Warrington.[6]

“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.

Fig. 22.

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 unfortunatelycomplied, 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’sLiverpool Advertiserof 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 weresons 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.

Fig. 23.—Part of Pennington’s Works.

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.”

Figs. 24 and 25.

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.

Figs. 26 to 30.

This bowl was painted probably about the year 1760–70 by John Robinson, who was apprenticed, and afterwards employed, at Pennington’s works. Robinson subsequently removed into Staffordshire, and ultimately presented the bowl to the Potteries Mechanics’ Institution at Hanley, where it is now carefully preserved along with his note—“John Robinson, a pot painter, served his time at Pennington’s, in Shaw’s Brow, and there painted this punch-bowl.” Several other bowls of Pennington’s make are in the Mayer collection. Of these, two of the finest are dated. One bears on its outside a design of trees, birds, and butterflies, painted in yellow and green, and on its inside a ship in full sail, with the words, “Success to the Monmouth, 1760.” The other has on the outside a soldier and a sailor, one of whom is seated on the stock of an anchor, and holding in one hand a sword, and in the othera punch-bowl; and the other sitting, Bacchus-like, astride a barrel. Between them is a chest, bearing the words “Spanish gold;” while inside the bowl is a painting of a ship in full sail, with the words, “1779. Success to the Isabella.” Of the fine earthenware vases and beakers illustrations are given on Figs.26 to 30. They form part of a set of chimney ornaments, purchased by Mr. Mayer from the only and aged daughter of Seth Pennington, by whom they had been treasured as examples of her father’s manufacture. In the making of blue colour, Pennington succeeded in beating all his competitors, and it is said that a Staffordshire manufacturer offered him a thousand guineas for his recipe. This he refused, “as it was a source of great profit to him, being kept so secret that none ever mixed the colours but himself.” His brother James, however, whom I have spoken of as being a dissipated man, persuaded him to tell him his secret, and soon afterwards, in one of his drunken bouts, told it to a pot-companion, who at once sold it to the Staffordshire house, and thus did Pennington a grievous injury. Seth Pennington took into partnership a Mr. Port, but the connectionwas not of long duration. Having turned his attention to the manufacture of china, he produced some excellent services and other pieces in that material. In china[3]he also produced punch-bowls, as well as services. Pennington is said to have used the following marks—

Figs. 31 and 32.

Christian.—Philip Christian was another of the famous Liverpool potters, and had his works also on Shaw’s Brow, but higher up than those of Pennington. They were on the site of what is now known as Islington Terrace. His house was at the corner of Christian Street, which was called after his name. At these works he produced octagonal and other shaped plates of tortoiseshell ware, as well as bowls and other pieces of the same material. He also made the ordinary earthenware of the time. Here, later on, he manufactured china[4]to a considerable extent, and, after the death of Richard Chaffers, is said to have become the leading potter in the place. Mr. Christian is said to have produced in china ware some remarkably good dinner, tea, and coffee services, as well as a number of vases and other ornaments. It is, however, impossible at present to authenticate his productions, so similar are they to those of other makers of the same time and place.

Patrick’s Hill Pot-house.—In 1760 the firm of Thomas Deare & Co. took the old Delft ware pottery at Patrick’s Hill, known as the “Patrick’s Hill Pot-house,” where they manufactured “all sorts of the best blue and white earthenware.”

The Flint Pot Works.—About the same time a Mr. Okell carried on “The Flint Pot Works,” which were situated at the upper end of Park Lane, near the Pitch House. Here he made blue and white earthenware, and afterwards the more fashionable cream-coloured ware. Mr. Okell died in 1773–74, and the works were then taken by Messrs. Rigg and Peacock, who immediately advertised theirintention of “making all kinds of cream-coloured earthenware, &c.” Mr. Rigg was, I have reason to believe, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, and a descendant of the celebrated Charles Rigg, the pipe-maker of that town. In the same year there was also a pot-house, called the “Mould Works,” carried on by Messrs. Woods & Co., near the infirmary, but where nothing of a finer description than jars, sugar-moulds (for sugar refiners), crucibles, chimney-pots, melting-pots, black mugs, and the like, were made.

