VICAR & MOSES.
Modelled by RALPH WOOD.
About 1750.
Marked R. WOOD, BURSLEM.
At British Museum.

Chats on Old Earthenware

BY
ARTHUR HAYDEN
AUTHOR OF "CHATS ON OLD CHINA," "CHATS ON OLD PRINTS," ETC.

WITH A COLOURED FRONTISPIECE
AND 150 ILLUSTRATIONS, AND TABLES
OF OVER 200 ILLUSTRATED MARKS

NEW YORK
FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY
PUBLISHERS
1909

(All rights reserved.)

TO
MY OLD FRIEND
WALTER EASSIE
WHOSE FINE ENTHUSIASM HAS BEEN
A STIMULANT, AND WHOSE EVER-READY
HELP HAS ADDED MANY ARTISTIC
TOUCHES TO THIS
VOLUME.

[PREFACE]

Five years have now elapsed since the publication of my volume, "Chats on English China," and in the interval a great number of readers have written to me suggesting that I should write a companion volume dealing with old English earthenware. It is my hope that this complementary volume will prove of equal value to that large class of collectors who desire to know more about their hobby but are fearful to pursue the subject further without special guidance.

It is a matter for congratulation in these days, when so many books have only a short life for one season, to know that, owing to the enterprise of my publisher in making the "Chats" Series for collectors so widely known, the volume dealing with old English China still retains its vitality, and holds its place as a popular guide to collecting with profit.

As far as is possible in the limits of this volume, the subject of old English earthenware has been dealt with in order to show how peculiarly national the productions of the potter have been. The collection of old English earthenware, in the main, is still within the reach of those who have slender purses. English china during the last decade has reached prohibitive prices, and there is every likelihood that old English earthenware will in the near future become of unprecedented value.

I have carefully refrained from confining my treatment of the subject to rare museum examples which are unlikely to come under the hand of the average collector. It is necessary to have the ideal in view, but it must be borne in mind that such specimens must always be ideal to the larger number of collectors. I have, therefore, without belittling the old potters' art, given considerable attention to the golden mean in the realm of old earthenware to be collected.

The two volumes—"Chats on English China," which mainly consists of an outline history of English china, with hints as to its collection, and the present volume, "Chats on English Earthenware," with a faithful résumé of the work of the old English potters—together form a record of what has been done by the potter in England, and are intended to be practical working handbooks for the collector of old English china and English earthenware.

The illustrations in this volume have been carefully chosen to illustrate the letterpress, and to enable readers to identify specimens that may come under their observation.

Lists of Prices accompany the various sections whenever it has been thought that they may be of practical value. I am indebted for the accuracy of these prices to that useful and authoritative quarterly publication, "Auction Sale Prices," which is a supplement to the Connoisseur, and forms the standard record in the collectors' world of the prices realised at auction.

A Bibliography of works on the subject has been given, in order that those who may wish to delve deeper may consult special volumes dealing in detail with special sub-heads of old earthenware.

I must here record my thanks for the generous aid I have received from possessors of fine examples who have willingly placed their treasures at my disposal, and by so doing have enabled me to present them as illustrations in this volume. To Colonel and Mrs. Dickson I am especially indebted for many specimens from their interesting collection. Miss Feilden has been good enough to select some typical examples from her fine collection of old earthenware of exceptional interest, and they are here reproduced by her courtesy, and to Mr. Richard Wilson I owe my gratitude for kindly allowing illustrations of some examples of Leeds cream-ware from his remarkable collection. Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis, with fine enthusiasm, has spared no trouble to enable me to present some of his rare examples, and Mrs. Herman Liebstein has kindly supplied some fine pieces from her collection. Mr. W. G. Honey has also kindly contributed several excellent illustrations of specimens in his collection.

The illustrations of specimens in the Victoria and Albert Museum are reproduced by permission of the Board of Education, and similar permission has been accorded me by the authorities of the British Museum to illustrate some of the rare examples in that collection. By a like courtesy I am enabled to give an illustration of an exceptional piece of marked Wincanton Delft, and some other examples from the collection at the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.

Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, of Etruria have afforded me the pleasure of illustrating some fine specimens in their museum, including examples of the celebrated service made for the Empress Catherine II. of Russia. I am especially indebted to their courtesy in giving me facilities for the reproduction of a fine series of photographs showing the various stages in the manufacture of earthenware, which illustrations should be of practical advantage to the student and of no little interest to the general collector. It should be mentioned that these illustrations have been specially selected to represent the stages through which a piece of old earthenware passed in the hands of the Staffordshire potters.

In regard to the illustrations of the rare examples of Leeds and other pieces decorated at Lowestoft, and for the latest details known of this class of ware, I have to acknowledge the particular kindness of Mr. Merrington Smith, fine art expert of Lowestoft, who is known in connection with the excavations conducted a few years ago on the site of the old Lowestoft china factory, and whose detailed research regarding that factory has dissipated many erroneous theories and thrown so much light on its history and achievements.

To Mr. Rudd, fine art dealer of Southampton, I am indebted for a considerable fund of information relating to some of the exceptional examples of old English earthenware which have passed through his hands, and I am under a similar obligation to Mr. S. G. Fenton, who has contributed some fine pieces as illustrations to this volume.

Mr. James Davies, of Chester, has given me access to his collection, and has added some fine examples which are here included as illustrations. Mr. F. W. Phillips, of Hitchin, has from his fine collection made a generous selection of noteworthy specimens.

Mr. A. Duncan, of Penarth, has included photographs of some especially fine Swansea ware.

By the kindness of Mr. Hubert Gould, I am reproducing some typical examples of transfer-printed jugs from his collection of old earthenware.

To other friends who have generously forborne with my inquiries, and lent me their practical aid in various directions in assisting me to prosecute my researches in attempting to arrive at definite conclusions in regard to points not hitherto determined, I tender my warm appreciation of their kindness.

I may say, in conclusion, that a good photographer is a treasure, and no trouble has been spared by Mr. A. E. Smith, the well-known art photographer, to render difficult subjects pictorially attractive in conditions exceptionally detrimental to his art.

ARTHUR HAYDEN.

March, 1909.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

GENERAL.

• Catalogue of British Pottery and Porcelain. By T. Reeks and F. W. Rudler. 1876. (Out of print.)
  (Formerly in the Museum of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street.)
• Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain. By W. Chaffers. 12th Edition. 1908.
• Ceramic Art of Great Britain. By Llewellyn Jewitt. 2 vols. 1878. 2nd Edition. 1 vol. 1883.
• English Earthenware (made during the 17th and 18th centuries). By Professor A. H. Church, F. R. S. 1905.
• History of Pottery and Porcelain. By J. Marryat. 1857.
• History of English Earthenware and Stoneware (to the beginning of the 19th century). By William Burton, F. C. S. (Cassell & Co.) 1904.
• Catalogue of British Pottery, &c., at the British Museum. By R. L. Hobson. 1903.
• Art of the Old English Potter. By M. L. Solon. Folio. 2nd Edition. 1885.
• Old English Pottery. By Mr. and Mrs. Frank Freeth. (Morgan, Thompson, & Jamison.) £2 12s. 6d. net.
• Catalogue of Pottery and Porcelain. (Willett Collection, at Brighton Museum.) 1905.
• Pottery and Porcelain. A Guide to Collectors. F. Litchfield. 1900.
• English Pottery and Porcelain. By E. A. Downman. 1896.
• History of the Staffordshire Potteries. By S. Shaw. (Hanley.) 1829. Reissue by the Pottery Gazette. 1900.
• The Chemistry of Pottery. By S. Shaw. (London.) 1837. Reissue by the Pottery Gazette. 1900.
• Catalogue of English Pottery and Porcelain. (Alexandra Palace.) By R. H. Soden Smith. Destroyed by fire. 1873.
• Transfer Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery. By William Turner. 1907.
• Examples of Early English Pottery. By J. E. Hodgkin and E. Hodgkin. 1891.
• Staffordshire Pots and Potters. By G. W. Rhead and F. A. Rhead. 1906.
• Catalogue of a Collection of English Pottery Figures deposited on loan by Messrs. Frank Falkner and E. J. Sidebotham at the Royal Museum, Peel Park, Salford. (Manchester.) 1906.
• Chats on English China. By Arthur Hayden. (T. Fisher Unwin.) 4th Edition. 1909.
  (The concluding chapters contain an outline history of English Earthenware.)

