Lowesby.
In 1835 Sir Frederick Gustavus Fowke, Bart., commenced some Terra Cotta Works at Lowesby, in Leicestershire, and produced vases of very good character and of remarkably hard and fine body from the clays of the neighbourhood. He had previously, about 1833, made some garden-pots for his own use, and finding the clay remarkably good and tenacious, determined upon utilising it. In colour the terra cotta was a full rich red, and in some cases the articles were decorated with Etruscan figures and ornaments in black enamel. Vases, ornamented flower-pots, butter-pots, and other articles of domestic use, were produced, and these were mostly decorated with patterns in black, or occasionally in colours, and gilt.
A shop for the sale of the Lowesby ware was opened in King William Street, London, under the management of a Mr. Purden. The ornamental vases, made of different sizes, were sent up to London as they came from the kiln, and many of the antique shapes were beautifully painted and enamelled in London under Mr. Purden’s superintendence. The manufacture was only continued for a few years and then, not being found to answer, died out. The place is now used as a brick and tile works, and flower-pots are also made.
The mark is impressed on the bottom of the ware. It is a fleur-de-lis, beneath the name “LOWESBY” in a curved line (Fig. [816]). Occasionally the name LOWESBY without the fleur-de-lis occurs. The arms of Sir Frederick G. Fowke, Bart., the founder of the works, are, vert, a fleur-de-lis, argent, and the seat is Lowesby Hall, so that the mark represented time armorial bearing of the family, and the name of the estate.
Fig. 816.