Liverpool.

It would, perhaps, scarcely be expected that in such a busy, bustling, and gigantic place of enterprise and commercial activity as Liverpool—in the midst of shipping of every description, and surrounded by the most enormous and busy undertakings of one kind or other—we should successfully look for the full and perfect accomplishment of so quiet, so unostentatious, so peaceful, and so delicate an art as that of the potter. But thus it is; and Liverpool, which counts its docks by tens, its wharves and stores by hundreds, its shipping by thousands, and its wealth by millions—which can boast its half-million inhabitants, its overground and under-ground railways, and every appliance which skill and enterprise can give or trade and commerce possibly require—which has undertaken the accomplishment of some of the most wonderful and gigantic schemes the world ever knew, and has carried them out in that spirit of commendable and boundless energy that invariably characterises all its actions—has not been behindhand with its more inland and more modest neighbours in the manufacture of delicate porcelain, and of pottery of the most fragile nature.

It is more than probable that in mediæval times the coarse ware of the period—the pitchers, porringers, dishes, &c.—was made on the banks of the Mersey. The first mention of pottery, however, occurs in 1674, when the following items appear in the list of town dues:—

“For every cart-load of muggs (shipped) into foreign ports, 6d. For every cart-load of muggs along the coasts, 4d. For every crate of cupps or pipes into foreign ports, 2d. For every crate of cupps or pipes along the coast, 1d.”

A WEST PROSPECT OF GREAT CROSBY 1716

Fig. 1.

Shaw’s Delft Ware Works.—The earliest potwork of which there is any reliable information, appears to have been that of Alderman Shaw, situated at Shaw’s Brow, which afterwards became a complete nest of pot-works belonging to different individuals. At these works was most probably made the earliest known dated example of Liverpool delft ware. This is a large oblong-square plaque, unique in its size and decoration, which is preserved in the Mayer museum, and is shown on Fig. [1]. It is of fine delft ware, flat in surface, and measures 2 feet 7 inches in length, by 1 foot 8 inches in depth, and is nearly three quarters of an inch in thickness. The body is composed of the ordinary buff-coloured clay, smeared, like what are usually called “Dutch tiles,” on the face with a fine white clay, on which the design is drawn in blue, and then glazed. The plaque represents the village of Great Crosby as seen from the river Mersey, and bears the name and date, “A west prospect of Great Crosby, 1716,” on a ribbon at the top. In the foreground is the river Mersey, with ships and brigs, and a sloop and a schooner. The large ship in the centre of the picture has a boat attached to her stern, and another boat containing two men is seen rowing towards her, while on the water around them are a number of gulls and other sea-birds. On the sandy banks of the river are several figures, consisting of a woman with a basket on her arm, apparently looking across the river; another woman, also with a basket on her arm, walking with a long stick; a man also walking with a stick; a gentleman on horseback; and a man driving an ass before him. Beyond these figures rise the sandbanks, covered with long grass and heather, in which is a rabbit warren. The warren keeper’s house is shown, as are also numbers of rabbits. Beyond this again, in the open space, are a number of figures: men are seen galloping on horseback; women are carrying baskets; men are walking about, some with dogs, others without; and the intermediate space is pretty well studded with cattle, rabbits, and birds; a milkmaid milking one of the cows. Behind this, again, the ground is divided by hedgerows into fields, in which are cattle, people walking to and fro, and a milkmaid carrying a milkpail on her head. In the background is the town of Great Crosby, including the school-house and numerous other buildings, with long rows of trees, palings, gates, and other objects incidental to the scene. To the left of the spectator is Crosby windmill, still standing; and those who are best acquainted with the aspect of the place, as seen from the river at the present day, say that little alteration has taken place in the village; that this view, taken a hundred and fifty years ago, might well pass for one just executed.

Concordia Parua Res Crescunt

THIS SEAT WAS ERECTED BY
JOHN HARRISON AND
HENRY HARRISON OF
LEVERPOOLE 1722

Fig. 2.

Another plaque, Fig. [2], is of a few years later date, 1722. It is affixed to the wall over one of the seats of old Crosby Church, and bears the arms of the Merchant Taylors’ Company, viz., argent, a royal tent between two parliament robes, gules, lined ermine; on a chief azure, a lion of England; crest, a Holy Lamb in glory, proper; supporters, two camels, or; motto, “Concordia parvæ res crescunt.” Below is the inscription—“THIS SEAT WAS ERECTED BY JOHN HARRISON AND HENRY HARRISON, OF LEVERPOOLE, 1722.” This plaque measures sixteen inches on each side, and is nearly an inch and a half in thickness. It is of precisely the same kind of ware as the view of Crosby, and was doubtless the production of the same establishment. John and Henry Harrison are said to have been natives of Crosby, the grammar school of which village they erected and endowed, after having made large fortunes as merchants in London, the trust being held by the Company of Merchant Taylors. Mr. Mayer mentions that another of these curious plaques, or slabs, was attached to the front of a house at Newton-cum-Larten. It was circular, and bore the arms of Johnson and Anton impaled, with the date 1753. The Mr. Johnson whose armorial bearings it represents, was afterwards Mayor of Liverpool, and formed St. James’s Walk. He married Miss Anton, an heiress, and built the house where the slab was affixed, and which is believed to have been made and presented to him for that purpose by his brother alderman, Mr. Shaw, the potter. Another dated example is a mug in the Mayer museum shown on the accompanying engraving. It is decorated with borders in blue and black, and bears on its front the initials and date

P
I · R
1728

Fig. 3.

There were, it appears, two potters, at least, of the name of Shaw—Samuel Shaw, who died in October, 1775, and Thomas Shaw, who, I believe, was his son. The works were, as I have stated, at a place which, from that circumstance, took the name of Shaw’s Brow, a rising piece of ground on the east side of the rivulet that ran at the bottom of Dale Street. Here the early pot-works were established, and here in after years they increased, until the whole “Brow” became one mass of potter’s banks, with houses for the workmen on both sides of the street; and so numerous were they that, according to the census taken in 1790, there were as many as 74 houses, occupied by 374 persons, the whole of whom were connected with the potteries. At these works, Richard Chaffers, to whom credit is due for the advances he made in the manufacture of porcelain, was apprenticed to Shaw, and on the Brow he established his own manufactory. In 1754 the following very interesting little notice of these pot-works occurs in “The Liverpool Memorandum Book:”—

“The chief manufactures carried on here are blue and white earthenware, which at present almost vie with China. Large quantities are exported for the colonies abroad.”

Fig. 4.

Of about this period are some examples in the Mayer museum. Fig. [4] is a magnificent punch-bowl, measuring 17½ inches in diameter, and of proportionate depth. It is of the ordinary Delft ware; its decorations painted in blue. At the bottom of the bowl, inside, is a fine painting of a three-masted ship, in full sail, with streamer flying at the mast-head, the Union Jack at the jib, and a lion for a figure-head. This bowl was “made for Captain Metcalfe, who commanded the Golden Lion, which was the first vessel that sailed out of Liverpool on the whale fishery and Greenland trade, and was presented to him on his return from his second voyage, by his employers, who were a company composed of the principal merchants of Liverpool, in the year 1753.” The size of the bowl, and the excellence of its decorations and workmanship, show to what perfection Shaw had arrived in this manufacture. Among other articles besides mugs and punch-bowls, were char-pots; these, like the rest, are of Delft ware, and usually decorated with fishes around their outsides. One (Fig. [5]) bears the initials I. B. Figs. [6 and 7] are two mugs, of the same body and glaze as the plaques already described. The larger one, a quart mug, is ornamented with flowers, painted in blue, green, and black, and bears the initials and date T. F. 1757, the initials being those of Thomas Fazackerley, to whom it was presented by its maker, a workman at Shaw’s pottery. In 1758, Mr. Fazackerley having married, his friend made the smaller of the two mugs, a pint one, on which he placed the initials of the lady, Catherine Fazackerley, and the date C. F. 1758 within an oval on its front. This mug is decorated with flowers, painted in green, yellow, and blue. Fig. [8] is one of a pair of cows, 4¾ inches in height; the upper half of each lifts off. They are excellently modelled, and painted in flowers, evidently by the same artist as the Fazackerley mugs, in yellow, blue, and green. Fragments of figures were, I believe, found in excavating on the site of Shaw’s pottery.