In 1761 Liverpool was the scene of a strongly contested election between three rival candidates, viz., Sir William Meredith, Bart., Sir Ellis Cuncliffe, Bart., and Charles Pole, Esq., and the election was carried by the potters, one hundred and two of whom gave plumpers for Sir William. This is proved by the poll and squib book, which was published by John Sadler, and I allude to the circumstance for the purpose of introducing an engraving of one of the drinking-mugs made specially for the occasion by the “jolly potters” of Liverpool. This mug is of common white earthen ware, and has a rude border, with the words,

Ser WilliamaPlumper,

scratched in, in blue, in the soft clay before firing.

Fig. 33.

In connection with this election, a song written especially for the potters, and no doubt sung while this very mug was filled with strong ale, and passed round from mouth to mouth, is worth reprinting:—

THE POTTER’S SONG.

To the tune of “Ye mortals whom fancy,” &c.

ADDRESSED TO THE PLUMPING POTTERS.

Ye true-hearted fellows, free plumpers and men,Independent in Britain, how great is your claim!Not power without candour can soothe with a smile,Or forms of vain grandeur e’en fancy beguile.Chorus.And thus sings the parent of liberty’s cause,If my son you would be,If my son you would be,Like Britons undaunted, like Britons be free.Tranquillity, heightened by friendship’s supply,Degraded may censure, with malice stalk by!Auspiciously reigning, those plumpers, they say,Unluckily carry the spoils of each day.And thus, &c.Regardless of great ones, we live uncontrolled,We’re potters and plumpers, we’re not to be sold.No purchase but merit can cheapen such souls,Thus circled in friendship, we live by our bowls.And thus, &c.Regained, now preserve the true blessing of choice,And strike at the wretch that would blast a free voice;Thus rich in possession of what is our own,Sir William’s our member, Squire Charley may moan.And thus, &c.

Ye true-hearted fellows, free plumpers and men,Independent in Britain, how great is your claim!Not power without candour can soothe with a smile,Or forms of vain grandeur e’en fancy beguile.

Ye true-hearted fellows, free plumpers and men,

Independent in Britain, how great is your claim!

Not power without candour can soothe with a smile,

Or forms of vain grandeur e’en fancy beguile.

Chorus.

And thus sings the parent of liberty’s cause,If my son you would be,If my son you would be,Like Britons undaunted, like Britons be free.

And thus sings the parent of liberty’s cause,

If my son you would be,

Like Britons undaunted, like Britons be free.

Tranquillity, heightened by friendship’s supply,Degraded may censure, with malice stalk by!Auspiciously reigning, those plumpers, they say,Unluckily carry the spoils of each day.And thus, &c.

Tranquillity, heightened by friendship’s supply,

Degraded may censure, with malice stalk by!

Auspiciously reigning, those plumpers, they say,

Unluckily carry the spoils of each day.

And thus, &c.

Regardless of great ones, we live uncontrolled,We’re potters and plumpers, we’re not to be sold.No purchase but merit can cheapen such souls,Thus circled in friendship, we live by our bowls.And thus, &c.

Regardless of great ones, we live uncontrolled,

We’re potters and plumpers, we’re not to be sold.

No purchase but merit can cheapen such souls,

Thus circled in friendship, we live by our bowls.

And thus, &c.

Regained, now preserve the true blessing of choice,And strike at the wretch that would blast a free voice;Thus rich in possession of what is our own,Sir William’s our member, Squire Charley may moan.And thus, &c.

Regained, now preserve the true blessing of choice,

And strike at the wretch that would blast a free voice;

Thus rich in possession of what is our own,

Sir William’s our member, Squire Charley may moan.

And thus, &c.

Fig. 34.—Herculaneum Pottery.

TheHerculaneum Pottery,—the largest earthenware manufactory ever established in Liverpool,—was founded in the year 1796, on the site of some old copper works on the south shore of the river Mersey at Toxteth Park. The pottery had originally been established about the year 1793–4, by Richard Abbey, who took into partnership a Scotchman named Graham. Richard Abbey was born at Aintree, and was apprenticed to John Sadler, in Harrington Street, as an engraver, where he produced many very effective groups for mugs, jugs, tiles, &c. Of these, one of his best productions was the well-known group of the “Farmer’s Arms.”After leaving Sadler’s employment, Abbey removed to Glasgow, where he was an engraver at the pot-works, and afterwards served in a similar capacity in France, before he began business in Liverpool. Messrs. Abbey and Graham were successful in their factory at Toxteth Park, but Abbey growing tired of the business, they sold it to Messrs. Worthington, Humble, and Holland, and he retired to his native village, where he died in 1801, “at the age of eighty-one, after breaking a blood-vessel whilst singing in Melling Church, where, being a good musician, he used to lead the choir on a Sunday. He was buried at Walton.”

