FINE SWANSEA VASE AND COVER. HEIGHT, 141⁄2 IN.
(Richly decorated and gilded. With exquisite flower painting.)
The only marks that appear on the china are the word “Nantgarw” with the letters “C. W.” underneath, which in all probability meant China Works, but which by some collectors are said to denote the name of the artist. This is impressed in the china. Sometimes the word “Nantgarw” is found in red, but this must be regarded with suspicion, as a great many forgeries have been perpetrated in this china owing to its rarity and the favour which it finds with collectors.
Swansea has a more extended history. In the middle of the eighteenth century a small manufactory of earthenware existed here. This gradually grew into the “Cambrian Pottery,” which, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, passed into the hands of Mr. Lewis Weston Dillwyn, a Fellow of the Linnæan Society and author of works on botany.
Before Mr. Dillwyn’s day a fine opaque china was produced at Swansea, but under his management and guidance the china assumed a more artistic appearance.
W. W. Young, whom we spoke of as having come over from Nantgarw, was especially skilful at painting flowers and birds, butterflies and insects, and sometimes shells. Some of the pieces of Swansea bear his name upon them. Young was also employed by Mr. Dillwyn to illustrate his works on botany and natural history.
SWANSEA PLATE (8 IN. HIGH).