From Bulletin 154  December 2011.



RESPONSES from MEMBER'S to Bulletin 153 Articles
by the Editor

It is a pleasure to report that I have had quite a number of responses to articles in the last Bulletin.
On page 5 we had shown a plate with a printed Copeland mark. Both Loren Zeller and Richard Halliday advised me that the pattern appears in the TCC pattern database under the pattern name of Ornate Pagoda. Loren advises that an unmarked plate had been purchased at auction in the UK and dated by the auction house as circa 1810-1825, dating with which I would concur which strengthens my comment that the Copeland plate will very likely be a copy which very faithfully reproduces the original pattern. Spode and their successors advertised their willingness to undertake such work as indeed did several other potteries.
The pattern certainly shows a pagoda which is ornate but we must not confuse the pattern with the quite well-known Ornate Pagodas pattern attributed to Richard Woolley (B&W 1 pp 267-268) and also Taylor Harrison & Co of Castleford (B&W 2 p148). Peter Hyland shows the same pattern on a small marked plate in his recent Herculaneum Pottery book on page 125; about a year ago I saw a 'MARE' marked 10" plate on ebay and in addition, I have a 15.5" platter with an impressed and rare 'BOARDMAN' mark. The only reference that I know of for such a mark is in Godden's Marks book where it is noted as Liverpool and late 18th Century although I suspect that my platter dates to circa 1810/25 along with all the other pieces mentioned. Bearing in mind the similarity of the pattern on the various pieces and that different copper plates will have been used for different sizes of ware, identifying unmarked pieces will be particularly difficult if not impossible.
Bulletin 153, page 12 showed a 6-legged teapot. Richard Halliday reminded me that in Bulletin 99/7 Doreen Otto had shown a similar teapot which she had given to Minton. However I suspect that the impressed mark had been misread - I contacted Geof Priestman as he has considerable knowledge of Minton's products and he advised that he had never seen anything like the teapot and doubted that Minton was the maker. Almost by the next post, David Hoexter from America reported that the impressed mark undoubtedly reads UNION and I have subsequently seen a couple of teapots on ebay which confirm the UNION impressed mark.
David had located an 'online' mention of a similar teapot in an American museum which, because of the Union mark, they had given to 'a Durham pottery of that name'. The most likely answer to the Durham reference is the Southwick Union pottery whose exact location seems still to be unknown. The Newcastle Advertiser had a request for potters in 1802 for this pottery which was producing brownware pottery. A mug bearing a black print of a Wearside scene is known which bears, below the view in an oval cartouche, 'Union Pottery', a similar piece is apparently in the Willett collection at Brighton Museum. Also a 'Susan's Farewell' print is known with the words 'Union' and 'Pottery' appearing separately below the print but these are earlier than our blue teapot.
David Hoexter added that a sugar also with 6 feet is known as well as a creamer and cups & saucers. As all pieces seen or being offered for sale have only been reported in America, we seem most likely to have to rely on our American members for further news and I am most grateful for their news on this pattern/shape and indeed any other reports.
Friends of Blue 2012 AGM - has been booked for Sunday, 24 June 2012 at Sharpe's Pottery Museum in Swadlincote, Derbyshire. Please make a note of the date in your diaries.
Details of the Museum & Visitor Centre are on their website, www.sharpes.org.uk including location information or alternatively contact the Friends of Blue Editor.
Storage Binders for FoB Bulletins - a further supply has been ordered and they should be available from our Secretary at £5.80 plus postage about the time that this Bulletin is posted.

SERENDIPITY SOURCE PRINTS - LORD BYRON - by DICK HENRYWOOD
As many of you will know, my main research concentrates on British views, but in searching for related source prints I often have cause to trawl through print dealers’ stocks. This can be a frustrating task with the sought-for item failing to appear, but occasionally other gems come to light. As an example, I illustrate a child’s plate, courtesy of Florian Antiques Ltd., decorated with a blue-printed portrait of “Lord Byron”. As with many of these children’s wares, the quality is none too good, with a poorly engraved print and typically crude colouring to an indistinctly moulded border. These shortcomings are what tend to put me off these pieces, although it must be said that many are charming and a few are superb. However, the subjects are often interesting and finding the source prints is just as much a challenge as hunting for views.
In this case I came across the matching print by chance: it is an engraving by W. Finden depicting “Lord Byron at the Age of 19”, published by John Murray in 1832. The engraving is based on a painting by George Sanders (1774-1846), which was commissioned by Byron himself in 1809 and subsequently in the possession of Sir John Cam Hobhouse. The original picture depicted Byron standing alongside his friend Robert Rushton who is holding the painter of a small rowing boat, but this engraving is much simplified. Other prints of Byron can be found, several also clearly based on but different to the same original picture.
The moral of this story is quite clearly to take the blinkers off. Hunting a fox might turn up a rather fine red deer!