Fig. 5.

Figs. 6 and 7.

Another dated example of about this period is a fine Delft ware bowl, on the outside of which are painted birds, butterflies, and flowers, and on the inside a man-of-war, painted in blue and colours, with the inscription, “Success to the Monmouth, 1760.”

Fig. 8.

Figs. 9 to 12.

A most interesting matter in connection with the Delft ware works at Shaw’s Brow is the fact of a number of broken vessels being discovered on its site during excavations for building the Liverpool Free Library and Museum, in 1857. On that occasion an old slip-vat was found containing clay, which might probably have been prepared as early as 1680. The clay was of the common coarse kind, the same as the general body of Delft ware. Of this clay so discovered Mr. Mayer had a vase thrown and fired. Some of the Delft cups, &c., exhumed are shown on Figs. [9 to 14]. These are all of a pinkish white; one only having a pattern painted in blue. Another example of Delft ware (Fig. [15]), said to be of Liverpool make, in Mr. Mayer’s collection, is one of a pair of flower vases, of good design, with heads at the sides, and elaborately painted in blue. It is marked on the bottom—

W
D A

in blue. Another example (Fig. [16]), said to be of Liverpool make, is the puzzle jug, and bears the very appropriate motto, painted in blue—

“Here, Gentlemen, come try yr skill,

I’ll hold a wager, if you will,

That you Don’t Drink this liqr all

Without you spill or lett some Fall.”

Zachariah Barnes.—another maker of Delft ware in Liverpool—was a native of Warrington, and brother to Dr. Barnes, of Manchester. He was born in 1743, and having learned the “art, mystery, and occupation” of throwing, &c., commenced business as a potter in the old Haymarket, at the left-hand side in going to Byrom Street. He is said to have first made China, but afterwards turned his attention to Delft ware, and soon became proficient in the art. The principal varieties of goods made by him were jars and pots for druggists; large dishes, octagonal plates and dishes for dinner services; “Dutch tiles;” labels for liquors; potted-fish pots, &c., &c. Of the druggist’s jars, of which he made considerable quantities, it is said that the labelling in his time underwent no less than three changes from alterations in the pharmacopæia.

Fig. 13.

Fig. 14.

Fig. 15.

Fig. 16.

The large round dishes made by Barnes were chiefly sent into Wales, where the simple habits of their forefathers remained unchanged among the people long after their alteration in England; and the master of the house and his guest dipped their spoons into the mess and helped themselves from the dish placed in the middle of the table. Quantities of this ware were sent to the great border fairs, held at Chester, whither the inhabitants of the more remote and inaccessible parts of the mountain districts of Wales assembled to buy their stores for the year. The quality of this ware was very coarse, without flint, with the usual Delft-like thick tin glaze. But Barnes’s principal forte lay in the manufacture of square tiles, then much in vogue. When these tiles were required to be printed, that part of the work was done by Messrs. Sadler and Green. So large was the sale of this article, that Mr. Barnes has been heard to say he made a profit of £300 per annum by his tiles alone, he having a monopoly of the trade. He also made large quantities of pots for potting char, which were sent to the lakes. The ovens were fired with turf brought from the bogs at Kirkley, and on the night of firing, the men were always allowed potatoes to roast at the kiln fires, and a certain quantity of ale to drink.

WORMWOOD

Fig. 17.

The labels for different kinds of liquors, to which I have just alluded as being largely made by Barnes, were of various sizes, but generally of one uniform shape; the one engraved (Fig. [17]) being five a and half inches long. Examples in the Mayer Museum are respectively lettered for Rum, Cyder, Tent, Brandy, Lisbon, Peppermint, Wormwood, Aniseed, Geneva, Claret, Spruce, Perry, Orange, Burgundy, Port, Raisin, and other liquors. They are of the usual common clay in body, faced with fine white slip and glazed.

Fig. 18.

The tiles made by Zachariah Barnes were usually five inches square, and about a quarter of an inch in thickness, and were used for lining fire-places, forming chimney-pieces, and other domestic purposes. Originally, the tiles were painted in the ordinary Delft style, with patterns of various kinds—flowers, landscapes, ships, groups, &c.—usually in blue, but sometimes in colours. A plaque of Liverpool Delft, painted in two or three colours (in the possession of Mr. Benson Rathbone), is shown on Fig. [18]; it represents a bird in a cage, the perspective of which is more curious than accurate.

Sadler and Green.—The tiles to which I have alluded bring me to a very interesting part of the subject of this chapter. I mean the introduction of printing on earthenware, an invention which has been attributed to, and claimed by, several places, and which will yet require further research to entirely determine. At Worcester it is believed the invention was applied in the year 1756, and it is an undoubted fact that the art was practised there in the following year, a dated example of the year 1757 being, happily, in existence.[2] At Caughley transfer-printing was, as I have already shown, practised at about the same period. At Battersea, printing on enamels was, it would seem, carried on at about the same date, or probably somewhat earlier. At Liverpool it is certain that the art was known at an earlier period than can with safety be ascribed to Worcester. A fine and exquisitely sharp specimen of transfer-printing on enamel, dated 1756, is in Mr. Mayer’s possession. It is curious that these two earliest dated exemplars of these two candidates for the honour of the invention of printing on enamels and earthenware, Liverpool and Worcester, should be portraits of the same individual—Frederick the Great of Prussia. But so it is. The Worcester example is a mug, bearing the royal portrait with trophies, &c., and the date 1757; the Liverpool one an oval enamel (and a much finer work of art), with the name, “J. Saddler, Liverpl. Enaml.”

The art is said to have been invented by this John Sadler, of Liverpool, in 1752. In Moss’s “Liverpool Guide,” published in 1790, it is stated:—“Copper-plate printing upon china and earthenware originated here in 1752, and remained some time a secret with the inventors, Messrs. Sadler and Green, the latter of whom still continues the business in Harrington Street. It appeared unaccountable how uneven surfaces could receive impressions from copper-plates. It could not, however, long remain undiscovered that the impression from the plate is first taken upon paper, and thence communicated to the ware after it is glazed. The manner in which this continues to be done here remains still unrivalled in perfection.”

John Sadler, the inventor of this important art, was the son of Adam Sadler, a favourite soldier of the great Duke of Marlborough, and was out with that general in the war in the Low Countries. While there, he lodged in the house of a printer, and thus obtained an insight into the art of printing. On returning to England, on the accession of George I., he left the army in disgust and retired to Ulverstone, where he married a Miss Bibby, who numbered among her acquaintance the daughters of the Earl of Sefton. Through the influence of these ladies he removed to Melling, and afterwards leased a house at Aintree. In this lease he is styled “Adam Sadler, of Melling, gentleman.” The taste he had acquired in the Low Countries abiding with him, he shortly afterwards, however, removed to the New Market, Liverpool, where he printed a great number of books—among which, being himself an excellent musician, one called “The Muses’ Delight” was with him an especial favourite. His son, John Sadler, having learned the art of engraving, on the termination of his apprenticeship bought a house from his father, in Harrington Street, for the nominal sum of five shillings, and in that house, in 1748, commenced business on his own account. Here he married a Miss Elizabeth Parker, daughter of Mr. Parker, watchmaker, of Seel Street, and soon afterwards became engaged in litigation. Having got together a good business, his fellow townsmen became jealous of his success, and the corporation attempted to remove him as not being a freeman of Liverpool, and therefore having no right to keep a shop within its boundaries. Disregarding the order of removal, the corporation commenced an action against him, which he successfully defended, and showed that the authorities possessed no power of ejection. This decision was one of great importance to the trading community, and opened the door to numberless people who commenced business in the town.

Mr. John Sadler was, according to Mr. Mayer, the first person who applied the art of printing to the ornamentation of pottery, and the story of his discovery is thus told:—Sadler had been in the habit of giving waste and spoiled impressions from his engraved plates to little children, and these they frequently stuck upon pieces of broken pot from the pot-works at Shaw’s Brow, for their own amusement, and for building dolls’ houses. This circumstance gave him the idea of ornamenting pottery with printed pictures, and, keeping the idea secret, he experimentalised until he had nearly succeeded, when he mentioned the circumstance to Guy Green, who had then recently succeeded Mr. Adam Sadler in his business. Guy Green was a poor boy, but spent what halfpence he could get in buying ballads at the shop of Adam Sadler. Sadler liking the lad, who was intelligent beyond his age or his companions, took him into his service and encouraged him in all that was honourable. John Sadler having, as I have said, mentioned his discovery to Guy Green, the two “laid their heads together,” conducted joint experiments, and having ultimately succeeded, at length entered into partnership. This done, they determined to apply to the king for a patent; which, however, under the advice of friends, was not done.