PARTICULAR.

Staffordshire.

• Pre-Wedgwood English Pottery. (Solon Collection.) Connoisseur, December, 1901; February, 1902.
• William Adams, an old English Potter. Edited by W. Turner. 1904.
• Josiah Wedgwood. By Miss E. Meteyard. 2 vols. 1865–6.
• Wedgwood and his Works. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1873.
• Memorials of Wedgwood. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1874.
• The Wedgwood Handbook. By Miss E. Meteyard. 1875.
• Josiah Wedgwood, Master Potter. By Professor A. H. Church. 1903.
• Old Wedgwood (1760–1795). By F. Rathbone. Folio; 65 plates in colour. 1896.
• Catalogue of Loan Collection of Wedgwood Ware, Liverpool Art Club. (Liverpool.) 1879.
• Josiah Wedgwood. By Llewellyn Jewitt. 1865.
• Handbook to the Tangye Collection of Wedgwood Ware. (Birmingham.) By F. Rathbone. 1885.
• Wedgwood, Josiah—his Catalogue of Cameos, Intaglios, Bas-reliefs, Busts, and Small Statues, with a General Account of Tablets, Vases, Escritoires, and other Ornamental and Useful Articles. (London.) 1787.
• Wedgwood, Josiah—his "Catalogue" (as above). Edited by Miss E. Meteyard. 1873.
• John Wesley Busts in Staffordshire Pottery. By C. S. Sargisson. Connoisseur, September, 1907.
• Catalogue of the Museum at the Etruria Works, Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons, Ltd. By Frederick Rathbone. 1909.
  (Mr. Rathbone has arranged the collection of Flaxman's designs, Wedgwood's original pattern models and experimental "trials.")

Bristol.

• Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol. By H. Owen. 1873.

Derby.

• The Pottery and Porcelain of Derbyshire. By A. Wallis and W. Bemrose. 1870.

Liverpool.

• The Art of Pottery, with a History of its Progress in Liverpool. By J. Mayer. (Liverpool.) 1873.
• The Liverpool Potteries. By C. T. Gatty. (Liverpool.) 1882.

Leeds.

• Old Leeds Pottery. By J. R. and F. Kidson. (Leeds.) 1892.
• Catalogue of Exhibition of Works of Art in the Cartwright Memorial Hall, Bradford. 1904.
• Old Leeds Ware. By Henry B. Wilson. Connoisseur, 1904.

Swansea.

• The Ceramics of Swansea and Nantgarw. By William Turner.

GLOSSARY

• Agate Ware.—Earthenware made either "solid" or in "surface" decoration to resemble the veinings of agate and other natural stones. The "solid" agate ware is produced by layers of different coloured clays being twisted together and cut transversely. The "surface" agate ware is splashed and grained decoration on an ordinary cream body.
• Astbury Ware.—A generic term applied to specimens in the manner of the Astburys, with raised floral decoration of white on a red unglazed body.
• Basalt.—Black Basalt, or "Egyptian" ware, is a solid black stoneware of great hardness, made by Wedgwood and by his school of followers.
• Biscuit.—This term is applied to earthenware and porcelain when it has been fired once. It is after the biscuit stage that decorations in colour are applied, and the specimen goes to the oven a second time (see [Chapter I.]).
• Body.—The body of a piece of earthenware is the clay of which it is composed irrespective of the nature or colour of decoration applied to its surface.
• China.—This term is applied to porcelain of all classes, whether true porcelain of hard paste, e.g., Chinese, Japanese, Meissen, Plymouth, Bristol, &c., or artificial porcelain of soft paste, e.g., Sèvres (pâte tendre), Worcester, Chelsea, Bow, Lowestoft, &c.
• China Clay.—The whitest clay known. Obtained in England from Devon and Cornwall. Used for porcelain, and also for light-coloured earthenware.
• China Stone.—Known also as Cornish stone; used in conjunction with the china clay for porcelain, and employed for stoneware bodies.
• Cream Ware.—This term applies to all light-coloured English earthenware from about 1750 to the present day. It varied in character from the Queen's Ware of Josiah Wedgwood, 1760, to the "chalk body" used by Wilson at the end of the eighteenth century. Cream ware of later date when broken shows a pure white body—a puzzling fact to beginners in collecting.
• Delft Ware.—A generic term given to earthenware with tin enamelled surface. True Delft ware was made at Delft in Holland after 1600, but it was successfully imitated at Lambeth, Bristol, Liverpool, &c.
• Earthenware.—All ware may be termed earthenware which when in the biscuit state is too porous for domestic use but requires a coating of glaze. As a rule, earthenware is opaque, differing in this respect from porcelain, which is translucent.
• Enamel Colours.—The colours applied either in painted or printed decoration over the glaze.
• Elers Ware.—A generic term used in regard to unglazed red stoneware with applied decoration in the style of the Elers brothers.
• Glaze.—The glassy coating applied to earthenware and porcelain.
• Lead-glaze.—The earliest form used in England was known as galena glaze, when sulphide of lead was in powder form dusted on the ware. Later liquid lead glaze was used, into which the vessels were dipped.
• Salt-glaze.—Common salt was thrown into the kiln, and the resultant vapour deposited a fine layer of glaze on the ware.
• Over-glaze.—This term applies to painted or printed decoration done after the glaze has been applied to the object—i.e., over the glaze.
• Under-glaze.—This applies to decoration, painted or printed, done before the glaze is applied to the object—i.e., when completed the decoration is under the glaze.
• Ironstone China.—An earthenware for which Mason took out a patent in 1813. The body contains a large proportion of flint and slag of ironstone.
• Jasper Ware.—A fine hard stoneware used by Wedgwood, and imitated by his followers. It is unglazed.
• Lustre Ware.—Earthenware decorated by thin layers of copper, gold, or platinum (see [Chapter XIII.]).
• Marbled Ware.—Ware of a similar nature to agate ware, having its surface combed and grained to imitate various natural marbles or granites.
• Marks.—In earthenware these makers' names or initials or "trade marks" were usually impressed with a metal stamp. Obviously this must have been done when the ware was in plastic state; therefore it is impossible to add such marks after the ware is made, and when present on old ware they are a sign of undoubted genuineness. Of course a copy can be made bearing an impressed mark.
  Painted or printed marks sometimes occur on earthenware usually of a later date. Such marks may be under-or over-glaze; the former are not likely to have been added after the piece has been made.
• Modern.—English earthenware may be termed "modern" when it is of a later date than 1850. Though, as is indicated in Chapter XIV., the modern renaissance in earthenware should be of especial interest to collectors.
• Over-glaze.—See [Glaze].
• Oven.—The "oven," as the potter terms it, is a specially-built furnace in which the "saggers" containing the ware are placed during the firing (see [Chapter I.]).
• Paste.—This is another term for the "body" of the ware.
• "Resist" Pattern.—A term in silver lustre ware. For detailed description see[ Chapter XIII.]
• Sagger.—A fire-clay box in which the earthenware is placed when being fired in the oven (see Illustration, [Chapter I.]).
• Salt-glaze.—See [Glaze], and see[ Chapter VI.]
• Semi-china. Semi-porcelain.—Terms applied to early nineteenth century earthenware having a very white or chalk body, and having the outward appearance of china or porcelain. Strongly imitative and false to the true qualities of earthenware. It is always opaque. Sometimes it is naïvely termed "opaque china."
• Slip.—A thick semi-solid fluid composed of clay and water.
• Spurs. Spur mark.—During the glazing of earthenware "spurs" or "stilts" of fire-clay are used to support the articles and keep them from touching each other. "Spur" or "cockspur" marks are found on the ware where it has rested on these supports (see Chapter IX., [p. 298]).
• Stoneware.—A variety of pottery distinct from earthenware, and more nearly approaching porcelain in its characteristics. Earthenware, as has been shown, needs a coating of glaze to protect its porous defects. Stoneware is a hard body needing no glaze. Glazed stoneware is frequently found, and the glaze employed is usually salt.
• Throwing.—The art of fashioning shapes on the potter's wheel (see Illustration, [Chapter I.]).
• Transfer Printing.—Printing employed as a decoration on ware by means of paper which had received a design from a copper-plate, and was transferred to the surface of the ware (see [Chapter X.]).
• Under-glaze.—See [Glaze].
• "Wedgwood."—This has become a generic term for one or two classes of ware—e.g., jasper and black basalt, which were made by most of the potters succeeding Josiah Wedgwood. The word has, in common with Boule and Chippendale become popularly and erroneously used.
• Whieldon Ware.—A generic term covering all classes of ware of a mottled, cloudy, or splashed character—e.g., tortoiseshell plates, vases, figures, &c.

