Weston-super-Mare.
The Royal Pottery was established in 1836 by Mr. Charles Phillips as a brick and tile manufactory. In the following year glazed ware, for domestic vessels, was introduced, as was also, to a small extent, the manufacture of flower-pots, &c. In 1840 the production of glazed ware was discontinued; and, the clay of the locality being found to be admirably adapted for horticultural vessels, vases, statuary, &c., special attention was directed to them, and with such marked effect that, at the Great Exhibition of 1851, medals and certificates of merit were awarded for them. In 1870 Mr. Phillips retired from the business, which was at that time purchased from him by the present proprietor, Mr. John Matthews, by whom it has been very considerably extended. By Mr. Matthews, too, several new branches have been added to the business, and a new and better taste has been infused into the art decorations. Notably among the new introductions are rustic-work, baskets of artificial flowers, busts, vases, suspenders, &c. Flower-pots, of which from 20,000 to 30,000 are made weekly, and of all sizes, from 1¾ inches to 30 inches in diameter, are a staple production of the “Royal Pottery,” and are supplied to her Majesty’s garden at Windsor Castle, H.M. Commissioners of Works at Kew, Hampton Court, the Parks, &c., the Royal Horticultural Society, Chiswick, &c., and to most of the principal gardens in this country, as well as being exported in large quantities to New Zealand, Port Natal, and Chili. They have the reputation of being the best, most compact, and most durable of any manufacture; and, although of such enormous size, are turned with marvellous precision, and fired without running or casting. Two great, and registered, specialities] are the “Oxford Pot” with perforated rim for training pelargoniums, azaleas, roses, &c., without the aid of sticks, and the “Alpine-plant pot”—a kind of double pot so arranged that the space between the outer one and the inner one (in which, of course, the plant is set) can be filled with water or moist moss. The more notable ornamental productions of the “Royal Pottery” are figure, shell, and other fountains, of various tiers in height; life-size figures and groups of figures; statuettes and busts; reproductions of ancient statuary; eagles, lions, and other gigantic figures on artificial rocks and pedestals; flower and other brackets in considerable variety; vases and tazzas of every conceivable form, many of which, peculiar to these works, are of remarkable elegance; pedestals and garden-seats; flower-vases and flower-stands, elaborately and elegantly decorated in relief; fern-stands and flower and fern-baskets, with and without handles, charmingly decorated in relief with wicker-work, fern-leaves, and other ornamentation; cut flower-baskets and vases; crocus pots; elegant suspenders for flowers, for use in conservatories, entrance-halls, archways, &c.; orchid pots, of greatly improved form and construction; window-boxes for flowers; stump or rustic arborettes, of various sizes, for lawns, rockeries, parterres, &c., of the most striking and novel character; rockery arborettes for ferns, lychopods, &c., of various sizes, either for out or in-door use; and architectural decorations, &c. The general colour of these productions is a delicate red, which is calculated to harmonize well with surrounding foliage. The designs of the vases, &c., are remarkably good, bold, and effective; the body durable and hard; the colour pleasing, and the workmanship faultless. The greatest achievement of Art in terra-cotta which has ever been gained is the production of baskets of flowers, each individual leaf or flower modelled from nature; and vases decorated in the same manner. Those who are acquainted with the exquisite beauty of the groups of porcelain bisque flowers produced at the old Bristol and Derby works, will scarcely be prepared to believe that they are successfully vied in the coarser material by Mr. Matthews. But such is the case, and hence it is that I call attention to these new and beautiful ceramic productions. So true to nature are many of the flowers, and so delicately modelled in all their minutest details, that the most skilful botanist can scarce find a deviation from nature in leaf or flower. The basket engraved on Fig. [807] is a fair specimen of the Matthews’ reproduction of flowers; but the most exquisitely beautiful group yet produced is an example in my own possession—the chef-d’œuvre of the works. It is unsurpassed by any production in terra-cotta. These floral baskets are a speciality of the Royal Pottery, and are among the most beautiful of art productions.
Fig. 807.—Group of Flowers in Weston-super-Mare Terra-Cotta.
The clay from which the various terra-cotta and other objects are made is the native clay of the place, and is produced in the field in which the works are situated. It is a fine plastic clay, of light colour, and admirably adapted for the various purposes to which it is being applied. The first six or eight feet in depth is this fine plastic clay, from which the vases, statuary, busts, fern-stands, flower-baskets, and other finer goods are made. Below this are several feet in depth of blue clay, from which bricks, drain-pipes, &c., are made, and which lies in a bed of peat about fifteen inches in depth. Below this peat is a considerable depth of soft clay, from which the ordinary bricks are made. Roofing and flooring tiles, and garden-edgings, are also made in large quantities. The following is an analysis of the plastic clay made for the purpose of this account.
“Before analyzing, the clay was dried at the temperature of boiling water.
| “Silica | 57·29 |
| Alumina | 13·55 |
| Ferric Oxide | 4·90 |
| Manganese Oxide | 0·46 |
| Lime | 8·84 |
| Magnesia | 2·27 |
| Potash | 3·62 |
| Loss on calculation (Water and Carbonic Acid) | 10·06 |
| 100·99 |
“The greater part of the lime shown above exists in the raw clay as carbonate. The high character which the clay bears as regards its suitability for ‘Terra-Cotta’ work is fully borne out by the analysis. (Signed), Edward G. Tosh, F.C.S., Chemical Laboratory, Whitehaven.”
They possess the advantage of not turning green while in use.
JOHN MATTHEWS, LATE PHILLIPS, ROYAL POTTERY, WESTON-SUPER-MARE.
The mark of the Royal Pottery is sometimes the Royal Arms alone, and at others the Royal Arms surmounting a tablet with the name. There are also other potteries, where coarse common ware is produced, in the same neighbourhood.