Bristol.

The first record of pot-making in Bristol appears to have been in the reign of Edward I., but it seems certain that vessels were made in the neighbourhood in Saxon and Norman times, as well as in the earlier Celtic and Romano-British periods. Mediæval earthenware vessels of different periods, and probably made in the locality, have now and then been found at Bristol, and during the reign of Elizabeth, there is no doubt, a manufactory of fictile vessels was in operation.

“Six hundred years ago,” says Mr. Owen, “the art of pottery was practised in Bristol, but in what form is beyond our speculation. The record, though authentic, is too terse to give more than the bare fact, and the imagination must be fertile indeed that can supply the details. The Governor of Bristol Castle, under Edward I., in his accounts, preserved in the Pipe Roll for the twelfth year of that reign (1284), has an item—‘pro terra fodienda ad vasa fictilia facienda’—which shows that this claim for high antiquity is well founded.” Fragments of some curious pitchers and other mediæval domestic vessels are engraved by Mr. Owen, and appear to be of about the period alluded to.

The Delft Works.—At the close of the seventeenth century, Delft ware was made here, and continued to be produced until about the time when porcelain began to be produced in the city. Many specimens of Bristol Delft ware have come under my notice, some of which are, fortunately, dated. The earliest dated example I have seen is a plate marked on the rim with the initials S · M · B, and the date 1703, thus—

. The ware is of a very nice quality, with a good glaze, and the blue of good colour. The next dated specimen, in chronological order, which has come under my notice is a Delft high-heeled shoe, or choppine, which is dated on the sole 1722, along with the initials M S—thus

This very good example, which is said to be of Bristol make, was in possession of the late Mr. James, of that city. It is beautifully formed, has a buckle in front, and is flowered and bordered in blue. Two of these Delft stands in the form of high-heeled shoes, formerly belonging to Queen Charlotte, were sold at the Bernal sale. They were of an earlier date, and marked M I 1705. Another example in the same possession is a plate of the year 1740, bearing on its rim the initials R · S · P, thus—

Fig. 735.—Edkins’ Plate, belonging to Mr. Owen.

One of the latest dated examples I have seen is the plate engraved on Fig. [735], which forms part of a set belonging to a descendant of the artist who painted it, and has remained in the family from the time of its manufacture until it came into my hands. It is a plate painted in a somewhat peculiar style, in blue, with a Chinese figure, trees, cattle, and birds, and having on its under side the date 1760, and the initials M · B · E, as shown on Fig. [736]. These are the initials of Michael and Betty Edkins, of Bristol, of whom I shall have more to say presently.

Fig. 736.

It may be well to remark, en passant, that this mode of placing initials, which is so usual on traders’ tokens, was the favourite way of arranging the initials of husband and wife, and they were so understood without using the short &. The upper letter was the initial of the surname, and those below of the Christian names of the husband and wife. Thus

would read M & B E, and stand for Michael and Betty Edkins.

The Delft ware works were situated on “Redcliffe Backs,” near to the glass works of Messrs. Little and Longman. The names of the first potters are, as usual, lost, but in the early part of last century the works belonged to a Mr. Richard Frank, who seems to have been a man of standing in the place, and who employed, along with other workmen, a Mr. Thomas Patience, and a family of the name of Hope. Richard Frank, who had also works at Brislington, was the son of Thomas Frank, “gallipot maker,” of Bristol, who was married in 1697; he, the “gallipot maker,” is therefore the earliest recorded potter of this place. The goods produced at Richard Frank’s manufactory—who, as well as his father, is described as a “gallipot maker” in 1734–9 and 1754—were principally plates, dishes, and “Dutch tiles” for fire-places, dairies, &c. In the Museum of Practical Geology is a slab composed of twenty-four tiles, on which is painted in blue a view of St. Mary Redcliffe Church, Bristol. These were made by Richard Frank, about 1738–50, and the arms of Bishop Butler appear upon one of them. The tiles were all, of course, painted by hand, and we have it on the authority of Michael Edkins, himself the actual painter of the plate, Fig. [735], that the brushes which he and the other workmen used were made by themselves from the hairs pulled from the nostrils and eyelids of cattle. Michael Edkins, the painter of Delft ware, was, it appears, from Birmingham, where he was apprenticed to a house painter. His master dying before his term expired, he was of course left to shift for himself, and made his way to Bristol, where, becoming acquainted with Patience and Hope, he got employed at Frank’s pottery, where he became a “pot painter,” and continued in that employment till the Delft pottery declined, “when (in 1761) he became a coach and general painter and decorator, and quickly rose to eminence, was employed about most public works in the city, assisted in painting the bas-reliefs to the altar-piece of St. Mary Redcliffe, and also assisted Hogarth in fixing his celebrated pictures in that altar-piece.” He was also a successful actor at the theatre. One branch of his business that he now followed was “enamelling glass ware,” which he did for Little and Longmans, and their successors, Vigor and Stevens, whose glass house adjoined the Delft pottery on Redcliffe Backs. The works stood on what is now, at the time I write, Redcliffe Wharf, occupied by Mr. Cripps, general wharfinger, on the river Avon.

Fig. 737.—Election Plate, 1754.

