ford Green, in the parish of Norton.

William Clowes, of Port Hill, was, it is said, only a sleeping partner in the concern.

Charles Bagnall, of Shelton, who had previously been with Joshua Heath, was a potter of considerable experience, in the middle of last century. He was probably a son of the potter of the same name, who was a maker of butter-pots in Burslem in 1710–15. He became one of the partners in the New Hall Works a century ago. The family has been connected with Staffordshire for many generations.

The company, being thus formed, purchased the patent right from Richard Champion, who removed into Staffordshire to superintend the establishing of the new works in that county. The first operations of the company were conducted at the works of one of the partners, Anthony Keeling, at Tunstall, the pottery formerly belonging, as just stated, to his father-in-law, Enoch Booth. Tunstall at this period was a mere small street, or rather roadway, with only a few houses—probably not more than a score—scattered about it and the lanes leading to Chatterley and Red Street. To this spot, the forerunner of the present large and important town, Cookworthy’s patent was brought, and here, with the experienced potters who had become its purchasers, and under the management ofChampion, who had produced such exquisite specimens of art at Bristol, and who had been induced, as a part of the arrangement, to superintend the manufacture, the first pieces of china made in Staffordshire, with the exception of the trial pieces of Littler, were produced. To accommodate the new branch of manufacture at Keeling’s pot-works some alterations of course became necessary, and thus it was some little time before the partners had the satisfaction of seeing anything produced under the patent-right which they had purchased. Among the partners, too, some disagreements arose, which ended in John Turner and Anthony Keeling withdrawing from the concern, and about 1780 Keeling is said to have removed to London. This withdrawal and disagreement caused the remaining partners to remove their work from Keeling’s premises, and they took a house in Shelton, known as “Shelton Hall,” afterwards the “New Hall,” in contradistinction to the “Old Hall,” celebrated as being the birthplace of Elijah Fenton, the poet. At this time Shelton Hall, which had been purchased in 1773 of Alice Dalton, widow, (who had inherited it from her brother, Edward Burslem Sundell,) by Humphrey Palmer, was occupied by his son, Thomas Palmer, as a pot-works. In 1777, Humphrey Palmer, intending a second marriage with Hannah Ashwin, of Stratford-on-Avon, gave a rent-charge of £30 on the Hall and pot-works, and a life interest in the rest of the estate, as a dower to that lady, reserving the right for his son, Thomas Palmer, the potter, to get clay and marl from any part of the estate for his own use. In 1789, Humphrey Palmer and his wife being both dead, the estate passed to their infant and only child, Mary Palmer, of whose successor’s executors, after some uninteresting changes, it was, as will be seen, ultimately purchased by the china manufacturers. At this time the works had been considerably increased, and they grew gradually larger, till, in 1802, they are described as three messuages, three pot-works, one garden, fifty acres of land, thirty acres of meadow, and forty acres of pasture, &c. About the time of the withdrawal of Keeling and Turner from the partnership, and the removal of the works from Tunstall to Shelton, Richard Champion left.