I
HOW TO
COLLECT:
A CHAPTER
FOR
BEGINNERS

Chats on Old Earthenware

CHAPTER I
HOW TO COLLECT: A CHAPTER FOR BEGINNERS

Reasons for collecting—What is earthenware?—How earthenware is made—What to collect—Method of studying old earthenware—Forgeries—Table for use in identifying old English earthenware.

To attempt to advance reasons for collecting old English earthenware is seemingly to commence this volume with an apology on behalf of collectors. But there are so many persons ready to throw a stone at others who betray the possession of hobbies differing from their own, that it is necessary to state that the reasonable collection of old earthenware is based on sound premisses.

Similar reasons may be given for the collection of old English earthenware to those that may be advanced for the collection of old English china. Earthenware may be approached mainly from the æsthetic side and studied with a view to show the development of decorative art in this country and the foreign influences which have contributed to its evolution. The art of the old English potter is of especial interest to students of ceramic art, as many processes were invented in this country, and, in spite of periods of decadence, English earthenware has won for itself a considerable reputation on the Continent from a technical point of view.

It may be collected as an adjunct to old furniture by lovers of old furniture who are precisians in regard to harmony in schemes of decoration. They prefer to see china and earthenware of the same period as the furniture. A modern set of vases adorning a Georgian cabinet is like putting new wine into old bottles. So that concomitant with the love for old furniture, old pictures, and old prints is the accompanying regard for contemporary china and earthenware.

The "drum and trumpet history" relating the personal adventures of princes and nobles, and the pomp of courts, or the intrigues of favourites, sets no store on the apparent trivialities which mark the social and intellectual progress of a nation. But the scientific student of history cannot afford to ignore the detailed study of social conditions which are indicated by the china-shelf. The due appreciation of the development of costume, of furniture, and of the domestic arts gives life and colour to the written records of byegone days. A mug or a jug with an inscription may tell a story of popular party feeling as pointedly as a broadsheet or a political lampoon.

EXTERIOR OF WORKS, ETRURIA: THE MARL BANK.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

The ordinary man sees in the collection of china and earthenware an interesting hobby. He reads of the prices remarkable specimens bring under the hammer, and he begins to think that his education has been partly neglected since he knows little or nothing concerning these art treasures, which seemingly are attractive to other men of culture and means.

"Collecting for profit" is a phrase that tickles the ears of many others. Undoubtedly there have been many who have entered the field of collecting and regarded their purchases solely as investments. It must be borne in mind that this class of collector is not to be despised, inasmuch as when he has mastered his subject (and as there is money in it he very speedily sets to work to do this) he is a very formidable rival.

It is absurd to imagine that an amateur, after having given especial study to a subject such as old earthenware, is not in a better position to enter the market as a buyer or a seller than he who comes with little or no training.

It is only reasonable that a man should take an intelligent interest in the evolution of the ware in everyday use. But it is to be feared that long rows of cases at the museum with specimens of earthenware behind glass doors must necessarily be a valley of dry bones to the spectator unless he bring the seeing eye and the understanding heart to quicken these dry bones into life.

Enough, perhaps, has been said as a prelude to this volume to show that various reasons may be advanced to account for the new spirit of collecting which has become so infectious. It is the hope of the writer that the following chapters, as an outline of the subject of collecting old English earthenware, may point the way to a better appreciation of what is really of value in this field, and will enable the collector in his search to sift the wheat from the chaff, and him who already possesses lares et penates of uncertain age to identify them.

What is Earthenware?—To know what is earthenware always puzzles the beginner. A rough-and-ready means of determining the difference between earthenware and porcelain is to apply the light test. Porcelain more nearly approaches glass and is translucent—that is, it clearly shows the shadow of the hand holding it when placed up to the light. But there are occasions when this test fails; for instance, a block of porcelain may, as in a heavy figure, be so thick as to render this experiment impossible. On the other hand, fine stoneware may be partly translucent in the thinner parts. In early nineteenth-century days a class of ware, such as that of Mason, is stamped "ironstone china" or "stone china." This is earthenware of a peculiar nature, having certain of the properties of porcelain. Similarly, at various times earthenware has been made which nearly approaches porcelain in its constituents. Dwight with his stoneware busts and Wedgwood in his jasper ware produced earthenware of such character as to come close to the border line dividing earthenware from porcelain.

The potter's art is divided into two sub-heads—porcelain and earthenware—which latter, for purposes of simplification, includes stoneware.

A CORNER OF OLD ETRURIA WORKS.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

Earthenware is of soft body, is opaque—that is, it cannot be seen through. Its thinness or its thickness has nothing to do with its title. Stoneware is equally opaque, but it is as hard as porcelain. It may be as thick and heavy as a German beer-mug or a stone ginger-beer bottle, or it may be cream in colour, and thin as a Passover cake, as in salt-glazed Staffordshire ware, or white and heavy, as in later stone china. Porcelain may be hard or soft and possesses properties equally its own, but is outside the scope of this volume.

Practically earthenware is of such porous clay that when fired in the kiln it is unfit for use, as it is still too porous until it receives a coating of glaze. Unglazed stoneware, Egyptian black, and Wedgwood's jasper ware differ from earthenware in this respect, as they do not receive any glaze, since they are of dense enough body to be used in "biscuit" or unglazed state.

Its appearance. In colour earthenware may be brown or white in exterior, or brown or white in body as shown when broken. At its best its style to the beginner may not be suggestive of great difference between earthenware and porcelain. Similar figures were attempted in the one material as in the other. In France at Niderviller, at Marseilles, and at Scieux the potters deliberately set themselves to make objects in earthenware as delicate and fanciful as were produced in hard porcelain at Dresden or in soft porcelain at Vincennes. Clocks, vases, sweetmeat-boxes, and elaborate dinner services lavishly decorated in over-glaze enamels and gilded, emulated the best work of the porcelain factories. In Staffordshire the story has been repeated. So that form is no guide as to what kind of ware a piece may be. In weight earthenware is lighter than porcelain as a general rule, though variations in the body make this rule an elastic one. In stoneware, and ware approximating to this in character, the weight is heavier than porcelain. All ironstone ware is exceedingly heavy.

Reasons for its appearance. The earlier earthenware was brown in body. The Dutch potters in the seventeenth century covered their ware with an opaque white tin enamel to conceal the dark earthen body and to enable them to paint on its surface in imitation of Chinese porcelain. Stoneware, such as the jugs of early type known as Bellarmines, is of very vitreous earthenware fired so hard as to resist acids or the use of a file when applied to the surface. When glazed this class of ware has salt glaze. Dwight, of Fulham, introduced white, or nearly white, stoneware into England in his statuettes, which induced him to claim that he had discovered the secret of making porcelain. Cream ware followed later, and, perfected by Wedgwood, it was adopted as the standard earthenware of Staffordshire. It was the last note in earthenware till the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the Staffordshire potters invented an earthenware with a white body more nearly approaching porcelain in appearance. For fifty years experiments had been carried on, and this cream ware was whitened by a process called "blueing" by the use of cobalt to whiten the lead glaze. But the final invention was by Mason with his patent ironstone china, in which he produced a hard, white body.

How Earthenware is made.—A good deal of theory has found its way into print, but it is not every one, even among collectors, who has actually seen the various stages through which a lump of clay passes before it finally takes its place on the table as a teapot or a breakfast cup.

MILL FOR GRINDING RAW MATERIALS.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

It has, therefore, been thought of interest to illustrate a few steps in the process of this transformation of clay into vessels of utility and beauty. By the kindness of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, of Etruria, this series of illustrations appears, and the subjects have been chosen with a view to showing those processes of the potter which are practically the same as in the days of the great Josiah.

The first illustration ([p. 37]) shows an Exterior View of the Etruria Works, with the Cornish stone and the ball clays from Dorset and Devon and the flints lying in heaps exposed to the sun and frost in order to "weather." This exposure is considered advantageous, as the longer the clay is in the open the better it will work when required for use.