A plate bearing the words “Nugent only 1754,” was in all probability made by Richard Frank, who was a supporter of Nugent at the general election of that year. Another plate, commemorating the same year’s election for Tewkesbury, is supposed to be from the same works; it bears the words “Calvert and Martin For Tukesbury 1754 Sold by Webb.” Among other dated examples of Bristol Delft are the following, which may be from Frank’s pottery. A piece bearing the words “Ye 1st Septr 1761 Bowen · fecit;” a pair of plates made for a member of the family of Davis, with the letters

, and others with the following

“Hannah Hopkins Born Sep 17 New Style 1752,” occurs on a christening bowl in the Edkins collection.

A fine plate, painted by Bowen, engraved on Fig. [738], is in possession of Mr. Willet, of Brighton, who also possesses a grand tile picture, consisting of seventy-two tiles, painted with Hogarth’s “March to Finchley.” Mr. Fry has two clever tile pictures of nine tiles each, one representing a cat and the other a dog. On the collar of the latter are the words “Bristol, 1752.”

Later on Richard Frank took his son Thomas into partnership, and in 1777 the works were removed to Water Lane, to the manufactory which, in 1775, had been carried on by James Alsop, a brown stoneware potter. The following advertisement, of the year 1777, refers to this change: “Richard Frank & Son, Earthen and Stone Pot Works, are removed from Redcliffe Backs to Water Lane, where they continue the same business in all its branches.”

Fig. 738.

In 1784, Joseph Ring, rectifier and vinegar maker, who had married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Frank (and was father of Sarah, the wife of Frederick Cookworthy,[  ] nephew of William Cookworthy), purchased the business of Frank and Son for £669 1s. 3½d. Mr. Owen prints the following extracts from the valuation for this sale. It shows that Richard Frank and Son were general dealers in all kinds of ware, as well as Delft and stone ware makers. The inventory is headed, “The Stock & Utensils in Trade At the Pot House in Water Lane, Bristol, as Appraised as following.” The following are some of the items; the whole of the plant being valued at only ten pounds:—

£s.d.
“Black Ware2762½
Red China Ware3162
Tortoishell Ware0180
Blue and White Sprig’d Ware14156
Blue and White Stone Staffordshire Ware2189½
Dutch Ware, 18 Jugs, one to ye Warp0180
Delph Ware750
21 Doz. and ½ Copperplate tiles440
Best Nottingham Ware25168½
Blue China Glaz’d Ware1132½
Enamelled China Glaze Ware14811½
Common Enamelled Ware3133
Copperplate Ware200
Cream Colour Ware90134½
White Stone Ware5209
Brown Stone Ware1591611½
Materials, 27 tons Clay, 2/62906
80 bags Sand, 1/24134
11 Cut Salt, 5/6306
Tools, 324 Pot Boards, 3 Benches, 1 Pounding Trough, 1 Mixing Trough, 1 Clay Chest, 3 Compleat Wheel and Wheel Frames, with Working Benches, &c., Moulds and Drums for making Slugs, Kiln Ladder, Salting Boxes, Lignum Vitæ blocks and Hand Mill1000
Old Iron Pot, in the Yard046

Richard Frank died in 1785, aged about 73, and was buried in the Quaker’s ground at Redcliffe Pit. “Joseph Ring, successor to Richard Frank in the Pottery Business,” in his address stated that he “continues the manufactory of the Bristol Stone Ware, and sells all other sorts of Queen’s and other Ware wholesale and retail.” This last branch of his business he cultivated considerably, and appears to have traded with most of the manufacturers of the day. In 1786 Mr. Ring determined upon manufacturing Queen’s ware, and to that end engaged Anthony Hassel (or Hassells), a potter of Shelton, in Staffordshire, buying from him his stock and moulds, and removing them to Bristol.

Fig. 739.

In 1788 Mr. Ring took two partners, Mr. Taylor and Mr. Carter, he bringing in a capital of £3,000, and Messrs. Taylor and Carter £1,500 jointly. “The Stock and Utensils in Trade at the Pot House in Water Lane, as per Inventory taken this day,” January 9th, 1788, were sold by Mr. Ring to himself and partners, “under the firm of Ring and Taylor,” for £2038 1s. 10d. The manufacture of Delft ware then came to a close.

Another Delft ware potter was Joseph Flower, who, in 1775 lived at No. 2 on the Quay, and in 1777 removed to 3 Corn Street, where he put a sign-board, painted black, with “Flower, Potter,” in gold letters, for the painting of which he paid Michael Edkins 10s. 6d. Flower’s ware, says Mr. Owen, is thinner and neater in make than most British Delft; the glaze good, and the colour clear and brilliant in tone—indeed, in no respect inferior to Dutch. Fig. [739] is a plate belonging to a dinner service made by Joseph Flower, and now in the possession of his descendant Mr. J. Flower Fussel. It is painted with a Chinese pattern, and bears initial and dates varying from 1742 to 1750. The plate here engraved bears the initials (Fig. [740]). In the same hands is a plate dated 1741–2, painted with a view of the river Avon and the old Hotwells House; and two dishes bearing the plan of a battle, and the words “The taking of Chagre in the West Indies by Admiral Vernon.”

Fig 740.