The art was first of all turned to good account in the decoration of tiles—“Dutch tiles,” as they are usually called—and the following highly interesting documents relating to them, which are in the possession of Mr. Mayer, and to whom the antiquarian world is indebted for first making them public, will be read with interest:—

“I, John Sadler, of Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, printer, and Guy Green, of Liverpoole, aforesaid, printer, severally maketh oath that on Tuesday, the 27th day of July instant, they, these deponents, without the aid or assistance of any other person or persons, did within the space of six hours, to wit, between the hours of nine in the morning and three in the afternoon of the same day, print upwards of twelve hundred Earthenware tiles of different patterns, at Liverpoole aforesaid, and which, as these deponents have heard and believe, were more in number and better and neater than one hundred skilful pot-painters could have painted in the like space of time, in the common and usual way of painting with a pencil; and these deponents say that they have been upwards of seven years in finding out the method of printing tiles, and in making tryals and experiments for that purpose, which they have now through great pains and expence brought to perfection.

“Taken and sworn at Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, the second day of August, one thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, before William Statham, a Master Extraordinary in Chancery.”

“We, Alderman Thomas Shaw and Samuel Gilbody, both of Liverpoole, in the county of Lancaster, clay potters, whose names are hereunto subscribed, do hereby humbly certifye that we are well assured that John Sadler and Guy Green did, at Liverpoole aforesaid, on Tuesday, the 27th day of July last past, within the space of six hours, print upwards of 1,200 earthenware tiles of different colours and patterns, which is upon a moderate computation more than 100 good workmen could have done of the same patterns in the same space of time by the usual painting with the pencil. That we have since burnt the above tiles, and that they are considerably neater than any we have seen pencilled, and may be sold at little more than half the price. We are also assured the said John Sadler and Guy Green have been several years in bringing the art of printing on earthenware to perfection, and we never heard it was done by any other person or persons but themselves. We are also assured that as the Dutch (who import large quantities of tiles into England, Ireland, &c.) may by this improvement be considerably undersold, it cannot fail to be of great advantage to the nation, and to the town of Liverpoole in particular, where the earthenware manufacture is more extensively carried on than in any other town in the kingdom; and for which reasons we hope and do not doubt the above persons will be indulged in their request for a patent, to secure to them the profits that may arise from the above useful and advantageous improvement.

“Liverpoole, August 13th, 1756.

“Sir,

“John Sadler, the bearer, and Guy Green, both of this town, have invented a method of printing potters’ earthenware tyles for chimneys with surprising expedition. We have seen several of their printed tyles, and are of opinion that they are superior to any done by the pencil, and that this invention will be highly advantageous to the kingdom in generall, and to the town of Liverpoole in particular.

“In consequence of which, and for the encouragement of so useful and ingenious an improvement, we desire the favour of your interest in procuring for them his Majesty’s letters patent.

“Addressed to Charles Pole, Esq., in London.”

In the Mayer museum are found, among other invaluable treasures, some enamels on copper bearing impressions from copper-plates transferred to them, and having the name of “J. Sadler, Liverpl, Enaml,” and other examples of enamels and of earthenware with the names of “Sadler, Sculp.,” or of “Green.” Messrs. Sadler and Green appear to have done a very profitable and excellent business in the printing on pottery. The process was soon found to be as applicable to services and other descriptions of goods as to tiles; and these two enterprising men produced many fine examples of their art, some of which, bearing their names as engravers or enamellers, are still in existence. Josiah Wedgwood, always alive to everything which could tend to improve or render more commercial the productions of his manufactory, although at first opposed to the introduction of this invention, as being, in his opinion, an unsatisfactory and unprofitable substitute for painting, eventually determined to adopt the new style of ornamentation, and arranged with the inventors to decorate such of his Queen’s ware as it would be applicable to, by their process. The work was a troublesome one, and in the then state of the roads—for it must be remembered that this was before the time even of canals in the district, much less of railroads—the communication between Burslem and Liverpool was one of great difficulty. Wedgwood, however, overcame it, and having made the plain body at his works in Staffordshire, packed it in waggons and carts, and even in the panniers of pack-horses, and sent it to Liverpool, where it was printed by Sadler and Green, and returned to him by the same kind of conveyance. The works of Sadler and Green were in Harrington Street, at the back of Lord Street, Liverpool, and here they not only carried on their engraving and transfer-printing for other potters, but made their own wares, and carried on an extensive business. It was here that they printed ware for Josiah Wedgwood. Of this connection of Wedgwood with the Liverpool works, Mr. Mayer thus writes:—

“About this time Josiah Wedgwood was making a complete revolution in the art of pottery; and four years after Messrs. Sadler and Green’s invention was announced to the world, Wedgwood brought out his celebrated Queen’s ware. Dr. Gagerly seizing upon the new style of ornamentation invented in Liverpool, he immediately made arrangements with the proprietors for decorating his hitherto cream-coloured Queen’s ware by their process; and accordingly I find him making the plain body at Burslem, and sending it in that state to Liverpool by waggon, where it was printed, and again returned to him by the same conveyance, except in the case of those orders that must go by sea, fit for the market. This he continued to do until near the time of his death, when we find by invoices in my possession that ware was sent to Liverpool and printed by Mr. Guy Green as late as 1794. A little before this time, his manufactory at Etruria having been made complete in all other branches of the art, and the manufacture at Liverpool being much decayed, he engaged many of the hands formerly employed there: amongst the indentures is the name of John Pennington, son of James Pennington, manufacturer of china, dated 1784, to be taught the art of engraving in aquatint, and thus he was enabled to execute the printing on his own premises in Staffordshire, thereby saving the expense of transport to and fro. In proof that Mr. Wedgwood did this, I may quote a few passages from letters to his partner, Mr. Bentley, in London. He says:—

“‘1776.—We wrote to Mr. Green in consequence of your letter, acquainting that a foreign gentleman wanted a series of ware printed with different landskips, but that he would not confirm the order without knowing how many different designs of landskips we could put upon them.’

“Mr. Green’s answer is:—

“‘The patterns for landskips are for every dish a different landskip view, &c.; about 30 different designs for table, soup, and dessert plates, and a great variety for various purposes of tureens, sauce boats, &c.’

“‘1768.—The cards (address) I intend to have engraved in Liverpool, &c.’

“‘1769.—One crate of printed tea-ware.’

“On the other hand I find letters from Mr. Green to Mr. Wedgwood:—

“‘1776.—Your Mr. Haywood desires the invoice of a box of pattern tiles sent some time ago. As I did not intend to make any charge for them, I have no account of the contents. The prices I sell them for to the shops are as follows:—For black printed tile, 5s. per dozen; green vase tile, 4s. ditto; green ground, 4s. ditto; half tiles for borders, 2s. 9d. ditto; rose or spotted tiles, 3s. 6d. ditto, &c.’

“‘1783.—I have put the tile plate to be engraved as soon as I received your order for doing it; but by the neglect of the engraver it is not yet finished, but expect it will be completed tomorrow.’

“‘1783.—Our enamel kiln being down prevented us sending the goods forward as usual.’

“‘1783.—The plate with cypher was done here. I think it would be best to print the cypher in black, as I am much afraid the brown purple that the pattern was done in would not stand an up and down heat, as it would change in being long in heating.’

“‘1783.—For printing a table and tea-service of 250 pieces (D. G.) for David Garrick, £8 6s. 1½d.

“‘1783.—Twenty-five dozen half-tiles printing and colouring, £1 5s.’

“The last invoice I find from Mr. Green is dated

“‘1793.—I am sorry I cannot make out the invoice you request of goods forwarded you, April 4, for want of having received your charge of them to me. Only directions for printing these came enclosed in the package.’

“‘1798.—To printing two fruit baskets, 1s.’