Fairly settled at New Hall, the company took for their manager Mr. John Daniel, who afterwards became a partner in the concern. The firm, as at first formed at Shelton, consisted of Messrs. Hollins, Warburton, Clowes, and Bagnall, but was afterwards carried on by Hollins, Warburton, Clowes, and Daniel. A considerable quantityof china was produced under the patent, but the most extensive and profitable branch of the New Hall business was the making and vending of the glaze called “composition,” made of materials to whose use the company had the exclusive right. This “composition,” made from the ingredients given in the specification printed in my account of the Bristol works, was supplied by the New Hall firm to the potters of the neighbourhood, and even sent to other localities, to a large extent and at a highly remunerative price. The ware made at this period was precisely similar in body and glaze to that of Bristol, to which, from the fact of some of the same artists being employed, it bears also a marked resemblance in ornamentation. In 1796 the patent, which had been enjoyed successively by Cookworthy, Champion, and the Staffordshire company, for a period of twenty-eight years, expired; but the company continued to make the hard paste china, and to supply “composition” (many potters finding it more convenient still to purchase instead of making that essential) to other manufacturers. In 1810, the firm—then consisting of four partners, viz., Samuel Hollins, of Shelton, Peter Warburton (son of Jacob Warburton), of Cobridge, John Daniel, of Hanley, and William Clowes, of Port Hill—became the purchasers of the New Hall estate for the sum of £6,800. In 1813 Peter Warburton died, leaving his share in the works to his father (Jacob Warburton) and John Daniel, as trustees under his will. In 1821, John Daniel died, and two years afterwards Samuel Clowes died also. John Daniel, I presume, was a son of Ralph Daniel, to whom the potters were indebted for discovering the system of making moulds in plaster of Paris instead of in brass, as previously done. Mr. Daniel is said to have visited the potteries and porcelain manufactories in France, and brought back with him a mould of cast plaster of Paris, which he showed and introduced to the English makers. The potters, however, knew so little of the process by which the mould was produced, that they got blocks of the gypsum of Derbyshire andcuttheir moulds in them, until it was explained that the gypsum must be first burnt and ground, and then cast. This circumstance is so graphically described in the “Burslem Dialogue,” given by Ward, that I transcribe the few following lines for my readers’ amusement:

“Telwright.—That wur a queer trick, wur it no’, o’ Rafy Dennil’s?“Leigh.—Dun yo’ meeon th’ cause o’ his gooin’ to France, or es ha he geet int’ th’ work hâisn theer, an seed’n aw ha they did’n wi ther ware?“Telwright.—Oi meeon him foindin’ aat i’ whot wey they mayd’n ther mewds (moulds).“Leigh.—That wur a fawse trick, for sartin, an o’ gret yewse to th’ treyde. Bu’ wot a blunder th’ mesters here mayd’n, when he sent ’em word abaat it!“Telwright.—Haa dust meeon, Rafy? Oi am no’ properly insens’t on’t.“Leigh.—Whoy, yo’ seyn as haa they geet’n th’ plaster-ston’ fro’ Darbyshur aw reet; bu’ then, i’stid o’ fust groindin’ it an’ bakin’ into dust loike fleawr, an usin’ th’ dust wi wayter for t’ cast on th’ moddills, as they cawn ’em, th’ mesters had th’ raw ston’ cut i shapes, an’ tryd’n for t’ mak things oof ’em; bu’ they cudna. Then at last he sent ’em full word haa to dew it.”

“Telwright.—That wur a queer trick, wur it no’, o’ Rafy Dennil’s?

“Leigh.—Dun yo’ meeon th’ cause o’ his gooin’ to France, or es ha he geet int’ th’ work hâisn theer, an seed’n aw ha they did’n wi ther ware?

“Telwright.—Oi meeon him foindin’ aat i’ whot wey they mayd’n ther mewds (moulds).

“Leigh.—That wur a fawse trick, for sartin, an o’ gret yewse to th’ treyde. Bu’ wot a blunder th’ mesters here mayd’n, when he sent ’em word abaat it!

“Telwright.—Haa dust meeon, Rafy? Oi am no’ properly insens’t on’t.

“Leigh.—Whoy, yo’ seyn as haa they geet’n th’ plaster-ston’ fro’ Darbyshur aw reet; bu’ then, i’stid o’ fust groindin’ it an’ bakin’ into dust loike fleawr, an usin’ th’ dust wi wayter for t’ cast on th’ moddills, as they cawn ’em, th’ mesters had th’ raw ston’ cut i shapes, an’ tryd’n for t’ mak things oof ’em; bu’ they cudna. Then at last he sent ’em full word haa to dew it.”

Hard paste porcelain continued to be made at New Hall until about the year 1810 or 1812, when the bone paste, which had been gradually making its way in the district, finally superseded it, and the company continued their works on the newer system. In 1825 the entire stock of the concern, which had for a short time been carried on for the firm by a person named Tittensor, was sold off, and the manufacture of china of any description entirely ceased at New Hall.

