Lambeth.
Lambeth has been a seat of pottery manufacture from an early period. In mediæval times the characteristic brown-ware pitchers, pans, tygs, &c., were made; and, later on, at this place was quite a colony of makers of Delft ware, who in turn gave place to stoneware manufacturers. China, too, appears to have been made at Lambeth from perhaps 1760, or thereabouts. It is recorded that in the middle of the seventeenth century the Delft ware manufacture commenced; but it is not unlikely that Rous and Cullyn, some years earlier, here established themselves in the making of “stone potts, stone jugs, and stone bottels,” for which they received a patent in 1626.[50] It is conjectured, and with some probability, that one of the Delft ware makers at this place was John Ariens Van Hamme, a Dutchman, who had come over from the Hague under the encouragement of our ambassador, who, as has already been shown,[51] took out a patent in 1676 for the “art of makeinge tiles and porcelane and other earthen wares, after the way practiced in Holland,” and who, with his staff of workmen, probably formed the nucleus of what was afterwards a nest of potters, comprising, according to the “History of Lambeth,” no less than twenty manufactories. In 1693 a trial took place in the Court of Exchequer concerning some parcels of potter’s clay which had been seized by the Custom House officers, under pretence that it was fuller’s earth. In this trial five London potters, William Knight, Thomas Harper, Henry De Wilde, John Robins, and Moses Johnson, gave evidence in favour of the clay being potter’s clay. There is nothing in the record of this trial to identify any of the five potters therein named with Lambeth; but the probability is that some of them belonged to that place. One of them, William Knight, was undoubtedly the “William Knight of the parish of St. Buttolph Without, Aldgate, London, Pottmaker,” concerning whom I give, from the original deed in my possession, some particulars under the head of “Aldgate;” some of the others were, I believe, of Lambeth. The account of the trial has been printed by my friend, Mr. Reeks, in the “Catalogue of the Museum of Practical Geology,” and is so interesting that I here reproduce it entire.
A Brief Account of the Evidence given on behalf of Edmund Warner, at a Tryal had at the Bar the 24th of November, 1693, before the Four Barons of the Exchequer, relating to a Parcel of Potters Clay, seized by the Custom-House Officers, under the pretence of it’s being Fullers Earth.
William Riddal swore that he was Steward and Tenant to the said Warner for above 20 Years, in all which time the said Warner constantly sold to the Potters in London considerable quantities of the same sort of clay now in dispute, for the making of White and Painted Earthen-Ware: That he never knew or heard that the least Parcel of it was ever sold as Fullers-Earth, or put to any other Use than making Earthen-Ware, excepting some small quantities yearly in the Neighbourhood for daubing of Houses, which may be alledged as a good Argument that the said Clay is not of the nature of Fullers-Earth; for, whereas this makes the best Clay Wall in England, if it were of the nature of Fullers-Earth, upon the first wet Weather it would all fall to the Ground: He likewise further deposed, That the first time the said Warner shipt the said Clay for Holland, it was seized by the Custom-house Officers as Fullers-Earth; but upon Tryal of it, they were convinced of their Error, and cleared the same.
William Knight, Thomas Harper, Henry de Wilde, John Robins, Moses Johnson are all Potters in London, and swore that they had all seen the said Warner’s Clay, which was seized, that it was really Potter’s Clay, and of the same sort which they had constantly bought of him, some for above 25 Years, others ever since they were Traders, that it is of a quite different nature from Fullers Earth; for the said Warner’s Clay tho’ never so often dissolved in Water, may be brought into a Body again, and will work, like Wax, into any shape, whereas Fullers Earth being once dissolved is never to be got into any Body, but when it is dry crumbles like Sand, and all the art of Man can never make a Pot of it.
Hen. de Wilde, one of the said Potters, farther deposed, That about five Years since he shipt some of the said Warner’s Clay for Pensilvania, where his Son had set up a Pot-House, that the Custom-House Officers did then likewise seize it as Fullers-Earth, but upon Trial of it found they were mistaken, and cleared the same.
Benjamin Furly, Merchant in Rotterdam, to whom the said Warner consigned his Clay, John Sonman, Servant to the said Furly, were, by virtue of a Commission from the Court of Exchequer, examined upon Oath (by Commissioners appointed for that purpose), to several Interrogatories, and their Depositions being read in Court, did plainly prove that all the said Warner’s Clay which was sent for Holland was really sold to Potters for making of Earthen-Ware; That they never heard, nor do believe that any part of it was ever used for the Fulling Trade, or is any way proper for it; that they sold the said Warner’s Clay from 25 to 30 Guilders a Last, when they could buy Fullers-Earth at 7 Guilders a Last.
Adrian Van Arde, sworn Measurer of all the Earth and Clay imported to Rotterdam, was examined by vertue of the said Commission, and Deposed, That for many Years which he had been in that Office, he never knew or heard of any English Fullers-Earth imported into Holland, that they were so plentifully supplied with that sort of Earth from Flanders; that it is commonly bought and sold at Seven Guilders a Last, and had an Hundred Last by him to sell at the same Rate.