“This last item, of course, does not imply that Mr. Wedgwood had the chief of his work done here, but no doubt the articles were required to match some service previously sold, of which Mr. Green had possession of the copper plates. In the following year Mr. Green retired from business to enjoy the fruits of his long and successful labours. The following memorandum, in the handwriting of Mr. Sadler (from Mr. Sadler’s receipt-book in my possession, date 1776), will give an idea of the extent of their business:—

“J. Sadler and G. Green would be willing to take a young man about 18 into partnership for a third of their concern, in the printing and enamelling china, earthenware, tile, &c., business, on the following conditions:—1st, That he advances his £200 for the third part of the engravings and other materials necessary for the business (N.B.—The engravings alone have cost above £800). 2nd. That he should give his labour and attendance for twelve months without any share of the profits, in consideration of being instructed completely in the business. 3rd. After the expiration of twelve months, the stock in ware should be valued as low as is common in such cases, and he should immediately enter as a partner into the profits of the whole concern throughout, either paying the value for his third share of such stock, or paying interest for it till it is cleared off. The value of the stock is uncertain, being sometimes £200 more than other time; but reckon it at the least may be about £600. The sole reason of taking a partner is, J. Sadler not choosing to confine himself to business as much as heretofore.”

Specimens of these early printed goods, bearing Wedgwood’s mark, are rare. The curious teapot (Fig. [19]) will serve as an example. It bears on one side a well-engraved and sharply printed representation of the quaint subject of the mill to grind old people young again—the kind of curious machine which one recollects in our boyish days were taken about from fair to fair by strolling mountebanks—and on the other an oval border of foliage, containing the ballad belonging to the subject, called “The Miller’s Maid grinding Old Men Young again.” It begins—

“Come, old, decrepid, lame, or blind,

Into my mill to take a grind.”

Fig. 19.

The teapot is marked WEDGWOOD. In the possession of Mr. Beard, of Manchester, is a fine dinner service of the printed “Queen’s ware,” and other pieces of interest. In the Museum of Practical Geology is an example of this printing, the design on one side of which is a group at tea—a lady pouring out tea for a gentleman, and on the opposite side the verse:—

“Kindly take this gift of mine,

The gift and giver I hope is thine;

And tho’ the value is but small,

A loving Heart is worth it all.”

Examples of Liverpool made pottery, printed by Sadler and Green, are also of uncommon occurrence. In the Mayer Museum the best, and indeed only series worthy the name in existence, is to be found, and to these wares I direct the attention of all who are interested in the subject.

Of TILES printed by John Sadler and Guy Green, many examples are in existence—a large number, some bearing their names, being in Mr. Mayer’s Museum. Of these I also possess examples, and others again are found in other collections. They are remarkable for the sharpness of the engraving, the wonderful clearness and beauty of the transfers (the ink used being evidently far superior to that usually used at the present day), and excellence of the glazes. They are printed either in black, green, red, or purple, and the devices are extremely varied. It is interesting to add, that the same copper-plates which were used for decorating these Delft ware tiles were used also for ornamenting mugs, jugs, &c., of finer earthenware. Adam Sadler died on the 7th of October, 1788, aged eighty-three, and his son, John Sadler, the 10th of December, 1789, aged sixty-nine, and they were buried at Sefton.

Drinkwater.—Another Delft ware pottery was situated at the bottom of Duke Street, in a small street which, from that establishment, took the name which it still retains, of “Pot-House Lane.” These works were conducted by Mr. George Drinkwater (who was born in the neighbourhood of Preston), brother to Mr. James Drinkwater, who, in the navy, acquired considerable riches and honour, and was ancestor of Sir John Drinkwater. The works were not, however, of very long continuance, and except they can be authenticated by evidence of descent, &c., the productions cannot be distinguished from those of the other potteries of the time. In the Mayer museum are some authenticated specimens of Drinkwater’s make, among which a large plate, twenty-three inches in diameter, is the most interesting.

Spencer.—Another potwork of a similar kind was established by a Mr. Thomas Spencer, at the bottom of Richmond Row. These works were, however, carried on only for a few years, when Mr. Spencer removed to the “Moss Pottery,” near Prescot, where he continued to make coarse red ware for common use.

Chaffers.—One of the most noted men connected with the ceramic art in Liverpool was Richard Chaffers, who made great advances in that art, and to whom his native town owed the introduction of the manufacture of china. He was the son of a shipwright of considerable eminence and means; was born in Mersey Street, Liverpool, in the year 1731, one year only after the birth of Josiah Wedgwood; and was apprenticed to Mr. Alderman Shaw, the Delft ware potter, of whom I have already spoken. About 1752 he commenced business on his own account, for which purpose he took, or erected, some small works on the north side, and nearly at the bottom of Shaw’s Brow, where he began making the ordinary kind of Delft ware of the period, the same as he had learned to manufacture during his apprenticeship. These productions he, as well as the other makers in Liverpool, in great measure exported to what were then our American colonies, now the United States of America. In the manufacture of this ordinary blue and white ware—the staple of the trade as it then existed—Chaffers continued for some years actively employed. From the Delft ware Chaffers passed on to the manufacture of fine white earthenware, and produced an excellent body, and an almost faultless glaze. The rapid strides which Wedgwood was making in the art served as a strong incentive to Richard Chaffers, and he determined to go on improving until his productions should equal those of his great rival. In this, of course, he did not succeed, but he did succeed in making the pottery of Liverpool better than that of most localities. A dated, though not very early, example of Chaffers’s make is fortunately in the Mayer museum and is here engraved (Fig. [20]). It is, Mr. Mayer says, “a pepper-box of the hour-glass shape,” painted in blue on a white ground, with a chequered border at top and bottom, and the name,

Fig. 20.

Richard Chaffers 1769

Fig. 21.

round the waist. “So well known was the ware of Mr. Chaffers in the American colonies,” continues Mr. Mayer, “that it was a common saying of a person that was angry, that ‘He’s as hot as Dick’s pepper-box,’ alluding to those made by Mr. Chaffers, who exported a very large portion of his manufacture to the then English colonies.” But here I think he is decidedly in error. The example is, no doubt, a pounce-box or pounce-pot of the ordinary and not at all uncommon form, and was made and painted with his name and date so prominently, for use on his own desk. This pounce-box remained in the family of its maker until it was presented to Mr. Mayer by the grandson of Richard Chaffers, Mr. John Rosson.

In 1754 or 1755 William Cookworthy, of Plymouth, as I have already shown in my account of those works, discovered the “moor stone, or growan stone, and growan clay”—two important materials in the manufacture of china—in Cornwall, and in 1768 he took out his patent for the manufacture of porcelain from those materials. Chaffers having determined upon prosecuting researches into the nature of china ware, and of endeavouring to produce it at Liverpool, entered into a series of experiments, but finding that the “soap-stone” was essential for his purpose, and that the district where it was found was held by lease for its production, so as to keep the monopoly of its use to Cookworthy and those whom he might supply with it, he determined to try and seek the stone in a fresh locality. About this time a Mr. Podmore, who had for some years been employed by Josiah Wedgwood, and who was a good practical potter, and a man of sound judgment, left Wedgwood’s employment, intending to emigrate to America, and establish himself as a potter in that country. To this end he went to Liverpool, intending thence to embark for the colony. On reaching Liverpool, he called upon Mr. Chaffers, who was then the leading man in the trade at that place, and the result of their meeting was, that Mr. Chaffers finding Podmore to be a man of “so much intelligence and practical knowledge, induced him, by a most liberal offer, to forego his American project, and enter into his service.” This Podmore entirely confirmed the views of his new master as to the importance of getting a supply of the Cornish materials, and the two practical men together soon effected improvements in the then manufacture of earthenware, and laid their plans for future operations. Of the manner in which Chaffers set about his search, and the successful results at which he arrived, Mr. Mayer gives the following graphic account:—