The works, after having been closed for a short time, were next opened as an earthenware manufactory by Mr. William Ratcliffe, who for a few years continued to make the commoner description of white and printed earthenware for ordinary home consumption. They next passed, in 1842, into the hands of Messrs. W. Hackwood & Son, who removed from their works near Joiner Square (now called the “Eastwood Pottery”) for that purpose; and seven years later, Mr. Hackwood senior having died, they were continued by the son, Thomas Hackwood. The goods were the ordinary descriptions of earthenware, principally for Continental markets, and bore the name of HACKWOOD impressed. In 1856, they passed into the hands of Messrs. Cockson & Harding, who continued to manufacture the same descriptions of goods, using for a mark C & H,late Hackwood, impressed on the bottom.

In 1862, Mr. Cockson having retired from the concern, the works were carried on by the remaining partners, Messrs. W. and J. Harding (Brothers), who did an extensive trade with Holland and Italy. Besides the cream-coloured and printed wares for foreign trade, druggists’ fittings formed a staple branch. Black, Egyptian, Rockingham, and tinted wares too were made. In 1872 Messrs. Harding gave up the business, when Mr. John Aynsley, china manufacturer, of Longton, purchased the back portion of the works and let it to its present occupiers, Messrs. Thomas Booth & Sons. The entire front of the New Hall Works was purchased by Mr. Henry Hall, metal mounter of jugs, tea-pots, &c., so that the manufactorybecame divided into two distinct properties. The portion occupied by Messrs. Booth having been burnt down has been rebuilt.

The productions of Messrs. Booth & Sons are the usual classes of ordinary earthenware in printed, painted, enamelled and gilt services; stone ware of good quality, in which a large variety of jugs and tea-pots are made; and jasper ware, in various ornamental articles. Among their shapes of toilet ware are the “Eldon,” “Globe,” “Alexandra,” and “Cottage;” and among their specialities in other goods are a self-closing hot-water jug, and a molasses jug, which are considered very successful.

Fig. 458.

Figs. 459 and 460.

Specimens of the hard paste of the New Hall Works are rare. They are almost entirely without mark; but sometimes there is an incised letter N as here shown. Fig.460exhibits a beautifully painted teapot. On one side is a group of children playing at blind man’s buff. They are dressed in the characteristic costume of the latter part of last century, but what renders the group peculiarly interesting is that in the background is a view of a pot-works, with kiln, which may probably have been a representation of the works when this interesting piece was made. On the opposite side of this teapot is an equally well painted group of a boy riding on a dog, and on the lid are also two little figure vignettes. This piece was made for, and belonged to, one of the partners, Charles Bagnall, from whose family it passed more than half a century ago, by marriage, to a Mr. Sutton, from whose own octogenarian hands it passed into my own. It was painted by Duvivier, a French artist of celebrity, who, as well as Bone, was employed at these works. Fig.459is a cup and a saucer of excellent form and twisted fluting. Fig.462is a jug, carefullypainted with birds, and bearing in front the initials S. D. This jug was made at New Hall for Sampson Daniel, a cousin of John Daniel, one of the partners, and is still in possession of his grandson, Mr. Daniel, of Hanley. The coffee cup and saucer (Fig.464) is a good and characteristic specimen; and Fig.463is one piece of a dessert service, belonging to Mr. Gray, which was made for Mr. Daniel, one of the partners. The porcelain made at New Hall principally consisted of tea, dinner, and dessert services, of various designs; but figures and busts, as well as vases, were also, to some extent produced there.

Fig. 461.

The later productions of the New Hall China Works, the soft paste, are also scarce, especially the marked pieces. The body is of good colour, and clear, and the decorations, especially the flowered examples, are remarkable for the brightness of their colours. The only mark used—and this was not, it appears, adopted until after 1820—is the one here shown.

Figs. 462 to 464.

Batt printing was practised at New Hall, and some remarkably good examples have come under my notice. In 1810, Peter Warburton, on behalf of the company of which he was a partner, is said to have taken out a patent “for printing landscapes and other designs from copper plates, in gold and platinum, upon porcelain and pottery.” The company was also among the first to adopt the improvements in printing on ware made by William Brookes in the beginning of the present century.