The second illustration ([p. 41]) shows a Corner of the old Etruria Works. The structure is practically the same as in the early days, and the bottom windows on the right have remained unaltered. The farthest at the bottom corner on the right was the room of old Josiah.

The third illustration shows the Mill for grinding raw materials. The clays are put into this vat and crushed between two stones. There is nothing different now from the early days. The old oak beams tell their story. It is true that steam is now used, but that is all to make this process differ from that employed a century and a half ago—first when wind-power was used, as in flour mills, and later when a horse was substituted.

This grinding is done with water, and the mixture comes out a thick liquid. The mixing-tank is the next stage. These liquid constituents, such as ball clay, china clay, flint, &c., according to the formula of the pottery, are carefully admitted into the tank in correct proportions and thoroughly "blended" together. The body is now in its "slip" state, and is pressed and dried to make it more malleable when not required for casting. In its later stage, in more solid form, it is ready to be thrown on the potter's wheel.

The Potter's Wheel.—We illustrate ([p. 40]) the ingenious potter who is known as "The Thrower." It is he who, on a little revolving table between his knees pressed with his hands, magically transforms the lump of clay into beautiful shapes. Unfortunately, modern methods are eliminating the work of "the thrower," whose art dates back to the remotest past in the East when man first made clay into objects of beauty. We find the prophet Jeremiah saying, "Then I went down to the potter's house, and behold he wrought a work on the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hands of the potter, so he made again another vessel as seemed good to the potter to make it."

Old Omar Khayyam brings a moral to bear on the potter and his wheel:

"Surely not in vain

My substance from the common Earth was ta'en

That He who subtly wrought me into shape

Should stamp me back to common Earth again."

And Shakespeare, not to miss a good simile, makes one of his characters say, "My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel."

THE THROWER.
Showing the Potter's Wheel.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

The Pottery Kilns.—The next stage is to convert the vessel thrown in soft clay, and put aside to dry, into being as a piece of pottery. There are three ovens, termed the "biscuit," the "glost," and the "enamel." In the illustration ([p. 53]) it is seen how the vessels are put into "saggers," which are boxes of fire-clay piled upon one another. The doorway is bricked up and plastered, and gradually the furnace is heated. Practically this "oven" illustrated is typical of the "biscuit" or the "glost" oven, the difference being in the temperature applied, the latter being at a much lower temperature.

It may be interesting to mention that a quick oven is three days in firing and three days in cooling before the ware is removed. For ornamental and important specimens of a very special nature as long a period as a month may be taken to fire and half that time to cool. But of course this is only in exceptional circumstances.

It conjures up a picture of the awful anxiety of some of the great master potters at the critical moment when the doorway is pulled down and the contents of the oven are drawn. It is here where the triumph or the failure of the potter manifests itself.

When taken out of the first oven the ware is termed "biscuit." It is now ready for glazing. Of course, in such ware as jasper or unglazed stoneware, basalt, and similar kinds, the "biscuit" state is the final one, the object being completed.

The Dipping-house.—In the illustration ([p. 57]) it will be seen that the ware in its "biscuit" state is dipped in liquid glaze in a very deft manner, after which it proceeds to the "glost" oven to harden this glaze on its surface.

It is here that great care has to be exercised in keeping the pieces from coming in contact with each other; spurs and tripods are placed between each piece to obviate this. The "saggers" in which this newly-glazed ware is placed are dusted with material infusible at the lower heat to prevent the pieces adhering to these "saggers." In fact, as is readily seen, a fine specimen may be easily ruined at any stage.

In undecorated ware, as in the cream-ware examples illustrated ([p. 225]), this ends the process, and they are complete. But in ware that is to be decorated over the glaze there is yet another stage before they are finished.

It will be observed that we are alluding to over-glaze decoration. But ware may be painted before being glazed,—that is under-glaze. In order, however, not to confuse the beginner at the outset, this has been described in a later chapter ([p. 326]).

The Enamel Kiln.—After the decorations have been painted upon the glazed ware it has to be fired in the enamel kiln. A far lower heat than that of the "glost" oven is required; the flames do not pass inside the kiln, as in an oven, but are led in flues all round the kiln. We give an illustration ([p. 61]) of this for firing colours or gold over the glaze. As will be seen, the pieces are carefully protected from contact with each other, and at this last stage it is quite possible to undo all the patient labour previously employed and irretrievably ruin a piece.

In this hasty outline of the various processes of the potter much has been omitted; but, in the main, these illustrations should serve to kindle a more intelligent interest, even among collectors, in the earthenware and china which has passed through so many critical periods in its life-history.

THE OVEN.
Showing the "saggers" containing ware ready for firing.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

What to Collect.—This is largely a question of personal predilection. In general the field of English earthenware may be divided into nine classes, and the collector who wishes to specialise will have his individual taste for one or more of these, according as its technical or artistic qualities appeal to him. This arrangement is mainly chronological, but obviously one class will overlap others in point of time. These classes are further summarised in detail in the table intended for use in identifying old earthenware given at the end of this chapter.

• (1) Plain.
• (2) Decorated by painting.
• (3) Transfer-printed.

Method of studying old Earthenware.—To those readers who peruse this volume without any definite idea of the standpoint of the collector it should not be left unsaid that the proper study and collection of old English earthenware require a considerable amount of reading and, what is of much greater importance, a very practical examination of some hundreds of specimens. It is this practical experience which alone can give the beginner the training he requires. It is a complex subject bristling with unexpected difficulties in regard to technical points and crowded with apparent contradictions. The bibliography given on [pp. 23–25] will enable readers to pursue special studies in greater detail.

The next best thing to handling the actual specimens is to see them. It cannot here be impressed upon the beginner too strongly that it is absolutely necessary, in order to educate his eye, that the finest known examples in the particular classes should be frequently seen. The national museums, the Victoria and Albert and the British, in London, both contain splendid collections classified in a very thorough manner. In the provinces, the following museums among others contain fine collections, often of richer interest in special subjects than the aforementioned. For instance, the Public Museum at Liverpool contains the most representative collection of the various classes of Liverpool ware. The fine Art Gallery at Leeds is rich in typical examples of the finest productions in Leeds earthenware. At the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, and at the Science and Art Museum, Dublin, there are finely arranged collections of pottery. At the Castle Museum, Nottingham, at York, at Norwich, at Bath, at Bristol, at Swansea, at Cardiff, at the Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, at the Pitt-Rivers Museum, Farnham, North Dorset, at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, at Maidstone, at Bury St. Edmunds, and at Saffron Walden, there are collections which can be studied.

THE DIPPING HOUSE.
Showing how the ware is glazed.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

In the district of the Potteries itself the following museums have representative collections of special varieties of Staffordshire ware. At Hanley, at Tunstall, at Burslem, at Stoke-on-Trent, and at Etruria, with its Wedgwood Museum, there is material enough to be seen, so that it may be said that there is little need for the beginner to be starved for want of opportunities to see fine examples.

Hints as to Prices.—It is impossible in such a complex subject as old earthenware to lay down any hard and fast rules as to prices to be paid. Specimens vary very considerably in quality, and according to demand prices fluctuate as in other markets.

If the beginner will make a point of learning his subject and will keep in touch with a few dealers, he will find that they will readily assist him to identify his own specimens and systematically aid him in adding judiciously to his collection. A great deal of offensive nonsense has been written by fashionable lady journalists, declaiming against the professional dealer and crediting him with every conceivable trick under the sun. But the greatest and the wisest of collectors number a host of dealers as personal friends. A continuous stream of good things passes through the hands of the dealers who, by incessant handling and practical study, are able and willing to help the collector and to solve his difficulties.

Dealers' prices are in many cases surprisingly low considering the great trouble they have taken to acquire the pieces. It is far better to procure bargains in this manner, with one's personal knowledge supplemented by the friendly suggestions of one's favourite dealer, than to attempt to obtain through private sources "great bargains" from amateur dealers whose possessions would not, in many cases, bear the light of day in the open market.

Forgeries.—There are many "faked" pieces in existence, and there are many copies and a great quantity of productions of factories of to-day who reproduce their old patterns made a century or more ago. Some of this is made with intent to deceive, and much is merely a trade movement to supply a known want on the part of the public. But it is exactly here that the dealer who has a respect for his clients, and being a business man naturally does not wish to ruin his reputation, may be of inestimable value in advising the collector.