Ten or Twelve Potters in Holland were likewise examined by virtue of the said Commission, and deposed severally, That they had bought considerable quantities of the said Warner’s clay of Mr. Benj. Furly, and paid for the same from 25 to 30 Guilders a Last; that they used the same in making Earthen-Ware, but do not believe it any way useful for the Fulling Trade, nor never heard that any of it was ever sold for that use.
Colonel Holt, a Member of Parliament, swore, That he (being very lately in Holland) made the strictest inquiries into the Truth of this Business, that he could, First amongst the Potters, who all declared to the same Effect, as in their Depositions before mentioned, that he likewise took some of the said Warner’s Clay, and got a Fuller to try it, whether it were any way useful for their Trade, who answered it was not? nor could he use it if he might have it for Nothing; after which the Colonel ask’d him, From whence they were supplied with Fullers-Earth, and at what Rates? The Fullers answered, generally from Flanders at 6½, and 7 Guilders per Last; and sometimes from Rosendale, in the States Dominions, at 10 Guilders per Last; that being much dryer, and wasted less by lying; all which the Colonel (being unwilling to believe upon the Fuller’s bare word) caused to be drawn up in the Form of an Affidavit, and the Fuller before a Magistrate, swore to the Truth of it, which Affidavit the Colonel hath to produce.
Mr. Edward Paget, a Divine, swore, That he being in Holland at the same time, made the like Enquiry amongst the Fullers at Layden, the chief cloathing Town in Holland, who all gave him the same Information, that the Fuller at Rotterdam had done the Colonel above; and for his better satisfaction, Three of the Chiefest went with him before a Magistrate, and swore to the Truth of what they Affirmed; after which he went to Delft amongst the Potters, who all affirmed the same thing, that the Ten or Twelve had sworn in their aforementioned Depositions, the Truth of which they attested by a Certificate, under the Hands of above Twenty, which Affidavits, and Certificate, the said Paget hath to produce.
Rich. Cutler, Matthew Hanson, Ship-brokers, swore, They had hired many Ships for the said Warner, to load Clay for Rotterdam; and the general Price of the Fraight, and Primage paid for the same, was 15 Guilders, 8 Stivers per Last; and sometimes 17 Guilders, 12 Stivers per Last.
Will. Read, Tho. Wood, John Saliby, Mariners, swore, They had the same Prices above mentioned, for several Fraights which they carried, and saw delivered to the Potters in Holland.
Hump. Bellomy, Richard Hopkins, Timothy Fowler, —— Shepherd, Worcester, are all Buyers, and Sellers of Fullers-Earth, and swore they could well judge of the same, having dealt therein from Ten to above Twenty-five Years, that they all took Samples of the said Warner’s Clay, out of the King’s Celler, and tryed all the Experiments to judge of it, that they were capable of; and possitively affirmed that it was no Fullers-Earth; neither could they find anything of the Nature of Fullers-Earth in it, that for their Use they would not give a Shilling for 100 Last, for they should never be able to sell it.
Alderman Bearcraft, Tho. Cooksey, John Wynn, Rowl. Hancock, Gloucestershire; Rich. Osborne, Tho. Woorrel, John Chilton, Sam. Beadle, Essex; Simon Meazy, John Lawson, John Backer, John Peartree, Suffolk; John Clarke, Senior, John Clarke, Junior, Will. Baines, Tho. Baines, Dan. Baines, John Smith, John Carter, Dan. Wenden, Sam. Wrinch, London; Dan. Barrs, John St. Berry, are all Clothiers, Fullers, and Cloth-Workers; being the most eminent in their several Places; as well for Honesty, as great Traders, and good Estates; they all swore they had made the most impartial Experiments they could of the said Warner’s Clay, now in dispute, being the same taken out of the King’s Celler, that they tried it upon several sorts of Goods, as several sorts of Cloth, Bays, Cloth-Serges, and Perpetuanæs, and every one possitively affirmed that it was no Fuller’s-Earth, but on the contrary was an absolute Enemy to the Woollen Manufacture; for instead of scouring, it fix’d the Grease in the Grownd of all the Goods, that were done with it, and instead of makeing them White, it absolutely stained them Yellow, all which was apparent to the most common Eye, in all the above-said several sorts of Goods, produced in Court: They likewise declared upon Oath, that they were all Strangers to the said Warner; and that it was as prejudicial to their interest, to have Fullers-Earth Transported, as any men’s, and therefore could have no Inducement to favour the said Warner, beyond the Merits of his cause, to the Violation of their Consciences.
This is so just a Recital of the Evidence given on behalf of the said Warner, that he challenges the greatest of his Enemies to detect him of the least Falsehood therein; and if his Adversaries had been as fair in representing theirs, there would have been no need of this; for whereas in their printed Papers they make their Witnesses to affirm the said Warner’s clay was tried in all Experiments, without any mixture, there was not above One or Two, but upon cross-Examination at the Tryal, owned they used either Segg and Hogs dung, or Soap and Gauls with it, which would have scowered any Cloath better without the said Clay than with it.
