Fig. 73.—Bellarmine, Fulham Stone Ware.
The salt-glazed white stoneware of Staffordshire was made from 1690 till after 1800. The introduction of the salt glaze ware in Staffordshire is ascribed to the celebrated potter John Philip Elers and his brother David. They are likely to have been Dutchmen who had also worked in the potteries of Nuremberg, and had brought with them the knowledge of the salt-glaze process to Staffordshire, together with the style and ornamentation of the Holland stonewares. Dwight of Fulham made salt-glazed wares before the time that the Elers settled at Bradwell in Staffordshire (1690-1710). John Elers made a revolution in the style of working the English pottery by turning his ware in the lathe instead of the exclusive use of the potter’s wheel. The Elers made a red unglazed stoneware chiefly for teapots, cups, saucers, milk jugs, chocolate pots, besides other salt-glazed wares.
The salt-glazed ware is one of the hardest wares known, and is almost a porcelain in composition. The glaze gives a slightly[slightly] uneven surface to the ware, which comes from the manner in which the wares receive the glaze. The pieces are not dipped in a glaze mixture, but when the kiln has reached a very high temperature common salt is thrown into the kiln; the soda is liberated from the salt by the action of the heat, and coming in contact with the silica of the stoneware clay, forms with it a silicate of soda, which is really a glass glaze. The composition of the ware is, generally speaking, clay and fine sand. Astbury, the potter, in 1720 used what is considered the best composition—grey clay and ground flint instead of sand. The colour is drab, or sometimes has a dull cream-coloured covering.
The colour of the old Staffordshire ware is drab, with small white applied ornaments that were previously cast from moulds of brass or stoneware. Coloured enamels have also been very much used for decorating later work. The ornaments are single roses, may blossoms, fleur-de-lis, spirals, small interlacings, birds, figures, straight or wavy lines, &c., all generally very sharp and clear cut (Figs. 74, 75).
Fig. 74.—Jar, White Stoneware of Staffordshire. (S.K.M.)
The potter John Astbury worked for the Elers, and after finding out as many secrets as he could from them, he left them and started a pottery of his own in Staffordshire. He used a wider range of clays and colours than those used by the Elers, and had more variety also in the decoration of his ware, which consisted of such ornaments as harps, crowns, stags, lions, and heraldic designs.
Fig. 75.—White Salt-glazed Ware of Staffordshire. (S.K.M.)