Glass.—Joseph Glass was a potter in Hanley, in the middle of the seventeenth century, and his works are stated to have been still carried on by him or his son, Joseph Glass, in the beginning of the eighteenth. “Joseph Glass ... clowdy, and a sort of dishes, painted with different coloured slips, and sold at 3s.and 3s.6d.per dozen.” A tyg bearing his name,IOSEPH GLASS S V H G X, painted round the body is in the Staniforth collection. Later on the works were carried on by John Glass, and from him passed to Samuel Keeling & Co., then to Meakin Brothers, and lastly to Taylor Brothers. The works were situated in Market Street, and have of late years been pulled down. This Samuel Keeling was great nephew to the patentee, James Keeling, mentioned on another page, who was an important manufacturer towards the close of the last century. Mr. Samuel Keeling, one of the patriarchs of the potteries, resided in partial retirement at Rocester. His firm, Messrs. Keeling & Adams, hold three mills at Hanley for grinding potters’ materials. One of them, the Eastwood Mill, consists of two old erections combined; one portion was a pottery worked by William Baddeley; another, the place erected by William Baddeley’s brother James for a silk mill. They also work the Botteslow Mill and the Albion Mill.

Twyford.—Twyford, the potter, already named, “commenced business near Shelton Old Hall, the seat of Elijah Fenton’s family; and the only known specimen of his manufacture,” says Shaw, “is a jug made for T. Fenton, Esq.,” then in the possession of his descendant. Mr. Twyford and his children and grandchildren continued as potters, and are now represented by Mr. Thomas Twyford, of the Bath Street Works.

In 1829 the manufactories named by Shaw were E. Mayer & Son; Job Meigh & Son (Old Hall); Dimmock & Co.; Toft & May; J. Keeling; W. Hackwood; T. Taylor; J. Glass; J. & W. Ridgway; Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson; H. Daniel & Sons; J. Yates; and Hollins, Warburton, Daniel, & Co. (New Hall).

MareorMaer, orMayer.—In the early part of the last century Hugh Mare and John Mare were potters at Hanley, and produced black and mottled wares. Later on were “Elijah Mayer” or “E. Mayer,” then “Elijah Mayer & Son,” and next “Joseph Mayer.”

Other potters in the early part of last century were William Simpson, Richard Marsh, Moses Sandford, and John Ellis. Several of these and later potters will be named in the course of the notices of existing manufactories. The potteries in Hanley and Shelton enumerated by Ward in 1843 are the Old Hall, the New Hall, Cauldon Place, William Ridgway and partners (six manufactories), Thomas Dimmock & Co. (three manufactories—formerly James Whitehead, J. and W. Handley, Edmund John Birch, and Christopher Whitehead); Samuel Keeling & Co., formerly John Glass; William Hackwood; Samuel and John Burton, formerly James Keeling; Samuel Mayer, formerly Sarah Brown’s; Thomas Furnival, junior, & Co., formerly Reuben Johnson’s; George Lomas, formerly Barlow and Hammersley’s; Joseph Clementson, formerly Elijah Jones’s (who was a potter about 1760); Yates & May, formerly John and William Yates, successors to their father; William Dudson, formerly William Rivers & Co.; William White, formerly Poulson’s; Henry Mills, then newly erected, and other smaller factories. Edward Phillips was also a manufacturer, and used his name in full, “Edward Phillips, Shelton, Staffordshire,” on his goods. Other names are J. Sneyd, Toft & May, and T. Taylor.

John Twemlowwas in business in 1797. An invoice in my possession is curious as showing some of the goods he made. These are “E Black Teapots, capt., festd.and figd.” (Egyptian black tea-pots, capped, festooned, and figured); “ditto upright, festd.and figd.”; “Oval E Black Teapots;” ditto “prest leaf,” “scollop top, festd.and figd.and banded”; “ditto, prest leaf and festd.and figd.and banded a’tip;” “ditto creams” to match; “ditto fluted;” “ditto coffee pots;” octagon tea-pots, with scollop top, and creams to match; oval plain tea-pots (all, so far, are in Egyptian black); “blue and enamelled handled cups and saucers, London size, sprig and border and vine pattern;” “bowls to match.”

Figs. 465 to 468.—1851—Exhibits of Mr. Meigh, Old Hall Works.