It may not be amiss likewise to observe that for a whole Year in which the Custom-House Officers have been so very diligent in spreading the Fame of the said Warner’s Clay to be the best Fullers-Earth in England, he hath not been able to sell the least quantity of it as such, tho’ he has proffered it to all Men for a very little more than one-Third of what Fullers-Earth is generally sold for.
The Delft ware here made was of the ordinary kind, same as imported from Holland, and as that made in various English localities, and, being without mark, is not to be distinguished from others. Besides tiles, plates, jugs, mugs, dishes, &c., sack and other wine bottles, apothecaries’ pill-slabs, wine-bin labels, &c., were made. Some of these pill-slabs are preserved in the Jermyn Street Museum, as are also some of the “sack-pots,” both of which may most probably, as well as the apothecaries’ jars, be ascribed to Lambeth. They are all of Delft ware, painted with blue, in the same manner as the tiles and other articles of this ware.
In 1820 there “were six or seven potters in Lambeth,” says Mr. Goddard, “working some sixteen small kilns, of seven or eight feet in diameter, the produce of each kiln being under £20 worth of ware, the principal articles made being blacking bottles, ginger-beer bottles (very extensively made still), porter and cider bottles (not so largely made now), spruce-beer bottles (gone, with the beer, quite out of fashion), ink bottles (more used now than ever), oil bottles, pickle jars, hunting jugs, &c. A few chemical vessels were also turned out well from one kiln belonging to an eccentric individual, whose chief boast was to drink a gallon of beer a day, and do without rest on Sundays.” In 1860: “In place of some sixteen kilns, turning out each under £20 per kiln, we have now about seventy, turning out each, perhaps, on an average £50. They consume upwards of 20,000 tons of coal, paying a corporation tax of say £2,100 per annum. The law requires this quantity to be burnt without smoke, and, after immense cost and labour, this difficulty may be called surmounted. Twenty-three thousand tons of clay are annually changed into useful articles, giving employment to more than eight hundred persons. The returns of the Lambeth potters cannot be estimated at less than £140,000.”
High Street.—From about 1750 to 1770 the Delft ware works were carried on by a Mr. Griffiths, who had, for those days, a large establishment. A curious reference to this manufactory occurs in the following extract from the Monthly Magazine for 1797. A man, at that time unknown, but who turned out to be James Doe, a potter, committed suicide by drowning, on the 14th of September in that year, at Sea Mill Docks, two and a half miles from Bristol, having remained “fasting and praying,” without food or bedding in the ruined building there from the 11th, waiting opportunity and determination to commit the rash act; and having, during the whole of that time, written a kind of diary of his feelings and intentions, his hopes and fears, on the walls of the old room he remained in. Mr. Joseph James interested himself much in the matter, and wrote an account for the Monthly Magazine; and this, and the inquest, and other means he took, resulted in the discovery of the name and some particulars of the life of the suicide. Two of the letters forwarded in October, 1797, are highly interesting as showing at what works he had been employed. The first letter is from London, from “a respectable proprietor of a pottery there,” and thus runs:—
“To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.
“Sir,
“The extraordinary and affecting manuscript writing of the unfortunate stranger found drowned in Sea-Mill Dock, which I transmitted to you last month, having very probably excited the attention and sympathy of many of your numerous readers, I feel it a duty incumbent upon me to lay before them (through the channel of your useful publication) some information which I have since been enabled to procure of this unhappy and extraordinary person.
“A few days previous to the publication of your magazine, I caused a paragraph to be again inserted in the Bristol newspapers, requesting the attention of the readers to the personal description of the stranger found drowned at Sea-Mill Dock, and inviting the two women who had made inquiries after a stranger that was missing, and answering the same description, to come forward with their information, as the only probable means left of tracing out the name and connections of this unfortunate stranger. I was soon after waited on by two gentlemen of Bristol of the name of Ring, the proprietors of a large pottery, whose information and description of a person lately come to Bristol, and who worked in their manufactory, in the art of painting china, so exactly corresponded with the clothing and person of the man found drowned at Sea-Mills, that there remained not a doubt of his being the person, the subject of their inquiry. Through their polite assistance I obtained the name of the deceased, which is James Doe, and I also got an interview with the K—f—m acquaintance, who, having visited the tenement, and viewed the manuscript writing there upon the wall, recognised the handwriting of his friend; he gave me likewise a description of his person and dress, which corresponded with that already published. For particulars of the deceased’s family and friends, I was referred to several persons in London, one of whom, a respectable proprietor of a pottery there, writes thus:—
“‘Sir,—I received yours, and was much affected at its contents. I should have written sooner, but I wished first to see his uncle, who has informed me of the following particulars:—
“‘James Doe was born at Lambeth, in Surrey, of very respectable parents, and was educated in the same place. He served an apprenticeship at Lambeth to a painter in the china and earthenware line, and he painted in the biscuit before it was glazed. In this line he was esteemed a good workman; and, to my own knowledge, he worked some years at Mr. Wedgwood’s manufactory in Staffordshire. He was there very much respected by his employer, his fellow-workmen, and by all who knew him. He was fond of company, but I do not remember him to neglect business when urgent. Having a tolerably good education, he was fond of reading. He was particularly generous, and always first to relieve any of the trade out of employ or in sickness. He worked at Mr. Baddely’s, in Staffordshire, for six or seven years, and was, at that place, very much respected. In fact, I believe him to be generally beloved and respected wheresoever he worked. About three years ago he came to London, and finding little or no employment in the line in which he was brought up, he was obliged to leave town, and, being assisted by his friends, he embarked on board a ship for Newcastle, and from thence went on to Glasgow in Scotland, where he was a fellow-workman with one of my present journeymen, and supported an excellent character there. From this time, I believe, he met with many disappointments. He then went to Ireland, and, after stopping there a short time, he embarked on board a vessel bound for Swansea, in South Wales, where he worked some time, and then went on to the Worcestershire China Manufactory, which was, I believe, the last place he worked at.’”