“Mr. Chaffers’s object now was to come into the field with Staffordshire pari materiâ, if I may be allowed that play upon words. He therefore determined to set out for Cornwall upon the forlorn hope of discovering a vein of soap-rock. The operations would be most expensive and laborious, somewhat akin to the process of boring for coal in our country. But where was he to begin? On whose estate, was it to be found? What description of men was he to employ? He was, however, in the prime of manhood, of untiring energy, of fine address, and, what was then necessary, an excellent horseman. He obtained letters of introduction from the Earl of Derby, Lord Strange, his eldest son, and other men of consequence in our county, to some of the leading landowners in Cornwall, then attending their duties in Parliament. In those days there were no mail-coaches and railways to aid the weary traveller. A stout horse was the only means of conveyance for a man of the higher class. Imagine Mr. Chaffers, having taken leave of his wife, and his numerous family and friends, mounted with a pair of saddle-bags under him, containing a supply of linen, &c., a thousand guineas,—the first instalment to pay the wages of the miners,—a brace of pistols in his holsters, pursuing his journey to London. He had made considerable progress in practical geology, though the science was then but little cultivated. Having, during his stay in London, obtained permission to bore for soap-rock from more than one of the principal proprietors of mountain land he judged most likely to yield it, he proceeded to Cornwall and commenced operations. His first efforts were not successful. He moved to another quarter with no better result; in a word, he expended large sums of money without finding the wished-for vein. Somewhat disheartened but not subdued, he determined to return home, where his presence was much wanted. He did not, however, intend to abandon, but only suspend, his operations. He accordingly assembled all the miners in his employ, and announced to them, to their great regret, his determination. Previously to his departure, he scrupulously paid every man his wages. One of them was missing: he was told the man in question was gone up the mountain to try another place. He then left that man’s wages in the hands of the ‘captain of the gang,’ and, mounting his horse with a heavy heart, took leave of the men, to whom his animated and conciliatory manners had greatly endeared him. The road to the nearest town, the name of which I never could learn, was precipitous and rugged. A traveller on horseback made so little progress, that a mountaineer on foot, by taking a short cut over the rocky crags, could easily come within earshot of him. After journeying for some time, he thought he heard a faint cry in the distance; he dismounted, and, ascending a hill, plainly saw the signal of discovery flying from a lofty peak. It appeared that the man who had separated from his fellow-miners, and pursued his researches alone, had discovered a vein, and finding Mr. Chaffers had left them, he hoisted the preconcerted signal, and pursued him across the mountain with the pleasing intelligence, shouting at times to attract the somewhat dispirited traveller’s attention. Mr. Chaffers immediately returned, took the whole gang into permanent employment, and obtained an ample supply of the long-sought-for clay, which was conveyed to the nearest port, and shipped thence to Liverpool. On its arrival the vessel entered with its precious freight into the Old Dock, dressed in colours, amidst the cheers of the assembled spectators. During his absence, Mr. Chaffers had regularly corresponded with his wife, but on his arrival in London on his return home, the continued fatigue he had endured, together with anxiety of mind, brought on a dangerous fever, under which he laboured for several weeks. He was unknown at the inn where he stayed; but the landlord, seeing that his guest—a very handsome man—had the dress and demeanour of a gentleman, called in an eminent physician, who sedulously and skilfully attended his patient. The doctor examined his saddle-bags, and having ascertained his name and address from the letters and papers therein, communicated to his anxious wife all the particulars of his illness, and concluded with the consoling intelligence that ‘he could that day pronounce him out of danger.’ As soon as he could travel, he delighted his family and friends with his presence in Liverpool. No sooner had Mr. Chaffers arrived at home, than he set to work with his new materials, and soon produced articles that gained him much reputation, as was frankly acknowledged by the great Wedgwood, to whom Mr. Chaffers presented a tea-set of his china ware, and who, on looking at one of the cups, admiring the body and examining the colours used in decoration, exclaimed, ‘This puts an end to the battle! Mr. Chaffers beats us all in his colours and with his knowledge; he can make colours for two guineas which I cannot produce so good for five!’”

William Cookworthy discovered the Cornish stone about the year 1754 or 1755, and Richard Chaffers must soon afterwards have prosecuted his researches in the same direction, for in December, 1756, we find him making his “porcelain or china ware” in considerable quantities, both for home sale and for exportation. This is shown by the evidence of Williamson’s Liverpool Advertiser and Mercantile Register for the 10th of December, 1756, in which the following advertisement, discovered by Mr. Mayer, occurs:—

“Chaffers and Co., China Manufactory.—The porcelain or china ware made by Messrs. Richard Chaffers & Co., is sold nowhere in the town, but at the manufactory on Shaw’s Brow. Considerable abatement for exportation, and to all wholesale dealers. N.B.—All the ware is proved with boiling water before it is exposed for sale.”

Liverpool may therefore boast of producing its china in 1756, if not in 1755, which is an early date in the annals of English porcelain manufacture. Not only, however, in this year did Richard Chaffers and Co. make china-ware, but another firm, that of William Reid and Co., held at the same time, as I shall presently show, the “Liverpool China Manufactory,” where they produced blue and white ware in considerable quantities.

Fig. 22.

Of the “china ware” made by Richard Chaffers some excellent examples are in the Mayer collection. They are unmarked, but remained in the possession of the family until they passed from Chaffers’s descendant to Mr. Mayer. One of these is the cup (Fig. [22].) It is, of course, of “hard paste,” and is of remarkably compact and excellent texture. It is painted, after the Indian style, with figure and landscape of good and rich colours, and is faultless in manipulation and in its glaze. Examples of Chaffers’s china are of exceeding rarity, but in the Mayer collection is a fine jug, bearing in front a portrait of Frederick the Great, with trophies of war on either side. This jug has the peculiarity of being painted inside as well as out. At the bottom, inside, is the Prussian Eagle in a border; in the spout is a trophy, and all around the inside of the vessel roses and other flowers are spangled about.

Chaffers carried on his works for some years, making both earthenware and china—the former largely, the latter but to a limited extent—but was suddenly cut off in the midst of his usefulness, and at an early age. It appears that Podmore, his foreman, being seized with a malignant fever, and beyond hope of recovery, sent a message to Chaffers, expressing “his wish to see his dear master once more before their final separation.” With this request Mr. Chaffers, who was a man of full and sanguine habit, most kindly but unfortunately complied, and at once visited the sufferer. The consequence was he took the fever, and soon afterwards died, and master and servant were interred near to each other in St. Nicholas’s churchyard. “This unfortunate event, by taking away both master and principal assistant, put an end to the prosecution of the trade, and was the commencement of the breaking up of that branch of the art which Mr. Chaffers had mainly brought to such a high state of perfection. A great number of the potters ultimately emigrated to America, whilst many of the best hands transferred themselves to the service of Mr. Wedgwood, or were hired by other Staffordshire manufacturers.”

Reid & Co.—About the year 1753 or 1754, I believe, works were established in Liverpool by a Mr. William Reid, who afterwards took a partner and conducted his business under the style of Reid & Co. These works, in 1756, were called “the Liverpool China Manufactory.” In that year Messrs. Reid & Co. opened a warehouse in Castle Street, as is shown by the following announcement in Williamson’s Liverpool Advertiser of November 19, 1756:—

“Liverpool China Manufactory.—Messrs. Reid & Co., proprietors of the China Manufactory, have opened their warehouse in Castle Street, and sell all kinds of blue and white china ware, not inferior to any make in England, both wholesale and retail. Samples sent to any gentlemen or ladies in the country who will pay carriage. Good allowance for shopkeepers and exporters.”

In 1758, Messrs. Reid & Co. removed their warehouse to the top of Castle Hey, where, having largely increased their business, they occupied much more extensive premises. In the same year they were found advertising for apprentices for the painters in the china manufactory. In 1760, again, the works appear to have considerably increased, and “several apprentices for the china work” were advertised for, as well as “a sober, careful man, who understands sorting and packing of ware and merchants’ accounts.” Messrs. Reid & Co. continued in business many years, and produced, besides their “china ware,” a considerable quantity of the ordinary blue and white earthenware, most of which was exported.

Pennington.—Another of the principal manufacturers of Liverpool pottery was Seth Pennington, of whose works, as well as those of his two brothers, a few words may well be here introduced. Of the Penningtons, three brothers were potters, and each had separate works. Their names were James, John, and Seth, and they were sons of John Pennington, a maltster, by his wife, formerly a Mrs. Johnson, of Everton. James Pennington, the eldest, had his works on Copperas Hill, but produced only the commoner varieties of ware, and being dissipated, and having done his youngest brother a serious injury by divulging a secret in the mixing of colour, he removed to Worcester, where he obtained employment, and where, at a later period, one of his sons painted a fine dinner service for the Duke of York.

Fig. 23.—Part of Pennington’s Works.