Fig. 469.

Fig. 470.

Old Hall Works.—The “Old Hall Works” are among the most interesting historically of any in the district, being built on the site of, or quite closely adjoining to, the “Old Hall” or Manor House of the Colclough family, who formerly held the lordship of Hanley, from about the time of Edward III. until about a century and a half ago, when it passed into the family of Bagnall. The “Old Hall” or “Manor House” has long since disappeared. The present works werebuilt about the year 1770, by Mr. Job Meigh, on what, I believe, was for a time previously a salt-glazed white stoneware pottery, carried on by a Mr. Whitehead. From 1770 until 1861 the works were uninterruptedly carried on by Mr. Job Meigh, his son, and his grandson (Mr. Charles Meigh), successively. In 1861 Mr. Charles Meigh transferred the business to a limited liability company, called “The Old Hall Earthenware Company,” by whom it is still carried on. The productions of the works include every variety of earthenware, from the most highly decorated to the ordinary blue printed and plain white wares, stone ware, jet ware, and parian. In earthenware all the usual dinner, tea, breakfast, dessert, toilet, and otherservices, and all other articles are made. In these the body is of the finest quality, hard and of remarkable durability, and the glaze is hard, clear, and faultless. Many of the patterns of dinner services are of great beauty and elegance. Especially among these are the “Nonpareil,” the “Verona,” and the “Koh-i-noor” shapes, which last is one of the most simply elegant yet produced. The form of the covered dishes is chaste and remarkably effective. They stand upon well-modelled feet, and the handles are formed of folds of ribbon held together by jewelled rings. This pattern is produced in various styles of decoration, one of the most pleasing of which is the convolvulus, exquisitely coloured after nature; the gilding is rich and substantial. Among the patterns produced by the staff of artists here employed are many others of surpassing beauty; the excellence of the painting, the gilding, the jewelling, and the enamelling, being very apparent in all, and the combination of printing and hand painting carried to great perfection. The transfer printing at the Old Hall Works is more carefully done, and the colours are clearer and brighter, than at most manufactories. Dessert services are made in every style of decoration; the richer and more costly varieties being equal to any produced by other firms, both in quality of body, in shape, in pattern, and in artistic treatment. Toilet services form a very extensive branch of the productions, and in these the firm is very successful. Among the more popular shapes are the “Buckle,” “Richmond,” “Perth,” “Exeter,” and “Mediæval,” and these are produced in every possible style of decoration whether in printing, painting, enamelling, and gilding. In stone ware, jugs of good and faultless form, and many other articles are produced. In black ware, water-bottles,elegant little table tea-kettles, spill cases, vases, and other articles are made, and are effectively decorated with dead and burnished gilding, enamelling, &c.

Figs. 471 to 473.—1851. Exhibits of Messrs. Meigh, Old Hall Works.

In Parian, vases, groups, busts, figures, and other ornamental articles are produced; the body is of good quality, and the modelling and finish of faultless excellence.

The marks of these works are the following:

Figs. 474 to 478.

In 1851 medals were awarded to Mr. C. Meigh, of these works, who has also received medals from the Society of Arts.

Figs.465 to 468are stoneware jugs, one of which bears a young bacchanal imbibing the juice of the grape, and Fig.470a candlestick adapted from a celebrated wine cup, the work of Cellini. Figs.471, 472, 473exhibit three admirable pieces, a clock case, a vase, and a drinking cup or tankard, all in statuary porcelain and of the finest possible style of art. The works are very extensive, including mills for grinding all descriptions of materials used in the manufacture of pottery, and are capable of supplying a large demand. The markets principally supplied are the home, French, German, Indian, American, Australian, and colonial.