The following is an extract from the letter alluded to:—
“‘London, Nov. 20, 1797.
“‘Sir,—
“‘You seem to be very anxious concerning the life of the unfortunate stranger found drowned in Sea-Mill Dock. You have a right to know it, for the kindness you have shown to his unfortunate remains. James Doe was born at Lambeth, about two miles from London, of honest parents, who brought him up in as creditable a manner as their circumstances would admit. At the age of fourteen years, or thereabouts, he was put as an apprentice to Mr. Griffiths, at the delft pottery, High Street, Lambeth. When he was out of his time, he continued working at his business until he became slack; and the queen’s ware meeting with great encouragement, he went into Staffordshire for employment, where he remained upwards of twenty years, working for different masters, and then came up to London, in want of employ, and got work at China-gilding for a few months. He was then invited into Staffordshire again, where he remained but a short time: and from that time he has been considered the wanderer of the trade. He was the most charitable man I ever knew; and he was often known to neglect himself when misfortunes came on his friends and acquaintances, to whose relief he contributed both time and money, as much as lay in his power. Believe me, Sir, you have bestowed your trouble on the remains of a very good-hearted man. The acquaintance he alluded to in his diary, and another person, were going to France, about thirteen years ago, with a view of carrying over and establishing there the queen’s-ware manufactory; some of the master potters heard of it, and had them confined in prison. As soon as James Doe heard of it, he went through the trade to gather money to support his friend, and to preserve him from want; and he, poor soul, contributed all he had, for that purpose. To be denied assistance by that man whom he had relieved in distress, was too great for his tender heart to bear. Sir, I do not pretend to hold my friend up to perfection, the last action of his life is against him; but, I believe, the denial of relief by that man whom he had served and relieved in distress was the sole cause of his committing the rash act of suicide. The language of the manuscript writing is nearly the same as his last conversation with me, as far as this friend is mentioned. I perfectly agree with you, that he was in his senses as much as he ever was in his life, when he committed the act of suicide. He was acquainted with a Mr. Greenwood in Staffordshire for some years, a man remarkable for fine knowledge; to that man the unfortunate Doe owed a great deal of his knowledge; and although Mr. Greenwood was a very sensible man, yet he held it just for a man to destroy himself, and, like my friend, in his perfect senses, actually made away with himself the day before he was to have been married to a person of credit and property. They are two of the strangest suicides I ever heard; and had James Doe written to his friends in London, he would have had money sent him; for his friends in London would have thought it a happiness to relieve him. He was a very useful man in the Staffordshire ware manufactory, as he had studied the chemical secrets of that business. He was fond of reading. I shall be happy to communicate any further particulars you may require; and am, Sir,
“‘Yours,’ &c. &c.”
In the possession of Mr. R. C. Ring is a mug painted by Doe—said to be his last work. It is signed “J. Doe, Sept., 1797;” and as he committed suicide on the 14th of that month, it would certainly be one of his last productions. Mr. Owen’s assertion that he committed suicide through a fear that that painting would injure the enameller’s trade is, from the above letters, &c., amply shown to be without foundation.
Coades.—Coade’s Artificial Stone Works, at Pedlar’s Acre, King’s Arms Stairs, Narrow Wall, Lambeth, opposite Whitehall Stairs or Ferry, were established about 1760 by Mrs. or the Misses Coade, under the name of “Coade’s Lithodipyra, Terra Cotta, or Artificial Stone Manufactory.” This material was intended to take the place of carved stone for vases, statues, and architectural enrichments. In 1769 the two Misses Coade took into partnership their cousin, a Mr. Sealy (the nephew of Mr. Coade), and by these the works were carried on. In 1811 the firm was still “Coades & Sealy.” At the death of Mr. Sealy, who survived the Misses Coade, a Mr. Croggan, who had for a long time been a clerk or manager attached to the business, became the proprietor of the works, which he continued for many years. He then disposed of the business to Messrs. Routledge, Greenwood, & Keene, who were succeeded by Messrs. Routledge & Lucas. These gentlemen, about 1840, dissolved partnership and sold off all their moulds, models, plant, &c., by auction, by Messrs. Rushworth & Jarvis, of Saville Row. Many of these moulds and models were bought by Mr. Blashfield[52] and by other manufacturers, among whom was Mr. H. M. Blanchard of Blackfriars Road[53] (which see), and who, being an apprentice with the Coades, and possessing many of their models, &c., claims to be their successor.