In the Mayer museum is a teapot of cream-coloured ware, with black printing, of Richard Abbey’s making. On one side is “The Farmer’s Arms,” with supporters quarterly: viz., 1st, a sheaf of corn; 2nd, two scythes insaltier, across them infesstwo flails, knitted together by a sickle; 3rd, a hay rake and hay fork insaltier, with a three-pronged fork, prongs upwards, inpale; 4th, a riddle and a bushel measure; crest, a plough; supporters, a dairymaid with a churn, and a mower with a scythe; motto, “In God is our trust.” On the other side is the appropriate verse;—

May the mighty and greatRoll in splendour and state;I envy them not, I declare it;I eat my own Lamb,My Chicken and Ham,I shear my own sheep, and I wear it.I have Lawns, I have Bowers,I have Fruits, I have Flowers,The Lark is my morning alarmer;So you jolly Dogs now,Here’s “God bless the Plow,”Long Life and content to the Farmer.

May the mighty and greatRoll in splendour and state;I envy them not, I declare it;I eat my own Lamb,My Chicken and Ham,I shear my own sheep, and I wear it.

May the mighty and great

Roll in splendour and state;

I envy them not, I declare it;

I eat my own Lamb,

My Chicken and Ham,

I shear my own sheep, and I wear it.

I have Lawns, I have Bowers,I have Fruits, I have Flowers,The Lark is my morning alarmer;So you jolly Dogs now,Here’s “God bless the Plow,”Long Life and content to the Farmer.

I have Lawns, I have Bowers,

I have Fruits, I have Flowers,

The Lark is my morning alarmer;

So you jolly Dogs now,

Here’s “God bless the Plow,”

Long Life and content to the Farmer.

On taking to these works, Messrs. Worthington, Humble, and Holland engaged as their foreman and manager, Mr. Ralph Mansfield, of Burslem. This person served them for some years, and afterwards commenced a small pottery on his own account at Bevington Bush, where he made only the commoner kinds of earthenware. These works ceased at his death. Besides Mansfield the foreman, the new Company engaged about forty “hands,” men, women, and children, in Staffordshire, and brought them to Liverpool to work in different branches of their art. As Wedgwood had chosen to callhisnew colony “Etruria,” the enterprising company determined on christeningtheircolony “Herculaneum,” which name they at once adopted, and stamped it on their wares. The buildings acquired from Richard Abbey were considerably enlarged, the arrangements remodelled, new ovens and workshops erected, houses for the workmen built, and then workpeople werebrought from Staffordshire. The story of the removal of this band of artisans is thus pleasantly told by my friend Mr. Mayer: “After enlarging and remodelling the works, and the little group of emigrants, who were chiefly from Staffordshire, being ready to start, their employers gave them a dinner at the Legs of Man public-house at Burslem, to which a few of their friends were invited. There they spent the parting night in jollity and mirth; and at a late hour, in conformity with an old Mercian custom, still prevalent in some parts of Staffordshire, the parting cup was called for, and each pledged the other to a loving remembrance when absent, and a safe journey and a hearty goodwill. Next morning at an early hour they started on their journey, headed by a band of music, and flags bearing appropriate inscriptions, amongst which was one, ‘Success to the Jolly Potters,’ a motto still met with on the signs of the public-houses in the Staffordshire pot districts. When reaching the Grand Trunk Canal, which runs near to the town of Burslem, after bidding farewell to all their relatives and friends, they got into the boats prepared for them, and were towed away amid the shouts of hundreds of spectators. Now, however, came the time for thought. They had left their old homes, the hearths of their forefathers, and were going to a strange place. Still the hopes of bettering themselves were strongest in their thoughts, and they arrived in Runcorn in good spirits, having amused themselves in various ways during their canal passage, by singing their peculiar local songs, which, as ‘craft’ songs, perhaps stand unrivalled in any employment for richness of material, elegance of thought, and expression of passion and sentiment, and it is to be regretted that many of them are daily becoming lost. Amongst other amusements was one that created much merriment—drawing lots for the houses they were to live in, which had been built for them by their employers; and as they had not seen them, nor knew anything about them, the only preference to be striven for was whether it should be No. 1, 2, 3, &c.