Mr. Solon, the eminent authority and a practical worker in artistic pottery, tells in his "Art of the Old English Potter" how, when he was searching for fine specimens to make his collection, he was deceived by some sham old slip ware bought at a high figure in a lonely cottage in a remote district. If the fabricator could lure so studious a collector into his net, it goes without saying that especial precautions should be taken by the beginner not to give large prices unless he has a guarantee or knows the seller's reputation.

Buyers of old delft ware should be careful in examining the decoration of their purchases. Plain ware, which is not so valuable and is comparatively common, is decorated in blue, or a coat-of-arms and a date added, giving a fictitious value to the piece. In fact, such genuine dated pieces are worth ten times the plain ones. Plain jars and jugs worth £2 or £3, with the fraudulently added word "Sack" and the initials "C. R." in blue, may tempt the unwary collector to give £20. It will thus be seen that this is the most dangerous of frauds, and difficult to detect unless the collector has handled many decorated pieces, for the delft itself is absolutely genuine.

THE ENAMEL KILN.
Showing the ware after being enamelled stacked ready for firing.

By the courtesy of Messrs. Josiah Wedgwood & Sons.

Similarly, plain pieces of genuine Staffordshire salt glaze are enamelled in colours in order to enhance the value, owing to the fashionable demand for coloured examples. As much as £50 has been paid by an unfortunate collector for a teapot quite worth this if genuine old colour work, but unhappily it was, although fine old salt glaze, quite recently coloured, evidently with fraudulent intentions.

Staffordshire figures that are modern tell their own story, or should do so, to the collector who has ever carefully examined the potting and the glaze of fine old examples. Nor is there much excuse for the blundering collector who cannot readily distinguish between the crude modern Toby jug with its blatant colouring, so smudgy and smeary with black stains to impart age, and its genuine prototype.

There are some fairly modelled Toby jugs, of modern origin, one in particular seated in a corner chair, with a salt-glaze surface. Another "fake" appeals to the lover of the Whieldon style, and has a mottled base and hat. But they are, as the expressive term goes, "hot from the oven." The "Vicar and Moses" was so well modelled by Ralph Wood that it shared the fate of George Morland's pictures which were copied by his contemporaries. Ralph Wood's "Vicar and Moses" was copied all through the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and to-day modern fabrications repeat the same model ad nauseam. Sham Voyez "Fair Hebe" jugs, made for foolish collectors, are frequently to be seen and avoided.

Leeds ware has engaged the attention of the imitator. Some of the ware is made in Germany and is unmarked. But other modern productions exist stamped "Leeds Pottery," and are imitations of the old Leeds patterns. There is a tobacco jar in pewter having a shield with the Leeds coat-of-arms, and raised medallions of a ship and of the patron saint of the woolcombers. This jar has been of late years copied in cream ware, and with its lid with twisted handle it has passed as "genuine old Leeds." But it is nothing of the sort.

In general, earthenware comes off better in regard to forged marks than porcelain. In the latter, of course, it is the easiest thing in the world to add the marks, especially when most of them were painted. But in earthenware the majority of marks were impressed in the ware and this cheats the "faker" of his quarry.

As a matter of fact, the mark should not lead the collector by the nose. Before seeing any mark a collector should begin to know his subject so well that the mark is an additional piece of information which serves to confirm his previous conclusions as to the specimen under examination. An unmarked example may show every evidence in modelling, in paste, in colour, and in glaze, of having been made by a certain potter at a particular date. The only confirmation lacking is the mark. It is here that marked ware becomes of paramount importance for purposes of comparison. And it is better to have a genuine marked piece in one's cabinet, from a business point of view, than a genuine piece equally fine that bears no signature or trade-mark. But this craving on the part of collectors for marks has led in the field of china to a disastrous state of things; marks of one potter have been added to the productions of another, and no fabricated Worcester china is worth its salt as a correct piece of forgery unless it bears the square mark or the crescent.

Happily, in earthenware the question of marks only affects the ware from Wedgwood's day onwards. The finest specimens of earthenware in the noted collections throughout the country, of Elers, and Dwight and Astbury, and Whieldon, and the whole salt-glaze school bear no mark, for the very simple reasons that the old potters had no "marks." But they signed their pieces all over, and the touch of these old masters is immediately intelligible to the trained eye of the collector.

How to identify old Earthenware.—The following Table roughly summarises the field under which English earthenware may be classified. It is the hope of the writer that possessors of earthenware which they are unable to identify will, by the help of this Table, be able to place their pieces under the sub-head to which they belong. The references given to the chapters dealing with the classes in detail are intended to point the way to a more extended examination of specimens.

A good general rule for beginners in attempting the proper identification is to commence by eliminating all the classes of ware to which the piece obviously cannot belong. Gradually the field becomes limited to one period, and finally it is narrowed to two or three factories. But it is only by practice that definite and accurate conclusions can be arrived at.

• 1. Plain white or undecorated with raised stamped ornament.
• 2. Plain white body with incised ornament filled in with blue.
• 3. Enamelled in colours on a white body.
• 4. Body colour blue (rare examples by William Littler), enamelled decorations in black, white, or gold.
• 5. Pierced ware with decorations in colour, or undecorated.
• 6. Ware decorated by transfer printing.
• 7. Ware with raised ornament, touched with colour.

II
EARLY
WARE

CHAPTER II
EARLY WARE

Mediæval Tiles (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries)—Slip Ware—Wrotham (Kent) (1656–1703)—Staffordshire Makers (1660–1700)—Prices of Early Ware.

As will be seen from the table at the end of the preceding chapter, the main body of English earthenware to which collectors can give their attention, belongs chiefly to the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The beginnings of pottery and the first steps towards perfection in art are always interesting, but in the realm of English pottery the beginner had better push forward as the subject is a very complex one, and the general collector is perforce obliged to confine attention to the later periods.

It will therefore suffice if a hasty survey be made of the chief earthenware prior to the eighteenth century.

Mediæval Tiles.—From the thirteenth century to the dissolution of the monasteries the ecclesiastical tiles used in England were of a particularly noticeable character. The tiles vary in size, the earlier ones, as at Chertsey Abbey, were not more than three or four inches square. The earlier the tile, as a rule, the smaller is its area. The tiles were ornamented in various ways. They had incised, raised, inlaid, or painted patterns. The incised and relief tiles are the most uncommon, probably being the earlier. The designs are very numerous, and vary in character in the different abbeys at which they originated. Specimens have been found at Great Malvern, Denny Abbey in Norfolk, Castle Acre Priory, Jervaulx Abbey, Lewes Priory, St. Alban's Abbey, and at Chertsey Abbey, which latter had "one of the finest, if not the finest, inlaid tile pavement in existence" (Hobson). The Chertsey tiles are of different shapes, sometimes being round or half-circular to meet the exigencies of the design, and in general they are very quaint and original in their conception. The British Museum has some fine examples of these Chertsey tiles in composite pictures made up of many tiles.

The designs found on mediæval tiles consist of the figures of animals, mythical and heraldic, of birds, of human heads and grotesques, as well as conventional, floral, and geometric patterns. They are highly artistic and of great technical excellence.

It is generally believed that the monks made these tiles themselves in the great religious houses, and possibly some of them may have had foreign inspiration or have been made here by foreigners. But as the tiles at Malvern and at Chertsey are finer than any found on the Continent it opens up a field for conjecture. Mr. Solon says, "I have often thought that considering the French pavements of the earliest periods have mostly been found in the provinces then under English domination, it would be worth while inquiring whether the art of tile-making had not been imported from England—a point which has never yet been sifted."

Mediæval Tiles.
TILE FROM CHAPTER HOUSE, WESTMINSTER.
Probably of the reign of Henry III. (Thirteenth century).
TILE FROM VERULAM ABBEY.
Bearing arms and initials of Sir Nicholas Bacon (1510–1579).
(By the courtesy of Mr. F. W. Phillips, Hitchin.)
TILE FROM MALVERN ABBEY.
(English, fifteenth century.)
TILE FROM WHITMORE PARK, NEAR COVENTRY.
(Early fourteenth century.)

So here, then, is a subject ready to hand for the collector willing to specialise in a branch of ceramic study and collecting not greatly inquired into, and the way has already been pointed out by experts. There is every reason why these ecclesiastical tiles should be studied with as much assiduity as are the Bristol delft painted tiles and those of Liverpool.