The Coades are said to have come from Lyme Regis, in Dorsetshire, and probably it was for the purpose of turning their native clay to good account in London that induced them to establish this manufactory. Bacon, Flaxman, Banks, Rossi, and Panzetta, the sculptors, were employed to model for these works, and many of the old mansions and public buildings in London and in the country, as well as abroad—including the bas-relief in the pediment over the western portico of Greenwich Hospital, representing the death of Nelson, designed by Benjamin West, and modelled by Bacon and Panzetta; and the rood-screen of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor; the statue of Britannia on the Nelson monument at Yarmouth, &c.—were executed at these works. The works principally produced at Coades were capitals of columns, statues, vases, bassi-relievi, monuments, coats of arms, keystones, angle rusticated blocks, balustrades, &c. They were of durable quality and excellent manufacture.
Another person employed at Coades was William John Coffee, who afterwards attained some celebrity as a modeller at the Derby China Works, and as a terra cotta maker, for a short time, at Derby. I believe he was employed as a fire-man at Coades, and here, no doubt, being a clever fellow, picked up his knowledge of modelling and of mixing bodies. The following curious letter and “information,” from the originals in my own possession, give some highly interesting particulars regarding Coades’ and Sealy’s manufactory in 1790:—
“The information got from the fire-man that worked at the Artificial Stone Manufactory, Lambeth:—There is three kilns, the largest is 9 feet diameter and about 10 feet high, the other two are sizes under; they have only three fire-holes to each, and they are about 14 inches in the clear. They make use of no saggers, but their kilns are all muffled about two inches thick, which was always done by this fire-man. They always was four days and four nights of fireing a kilns, and the moment the goods are fire’d up he always took and stop’d the kilns intirely close from any air whatever without lowering the fires at all. He has been use to fire intirely with coal (which are call’d Hartley coals—they are not much unlike yours at Derby). He never made use of any thermometer, but depended intirely on his own knowledge. The composition shrinks about half an inch in a foot in the drying, and about the same in the firing. A great deal of the ornaments are 4 inches thick when fired, and he has fired figures 9 feet high. This man has had the intire management of building the kilns, setting and firing them for many years; his wages was one guinea per week, and for every night when he fired he had 2s. 6d. for the small kiln, 3s. for the next size, and 3s. 6d. for the largest.
“Sir,—Quite unexpected, the fire-man from Lambeth that I have been after so long, call’d on me on Monday, to say that he was out of imploy; therefore I engaged him to meet me at Field’s in the evening, which he did; and inclosed is all the information I cou’d get from him. I informed him that when I wrote to him in the country I was imploy’d to look out for a person in his way, but did not know wether there was now the same person wanted or not, but wou’d write. At the same time I ask’d him if he shou’d like to go down into the country to make a trial for a short time, and see how he was likely to succeed; but this he seem’d to decline for some time, unless he went upon a certainty for constant imployment. After drinking a bowl of punch, he said he wou’d go down to make trial, in case his expences was all paid up and down, and paid for the time he was away. He seems to think, before he cou’d attempt doing any thing, there must be some alteration made to the kiln; but of this you will be the best judge, if you agree to have him down. He seems pretty confident they will be glad to have him back to Lambeth again very soon: in short, he thinks they cannot do without him. He says they had better a made him a present of £500 than a parted with him. I have been inform’d thro’ another hand that had use to work at the manufactory they have had very great losses in the kilns since he left, and that they have lost everything in the large kiln. He seems very confident in succeeding in firing China figures to any size; but of this he cannot be a judge till a trial is made. After I first see this man, I went and inform’d Mr. Vulliamy of it, and his advise is to for you to have him down, tho’ he says he is a drunken bad chap, but clever in his business. If you shou’d so determine to have him down, I think sooner the better, as he expects soon to be call’d to Gen. Conway’s[54] again, and likewise to fire some figures, &c., for a Mrs. Dimer,[54] in town. He has promis’d to call again in a few days, therefore you will please to give your answer. Mr. Vulliamy very much wants two boys of the last mould sent: begs you will forward them immediately. Mr. V. inform’d me a few days since that he would write to you the first opportunity, and am,
“Sir, your very obedient servant,
“J. Lygo.”
“March 23rd, ’90.”
In 1792 the following letter, also in my own possession, was addressed to Coffee by Miss E. Coade, and shows what a clear-headed, right-minded, and well-disposed employer she was:—
“Lyme, 25 July, 1792.