Broad Street Works.—These works are interesting as being the place where the celebrated “Mason’s Patent Ironstone China,” as well as the “Ironstone China” of the old firm of Hicks, Meigh, and Johnson, in addition to most varieties of useful earthenware, are made. Mr. Charles James Mason, the inventor of this famous “Mason’s Ironstone China,” was a potter of great taste and skill at Lane Delph (now Middle Fenton), and in 1813 took out a patent for his process. The manufacture was at that time carried on under the styles of “G. M. and C. J. Mason” and “C. J. Mason & Co.” The partners were Charles James Mason and his brother George Miles Mason (father of Mason the artist) who in 1832 unsuccessfully contested the then new district borough of Stoke-upon-Trent, his successful competitors being Josiah Wedgwood and John Davenport, both, like himself, manufacturers in the district. After a time Mr. G. Mason retired from the concern, and it was then continuedby the patentee alone. The concern, however, for want of capital and from other causes, gradually dwindled down, until at length, in 1851, Mr. Francis Morley purchased the patent, the moulds, copper-plates (on which an immense amount of money had been expended), and entire business, from Mr. Mason, and removed the whole to his manufactory. Mr. Morley, who married a daughter of Mr. W. Ridgway, and was a partner in the firm of Morley, Wear & Co., succeeded to the old-established concern of Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson, which he carried on for a time under the style of “Ridgway & Co.” Afterwards Mr. Morley continued the business as F. Morley & Co. This manufactory was one of the oldest in the Potteries. It was in existence in the early part of the last century (probably established about 1720), and afterwards belonged to John Baddeley (in 1750 R. and J. Baddeley), an eminent potter, who died in 1772. Here, it is said, printing in oil was first practised. Messrs. Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson were among the most successful of the manufacturers in the district, and produced, among other wares, a remarkably good quality of ironstone china. Besides this, they were large manufacturers of earthenware of the ordinary and finer kinds, and of china. They and Mason were the only makers of ironstone china; and when Mr. Morley, who purchased their business, became also the owner of Mason’s process and of his moulds, plates, &c., he became theonlymanufacturer of ironstone ware. Having united the two manufactories, he removed Mason’s concern to his own works, where he entered with spirit into the manufacture, and soon established a lucrative business in “Mason’s wares.” In 1856 a first-class medal for this ware was awarded at the French Exhibition.

Mr. Morley retired from trade in 1859, having sold the entire business, moulds, copper-plates, &c., to the present owners, Messrs. Geo. L. Ashworth and Taylor Ashworth (brothers), who continue, to the fullest extent, the manufacture of the “Patent Ironstone China,” which they and their predecessor named the “Real Ironstone China” (of which patented articles they are theonlymakers) on their marks, and produce all Mason’s best patterns in services, vases, &c., made from his original models. They also manufacture Meigh’s ironstone, from his old moulds, &c. This manufacture has been very largely developed by Mr. Taylor Ashworth (who studied the processes under Mr. Morley, and is the resident acting partner), to whom the art is indebted for many improvements. This gentleman, whomarried the grand-daughter of Mr. Meigh, obtained by that alliance a vast deal of valuable information about the working of the stoneware; and it is a somewhat singular and pleasant circumstance to record, that after a lapse of half a century, or more, the manufacture may, through that marriage, be said again to be brought into the old family. Messrs. Ashworth, besides these great features of their trade, make table, toilet, dessert, and other services, and ornamental goods of the best quality, in every description of general earthenware. These they produce in immense quantities, both for home and foreign markets, about one-third of the whole being exported. The ordinary classes are principally exported to Russia, India, &c., and the more rich and costly to Havanna, Spain, and other countries. Sanitary wares are also produced, as well as insulators for our own and for foreign governments. The “Ironstone China,” from its extreme hardness and durability (for it is not easy to break even a plate) is specially adapted, in its simpler styles of decoration, for services used by large steamship companies, hotels, clubs, colleges, and other places where hard usage has to be undergone; while in its more elaborate and rich styles—and it is capable of the very highest degree of finish—it is eminently fitted for families of the higher ranks. No climate affects this ware. The usual style of decoration for dinner services is imitation of Oriental patterns—Japanese and Indian flowers, &c.—and the colours and gilding are rich in the extreme. In vases and jugs the handles are usually dragons and other grotesque animals. The Indian vases are of perfect form, of exquisite design, rich in their colours, and massive in gilding. They are priceless Art-treasures, and examples of Ashworth’s make deserve to be in every “home of taste.”