John Pennington, the second son, had his pot-works at Upper Islington, which he carried on for some time. Ultimately he sold the concern to a Mr. Wolf, “who being a scientific man, made great improvements in the ware, but ultimately finding it did not answer, as the Staffordshire potters were making such rapid strides towards monopolising the whole trade, he gave up the manufacture, and the works were closed, never to be resumed.”

Figs. 24 and 25.

Seth Pennington, the youngest of the three brothers, it appears, had his pot-works in that nest of potters, Shaw’s Brow. His factories were very large, extending as far as Clayton Street, and were conducted with much spirit. At these works, Seth Pennington, besides the ordinary classes of earthenware then in use, and which he produced in large quantities both for home consumption and for exportation, made a remarkably fine kind of ware that successfully competed, for vases and beakers, with the oriental, both in its colour, its glaze, and its decoration. He also produced many remarkably large and fine punch-bowls both in Delft ware, in fine earthenware, and, latterly, in china. The largest size bowl I have met with was made by Pennington, at these works, and is here shown. This fine bowl, which is 20½ inches in diameter and 9 inches in height, is painted in blue on the usual white ground. Outside it is decorated with a landscape with two bridges in the foreground, on which men are standing to fish, trees, houses, church, &c., &c. Inside the upper part of the bowl is decorated with a series of six trophies, composed of flags, swords, cannons, drums, trumpets, spears, &c., divided from each other by different kinds of shot, viz., chain, crescent, arrow or triangle shell with fusee burning, cross or bar, and grape. In the centre, and filling up the inside of the bowl, with the exception of the border, is a group of ships and boats on the water, with the inscription beneath it—

Success to the Africa Trade,
George Dickinson.

Figs. 26 to 30.

This bowl was painted probably about the year 1760–70 by John Robinson, who was apprenticed, and afterwards employed, at Pennington’s works. Robinson subsequently removed into Staffordshire, and ultimately presented the bowl to the Potteries Mechanics’ Institution at Hanley, where it is now carefully preserved along with his note—“John Robinson, a pot painter, served his time at Pennington’s, in Shaw’s Brow, and there painted this punch-bowl.” Several other bowls of Pennington’s make are in the Mayer collection. Of these, two of the finest are dated. One bears on its outside a design of trees, birds, and butterflies, painted in yellow and green, and on its inside a ship in full sail, with the words, “Success to the Monmouth, 1760.” The other has on the outside a soldier and a sailor, one of whom is seated on the stock of an anchor, and holding in one hand a sword, and in the other a punch-bowl; and the other sitting, Bacchus-like, astride a barrel. Between them is a chest, bearing the words “Spanish gold;” while inside the bowl is a painting of a ship in full sail, with the words, “1779. Success to the Isabella.” Of the fine earthenware vases and beakers illustrations are given on Figs. [26 to 30]. They form part of a set of chimney ornaments, purchased by Mr. Mayer from the only and aged daughter of Seth Pennington, by whom they had been treasured as examples of her father’s manufacture. In the making of blue colour, Pennington succeeded in beating all his competitors, and it is said that a Staffordshire manufacturer offered him a thousand guineas for his recipe. This he refused, “as it was a source of great profit to him, being kept so secret that none ever mixed the colours but himself.” His brother James, however, whom I have spoken of as being a dissipated man, persuaded him to tell him his secret, and soon afterwards, in one of his drunken bouts, told it to a pot-companion, who at once sold it to the Staffordshire house, and thus did Pennington a grievous injury. Seth Pennington took into partnership a Mr. Port, but the connection was not of long duration. Having turned his attention to the manufacture of china, he produced some excellent services and other pieces in that material. In china[3] he also produced punch-bowls, as well as services. Pennington is said to have used the following marks—

Figs. 31 and 32.

Christian.—Philip Christian was another of the famous Liverpool potters, and had his works also on Shaw’s Brow, but higher up than those of Pennington. They were on the site of what is now known as Islington Terrace. His house was at the corner of Christian Street, which was called after his name. At these works he produced octagonal and other shaped plates of tortoiseshell ware, as well as bowls and other pieces of the same material. He also made the ordinary earthenware of the time. Here, later on, he manufactured china[4] to a considerable extent, and, after the death of Richard Chaffers, is said to have become the leading potter in the place. Mr. Christian is said to have produced in china ware some remarkably good dinner, tea, and coffee services, as well as a number of vases and other ornaments. It is, however, impossible at present to authenticate his productions, so similar are they to those of other makers of the same time and place.

Patrick’s Hill Pot-house.—In 1760 the firm of Thomas Deare & Co. took the old Delft ware pottery at Patrick’s Hill, known as the “Patrick’s Hill Pot-house,” where they manufactured “all sorts of the best blue and white earthenware.”

The Flint Pot Works.—About the same time a Mr. Okell carried on “The Flint Pot Works,” which were situated at the upper end of Park Lane, near the Pitch House. Here he made blue and white earthenware, and afterwards the more fashionable cream-coloured ware. Mr. Okell died in 1773–74, and the works were then taken by Messrs. Rigg and Peacock, who immediately advertised their intention of “making all kinds of cream-coloured earthenware, &c.” Mr. Rigg was, I have reason to believe, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, and a descendant of the celebrated Charles Rigg, the pipe-maker of that town. In the same year there was also a pot-house, called the “Mould Works,” carried on by Messrs. Woods & Co., near the infirmary, but where nothing of a finer description than jars, sugar-moulds (for sugar refiners), crucibles, chimney-pots, melting-pots, black mugs, and the like, were made.

In 1761 Liverpool was the scene of a strongly contested election between three rival candidates, viz., Sir William Meredith, Bart., Sir Ellis Cuncliffe, Bart., and Charles Pole, Esq., and the election was carried by the potters, one hundred and two of whom gave plumpers for Sir William. This is proved by the poll and squib book, which was published by John Sadler, and I allude to the circumstance for the purpose of introducing an engraving of one of the drinking-mugs made specially for the occasion by the “jolly potters” of Liverpool. This mug is of common white earthen ware, and has a rude border, with the words,

Ser William
a
Plumper,

scratched in, in blue, in the soft clay before firing.

Fig. 33.

In connection with this election, a song written especially for the potters, and no doubt sung while this very mug was filled with strong ale, and passed round from mouth to mouth, is worth reprinting:—

THE POTTER’S SONG.

To the tune of “Ye mortals whom fancy,” &c.

ADDRESSED TO THE PLUMPING POTTERS.

Ye true-hearted fellows, free plumpers and men,

Independent in Britain, how great is your claim!

Not power without candour can soothe with a smile,

Or forms of vain grandeur e’en fancy beguile.

Chorus.

And thus sings the parent of liberty’s cause,

If my son you would be,

If my son you would be,

Like Britons undaunted, like Britons be free.

Tranquillity, heightened by friendship’s supply,

Degraded may censure, with malice stalk by!

Auspiciously reigning, those plumpers, they say,

Unluckily carry the spoils of each day.

And thus, &c.

Regardless of great ones, we live uncontrolled,

We’re potters and plumpers, we’re not to be sold.

No purchase but merit can cheapen such souls,

Thus circled in friendship, we live by our bowls.

And thus, &c.

Regained, now preserve the true blessing of choice,

And strike at the wretch that would blast a free voice;

Thus rich in possession of what is our own,

Sir William’s our member, Squire Charley may moan.

And thus, &c.

Fig. 34.—Herculaneum Pottery.

The Herculaneum Pottery,—the largest earthenware manufactory ever established in Liverpool,—was founded in the year 1796, on the site of some old copper works on the south shore of the river Mersey at Toxteth Park. The pottery had originally been established about the year 1793–4, by Richard Abbey, who took into partnership a Scotchman named Graham. Richard Abbey was born at Aintree, and was apprenticed to John Sadler, in Harrington Street, as an engraver, where he produced many very effective groups for mugs, jugs, tiles, &c. Of these, one of his best productions was the well-known group of the “Farmer’s Arms.” After leaving Sadler’s employment, Abbey removed to Glasgow, where he was an engraver at the pot-works, and afterwards served in a similar capacity in France, before he began business in Liverpool. Messrs. Abbey and Graham were successful in their factory at Toxteth Park, but Abbey growing tired of the business, they sold it to Messrs. Worthington, Humble, and Holland, and he retired to his native village, where he died in 1801, “at the age of eighty-one, after breaking a blood-vessel whilst singing in Melling Church, where, being a good musician, he used to lead the choir on a Sunday. He was buried at Walton.”