Slip Ware.—This ware is peculiarly English and owes little or nothing to any foreign influences, as no ware like it has ever been made on the Continent. White or light-coloured clay was used in the form of "slip," that is, a mixture of water and clay of such consistency as to be dropped in fanciful pattern upon the darker body of the ware much in the same manner as the confectioner ornaments his wedding-cakes with sugar. Candlesticks, cups, tygs (drinking vessels having several handles for use in passing round), posset-pots, jugs, besides the large ornamental dated dishes by Toft and others were all made of this slip-decorated ware.

Wrotham, in Kent, claims superiority in the manufacture of this ware, of which many pieces exist. The earliest Wrotham specimen is dated 1656 (Maidstone Museum). There are other dated pieces, one as early as 1621, of red clay with more elaborate slip decoration than is found in Staffordshire and elsewhere, and in some cases with fine incised decoration cut through the white dip and exposing the red body beneath. But considerable doubt exists as to whether to ascribe some of this slip ware to Kent or to Staffordshire. It is probable that it was made at many other places, certainly in Derbyshire, in Wales, and in London. As some undoubted Wrotham pieces betray a slightly advanced type of decoration although prior in date to other pieces made elsewhere, it has been fairly conjectured that the style originated in Kent, and was brought thither by some foreign refugees from the Continent. But as it became practised more generally in England it assumed a national character entirely its own, and took to itself a quaint humour racy of the soil.

TOFT DISH, DATED 1671.
(In the Grosvenor Museum, Chester.)

By permission of the Proprietors of the "Connoisseur."

POSSET POT, STAFFORDSHIRE, DATED 1685.
Decorated in slip ware, yellow ground, with brown ornament.
Inscribed "William Simpson. His cup."

(In the collection of Dr. W. L. Glaisher, Cambridge.)

Toft Ware.—The names of Ralph Toft and Thomas Toft appearing on certain large dishes, usually about eighteen inches in diameter, decorated in slip in a somewhat crude manner, have given the name to this class of ware, which at best is peasant pottery. The Tofts had their works near Shelton in Staffordshire. Similar dishes were made at Derby and at Tickenhall. The following names occur on examples in the National and other collections with dates, Ralph Toft, Thomas Toft, 1671; Robert Shaw, 1692; William Chaterly, 1696; Ralph Turnor, 1681; William Talor, 1700; John Wright, 1707; initials S. M., 1726, Dublin Museum (possibly Samuel Mayer, of Derby); John Wenter, 1686; I. W., 1706. The manufacture of this slip ware continued, in more or less spasmodic manner, throughout the eighteenth century. Pots and jugs had illiterate inscriptions on them in halting verse, or pious mottoes.

Toft ware, that is, the large dish form, apparently was made solely for ornament. There is a remarkable Toft dish in the Grosvenor Museum at Chester, having the inscription in Toft's peculiar orthography, "Filep Heues, Elesabeth Heues" (Philip and Elizabeth Hughes), signed Thomas Toft and dated 1671. This is evidently a marriage plate. There is the royal arms above, a favourite design in Toft ware, probably copied from some of the more elaborate foreign Bellarmine jugs. The slip potters had a fondness too for royal portraiture which ended lamentably in becoming dreadful caricatures of the subject. As many as nine crowned heads are found on one dish by Ralph Toft, signed "Ralalph To." These have as much art as the Stuart stump-work pictures in needlework, which were contemporary with them, in which kings and queens were represented in no more pleasing manner than on a pack of cards. In speaking of Toft's portrait dishes in general, and of the Grosvenor Museum example in particular, Mr. Frank Freeth, no mean connoisseur, says, "It must not be forgotten that these dishes were ornamental, and intended to occupy a conspicuous place in the homes of loyal citizens, just as oleographs of the King and Queen, that one often sees in country cottages, are made for the purpose in the present day. The same idea has remained; but the form of its expression has changed."

Looking at slip ware as a whole, one must not be too critical in regard to its somewhat inartistic appearance. It certainly has a charm about it which cannot be denied. It is native to the soil, and this peasant industry (if one can appropriately term it such), is chiefly to be regarded from the standpoint of what might have been if it had been allowed to develop on natural and untrammelled lines. But it was pressed on the one side by stoneware, such as the Bellarmine jugs and mugs imported from Germany, and it finally succumbed to foreign delft, which was largely used here prior to the Englishman's determined attempt, at Lambeth, at Bristol, and at Liverpool (where it was the staple industry for some time) to make his own wares.

It is the opinion of the present writer that the coats-of-arms on the Toft dishes were a deliberate attempt to copy those frequently found on the belly of the Rhenish stoneware jugs. From the days of Elizabeth coats-of-arms and heraldic devices were a feature in these jugs used in this country. Among those at the British and the Victoria and Albert Museums, and in the fine collection at the Guildhall, the use of crests is seen to be a striking characteristic (see illustration, [p. 135]). As a conclusive proof that the maker of earthenware had his eye on these stoneware models, we give as an illustration a jug in earthenware (not stoneware) of Bellarmine form made in England, undoubtedly by an English potter. The arms on it are those of the Earl of Dorset, not improbably those of the sixth Earl, Charles Sackville, who lived from 1637 to 1706, and was the author of the well-known song, running—

"To all you ladies now on land

We men at sea indite;

But first would have you understand

How hard it is to write"—

written in 1665, when he attended the Duke of York as a volunteer in the Dutch war, and this song he composed when with the fleet on the eve of battle.

EARTHENWARE JUG.
Copy of Rhenish Bellarmine or Greybeard form.
With the arms of the Earl of Dorset.
(Late seventeenth century.)
(At the British Museum.)

There is a sort of heraldic touch about some of these Staffordshire dishes of the Toft class. The same idea seems to have possessed the workers of the Stuart stump-pictures in needlework, which were contemporary with these dishes. Coins and medals and Stuart marriage-badges are evidently the source from which Toft and his school on the one hand, and the gentle needlewoman on the other, derived their inspiration in design. Various animals and birds are used symbolically with great freedom. The caterpillar and butterfly nearly always accompany needlework portraits of Charles I., and the unicorn was the device of his father James I. There seems some similarity to this idea in the use of the Mermaid in the dish by Thomas Toft. Another dish of his, entitled "The Pelican in her Piety," depicts that bird with her young, the idea being that the pelican used to feed her brood with her own blood. The Latins called filial love piety, hence Virgil's hero is always termed pius Aeneas. "Ralph Simpson" is another name found on this pelican dish.

We give an illustration of a fine posset-pot of Staffordshire origin, dated 1685, in slip ware, with yellow ground and conventional ornament in brown, with dotted work. It is inscribed, "William Simpson, His Cup." It has three handles and three loops, and is quite a typical piece of this class of ware. It recently sold for fifty-five pounds ([p. 89]).

Metropolitan Slip Ware.—There is a slight distinction between pieces made in London and found during excavations, and those discovered elsewhere. The slip decoration is lightly done and there is a tendency to incised decoration of conventional floral design. One noticeable feature in this type of ware is its inscriptions, written in doggerel, always of a pious nature. "When this you see, Remember me,—Obeay God's word"; or "Drink faire, Don't sware"; or "Be not hyminded but feare God, 1638." This class of ware savours strongly of the Puritan influence, and it is evident that the potters who made these pieces were of the "Praise God Barebones" order of visionary, not uncommon at a time when books with titles like the following appeared, "Some fine Baskets baked in the Oven of Charity, carefully conserved for the Chickens of the Church, the Sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet Swallows of Salvation."

It seems absurd in regarding the productions of this school of English slip workers, from middle Stuart days down to the early years of the eighteenth century, to consider that Vandyck had painted his galleries of beauties; that Hollar, with his etching needle, had drawn a long procession of figures in costume, thousands of etchings which surely must have caught the eye of some Toft or some Simpson. There was Grinling Gibbons working his artistic profusion in wreaths of flowers and fruit carved in wood, and there were the treasures of the silversmith, to say nothing of the sumptuous furniture that was beginning to make its way in England. But these slip ware dishes seem to stand somewhat like the Jacobean chairs made in Yorkshire and Derbyshire, of the same date, apparently unaffected by any of the æsthetic movements of the period. Simply and naturally, and, be it said, crudely representing the artistic aspirations of the ordinary craftsman when he was left to himself, it is naïve, standing as it does for English native art at a time when Bernard Palissy, the French potter, had been dead a hundred years.

EARLY WARE PRICES.

