Nottingham.

That pottery and encaustic paving-tiles were made at Nottingham during mediæval times is abundantly proved by the discovery, in April, 1874 (when digging the foundations for the Methodist New Connection chapel), of kilns and examples of tiles and domestic vessels. Of this discovery Mr. A. J. Sully gives me the following account:—

“As the men were excavating on the site of the old Parliament Street Chapel at the lower corner of George Street, they came on an old kiln, in and near which they found jars, jugs, and flat-bottomed pots of mediæval manufacture, varying from six to sixteen inches in height and from two to nine inches in diameter; they are all of a red clay body, with the upper portion of the outside covered with green salt glaze. They afterwards found three other kilns and more pieces of the same description, and a number of fragments of encaustic tiles with coats of arms on, and one or two with inscriptions. In the same place, they also found a number of silver pennies of Edward I., II., and III., a few Irish types of Edward I., and pennies of Alexander of Scotland. But what proves most conclusively that there was a pottery there, is the fact that nearly all the pieces found are faulty, having been either broken, or fallen in shape in the oven, and therefore thrown aside; and the coins, tiles, and pottery being all of the same period, prove that the works must have been in existence as early as the latter part of the fourteenth century. One of the vessels is probably unique; it is of the shape of an inverted water-bottle, and has a face in relief on each side—though for what use it was intended I am unable to conjecture, as it has an opening at the bottom as well as at the top. They were all found within four feet of the surface, the walls of the chapel having been built all round the place; but there being no internal walls of any kind, the enclosed land had not been disturbed before. Some kilns and fragments of a similar kind were discovered about fifty years ago, when excavations were being made on the site of St. Paul’s church, which is also situated in Broad Street, but at a distance of about three hundred yards from where this last find took place; so that the works would seem to have been of a very extensive character, and to have covered a large space of ground.”

The vessels seem to be of very much the same general character and period as those found at Burley Hill, described on pages 78 and 79. They consist principally of pitchers of almost identical form with those engraved on Figs. [266 to 269] and [272] and [274]. The most remarkable is the one described by Mr. Sully as bearing a mask on either side.

In 1641 there appears, from a list of trades compiled in that year and given by Dering, to have been only one master-potter at Nottingham. In 1693 “glass-pots”—i.e. crucibles for glass makers—were made of Derbyshire crouch clay. This is thus alluded to by Houghton in that year, “clay with flat or thin sand glittering with mica. Crouch white clay, Derbyshire, of which the glass pots are made at Nottingham.”

In the beginning of last century Mr. Charles Morley was a manufacturer of brown glazed earthenware in Nottingham. His works were in the lower part of Beck Street, on the way to St. Ann’s Well. Mr. Morley, who amassed a very considerable fortune by his pottery, built for himself the large house in Beck Lane, which was afterwards occupied by his son, the late Mr. Charles Lomas Morley, and still later used as the Government School of Design. In 1737 Mr. Charles Morley, the potter, was one of the Sheriffs of Nottingham. One of his principal branches of manufacture was in brown ware ale-mugs, for the ale-houses of the district, and in pitchers, and other domestic utensils. In 1739, according to a list of trades in that year, there were two master-potters in Nottingham.

Dering, who wrote his “Nottingamia vetus et nova” in 1751, says that at that time Nottingham sends down the river Trent “coals, lead, timber, corn, wool, and potter’s ware.”

In 1772–4 it is stated, in a curious and scarce little work, “A Short Tour in the Midland Counties of England,” that at Nottingham “the making of glass wares is laid aside, and that of pots become very trifling; but here are some small silk mills and also a few on the same principle for cotton, lately erected.”

In 1774 the names of thirteen “pot-makers,” one “mug maker,” and four “pipe makers” occur in “An exact List of the Burgesses and Freeholders of the town and county of Nottingham,” who voted at the election of Members of Parliament in that year, but of course these would mainly be journeymen. The names, which I here extract from a copy of this scarce book in my own possession, are as follows:—

In 1780, in “An exact list of the Burgesses of the town and county of the town of Nottingham, who polled in the election of two Burgesses to represent the said town in the Council Chamber,” the following fourteen pot and mug-makers and one pipe-maker occur:—

In 1802, in a List of the Burgesses in the Free Library[102] the following four names occur;—

In the list of those who voted at the contested election of 1803, only one pot-maker appears. In the same list the “Old Pottery” is mentioned as a place of residence of several persons, thus showing that the manufacture had then ceased at that place.

In 1815, Blackner in his history of Nottingham says, “there were likewise two potteries within the last thirty years,” “but the clay was principally brought from a considerable distance, which added so much to the cost of the pots as to prevent the proprietors maintaining a competition with the Staffordshire dealers.”

The names of “Mug-House Yard” and “Mug-House Lane” in Beck Street, take their origin from the old pot works of Mr. Morley, and show, incontestably, that those works, where “mugs” were the staple production, were known as the “Mug-house.”

The greater part of the clay was brought from out of Derbyshire, but some is said also to have been procured from Hucknall Torkard.