“Mr. Coffee.—I received your third letter, but have had so many engagements that I cou’d not answer it sooner; besides that at this distance I can’t speak upon it as if I were present. I supposed, as you now say, that Mr. Pritchard’s information against you was in consequence of some quarrell you had had with him; but I do not justify his manner of taking revenge, and you are now returning it upon him by acquainting me of his making tools in my time and selling them, which, as you say, is a greater crime than what he has charged you with, and if Mr. Sealy knew it, I can’t suppose he wou’d keep such a man. But it is always a rule with me to let every man speak for himself if he can; and, therefore, as I am at such a distance I must put it by for ye present, or else refer it to Mr. Sealy, who is ye only judge whether ye hurry of business will allow of parting with a man or not. You shou’d put yourself in ye place of a master, and then consider how many things they have to try them, and how impossible to attend to ye private quarrells of ye workmen: however, I know Mr. Sealy is disposed to do justice. You say he behaved very well to you in ye beginning of this affair, and if he changed his conduct, it must be in consequence of your improper behaviour to him. But as it is too late to recall what is past, my advice to you is to do as you say—return to your work; and if you are conscious that in your passion you have behaved disrespectfully to Mr. Sealy, make such acknowledgments to him as will show your good sense, as well as a sense of duty. I have no doubt but he would have lent you money if you had asked it in a becoming spirit. I hope your hand is better and that you are at work. And wishing you may improve this accident to your own good, I remain
“Your sincere friend,
“E. Coade.
“My best wishes to Patty. I did not know but I shou’d have been up by this time, but I hope it will not be long.”
The London Pottery is in High Street, Lambeth. It was established on a small scale in 1751, on a portion of old “Hereford House,” the palace of one of the former bishops of Hereford, and has been carried on without intermission, from that time to the present. In 1840 the manufactory came into the hands of Mr. James Stiff, the head of the present firm of “Messrs. James Stiff & Sons.” At that time the works consisted only of two kilns (the larger one being only about ten feet in diameter), and covered an area of probably less than a quarter of an acre of ground. Since 1840 it has been gradually developed, until at the present time it comprises fourteen kilns (some of them more than twenty feet in diameter) and covers an area of about two acres of ground. It has a very extensive frontage on the Albert Embankment, overlooking the river Thames, and by means of a private dock, with entrance under the Embankment, is enabled directly to carry on a very extensive export trade, and also to import most economically the coals, clay, and other raw material used in the production of brown and white stoneware, terra-cotta, &c. Until 1860, when fresh buildings were erected, a Delft-ware sign-board existed in the front of this pottery.
The four principal kinds of pottery manufactured by Messrs. Stiff and Sons are: 1. Brown salt-glazed stoneware, in which the tubular socket drain-pipes so extensively made here are produced; water-filters, jugs, bottles, jars, and all kinds of chemical apparatus are also made in this class of ware. 2. White stoneware or “double-glazed” ware, or “Bristol ware,” in which salt is not used, but the glazing is obtained by the application of a liquid glaze to the interior and exterior of each article before it is placed in the kiln. This ware, which is generally made with a rich yellow ochre on the upper parts of goods, while the lower part is of a creamy-white colour, has only been introduced into Lambeth about twenty years. It has, however, to a considerable extent superseded the old brown stoneware, on account of its superior appearance and cleanliness. 3. Buff terra-cotta, in which is made garden vases, pedestals, chimney-tops, window arches, string-courses, &c. This terra-cotta, being thoroughly vitrified, is valuable for the manufacture of keystones, springers, string-courses, &c., for buildings where durability is of the very highest importance; one great advantage (for architectural purposes) lying in the fact that, in it, the choicest and most elaborate patterns, either raised or countersunk, can be obtained at little more than the cost of perfectly plain stone. 4. Porous ware, in which round and square porous cells, plates, &c., are extensively made, and have been used by some of the first telegraphic engineers, philosophical instrument makers, &c., of the day, and have given much satisfaction, securing, as they do, the greatest amount of porosity, together with a degree of hardness and fineness of texture which render them insusceptible of disintegration.
The quality of the stoneware or “Bristol ware” produced at the “London Pottery” is remarkably good, being extremely hard, and covered with an excellent, clear, and firm glaze, not surpassed by any other house. The same remark will apply to the porous ware, which is fine in composition, and possesses to an eminent degree the porous quality so essential in vessels of this description. The terra-cotta goods are of very fine, hard, and durable quality, and of a peculiarly pleasing tone of colour. Their artistic execution is of a high order, and some of the designs—as notably the draped bowl and flower-pots which are engraved on Figs. [340 to 342], and [345], [346].
Fig. 340.
Fig. 341.
Fig. 342.
Fig. 343.
Fig. 344.
Fig. 345.
Fig. 346.
Messrs. Stiff & Sons produce a large number of filters of excellent construction and of artistic design. Some of these have Gothic arches, with figures or armorial decorations, and others are decorated with elegant foliage; two of these effective designs are shown on Figs. [343] and [344]. These filters have been more than thirty years before the public. The filtering medium consists of alternate layers of charcoal, silica, and another purifying substance, all carefully cleansed, and so arranged as to retain full efficiency for eight or ten years without further cost or trouble. The “Popular” filter—intended for common use among all classes—purifies eight gallons of water per day, and is sold complete and fitted for a mere trifle.
The potteries of Messrs. Stiff & Son are among the largest in London. They employ about two hundred hands, and their annual import of raw material, clay, coals, &c., is about 15,000 tons. They have business relations in almost all parts of the world, and their manufactures have been admitted to the principal International Exhibitions; their terra-cotta vases combine excellence of finish with correctness of design, and are sold at very moderate prices. Their stoneware chemical apparatus has a very wide reputation, and their drain-pipes and other sanitary appliances, comprising nearly two-thirds of their business, have an immense sale.