In the Mayer museum is a teapot of cream-coloured ware, with black printing, of Richard Abbey’s making. On one side is “The Farmer’s Arms,” with supporters quarterly: viz., 1st, a sheaf of corn; 2nd, two scythes in saltier, across them in fess two flails, knitted together by a sickle; 3rd, a hay rake and hay fork in saltier, with a three-pronged fork, prongs upwards, in pale; 4th, a riddle and a bushel measure; crest, a plough; supporters, a dairymaid with a churn, and a mower with a scythe; motto, “In God is our trust.” On the other side is the appropriate verse;—

May the mighty and great

Roll in splendour and state;

I envy them not, I declare it;

I eat my own Lamb,

My Chicken and Ham,

I shear my own sheep, and I wear it.

I have Lawns, I have Bowers,

I have Fruits, I have Flowers,

The Lark is my morning alarmer;

So you jolly Dogs now,

Here’s “God bless the Plow,”

Long Life and content to the Farmer.

On taking to these works, Messrs. Worthington, Humble, and Holland engaged as their foreman and manager, Mr. Ralph Mansfield, of Burslem. This person served them for some years, and afterwards commenced a small pottery on his own account at Bevington Bush, where he made only the commoner kinds of earthenware. These works ceased at his death. Besides Mansfield the foreman, the new Company engaged about forty “hands,” men, women, and children, in Staffordshire, and brought them to Liverpool to work in different branches of their art. As Wedgwood had chosen to call his new colony “Etruria,” the enterprising company determined on christening their colony “Herculaneum,” which name they at once adopted, and stamped it on their wares. The buildings acquired from Richard Abbey were considerably enlarged, the arrangements remodelled, new ovens and workshops erected, houses for the workmen built, and then workpeople were brought from Staffordshire. The story of the removal of this band of artisans is thus pleasantly told by my friend Mr. Mayer: “After enlarging and remodelling the works, and the little group of emigrants, who were chiefly from Staffordshire, being ready to start, their employers gave them a dinner at the Legs of Man public-house at Burslem, to which a few of their friends were invited. There they spent the parting night in jollity and mirth; and at a late hour, in conformity with an old Mercian custom, still prevalent in some parts of Staffordshire, the parting cup was called for, and each pledged the other to a loving remembrance when absent, and a safe journey and a hearty goodwill. Next morning at an early hour they started on their journey, headed by a band of music, and flags bearing appropriate inscriptions, amongst which was one, ‘Success to the Jolly Potters,’ a motto still met with on the signs of the public-houses in the Staffordshire pot districts. When reaching the Grand Trunk Canal, which runs near to the town of Burslem, after bidding farewell to all their relatives and friends, they got into the boats prepared for them, and were towed away amid the shouts of hundreds of spectators. Now, however, came the time for thought. They had left their old homes, the hearths of their forefathers, and were going to a strange place. Still the hopes of bettering themselves were strongest in their thoughts, and they arrived in Runcorn in good spirits, having amused themselves in various ways during their canal passage, by singing their peculiar local songs, which, as ‘craft’ songs, perhaps stand unrivalled in any employment for richness of material, elegance of thought, and expression of passion and sentiment, and it is to be regretted that many of them are daily becoming lost. Amongst other amusements was one that created much merriment—drawing lots for the houses they were to live in, which had been built for them by their employers; and as they had not seen them, nor knew anything about them, the only preference to be striven for was whether it should be No. 1, 2, 3, &c.

“At Runcorn they stayed all night, as the weather was bad and the river very rough, after one of those storm-days frequent in the Mersey, when the waters are lashed by the wind into such fury, that few boats dare venture out, and many who had never seen salt water before, were afraid to trust themselves upon it in a flat. Next morning, November 11, 1796, the wind had subsided. They embarked on board the flat, and at once, with a fair wind, got into the middle of the Mersey, where it becomes more like an inland sea surrounded by lofty mountain ranges. This much surprised the voyagers, alike by its picturesque beauty and the vast extent of water. They had a pleasant voyage down the river, and arriving at their destination, were met on their landing by a band of music, and marched into the works amidst the cheers of a large crowd of people, who had assembled to greet them. Thus commenced the peopling of the little colony called Herculaneum, where a few years ago, on visiting the old nurse of my father, who had accompanied her son there, I heard the same peculiar dialect of language as is spoken in their mother district in Staffordshire, which to those not brought up in that locality, is almost unintelligible.”

From this it will be seen that the little colony was peopled in the middle of November, 1796. The works were opened on the 8th of December, on which occasion an entertainment was given to the workpeople, as will be seen from the following interesting paragraph from Gore’s General Advertiser of December 13th, 1796:—

“On Saturday last, the new pottery (formerly the copper works)[5] near this town was opened, and a plentiful entertainment given by Mr. Worthington, the proprietor, to upwards of sixty persons employed in the manufactory, who were preceded by a military band, from the works along the docks and through Castle Street. Two colours were displayed on the occasion, one representing a distant view of the manufactory. We have the pleasure to say, that these works are very likely to succeed, from their extent and situation, and will be of infinite advantage to the merchants of Liverpool.”

The first productions of the Herculaneum works were confined to blue-printed ware, in which dinner, toilet, tea, and coffee services, punch-bowls, mugs, and jugs, were the principal articles made; and cream-coloured ware, which was then so fashionable. At a later date, terra-cotta vases and other articles were produced, as were also biscuit vases, figures, &c.

Of the cream-coloured ware, or Queen’s ware, the examples which have come under my notice are of remarkably fine quality, and are as well and carefully potted as those of any other manufactory, scarcely even excepting Wedgwood’s own. In colour they are of a somewhat darker shade than Wedgwood’s and Mayer’s, and not of so yellow a cast as the Leeds ware. The collector will find some good examples of this ware in the Mayer Museum at Liverpool, which will serve for comparison with other makes. The Herculaneum works also produced some remarkably good jugs with bas-relief figures, foliage, &c, of extremely fine and hard body. These pieces, which rival Turner’s celebrated jugs, are marked with the name HERCULANEUM in small capitals, impressed.

In terra-cotta, vases of good design, as well as other pieces, were produced. In the possession of Mr. Beard is a remarkably fine pair of covered vases, with boldly-modelled heads of satyrs for handles, and festoons on the sides. The vases are black, and the heads and festoons gilt. This fine pair is marked Herculaneum. In Mr. Rathbone’s collection is a wine cooler of vine leaves and grapes, of similar design, and of the same reddish colour as some of Wedgwood’s terra-cotta coolers. It is marked Herculaneum, impressed on the bottom.

In Blue Printing the Herculaneum Works produced many remarkably good patterns, and the earthenware bearing those patterns was of a fine hard and compact body, of excellent glaze, and the potting remarkably good and skilful. Some services had open-work basket rims, of similar design to those produced by Davenport. One service bore views of the principal towns in England, the names of which were printed in blue on the bottoms of each piece, which mostly bear the impressed mark of Herculaneum in large capitals. Batt printing was also practised.

CAMBRIDGE

Fig. 35.

In 1800 the manufactory was considerably increased, and again in 1806 it received many additions. At this time, in order to augment the working capital, the number of proprietors was increased. Early in the present century china was made at these works, and continued to be produced, though not to a large extent, to the time of the close of the works. Of the china produced several examples may be seen in the Mayer museum. In 1822 it was ordered by proprietors at a meeting held in that year, that “to give publicity and identity to the china and earthenware manufactured by the Herculaneum Pottery Company, the words ‘Herculaneum Pottery’ be stamped or marked on some conspicuous part of all china and earthenware made and manufactured at the manufactory.” In 1833 the company was dissolved, and the property sold for £25,000 to Mr. Ambrose Lace, who leased the premises to Thomas Case and James Mort, who are said to have carried on the business for about three years only. By these gentlemen, it is said, the mark of the “Liver” was introduced. About 1836 the firm of Case, Mort & Co. was succeeded by that of Mort and Simpson, who continued the manufactory until its close in 1841. During the time the works were carried on by Case, Mort & Co., a fine dinner-service, of which a portion is in Mr. Mayer’s museum, was made for the corporation of Liverpool. It was blue-printed, and had on each piece the arms of Liverpool carefully engraved, and emblazoned. In the same collection is part of another service of somewhat similar description, but with the earlier mark of Herculaneum impressed. The marks used at the Herculaneum Works at different periods appear to have been the word

HERCULANEUM  HERCULANEUM

impressed in large capitals. The same in small capitals, also impressed. These have generally a number attached, which, of course, is simply the mark of the workman or of the pattern. The same name also occasionally occurs in blue printing. A crown, with the word Herculaneum in a curve, above it, impressed. A crown within a garter, bearing the word Herculaneum; impressed. (Figs. [36] and [37].) The words in capitals, impressed,

HERCULANEUM
POTTERY.