The earliest known dated example of Nottingham ware is the remarkably fine posset-pot (Fig. [812]), in the possession of my friend, the Rev. J. S. Doxey, by whom it was thus described for my “Reliquary”:—[103]

“It is a Posset-pot of the general form (Jewitt’s “Life of Wedgwood,” pp. 64–65), fashioned with more than ordinary care and lightness. It is made of very hard and durable ware, and has, as usual, a light brown lustrous glaze. It stands 10½ inches, and at the top is 9½ inches in diameter. It is of a very unusual mode of construction, the ‘belly’ part having double sides, the outer of which is ornamented with foliage and flowers, the stalks being incised and the flowers and leaves being perforations. There is, moreover, the following remarkable peculiarity, which may be partially seen in the engraving. A tube commencing about an inch from the top, is passed down the exterior side as far as the top of the ‘belly,’ where it passes through and is continued to the bottom of the interior. This tube, I imagine, had originally a mouth-piece, which is unfortunately broken off, and was so constructed that a draught of the posset liquor could by suction be taken apart from the bread, spices, &c. Between the handles, on the upper part, on the tube side, is inscribed in cursive characters the following:—

Fig. 812.

“Occupying a space 5 inches broad and 5½ in height, on the other side, in a similar position are to be seen the Royal arms of the period (William III.) with crest, supporters, and garter, with motto. Though this cup is of the same general form as the Posset-pot, and may have been used as such, it may also have been used on occasions of mayoral and other hospitality as a ‘loving-cup,’ or as some would prefer to call it, from its having only two handles, a ‘parting-cup.’ Samuel Watkinson, the owner of the Posset-pot, or in whose honour it was made, was no mean person. From Throsby’s Thoroton’s ‘History of Nottingham,’ I learn he was elected on three several occasions (1700, 1708, 1715) Mayor, or as it is more correctly put on the Posset-pot, Major of Nottingham.”

In Mr. Briscoe’s possession is a good specimen of the brown mugs so characteristic of Nottingham ware. It is 5½ inches in height, 2⅞ inches in diameter at the bottom, and wider at the top, and will hold about half a pint. It was discovered during excavations in Victoria Street, Nottingham, close to the site of the Old Ship inn, of “Gideon Giles” notoriety.

Figs. 813 and 814.

One of the finest mugs which has come under my notice—and indeed, I believe, the finest known example—is in the possession of Mr. E. M. Kidd, of Nottingham, who is also the fortunate possessor of a fine collection of English china. It is engraved on Figs. [813 and 814]. In front is a full-blown rose on a stem, surmounted by a crown, and there are two other crowns, one on either side, a little lower down, between what are evidently intended for thistles; there is also a terminal rose at each end, and the remainder of the body is ornamented with their stems and foliage. At the back, by the handle, are the words

JohnNottingham
JohnsonSept. ye 3
Schoolmaster1762

This inscription is, as usual, in ordinary writing letters, incised, or scratched, into the soft clay. On the bottom, in the same kind of incised writing letters, is the maker’s name, Wm Lockett. This is highly interesting, as he, William Lockett, is one of the makers included in the foregoing lists of voters in 1774 and 1780. The name stands thus in the 1774 list:—“Lockett William, pot-maker, New buildings” (in 1780 he was of St. Ann’s Street), and he appears to have given a plumper for the Hon. William Howe, of Epperstone. In the same list is a Henry Lockett, saddler, Smithy row, who voted in the same manner. In the same list the name of the school-master, for whom this special mug was made also occurs, but he voted for Lord Edward Bentinck, and Sir Charles Sedley, of Nutthall, Bart. The name stands thus:—“Johnson John, school-master, St. Mary’s Church side.”

Thus a record occurs both of the maker and the owner of this curious mug, of which Mr. Kidd is the fortunate possessor.

A jug formerly belonging to Mr. Norman has the inscription, incised in writing letters, as follows:—

“John Smith junr of Bassford near
Nottingham 1712”

In the Museum of Practical Geology is a “christening bowl,” thirteen inches in diameter bearing the incised words, in writing letters, “Nouember 20 1726;” a punch-bowl, twenty-two inches in diameter, with the words “Old England for Ever, 1750;” and a highly interesting mug “in brown earthenware with glaze of metallic lustre, ornamented with stamped flowers laid on in relief, and incised inscription in cursive characters, round the rim, ‘Made at Nottingham ye 17th Day of August A.D. 1771.’”

Fig. 815.

Another good, dated example, brought under my notice by Mr. Briscoe, bears the names of “Thos. and Mary Brammer, May ye 21 1753.” In the collection formerly belonging to Mr. Hawkins was “a neatly formed puzzle jug, of lustrous glaze, ornamented with a vase of pinks [these flowers being most generally used in the ornamentation of the Nottingham Pottery] and scrolls around the lower part, the flowers being a dark red colour; on the front is the date 1755, underneath the bottom, the initials, ‘G. B.’” In the same collection was “a tobacco jar, in form of a bear, of bright lustrous glaze, his head being the cover, a collar round his neck, and a chain, to which is attached a large hollow ball, containing stones and holes, used as a rattle; on the ball is impressed the name “Elizabeth Clark, Decr ye 25th 1769.”

One of the favourite productions of the Nottingham “Mug-house” and its predecessors, was drinking jugs in form of a bear, which were also made at Brampton in the same kind of ware, and at Fulham and other places in other wares. A strikingly good example (Fig. [815]) is in my own possession. It is 9½ inches in height, and formed of the usual hard brown glazed ware of this pottery. The whole, with the exception of the neck, is powdered with small fragments of dry clay (not “potsherds” as usually, but erroneously, stated) which have been sprinkled over its surface before firing and burnt in with it. This, it may be remarked, is the usual characteristic of these vessels whenever made. The one under notice has the eyes, outlines of the ears, teeth, and claws, laid on in white “slip.” It, like many other “bears,” is made to rest as in the engraving, or to stand upright when placed on its hams; the body contains the liquor, and the head lifts off to be used as a drinking-cup, holding it by the muzzle.