“At Runcorn they stayed all night, as the weather was bad and the river very rough, after one of those storm-days frequent in the Mersey, when the waters are lashed by the wind into such fury, that few boats dare venture out, and many who had never seen salt water before, were afraid to trust themselves upon it in a flat. Next morning, November 11, 1796, the wind had subsided. They embarked on board the flat, and at once, with a fair wind, got intothe middle of the Mersey, where it becomes more like an inland sea surrounded by lofty mountain ranges. This much surprised the voyagers, alike by its picturesque beauty and the vast extent of water. They had a pleasant voyage down the river, and arriving at their destination, were met on their landing by a band of music, and marched into the works amidst the cheers of a large crowd of people, who had assembled to greet them. Thus commenced the peopling of the little colony called Herculaneum, where a few years ago, on visiting the old nurse of my father, who had accompanied her son there, I heard the same peculiar dialect of language as is spoken in their mother district in Staffordshire, which to those not brought up in that locality, is almost unintelligible.”

From this it will be seen that the little colony was peopled in the middle of November, 1796. The works were opened on the 8th of December, on which occasion an entertainment was given to the workpeople, as will be seen from the following interesting paragraph fromGore’s General Advertiserof December 13th, 1796:—

“On Saturday last, the new pottery (formerly the copper works)[5]near this town was opened, and a plentiful entertainment given by Mr. Worthington, the proprietor, to upwards of sixty persons employed in the manufactory, who were preceded by a military band, from the works along the docks and through Castle Street. Two colours were displayed on the occasion, one representing a distant view of the manufactory. We have the pleasure to say, that these works are very likely to succeed, from their extent and situation, and will be of infinite advantage to the merchants of Liverpool.”

The first productions of the Herculaneum works were confined to blue-printed ware, in which dinner, toilet, tea, and coffee services, punch-bowls, mugs, and jugs, were the principal articles made; and cream-coloured ware, which was then so fashionable. At a later date, terra-cotta vases and other articles were produced, as were also biscuit vases, figures, &c.

Of the cream-coloured ware, or Queen’s ware, the examples which have come under my notice are of remarkably fine quality, and are as well and carefully potted as those of any other manufactory, scarcely even excepting Wedgwood’s own. In colour they are of a somewhat darker shade than Wedgwood’s and Mayer’s, and not of so yellow a cast as the Leeds ware. The collector will find some good examples of this ware in the Mayer Museum at Liverpool, which will serve for comparison with other makes. The Herculaneum works also produced some remarkably good jugswith bas-relief figures, foliage, &c, of extremely fine and hard body. These pieces, which rival Turner’s celebrated jugs, are marked with the nameHERCULANEUMin small capitals, impressed.

In terra-cotta, vases of good design, as well as other pieces, were produced. In the possession of Mr. Beard is a remarkably fine pair of covered vases, with boldly-modelled heads of satyrs for handles, and festoons on the sides. The vases are black, and the heads and festoons gilt. This fine pair is markedHerculaneum. In Mr. Rathbone’s collection is a wine cooler of vine leaves and grapes, of similar design, and of the same reddish colour as some of Wedgwood’s terra-cotta coolers. It is markedHerculaneum, impressed on the bottom.

In Blue Printing the Herculaneum Works produced many remarkably good patterns, and the earthenware bearing those patterns was of a fine hard and compact body, of excellent glaze, and the potting remarkably good and skilful. Some services had open-work basket rims, of similar design to those produced by Davenport. One service bore views of the principal towns in England, the names of which were printed in blue on the bottoms of each piece, which mostly bear the impressed mark ofHerculaneumin large capitals. Batt printing was also practised.

CAMBRIDGEFig. 35.

CAMBRIDGE

Fig. 35.