YORKSHIRE SHARDS – from ALAN TOMLINSON

1. Ferrybridge shards The shards seen below probably date from the 1840's but currently no actual complete wares are known. Pictures 1 and 2 are of hardened-on shards, picture 3 is not in any specific context but again is from Ferrybridge. If any members believe that they can help with pictures of complete pieces, any information received will help to move forward research on the Ferrybridge site and would be welcomed by Alan Tomlinson.

 

2. Shards recovered from a well on the outskirts of Leeds. This composite picture I first thought was 'Asiatic Pheasant' but clearly it is a songbird. The main part of the descriptive panel is missing unfortunately but it may refer to a Sunday School Whitsuntide Celebration.

Please contact the Editor or Alan on ' altom2@tinyworld.co.uk '.


BOVEY TRACEY - THE INDEO LOVE-BIRDS PATTERN
from GERARD LEDGER

In the last Bulletin, Trevor Kentish reported on black-printed pieces which he hoped might prompt a report of blue printed ware in this pattern. I thought you might be interested in the pictures below, they show a blue-printed bowl very similar indeed to that report. My bowl is 19.5cm in diameter, the prints on the outside of my bowl seem to be identical and their disposition is the same. Inside the bowl, the centre is very similar indeed although not identical and the border is totally different. In that the pattern is quite uncommon, I believe, we probably now have a further Indeo Pottery border.

CANTON OPAQUE CHINA pattern & mark–  from GERARD LEDGER

I also show a picture of a plate, one of 8 that I have, all bear the same 'Canton Opaque China' mark, with the same pattern number, 1016, but seemingly written by four different hands. I think that they may be Dixon Austin & Co plates from the same stable as Dresden Opaque China plates which turn up rather frequently, seen quite often on ebay. The use of at least four painters working on a single pattern does suggest a rather large establishment.

A LONG SEARCH - a Tray & 4 Dishes in Wild Rose pattern 

from  JOHN HOMEWOOD 

It was in December 2006 that the first diamond shaped Lozenge dish or Pickle dish 14 x 10.5 cm. appeared on eBay and as it was a shape unknown to me I won (or bought) it. Another was on Sue Norman’s stand at Olympia a year later and in March 2008 the tray, 28.5 x 23 cm. was found in Burford Oxon. The third little dish came from Sussex in 2009 and finally the fourth surfaced when Richard Halliday phoned from Newark in October to say that he had spotted a damaged one.
So at last this unusual set is passably complete even though I would rather have one dish with the handle on North corner and another with the handle on West corner. None of the pieces are marked.
Another tray came my way via eBay very recently, but I won’t be trying to make another set.
I also have a dish in the Village Church pattern which has a border similar to Wild Rose, and I wonder if there are other patterns in this shape. (ED - yes, it is a standard Spode shape, see page 274 in Spode Transfer Printed Ware; Minton also, see page 286 in Minton Printed Pottery. I'm sure that Rogers made
pickle dishes with similar handles on the smaller dishes and quite probably other potters to).

CLEWS "WEEPING WILLOW BORDER" SERIES
from MICHAEL SACK

A fifteenth pattern in this series has shown up, not surprisingly sold by a US dealer. As with many of the patterns in the series, it is not copied from any particular source print, though the style comes straight
out of the William Alexander engravings in Sir George Leonard Staunton's An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of England to the Emperor of China, published in 1797 by G. Nicol, Pall Mall, London. It is interesting to note that there are 2 different patterns on 6 3/4" (17cm) plates and two different patterns on 10 1/2" (27 cm) plates. In addition, the same pattern appears on both of the smallest plates. More shapes may remain to be discovered. If this is a complete dinner service, there should be at least a sauce tureen to go with the sauce tureen stand, possibly more serving dishes, and a soup tureen and stand.