HERCULANEUM

Fig. 36.

HERCULANEUM

Fig. 37.

The crest of the borough of Liverpool, a bird called the Liver, or Lever, with wings expanded, and bearing its beak a sprig of the plant liverwort. Of this mark of the crest three varieties are shown on Figs. [38 to 40]; they are all impressed in the ware. An anchor, with and without the word Liverpool in a curve, above it (Fig. [41]), impressed. Another, and more imposing looking mark, has the name of the pattern (“Pekin Palm,” for instance) within a wreath of foliage, surmounted with the crest of Liverpool, on an heraldic wreath.

Figs. 38 to 40.

LIVERPOOL.

Fig. 41.

Among the men of eminence who have been connected with the potteries of Liverpool, besides those named, were William Roscoe, the eminent Art-critic and biographer; Peter Pever Burdett, the engraver, who also worked for Wedgwood, and who introduced the process of transferring aquatints to pottery and porcelain; Paul Sandby, who assisted other manufactories; and other artists of note. It may also be well to say a word or two on those pieces which more than others are considered to be “Liverpool pottery,” and which, indeed, I believe are thought by many collectors to be the only kind ever made there. I allude to the mugs, plates, &c., of cream-coloured ware which are decorated with ships or with flags of different merchants, and signals. These were principally made at the works of Guy Green, in Harrington Street, of whom I have already spoken. Some pieces have the engraving of the lighthouse and flags, with the name, “An east view of Liverpool Light House and Signals on Bidston Hill, 1788.” The flags are all numbered, and beneath are references, with the owner’s names, to forty-three different flags. Another piece with the same date has forty-four flags and owners’ names, showing the addition of a new merchant in that year. Others again, without date, show fifty and seventy-five flags, and are therefore interesting as showing the rapid extension of the port. These pieces are very sharply engraved and printed in black, and the flags on some of the pieces are coloured.

Warrington.[6]

This pottery was one of but short duration, but during the time it was in operation some very good ware was produced. The works were commenced about 1797 or 1798, by Messrs. James and Fletcher Bolton, who were brothers, and members of the Society of Friends. These gentlemen got their idea of starting an earthenware manufactory at Warrington from the fact that the great bulk of the raw materials from Cornwall, &c., used in the Staffordshire manufactories for the finer kinds of wares, was brought by sea to Liverpool, where it was unshipped and sent on again by boats on the Trent and Mersey Canal, and thus passed within a short distance of Warrington. Messrs. Bolton, with this knowledge, and with the further fact before them that the Liverpool potters drove a very successful trade, very shrewdly argued that if the Staffordshire manufacturers could make money, with the longer freightage from Ellesmere, they, at Warrington, with the shorter freightage, might hope for equal success. Soon after the establishment of the works they associated themselves with Mr. Joseph Ellis, of Hanley, in Staffordshire, who was practically conversant with every branch of the manufacture. Joseph Ellis was born in 1760, and was apprenticed to Wedgwood, as a turner. He is said to have been very clever and ingenious, of careful and sober habits, and of a plodding disposition. He married a daughter of Ralph and Ellen Simpson, of Hanley, a family then considered to be in very fair circumstances, from whom he derived considerable pecuniary help, which, together with his own thrifty habits, soon placed him in comfortable circumstances. Mr. Ellis became superintendent of the Tabernacle Independent Chapel Sunday-school, now said to be the oldest place of worship of that denomination left in the Potteries. As his family began to increase, he disposed of his property in the potteries, joined Messrs. Bolton at Warrington, and became the managing partner of the firm. He is said to have directed his special attention in all his spare time to the discovery of new colours, glazes, and bodies, and to have been very successful in jasper and enamelled ware. To the manager of some adjoining glass-works he also gave many useful recipes for colours. Mr. Ellis’s manuscript recipes for different glazes and colours required in the manufacture are still preserved in the hands of his descendants, and show him to have been a man of considerable practical knowledge and skill.

A number of potters were engaged at Hanley and the other pottery towns, and they, with their wives and children, forming quite a little colony, and their household goods, tools, and everything requisite for their use and for the trade they were engaged in, were brought by canal to Warrington, where kilns, sheds, and other buildings were erected. Here they commenced operations. The goods made at these works were intended principally for the American markets, and a good trade was soon established. The works continued to flourish until 1807, “when the embargo which was laid by the Americans upon all articles of British manufacture, and the subsequent war between Great Britain and America, in 1812, caused the failure, by bankruptcy, of the firm.”

In 1802, Mr. Ellis appears to have fallen into a weak state, and his share in the concern was given up on condition of an annuity being granted to himself and his widow and children, so long as the pot-works were carried on. With the failure of the works of course this arrangement ceased. He died at Warrington, and was buried in the old dissenting burial-ground at Hill Cliff, near that town.

The potters, with their wives and families, their household goods and tools, and all their other belongings, on the failure of the firm, returned to Staffordshire in the same manner as they arrived. During their stay at Warrington, they are described as having held little or no communication with the townspeople; marrying only and solely amongst themselves; preserving their own manners, customs, and amusements; and, beyond purchasing at shop or market the necessaries of life, keeping quite aloof from “the natives,” with a pertinacity so remarkable as still to be the subject of occasional remark. The expressions, “as proud as th’ potters!” and “as close as th’ potters!” are still to be heard, and serve to perpetuate the remembrance of the class-feeling which existed. They dwelt in “Pottery Row, Bank Quay,” on the bank of the river Mersey, and this name is the only local record which Warrington now possesses of this little colony of industrious workpeople. The factory itself has been successively converted into lime-kilns and an iron ship-building yard, and is now used as a chemical works.

Of the productions of the works Dr. Kendrick has got together a number of examples, which he has deposited in the Warrington museum. The wares produced were an ordinary quality of white ware; blue and white printed goods, and common painted goods; as well as an inferior description of black-jasper ware, and both gold and silver lustre. Besides these, a china ware is said to have been made to some extent, but of this, although the matter is generally believed, there is, perhaps, some little doubt. Among the examples in the Museum is a black teapot of somewhat curious character. It is of a hard, but somewhat inferior black ware, and is ornamented with raised borders and groups of figures—some of the borders, the figures, and the swan knob of the lid, being surface-painted in yellow, red, &c. The lid is attached by a hinge. Another curious piece is a “tobacco-jar, comprising within itself a drinking mug and a candlestick,” and also a small upright jar, capable of holding exactly half-an-ounce of tea,—the quantity, we are told, which was served out to each visitor to the tea-gardens of that day. The china ware attributed to these works is somewhat curious. It is of a kind of creamy colour, and of inferior quality, and is ornamented with raised borders, &c, and with groups of figures in blue. In general appearance it is more like earthenware than porcelain. Among the examples, stated by Dr. Kendrick to have been made at Warrington, is a lantern of Delft ware, ornamented with flowers in blue. There are, however, grave doubts as to this having been made in this locality. No mark is known. This distinction is believed to have been omitted in consequence of the jealous dislike of the Americans of that day to anything emanating from the mother country.

Warrington Pottery.—These works, in a locality where older ones had long existed, were established in 1850 in Dallman Lane, by the late Mr. John Welsby, who manufactured stoneware, Rockingham and black tea-pots, coarse red ware, terra cotta chimney tops (the construction of the “Dallman Chimney Pot” being very effectual for preventing smoky chimneys), ornamental garden vases, flower-pots, pancheons, &c. On his death, in 1863, the works passed into the hands of Mr. Thomas Grace, who, in 1871, removed them to their present site, on the Winwick Road. Mr. Grace’s productions consist of plain black ware of various descriptions, chimney tops, and plain and fancy garden vases, flower-pots, &c., which he supplies largely to the home markets. Most of the goods are made from clays found on the spot, and those of Arpley Moor, a mile or two distant from the works.