In 1800 the manufactory was considerably increased, and again in 1806 it received many additions. At this time, in order to augment the working capital, the number of proprietors was increased. Early in the present century china was made at these works, and continued to be produced, though not to a large extent, to the time of the close of the works. Of the china produced several examples may be seen in the Mayer museum. In 1822 it was ordered by proprietors at a meeting held in that year, that “to give publicity and identity to the china and earthenware manufactured by the Herculaneum Pottery Company, the words ‘Herculaneum Pottery’ be stamped or marked on some conspicuous part of all china and earthenware made and manufactured at the manufactory.” In 1833 the company was dissolved, and the property sold for £25,000 to Mr. Ambrose Lace, who leased the premises to Thomas Case and James Mort, who are said to have carried on thebusiness for about three years only. By these gentlemen, it is said, the mark of the “Liver” was introduced. About 1836 the firm of Case, Mort & Co. was succeeded by that of Mort and Simpson, who continued the manufactory until its close in 1841. During the time the works were carried on by Case, Mort & Co., a fine dinner-service, of which a portion is in Mr. Mayer’s museum, was made for the corporation of Liverpool. It was blue-printed, and had on each piece the arms of Liverpool carefully engraved, and emblazoned. In the same collection is part of another service of somewhat similar description, but with the earlier mark ofHerculaneumimpressed. The marks used at the Herculaneum Works at different periods appear to have been the word

HERCULANEUMHERCULANEUM

impressed in large capitals. The same in small capitals, also impressed. These have generally a number attached, which, of course, is simply the mark of the workman or of the pattern. The same name also occasionally occurs in blue printing. A crown, with the word Herculaneum in a curve, above it, impressed. A crown within a garter, bearing the word Herculaneum; impressed. (Figs.36and37.) The words in capitals, impressed,

HERCULANEUMPOTTERY.

HERCULANEUMFig. 36.

HERCULANEUM

Fig. 36.

HERCULANEUMFig. 37.

HERCULANEUM

Fig. 37.

The crest of the borough of Liverpool, a bird called theLiver, orLever, with wings expanded, and bearing its beak a sprig of the plant liverwort. Of this mark of the crest three varieties are shown on Figs.38 to 40; they are all impressed in the ware. An anchor, with and without the wordLiverpoolin a curve, above it (Fig.41), impressed. Another, and more imposing looking mark, has the name of the pattern (“Pekin Palm,” for instance) within a wreath of foliage, surmounted with the crest of Liverpool, on an heraldic wreath.

Figs. 38 to 40.

LIVERPOOL.Fig. 41.

LIVERPOOL.

Fig. 41.

Among the men of eminence who have been connected with the potteries of Liverpool, besides those named, were William Roscoe, the eminent Art-critic and biographer; Peter PeverBurdett, the engraver, who also worked for Wedgwood, and who introduced the process of transferring aquatints to pottery and porcelain; Paul Sandby, who assisted other manufactories; and other artists of note. It may also be well to say a word or two on those pieces which more than others are considered to be “Liverpool pottery,” and which, indeed, I believe are thought by many collectors to be the only kind ever made there. I allude to the mugs, plates, &c., of cream-coloured ware which are decorated with ships or with flags of different merchants, and signals. These were principally made at the works of Guy Green, in Harrington Street, of whom I have already spoken. Some pieces have the engraving of the lighthouse and flags, with the name, “An east view of Liverpool Light House and Signals on Bidston Hill, 1788.” The flags are all numbered, and beneath are references, with the owner’s names, to forty-three different flags. Another piece with the same date has forty-four flags and owners’ names, showing the addition of a new merchant in that year. Others again, without date, show fifty and seventy-five flags, and are therefore interesting as showing the rapid extension of the port. These pieces are very sharply engraved and printed in black, and the flags on some of the pieces are coloured.