The plate bearing this new 15th pattern has the Clews mark thus -

OUT OF THE BLUE   from DAVID MASON

David has sent in for the detectives amongst us a challenge to hunt down where and who made the illustrated blue and white wares. David suggests that the Friends of Blue with its wide range of knowledge and interests might well be able to help one another to have a better understanding and try to find answers to questions.
David says 'I have collected items of use and if at the time of purchase there were no identifying marks, it wouldn’t have stopped me from handing over my hard earned cash. I bought them, as I liked them for what they are and if the maker hadn’t marked his little works of art, he would have regrets today.
I think that it’s a shame that other members have favourite blue and white items and no one ever sees them. Perhaps other members might enjoy and find interesting seeing these items in our Bulletin. There must be lots of items we’ve never seen before, whether it’s a different pattern or an unusual item. It’s not the case of “showing off” but sharing with others who have a similar interest. This is just a small group of blue and white pieces which I see every day and which make me feel lucky that they are mine, for the time being'.

Recently I bought the mug shown above which bears a similar distinctive border and a known Leeds pattern with an Indian fort as its subject. The fort, incidentally is identified as Eastern Gate, leading to a Musjed at Chunar Ghur, see page 40, Michael Sack's 'India on Transferware'. Imagine my surprise when I checked the base to find a standard printed RILEY mark. Your Editor is now confused (and not for the first time, you say!!). Does my blue saucer belong to Yorkshire, Staffordshire or elsewhere? Barry Wilkinson certainly discussed the Indian fort pattern in Bulletin 93/6 on other makers' wares.

HICKS & MEIGH ORNITHOLOGICAL SERIES continued
from AUSTIN WRAGG

Until now I have used dishes with a peripheral line but with only a single inner border to identify attributions to dessert services, but I am moving on to dishes with outer borders in dinner services, i.e. plates, platters, jugs and serving bowls etc. There has been some difficulty in separating Minton, Stevenson and Hicks & Meigh, in that they all used very similar inner and outer borders and Hicks & Meigh changed their borders according to shape, size and whether for dessert or dinner use. The acquisition of marked Stevenson dinner and side plates and an attributed Minton soup bowl has helped.
Hicks & Meigh, in changing from dessert dishes to dinner plates and serving bowls, and also according to size, changed the inner border from having a simple two curl tendril to three or four, through to more complicated presentations, plus other changes in leaves and foliage. The outer borders of Hicks/Meigh dishes also changed, but I have remained with the inner borders for simplicity as they follow through.

Fig 1 shows a meat dish as illustrated in Priestman's Minton Printed Pottery 1796-1836 p124 pl 6.28. This dish has the four curl tendril.	Fig 2 shows a drainer in the same pattern but as it does nothave an outer border, it has the three curl tendril, found on dessert dishes. (Image by permission of Mellors & Kirk, Auctioneers).
Fig 3 shows a meat dish in Birds of Prey pattern, where the tendrils become  showing a vulture & an eagle competing for a chick. This is a similar but variant pattern from the example shown in Coysh's "Blue  Printed Earthenware 1800-1850", attributed to Stevenson, p85, No 109,  which does not have the peripheral line around the border or tendrils.	Fig 4 shows a meat dish in the less simple,Pheasant & Turkey pattern again showing more involved tendrils and leaves.
Fig 5 a jug with an outer border, showing on one side, the Turkey and Pheasant pattern, and Fig 6 the Birds of Prey pattern on the other, has the two curl tendril used on smaller dessert items. (Images by permission of Richard Halliday).	Fig 7 shows a pie dish in a Pheasant and Bird of Paradise pattern with the two tendril as on dessert items. A variation of this pattern known as Kingfisher, is shown in the above mentioned book by Coysh, p85 No 108 attributed to Stevenson but without tendrils or a peripheral line.
Fig 8 shows a cream tureen stand showing the chick, flowers and leaves from the Birds of Prey pattern but with the two curl tendril border.	Fig 9 shows a small serving bowl with the same pattern as on the pickle set attributed to Hicks & Meigh in Bulletin 152/4 and having the two curl tendril.

Four of the dishes had impressed potter's numbers, 7, 16, 18, 20. What has also emerged is that sometimes the second number digit is bigger than the first one and can be at an angle to the first one, showing that they were impressed separately, i.e. 16, but the figure 1 is always 4mm high.
The connections are made between the shell and quatrefoil shapes, dinner, supper and pickle set dishes from the previous articles in Bulletins 151 & 152, and the illustrated meat dishes in this article. I would therefore say that these further attributions to Hicks & Meigh have been made.
I would be interested in any comments about the three articles in Friends of Blue and I can be contacted at austinwragg36@hotmail.co.uk .