The marks used by Mason were principally the following:

MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINAMASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA ASHWORTHS.MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.PATENT·IRONSTONE·CHINAFigs. 479 to 483.

MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA

MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.

MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA ASHWORTHS.

MASON’S PATENT IRONSTONE CHINA.

PATENT·IRONSTONE·CHINA

Figs. 479 to 483.

Figs.479 to 481are printed, usually in blue, on the bottoms of the pieces, and Figs.482 and 483, impressed in the body of the ware.

After the patent passed out of Mason’s hands into those of Morley and Co., the mark was changed on more than one occasion. The principal one was

REALIRONSTONECHINA

impressed in the ware, and the royal arms, with supporters, crest, motto, &c., above the words IRONSTONE CHINA, printed on the bottom of the goods. The marks used by Messrs. Ashworth are, a circular garter, bearing the words “Real Ironstone China,” and enclosing the royal arms and the name “G. L. Ashworth & Bros, Hanley;” Mason’s mark (Fig.488) with the addition of the word ASHWORTHS; a crown, with the words ASHWORTH BROS. above, and a ribbon bearing the words REAL IRONSTONE CHINA beneath it; and the royal arms, with supporters, crest, motto, &c., and the words, IRONSTONE CHINA.

ASHWORTHREALIRONSTONECHINA.

Mason at one time produced what he called Bandana or Sandana ware. In this jugs and other articles were made, and were of a peculiarly striking and rich character in printing. The designs were complicated Indian foliage and grotesque animals, printed in red and black on a buff or other ground. The name I presume to have been taken from the famous Bandana handkerchief patterns. The mark, on a jug in my own possession, is a circular garter bearing the words, “Mason’s Bandana Ware, 1851,” and enclosing the words “Patentee of the Patent Ironstone China,” the whole surmounted by a crown. I have an impression of a similar mark, which for some purpose has evidently been altered to Sandana, and the date to 1801. As Mason’s patent was only granted in 1813 the alteration of this mark is very palpable.

Cauldon Place.—These works were founded about 1794, and the present manufactory built in 1802, by Mr. Job Ridgway, father of John and William Ridgway, the eminent potters; and were carried on by him and his sons until his death in 1814, under the style of “Ridgway & Sons.” The business was then continued by his two sons for some years, when a dissolution of partnership took place, the elder, John Ridgway, continuing the Cauldon Place Works, and the younger, William Ridgway, removing to a new manufactorywhich he had erected. Mr. John Ridgway continued, with various changes of partners, under the firm of “John Ridgway & Co.,” until 1855, when the Cauldon Place business passed into the hands of the present firm of “T. C. Brown-Westhead, Moore, & Co.”; Mr. Ridgway continuing his connection with it until 1858, when he finally retired. Mr. W. Moore had for many years previously been a valuable assistant of Mr. Ridgway. He died in 1866, and his brother, Mr. James Moore, succeeded to the management of the potting department, and was admitted into partnership in 1875; in that management he is assisted by his nephew, Mr. Frederick T. Moore, son of Mr. W. Moore. By the present firm the premises have been considerably enlarged, and another manufactory, “The Royal Victoria Works,” has been added, and this business, which formerly was confined to the home and American markets, extended to all foreign ports. Mr. Ridgway, who was “Potter to the Queen,” was awarded in 1851 a Prize Medal for the excellent quality of his ware, the jurors in their report stating that the firm was one of the most important in the Staffordshire Potteries. In 1862 the present proprietors also received a similar distinction. The productions of this manufactory are, and have uniformly been, the useful varieties of china and earthenware, of elegant forms, where applicable, and of various styles of decoration. Table, tea, breakfast, and toilet services in fine earthenware, printed or otherwise decorated, and in china, in endless variety of forms and patterns, are produced in immense quantities. The firm has also introduced improvements in druggists’ and perfumery goods, anti-corrosive tops, &c. Parian is also, to a small extent, produced. A great feature of the manufactory is sanitary ware, which is of the highest quality and reputation, and is made up in a variety of ways for cabinet fittings, plug-basins, lavatories, drinking-fountains, &c. In some of the largest articles, such as the “Toilettes Victoria,” which were used by the Imperial family and elsewhere in Paris, they have accomplished results which have never before been attained or attempted as to magnitude and finish of goods.