This pottery was one of but short duration, but during the time it was in operation some very good ware was produced. The works were commenced about 1797 or 1798, by Messrs. James and Fletcher Bolton, who were brothers, and members of the Society of Friends. These gentlemen got their idea of starting an earthenware manufactory at Warrington from the fact that the great bulk of the raw materials from Cornwall, &c., used in the Staffordshire manufactories for the finer kinds of wares, was brought by sea to Liverpool, where it was unshipped and sent on again by boats on the Trent and Mersey Canal, and thus passed within a short distance of Warrington. Messrs. Bolton, with this knowledge, and with the further fact before them that the Liverpool potters drove a very successful trade, very shrewdly argued that if the Staffordshire manufacturers could make money, with the longer freightage from Ellesmere, they, at Warrington, with the shorter freightage, might hope for equal success. Soon after the establishment of the works they associatedthemselves with Mr. Joseph Ellis, of Hanley, in Staffordshire, who was practically conversant with every branch of the manufacture. Joseph Ellis was born in 1760, and was apprenticed to Wedgwood, as aturner. He is said to have been very clever and ingenious, of careful and sober habits, and of a plodding disposition. He married a daughter of Ralph and Ellen Simpson, of Hanley, a family then considered to be in very fair circumstances, from whom he derived considerable pecuniary help, which, together with his own thrifty habits, soon placed him in comfortable circumstances. Mr. Ellis became superintendent of the Tabernacle Independent Chapel Sunday-school, now said to be the oldest place of worship of that denomination left in the Potteries. As his family began to increase, he disposed of his property in the potteries, joined Messrs. Bolton at Warrington, and became the managing partner of the firm. He is said to have directed his special attention in all his spare time to the discovery of new colours, glazes, and bodies, and to have been very successful in jasper and enamelled ware. To the manager of some adjoining glass-works he also gave many useful recipes for colours. Mr. Ellis’s manuscript recipes for different glazes and colours required in the manufacture are still preserved in the hands of his descendants, and show him to have been a man of considerable practical knowledge and skill.

A number of potters were engaged at Hanley and the other pottery towns, and they, with their wives and children, forming quite a little colony, and their household goods, tools, and everything requisite for their use and for the trade they were engaged in, were brought by canal to Warrington, where kilns, sheds, and other buildings were erected. Here they commenced operations. The goods made at these works were intended principally for the American markets, and a good trade was soon established. The works continued to flourish until 1807, “when the embargo which was laid by the Americans upon all articles of British manufacture, and the subsequent war between Great Britain and America, in 1812, caused the failure, by bankruptcy, of the firm.”

In 1802, Mr. Ellis appears to have fallen into a weak state, and his share in the concern was given up on condition of an annuity being granted to himself and his widow and children, so long as the pot-works were carried on. With the failure of the works of course this arrangement ceased. He died at Warrington, and was buried in the old dissenting burial-ground at Hill Cliff, near that town.

The potters, with their wives and families, their household goods and tools, and all their other belongings, on the failure of the firm, returned to Staffordshire in the same manner as they arrived. During their stay at Warrington, they are described as having held little or no communication with the townspeople; marrying only and solely amongst themselves; preserving their own manners, customs, and amusements; and, beyond purchasing at shop or market the necessaries of life, keeping quite aloof from “the natives,” with a pertinacity so remarkable as still to be the subject of occasional remark. The expressions, “as proud as th’ potters!” and “as close as th’ potters!” are still to be heard, and serve to perpetuate the remembrance of the class-feeling which existed. They dwelt in “Pottery Row, Bank Quay,” on the bank of the river Mersey, and this name is the only local record which Warrington now possesses of this little colony of industrious workpeople. The factory itself has been successively converted into lime-kilns and an iron ship-building yard, and is now used as a chemical works.

Of the productions of the works Dr. Kendrick has got together a number of examples, which he has deposited in the Warrington museum. The wares produced were an ordinary quality of white ware; blue and white printed goods, and common painted goods; as well as an inferior description of black-jasper ware, and both gold and silver lustre. Besides these, a china ware is said to have been made to some extent, but of this, although the matter is generally believed, there is, perhaps, some little doubt. Among the examples in the Museum is a black teapot of somewhat curious character. It is of a hard, but somewhat inferior black ware, and is ornamented with raised borders and groups of figures—some of the borders, the figures, and the swan knob of the lid, being surface-painted in yellow, red, &c. The lid is attached by a hinge. Another curious piece is a “tobacco-jar, comprising within itself a drinking mug and a candlestick,” and also a small upright jar, capable of holding exactly half-an-ounce of tea,—the quantity, we are told, which was served out to each visitor to the tea-gardens of that day. The china ware attributed to these works is somewhat curious. It is of a kind of creamy colour, and of inferior quality, and is ornamented with raised borders, &c, and with groups of figures in blue. In general appearance it is more like earthenware than porcelain. Among the examples, stated by Dr. Kendrick to have been made at Warrington, is a lantern of Delft ware, ornamented with flowers inblue. There are, however, grave doubts as to this having been made in this locality. No mark is known. This distinction is believed to have been omitted in consequence of the jealous dislike of the Americans of that day to anything emanating from the mother country.