It is well to add that at this pottery antique jugs and water-jugs, of excellent design and clever manipulation, are made. The forms are chaste and good, and they have, partly owing to the care in making, and partly to the fineness of the glaze, a pleasanter feel to the hand than others. The carriage and foot warmers, &c., made here are also extremely good in quality and design.
The Lambeth Pottery.—In 1818 Mr. John Doulton established stoneware works at Vauxhall, and soon afterwards was joined in partnership by Mr. John Watts, the business being carried on under the style of Doulton & Watts. Some years after, the works were removed to High Street, Lambeth, to premises near those which had formerly been occupied by Mr. Griffiths, already spoken of. In 1858 Mr. Watts died, and from that time to the present the manufactory has been carried on by Mr. John Doulton in co-partnership with his sons, under the style of Doulton & Watts, and Henry Doulton & Co. In 1854 Mr. Henry Doulton took out a patent for “improvements in kilns used in the manufacture of stoneware, earthenware, and china.” In 1859 he took out another patent for “improvements in earthenware jars and bottles,” and in 1861 the same gentleman also patented his “improvements in the construction of vats and similar vessels for containing liquids.” At the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, medals were awarded to this firm, as they were also at the Exhibitions at Paris, Hamburg, Oporto, New Zealand, Auxerre, Caen, and Amsterdam. At the International Exhibitions of 1871 and 1872 they also received the highest commendation.
The goods manufactured by Messrs. Doulton & Co. include chemical vessels of large size (up to 500 gallons) and all kinds of stoneware suitable for the laboratory and works of the manufacturing chemist—jars, bottles, jugs, water-filters, and other articles of domestic use; terra-cotta for architectural and gardening purposes; drainage pipes, irrigation conduits, sinks, and all kinds of sanitary ware; plumbago and other crucibles, muffles, furnaces, &c.: and, in addition to their manufactory at Lambeth, they have works for the manufacture of sewer pipes, fire goods, blue bricks, &c., at Rowley-Regis, Staffordshire; Smethwick, Staffordshire; and St. Helen’s, Lancashire. The various kinds of stoneware and terra-cotta produced by Messrs. Doulton at their Lambeth works give employment to about six hundred men; and their consumption of coals at Lambeth alone (exclusive of the quantity used in their Staffordshire and Lancashire factories) is over 10,000 tons per annum.
Fig. 347.—Doulton Ware.
Figs. 348 to 353.—Doulton’s Vases, Filters, &c.
Figs. 354 to 357.—Doulton’s Terra Cotta.
In stoneware—which, like every other branch of the ceramic art, has made great progress during the last twenty or thirty years, and has been made applicable to scores of purposes never dreamed of by the potters of old—Messrs. Doulton produce, to a very large extent, bottles, jars, pitchers, and jugs; troughs and pans; feet, carriage, bed, and other warmers; barrels and taps; filters, filter-stands, and drip-pans, and every possible variety of household vessels. Besides these, force-pumps, retorts, receivers, condensing-worms, still-heads, evaporating dishes and pans, filtering-funnels, percolators, and every other conceivable kind of chemical and manufacturing vessels and apparatus, as well as drain-pipes, gullies, sinks, and sanitary goods, are largely made.
Many of the productions in this stoneware are of extremely artistic character, and evince a purity of taste which is highly meritorious. Some of the jugs and tankards, from antique examples, and which are produced both in brown, blue, claret, and fine white stoneware, are remarkably chaste and elegant, and remind one of the best periods of German and Flemish art. The forms are admirable, and the decorations, whether foliage or animal, incised or in relief, are always thoroughly well considered, and especially adapted to the material, the mode of production, and the use of the object. “There are no affected imitations of antique types. The spirit of true design is caught with admirable perception and insight, and when colour is introduced, it is done sparingly, and with a view to enhance the form of the object and the natural beauty of the material, rather than to conceal either the one or the other.”
Fig. 358.—Group of Doulton Ware.
In terra-cotta, Messrs. Doulton’s works rank high, both for the beauty of their productions, the variety of designs they have introduced, and the durability and excellence of their material. In vases for gardens, &c.—the finest of which is their Amazon vase (Fig. [354]) sent to the Exhibition of 1871—Messrs. Doulton produce a large number of exquisite patterns, as they do also of pedestals, fountains, garden-seats, flower-boxes, and vases, fern-cases, flower-pendants, mignionette-boxes, brackets, terminals, &c., which are all characterized by extreme excellence of design and workmanship. In statuary and architectural decorations the productions consist of figures, busts, and medallions; keystones, arches, trusses, and string-courses; capitals, bases, and finials; window and door heads and jambs; rain-water heads, of marvellously bold and effective design; parapets and balustrades; panels of coloured stoneware and terra-cotta, modelled in very high relief, and mostly of scriptural subjects, for out-door decoration; tiles and bosses of endless design—some ornamented in the sgraffito style, and others richly coloured; and everything requisite for the architect or the builder. Of terra-cotta flower-pots and fern-cases a large variety are made, all elegant in shape—some ornamented with masks and medallions, and others with vegetable composition; and of brackets and pendants the specimens are very graceful. Painting on pottery has also of late been introduced into this manufactory with very good results.
