North Shore Pottery.
The “North Shore Pottery” was established about 1840, by Mr. James Smith, afterwards of Danby Grange, near Yarm, in Yorkshire, and was carried on by his nephew, Mr. William Smith, Jun. (son of the William Smith to whom I have alluded as the founder of the “Stafford Pottery”), under the style of “William Smith, Jun., and Co.” Subsequently to this the business was carried on successively under the styles of “G. F. Smith and Co.” and “G. and W. Smith.” A few years ago the senior partner, Mr. S. P. Smith, retired from the concern, and since then it has been continued solely by Mr. William Smith, son of the founder and still present owner of the works.
The classes of goods made at this pottery were both in white and cream-coloured wares, and some of the examples of the first productions are of excellent quality. The markets for which, principally, the “North Shore Pottery” goods were and are made, are, besides the home trade—which is principally confined to London and the South of England—Holland, Germany, and Denmark. Large quantities of wares are also exported to Constantinople, and other Mediterranean markets. The goods now made are the usual classes of white earthenware, and printed and coloured goods, in dinner, teas, toilet, and other services; bread, cheese, and other trays of good design; mugs, jugs, basins, and all the usual varieties of domestic vessels. In quality they equal the ordinary classes of Staffordshire ware, and many of the printed patterns (notably, perhaps, the “Danby”) are of a superior kind. The “sponge patterns” for foreign markets are extensively used, and green-glazed ware in flower-pots, &c., are also made.
The impressed mark at the present time is
W. S.
Stockton.
The printed marks, besides an ornamental border and the name of the pattern, bear simply the initials W. S.
Other potteries are Mr. Ainsworth’s, at North Stockton, for white and printed wares; Mr. Thomas Harwood “The Norton Pottery,” at Norton, for Sunderland and yellow wares; and Messrs. Harwood Brothers, “Clarence Pottery,” for Sunderland ware.