In 1843, Mr. William Ridgway, younger son of Job Ridgway, held, with his partners—composing three or four distinct firms of which he was head—six different manufactories in Hanley and Shelton. These were, 1st, a china manufactory in Hanley, formerly worked by George, and afterwards by Thomas, Taylor; 2nd, the earthenware works late belonging to Elijah Mayer & Son; 3rd,the pot-works formerly worked by Robert Wilson and next by Philips & Bagster, where ordinary earthenware and high-class chemical goods were made; 4th, the pot-works previously belonging to Toft & May; 5th, the “Bell Bank” works, in Shelton, formerly George Ridgway’s; and 6th, the old manufactory formerly belonging to John Baddeley (where printing with oil is said to have been first introduced) and next to Hicks, Meigh, & Johnson.

The goods produced at Cauldon Place embrace almost every description of ceramics. In earthenware all the usual table and toilet services, and useful and ornamental articles of every class are made. The quality is peculiarly good, hard, compact, and durable, and the patterns chaste and effective. They are produced in white and in every variety of printed, flown, enamelled, painted, and gilt patterns. In china, which in body and glaze is of the highest quality and of peculiar durability, an immense variety of services and articles are produced, and all are equally good in point of artistic decoration; the ground colours, whether rose du Barry or otherwise, of a remarkable purity and evenness, and the gilding, both dead and burnished, of unusual solidity. The same remarks apply with equal force to the dessert ware, some of the patterns of which are of surpassing loveliness and give evidence of the highest and most successful cultivation of decorative art. One special design has an outer rim, so to speak—for the plate itself is perfect without it—formed of loops of ribbon standing out clear from the beaded edge of the plate. This simple but graceful arrangement imparts a lightness and elegance to the service which are quite refreshing. Another has the rim formed of rays of pellets with a pleasing and novel effect; the tripod stands of the comports being, like the plates, exquisitely modelled and richly painted and gilt. Other patterns, notably one with a rich maroon ground and white bead edge, are, besides being exquisitely painted and gilt, enriched with jewelling. Vases of pure and severe taste in form, and displaying great skill and judgment in decoration, are also produced, as are likewise jugs of faultless excellence. Among other elegant articles Messrs. Brown-Westhead, Moore & Co., have a sandwich-box of white china; it is of wicker or basket work, with a fern leaf laid across the lid, on which rests the butterfly which forms the handle. At each corner hangs a piece of stem bent into a ring and tied into form with a ribbon. This ribbon and the butterfly being tinted in azure with enamel, and all the rest of pure white, give a purity and simplicityto this design that are very gratifying to the eye. Equal with this is an elegant basket, also in white china, which forms an attractive addition to table decoration. In services a novel idea has been introduced by this firm. The handle is formed of a double cord, doubled and passed through a loop, and either tied around the rim or formed into four knots as feet. The design is simple, but one of the prettiest and most striking yet introduced. A rose du Barry cup and saucer, with the cord and knots in white heightened with gold, and on embossed gold lines, is peculiarly elegant. Another admirable contrivance, which has been patented by Toft, and is produced at the works, is a self-acting lid or cover for hot-water jugs, &c. By this contrivance, the lid is hung on a pivot or axle, which fits into a notch on each side the mouth of the vessel, so that, being lightly hung, it opens whenever the jug is sloped for pouring, and closes again when held or set down in an upright position. It is, without exception, the best and most effective plan yet brought out, and one that cannot be superseded.

In 1876–7 Messrs. Browne-Westhead, Moore & Co. manufactured for the Prince of Wales a splendid and costly china dessert service, decorated with finely painted hunting subjects, no two pieces being alike. They also made for the Imperial family of Russia, richly decorated dinner, tea, dessert, and breakfast services, all of which orders were obtained in competition with the Sèvres, Dresden, and other Continental manufactories; and also services for the Emperor of Morocco, including punch bowls of extraordinary largeness. In addition to this it is interesting to record that they also made for H.R.H. the Duchess of Edinburgh a series of toilette services from designs drawn by herself.

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