III
ENGLISH
DELFT

CHAPTER III
ENGLISH DELFT

What is Delft?—Its foreign origin—Introduction into England—Lambeth Delft—Bristol Delft—Liverpool Delft—Delft Tiles printed at Liverpool by Sadler and Green—Wincanton (Somerset)—Prices of English Delft

Delft, of all earthenware, is, so to speak, the most earthen, and presents an object lesson to the student. It accurately conforms to the technical definition as to what constitutes the difference between earthenware and porcelain. It consists of a porous body (in the case of Dutch delft very porous, as we shall see later), covered by a thick coating of white, opaque enamel.

The porous nature of its body makes it light in weight, and the tin enamel which covers the brown body enables the potter to paint upon this white surface designs, usually in blue. This decoration is over the enamel, if it were under this opaque enamel, that is, on the brown underneath body of the ware, the coating of this white enamel would obliterate the designs. After a piece has been fired to the biscuit state and dipped in white enamel and painted upon when dry, it is, to preserve the painting, fired a second time, when it receives a thin surface of transparent lead glaze.

Its Foreign Origin.—Its name is derived from the town of Delft in Holland. It was about the year 1602 that Dutch potters invented this class of ware in their attempts, in common with all the other European potters, to produce some ware as decorative as the porcelain which had been brought to Europe long before by the Portuguese traders, and now was being largely imported by the East India Dutch merchants.

This first employment of a white enamel on a brown earthenware was clearly due to the very natural desire on the part of the potter to procure some surface upon which his decorations in colour would show well in contrast. All primitive potters have passed through several stages of evolution. Brown ware was at first plain, then it received scratched or incised decoration. Searching for greater contrast the potter applied his ornament in relief in white, as in slip ware, or he added coloured glazes, as in the Tudor miniature jugs.

But it seems that sooner or later the light background for the painted decoration must have become an ideal to strive for. It is, in effect, the same necessity which induces the signboard painter to cover his brown panel with a white background prior to painting in letters of red or blue some attractive announcement. But with the models of the Chinese potter now constantly before him the Dutch potter commenced at once to imitate them.

LAMBETH DELFT JAR.
Painted in blue, with arms of Apothecaries' Company with crest mantling and supporters. Motto—Opifer: Quæ: per: orbem: dicor; oval shield below with arms of City of London.
(11 inches high, 27¼ inches greatest circumference.)
(In the collection of Mr. Robert Bruce Wallis.)

But pleasing as is the Dutch delft in its fine colours, incorporated as they are with the enamel and glaze and giving the rich tone so much admired by collectors, and faithfully copying the form of the Nankin models, it falls short of these Oriental prototypes in many important respects. It is admittedly an imitation of the appearance of porcelain, and not an imitation of the qualities peculiar to porcelain. The Dutch potter in his delft did not, as in the case of other European potters, essay to copy the body of porcelain, and arrive at true hard white paste, as did Meissen. Apparently he took his earthenware, and with the limitations in technique in its working he produced a colourable imitation, in appearance only, of his blue and white Chinese models, and very fine some of these early seventeenth century Dutch delft pieces are, and highly prized by collectors.

But delft in comparison with porcelain may be said to be very similar to veneered furniture in relation to solid specimens. The veneer in the one case and the enamel in the other disguises something inferior beneath.

Introduction into England.—There is no doubt that, prior to its manufacture in this country, a great quantity of Dutch delft was imported and in general use in the middle years of the seventeenth century. In dealing with delft ware, in connection with the various types of earthenware at different periods of the history of the potter's art it must be borne in mind that delft was entirely of foreign origin. It owed everything to the inventiveness of the Dutch potters, and it gained very little when it became acclimatised in England, although it was manufactured here until the closing years of the eighteenth century, when Wedgwood's cream ware drove it off the market as a cheap and serviceable ware.

Naturally the close connection of the royal house of England with Holland accelerated the fashion of storing delft in closets and making considerable use of its rich colours as a decorative effect on sideboards and buffets. The lac cabinets and the fine blue and white delft jars at Hampton Court testify to the influence that the advent of William of Orange had on the taste of the country from the memorable year of 1688, when he landed at Torbay.

Delft was presumably being made in this country fifty years before that by Dutch refugees, but the thirties of the seventeenth century was not a very happy time to inaugurate the birth of a new branch of art in England. The rumblings of the civil war were in the air. It was in 1642 that Charles precipitated matters by going with an armed force to the House of Commons to arrest five members; and seven years later he lost his head in Whitehall. It is not until the last years of Charles II. that there appears to be any documentary evidence connected with the actual manufacture of delft in England. John Ariens van Hamme, evidently a Dutch refugee, a potter working at Lambeth, took out a patent for making "tiles and porcelain after the way practised in Holland." The word "porcelain" was used somewhat indiscriminately at this date and apparently meant anything having the appearance of the wares coming over in large numbers from the East, imported by our East India Company.

LAMBETH DELFT WINE BOTTLE.
Inscribed "Sack W^KE 1652."
(At British Museum.)

BRISTOL DELFT WARE.
(About 1784.)
Representing balloon ascent, two figures in car, with Union Jack flying.
(In the possession of Mr. W. L. Yeulett.)

Lambeth Delft.—To Lambeth must be accredited the best results of English delft ware. The glaze is thinner and whiter than is used elsewhere and the tone of the blue is less crude. It is difficult to differentiate between the work of Dutch refugees and of English born potters. Drug pots and sack bottles formerly imported from Holland began to be made at Lambeth. Some of these bottles are dated and the dates upon them range from 1649, the year of the execution of King Charles I., to 1664, during the early years of the reign of Charles II., the year in which New York, then New Amsterdam, a Dutch settlement, was surrendered to the English.

There are not a great number of these authentic dated sack bottles known. Lambeth must also be credited with the series of plates having dates and initials, and with some of the "blue dash" chargers or dishes. These are usually decorated with blue dashes clumsily applied round the edge, sometimes brown is used instead of blue. In the centre of the dish is generally a figure, often on horseback, and the foliage of the trees in the background is done with a sponge hastily applied. The range of colours used is not great—blue, green, orange, puce, and brown. Sometimes four colours are found on one dish, but not infrequently the decorator has been content with two, in addition to blue, which is nearly always present.

The following are among the subjects found on these dishes, which are usually about thirteen inches in diameter:—Charles I., Charles II., James II., William and Mary, William on foot or on horseback, Queen Anne, the Old Pretender, Duke of Marlborough, Duke of Monmouth, and the celebrated Adam and Eve dishes, in which Eve was represented as Queen Mary giving a kingdom to her husband, represented by an orange as a pun on his royal house. Although portraits of Charles I. appear in this series, they are not contemporary, and were probably not made at Lambeth until after about 1670, and their manufacture continued for a little over a quarter of a century, that is, until the opening years of the reign of George I.

That delft was made in England a little earlier than 1672 is proved by the fact that in that year a royal proclamation forbade the importation of "painted earthenware" to compete with the same production "but lately found out in England." Here is an instance of trade protection, but it should be borne in mind at that date we were at war with the Dutch, who were in that year defeated off Southwold Bay.

Something should be said about the characteristics of this Lambeth delft. The body is fairly hard and the tin enamel or glaze is often found on the back of the piece; when this is not the case the back has received an application of yellowish lead glaze. The English clay being less spongy than that of Holland, did not take the enamel well, and often shows the colour of the body in pink lines through the glaze. English delft, owing to the glaze not being incorporated, is crazed on the surface. In regard to dated sack bottles, great caution should be exercised in buying them, as genuine examples of plain undated bottles have been skilfully redecorated by fraudulent hands, and the words Sack or Canary, together with a date, added.

There is an element of doubt about much of the Lambeth delft ware, as it is certain that some of the patterns were copied by the Staffordshire potters, and some of these copies are so faithfully done as to puzzle experts, but many of the cruder dash series of dishes and platters may safely be attributed to Staffordshire.

CANDLESTICK, LAMBETH DELFT.
Inscribed W E 1648.
(At Victoria and Albert Museum.)

OLD DUTCH BRASS CANDLESTICK.
(Seventeenth century.)
(In the collection of the Author.)