One class of objects to which attention should be called, presents, in ordinary clays, adaptations in which is conspicuous all the play of the chastest Greek contours, with all the forms dear to successive generations of housewives before the revival set in. Prominent are claret cups, loving cups, hot and cold water jugs, flower vases, candlesticks, hunting jugs, pitchers, and inkstands, with a great variety of other vessels. “What particularly arrests the eye in this branch of the manufacture is, that each object has a style which now takes us back to the flowery periods of Doric and Etruscan forms, now to the days of mediæval hospitalities, or to modern instances, by vessels of form and capacity which would delight even the hearts of the notoriously beer-loving Burschenschaft of Jena. And it is necessary to explain that, as these works are not the results of the common course of earthenware production, it has cost much thought and the exercise of much knowledge and ingenuity to appoint a confederacy of labour so particularly qualified as shall work successfully to this special end.” The ornament is principally the sgraffimento, or incised outline, which is effected sometimes as soon as the vessel leaves the wheel, or more generally after it has been allowed partially to dry to a consistency which will allow of its being handled, though yet sufficiently soft to admit of being easily worked upon. To the designs thus engraved in outline, especially to the leafage, colour is applied with an ordinary water-colour brush, and burnt in. This ware is called “Doulton ware,” or “Sgraffito ware,” and no two pieces are formed alike. With regard to the body it will be sufficient to say that the great strength of stoneware in comparison with that of earthenware, and also its perfect cleanliness, have secured its adoption, whether produced by this or any of the other eminent firms who manufacture it, in all kinds of appliances in connection with drainage and sanitary engineering; and the perfect resistance it offers to the strongest acids, proves the material to be admirably fitted for the manufacture of every kind of vessel and apparatus employed in trades depending in any degree on chemical operations.
Fore Street.—A manufactory of various kinds of pottery existed here in the beginning of the present century, and was carried on by Mr. Richard Waters, who in June, 1811, took out a patent for “a new method of manufacturing pottery ware.” First, “in the fabrication of various articles of considerable magnitude,” “instead of throwing or moulding them on a revolving table, the clay is made into sheets and then applied upon moulds and finished, by beating or pressure, or by turning while in a revolving state;” second, forming “delf-ware pots and other articles by compression of the clay between suitable moulds;” third, “making or clouding the ‘Welsh ware,’ by using a number of pipes instead of one in distributing the colour;” fourth, “making earthenware jambs, tiles for facing houses, and for paving hearths, balustrades, balconies, and bricks vein-coloured, variegated either by the last process or by putting together masses differing from each other,” and in the admixture of stony or metallic or other mineral substances, so as to differ in their colours and appearance when baked; fifth, by this process making “figures, statues, ornaments, armorial bearings, and the like;” sixth, by this process making “stone mortars and pestles, cisterns, coffins, worms for distillers’ use, tiles, with a hook on the back instead of a knob, also with a higher edge and deeper return than usual.”
Imperial Pottery.—Another pottery at Lambeth was that of Messrs. Green & Co., which in 1858 passed, by purchase, into the hands of Mr. John Cliff, by whom it was considerably enlarged. Mr. Cliff here brought into use his own “patent kiln for what is known as double glaze or Bristol glaze kiln, and a circular bag for the salt glaze and pipe kiln, since adopted generally.” Here also Carr’s “Disintegrant” was first proved and got to work; and here, under his own eye, Siemens’s gas furnace was tried on pottery. Here also Mr. Cliff brought out, and into work, his patent wheel and patent lathe—two most important improvements in the potter’s art, and said to be the most perfect and convenient machines extant. The works were closed in 1869, through the site being required by the Metropolitan Board of Works for improvements, and Mr. Cliff removed to Runcorn, in Cheshire, where he still continues his manufactory.[55] The works were originally established for the manufacture of common red ware; but after a time Mr. Green added a little salt-glazed ware; and then, as the double glazed gained favour, added it, and made it his principal business, giving up the red ware entirely. Later still, he manufactured drain pipes and a good deal of chemical stoneware; and, besides all the usual articles, filters were here extensively made for the celebrated George Robins, the auctioneer. The old works were many times much injured by fire—being nearly destroyed just before passing into Mr. Cliff’s hands in 1858.
Figs. 359 to 363.—Blanchard’s Terra Cotta, &c.
Crispe’s China.—Crispe of Bow Churchyard is said to have had a manufactory of china ware at Lambeth in the middle of last century; and to him John Bacon, the sculptor, is stated to have been apprenticed in 1755. But little is known of this manufactory of Crispe’s, but reference to him and to his connection with the china trade will be made in another part of this book.
Several other potteries—one carried on by Mr. Northen, who was an apprentice to Mr. White of Fulham—existed at Lambeth, but have been removed, like the “Imperial,” by the improvements on the banks of the Thames.