Warrington Pottery.—These works, in a locality where older ones had long existed, were established in 1850 in Dallman Lane, by the late Mr. John Welsby, who manufactured stoneware, Rockingham and black tea-pots, coarse red ware, terra cotta chimney tops (the construction of the “Dallman Chimney Pot” being very effectual for preventing smoky chimneys), ornamental garden vases, flower-pots, pancheons, &c. On his death, in 1863, the works passed into the hands of Mr. Thomas Grace, who, in 1871, removed them to their present site, on the Winwick Road. Mr. Grace’s productions consist of plain black ware of various descriptions, chimney tops, and plain and fancy garden vases, flower-pots, &c., which he supplies largely to the home markets. Most of the goods are made from clays found on the spot, and those of Arpley Moor, a mile or two distant from the works.

At Sutton, near Warrington, where some potteries for the manufacture of the commoner descriptions of wares are still worked, Dr. Kendrick is of opinion pottery was made in mediæval times. His opinion is founded on the fact of a fragment of a vessel in form of a mounted knight (of somewhat the same character as those already described in last volume) being said to be made of Sutton fire-clay. The fragment was found in Winwick Churchyard, and is preserved in Warrington Museum; fragments of similar ware are frequently dug up in the district.

Old Quay Pottery.—These works were carried on in 1869 by Mr. John Cliff who, in that year, removed from the Imperial Pottery, Lambeth, to this place, where he manufactures largely chemical stoneware and other goods. Mr. Cliff has taken out patents for an improved kiln, and for wheels for throwers, and lathes for turners, which have the reputation of being the most effective, simple, and valuable of any in existence.

The Moss Pottery.—Mr. Thomas Spencer, who last century established pot works at the bottom of Richmond Row, Liverpool (see Page 33) for the production of Delft ware, removed them to Prescot, where he founded the “Moss Pottery,” and made coarse brown ware from the native clays of the district. At his death the works passed into the hands of his son, who, in turn, was succeeded by his son, the present owner of the place, Mr. Thomas Spencer. White stone ware was afterwards manufactured to a large extent, but of late years the operations have been principally confined to sanitary ware, one of the most notable features of which are the socket drain pipes, for which Mr. Spencer holds a patent, dated April 10th, 1848. Sugar moulds for sugar refiners were at one time a staple production of the Moss Pottery, but these have been superseded by the iron moulds now in general use. Mr. Spencer, too, has taken out a patent (in 1861) “for improvements in apparatus for the manufacture of articles of earthenware, and of other plastic materials” by which saggars for burning earthenware in glass cisterns, crucibles, etc., are made by direct action of steam pressure. The principal goods produced are vitrified and glazed earthenware; sanitary and chemical wares; garden, sea-kale and other pots; black ware articles; filters; stoneware bottles, jars, pans, barrels, foot warmers, and other useful domestic articles.

Messrs. Case, Mort & Co., of the Herculaneum Works at Liverpool, had, at one time, a manufactory at St. Helen’s, where goods of common quality were produced. Messrs. Doulton, of the Lambeth Pottery, have also established a branch manufactory here for drain pipes, sanitary ware, &c.

Mr. Goodwin, a potter of Lane End, in Staffordshire, in 1851, established a pottery at Seacombe, on the opposite shore of the Mersey from Liverpool. He brought his workmen from Staffordshire, and fired his first oven in June, 1852. Of this pottery, now closed, Mr. Mayer thus wrote in 1855: “The ware manufactured here at present consists principally of earthenware and stoneware, chiefly of blue and colour printed ware, and, lately, parian has beenmade of a good quality. Here has been introduced one of the throwing tables for making hollow ware, cups, bowls, &c., by machinery, with the aid of which four boys who are quite unacquainted with the art can, in a day or two’s practice, produce as much work as by the old process of hand throwing could formerly be made by five men in the same space of time. The success of the undertaking may be considered fairly established, and a very large and increasing trade is now carried on with the east and west coast of South America, Turkey, California, and India. So admirably arranged are the buildings on this work that all the different parts work together. The ware after being fired is carried direct from the ovens into the bisque warehouse which adjoins them, and on the other side the coal is conveyed along a railway and deposited close to the mouths of the kilns. The whole may be looked upon as a model for all future buildings and arrangements for pot works. Indeed, so perfect is it that it has been visited by several manufacturers from France and Germany, who, by permission of Mr. Goodwin, have taken plans of it as a guide for new works to be erected in those countries.”

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