In the illustration of a dated candlestick, with the initials W.E. and coat of arms, and dated 1648, from the National collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, it will be seen that the authorities attribute an earlier date to the manufacture of delft at Lambeth than the above-mentioned royal proclamation in 1672 would seem to warrant. But so learned an authority as Professor Church is of the opinion that "a considerable manufactory existed there at least as early as 1631." It is interesting to compare the style of this delft candlestick with a brass one of early Dutch manufacture, which at any rate shows that the design, as well as the method of manufacture, was derived from Holland.

Pharmacy jars, decorated in blue and plain white delft, were also made at Lambeth; of this latter there are many small jugs and puzzle jugs, and a variety of fancy pieces. We give an illustration of a very interesting Pharmacy Jar with the arms of the Apothecaries' Company, and with motto inscribed. A shield below has the arms of the City of London.

Bristol Delft.—There is no doubt that the delft of Bristol has not yet been thoroughly exploited. Farther removed from the influence of a constant stream of Dutch examples, the potters took some of their designs straight from Oriental models. Richard Frank and Joseph Flower are two potters who had works at Bristol. They are known to have manufactured delft as early as the opening years of the eighteenth century, contemporary with Lambeth, when the industry at this latter place was in full swing, and delft was made at Bristol until the middle of the reign of George III., after which delft was no longer fashionable.

It is not easy to distinguish between the productions of Frank and Flower, nor is it less difficult in some instances to state definitely whether a piece is Bristol, or Liverpool, or Lambeth, and we might add Staffordshire. There is a very interesting delft plate decorated in blue, representing a balloon ascent. In date this is about 1784 and it may be attributed to Bristol or Liverpool (see illustration, [p. 107]).

But as a rule it is held that Bristol delft is bluish in tint, and has a more brilliant and even surface. The ware is decorated with Oriental landscapes, and a considerable number of tiles were made and painted for use as pictures in the fireside in old Bristol houses a century and a half ago. Bowen, John Hope, Michael Edkins, and Thomas Patience are some of the painters who worked at the Frank pottery. There is one subject picture representing Hogarth's March to Finchley, and it was certainly executed more than once as there is one set consisting of forty-two tiles and another of seventy-two tiles of the same subject.

A peculiarity of some of the Bristol delft is the ground of powdered purple or brown with white panels, having a decoration in blue. We illustrate a bowl of this type of ware, which, although not having the white panel, is representative of this class as the fish is on a white ground with outline decorations in blue (see [p. 115]).

Another fine style of decoration is that known as bianco sopra bianco, that is, a pattern of foliage or sprays of flowers enamelled in white upon a dull, greenish-white ground (see illustration, [p. 115]).

BRISTOL DELFT PLATE.
Decorated in blue in middle and bianco sopra bianco around border.
(At Victoria and Albert Museum.)

BRISTOL DELFT BOWL.
Ground of powdered purple. Decorated with fishes in white and blue.
(In the possession of Mr. S. G. Fenton.)

There are many dated pieces of Bristol delft with initials, bowls, marriage and election plates, and sometimes tile pictures. At the Victoria and Albert Museum there is a fine plate with the initials E.M.B., and dated 1760, the initials being those of the painter, Michael Edkins, and his wife Betty. This was made at the factory of Richard Frank, and was presented to the National collection by the grandson of the painter.

In the collection of pottery at the Bristol Museum there is an example attributed to Brislington which in colouring is slightly duller than the Bristol examples. Connoisseurs of Bristol delft divide the ware into the earlier period prior to 1735, when the decoration followed Dutch prototypes, and they attribute much of the thinner or finer potted examples to Joseph Flower, but after that the Bristol potters struck out for themselves, and imparted more originality in their ware. Landscapes appeared on the ware, but not seen through Dutch eyes, and a slight variation was given to the form of the bases of the bowls and plates, falling into line with typical shapes employed by other English potters.

We illustrate a very remarkable piece of Bristol delft which is dated 1740, and bears the initials I.F., which may probably stand for Joseph Flower, whose factory was on the quay at Bristol. This plate, which is 13½ inches in diameter, has a painted illustration with the inscription in a medallion, "A Voyage to the Moon, by Domingo Gonsales from the Ile of Tenerife."

We do not know what is the particular story connected with the making of this plate, nor why such a subject should have been chosen. But there is no doubt that the painter of the plate took his design from a book entitled "The Man in the Moone, or a Discourse of a Voyage thither, By Domingo Gonsales, The Speedy Messenger." We give a facsimile of the title-page. This was a romance written by Francis Godwin, bishop of Hereford, and in the second edition of 1657, the title-page has the addition, "By F.G.—B. of H." There were many editions of this book, which became very popular. A French edition under the title of L' Homme dans La Lune, is dated 1671, and has the same illustration as the first English edition, with the exception of the inscription on the medallion.

This is not the place to give details of this interesting volume, which describes in language as faithful as that of Defoe, the voyage of Domingo Gonsales, a shipwrecked Spanish adventurer, from Teneriffe to the Moon in a car he invented, which was carried by a flock of wild geese he had trained in his solitude. After a stay of a year in that country, and meeting with adventures with the inhabitants of that kingdom, he sets sail for the earth and lands in China. He by great fortune hears of some Jesuit fathers hidden away in Far Cathay, who welcomed him, "much wondering to see a lay Spaniard there," and by them his story is committed to writing.

Written in 1638, the following sentence in the Preface sounds quite modern, "That there should be Antipodes was once thought as great a paradox as now that the Moon should be habitable. But the knowledge of this may seem more properly reserved for this, our discovering age." There is no doubt that the book had a very considerable circulation, and it is not improbable that Swift knew of it and incorporated some of the ideas of the author in his "Gulliver's Travels," which appeared in 1726. But it is not easily explained why this delft plate, dated 1740, bears the inscription and illustration of a volume published nearly a century earlier.

BRISTOL DELFT DISH.
Inscribed "A Voyage to the Moon by Domingo Gonzales from the Ile of Tenerife."

REVERSE OF DELFT DISH.
Marked I F and dated 1740.
(Diameter 13½ inches.)
(In the collection of Mr. W. C. Wells.)

Liverpool Delft.—Collectors of Liverpool delft would like to ascribe many pieces to that city. But, unfortunately, the difference between this and the other English delft is not so defined. One has to take the style of subject largely as a guide for the origin. There is a large punch bowl at the Victoria and Albert Museum which may certainly be attributed to Liverpool. It was painted by John Robinson at Seth Pennington's factory. A similar bowl is in the Mechanic's Institution at Hanley. It is painted in blue with a three-masted man-of-war inside the bowl. The flag is touched with red. The exterior shows an array of military trophies. It is somewhat confusing to collectors to know that the fine punch bowls of Seth Pennington, with his renowned blue colouring, are of delft, earthenware, and of china. These latter are of great rarity and value.

Another maker of delft punch bowls was Shaw, but it is not easy to determine with exactitude to which factory to ascribe some of these delft bowls, and there is room for considerable inquiry and exhaustive research to be made into the early history of the Liverpool potteries in general, as much information is needed to settle controversial points.

Delft Printed Tiles.—It is here that Liverpool stands pre-eminent in the transfer printed delft tiles. As early as 1750 Sadler and Green discovered the transfer printing by means of adhesive paper placed on previously inked copper-plates and laid on the earthenware as a decoration in black or in red, and sometimes puce. The signature of the engravers appears on some specimens, J. Sadler, Liverpool; J. Sadler, Liverpl.; Sadler, Liverpool; Green, Liverpool; or Green.

The invention was invaluable as a decoration for china and earthenware in lieu of painting. The following affidavit was made in 1756 by John Sadler and Guy Green that they "without the aid of or assistance of any other person or persons, did, within the space of six hours, to wit, betwixt the hours of nine in the morning and three in the afternoon of the same day, print upwards of 1,200 tiles of different patterns at Liverpoole aforesaid, and which, as these deponents have heard and believe, were more in number, and better and neater, than one hundred skilled potmakers could have painted in the like space of time in the common or usual way of painting with a pencil, and these deponents say that they have been upwards of seven years in finding out the method of printing tiles, and in making tryals and experiments for that purpose, which they have now, through great pains and expense, brought to perfection."

There is no doubt that this invention revolutionised the decoration of all wares. In regard to the controversy which has arisen as to the prior claims of Battersea for its transfer decorated enamels, and of Worcester for similar decorations by Hancock, the whole matter has been exhaustively dealt with by Mr. William Turner in his "Transfer Printing on Enamels, Porcelain, and Pottery," in which the case for each claimant is minutely analysed.