The potteries of Messrs. Stiff & Son are among the largest in London. They employ about two hundred hands, and their annual import of raw material, clay, coals, &c., is about 15,000 tons. They have business relations in almost all parts of the world, and their manufactures have been admitted to the principal International Exhibitions; their terra-cotta vases combine excellence of finish with correctness of design, and are sold at very moderate prices. Their stoneware chemical apparatus has a very wide reputation, and their drain-pipes and other sanitary appliances, comprising nearly two-thirds of their business, have an immense sale.
It is well to add that at this pottery antique jugs and water-jugs, of excellent design and clever manipulation, are made. The forms are chaste and good, and they have, partly owing to the care in making, and partly to the fineness of the glaze, a pleasanter feel to the hand than others. The carriage and foot warmers, &c., made here are also extremely good in quality and design.
The Lambeth Pottery.—In 1818 Mr. John Doulton established stoneware works at Vauxhall, and soon afterwards was joined in partnership by Mr. John Watts, the business being carried on under the style of Doulton & Watts. Some years after, the works were removed to High Street, Lambeth, to premises near those which had formerly been occupied by Mr. Griffiths, already spoken of. In 1858 Mr. Watts died, and from that time to the present the manufactory has been carried on by Mr. John Doulton in co-partnership with his sons, under the style of Doulton & Watts, and Henry Doulton & Co. In 1854 Mr. Henry Doulton took out a patent for “improvements in kilns used in the manufacture of stoneware, earthenware, and china.” In 1859 he took out another patent for “improvements in earthenware jars and bottles,” and in 1861 the same gentleman also patented his “improvements in the construction of vats and similar vessels for containing liquids.” At the Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, medals were awarded to this firm, as they were also at the Exhibitions at Paris, Hamburg, Oporto, New Zealand, Auxerre, Caen, and Amsterdam. At the International Exhibitions of 1871 and 1872 they also received the highest commendation.
The goods manufactured by Messrs. Doulton & Co. include chemical vessels of large size (up to 500 gallons) and all kinds of stoneware suitable for the laboratory and works of the manufacturing chemist—jars, bottles, jugs, water-filters, and other articles of domestic use; terra-cotta for architectural and gardening purposes; drainage pipes, irrigation conduits, sinks, and all kinds of sanitary ware; plumbago and other crucibles, muffles, furnaces, &c.: and, in addition to their manufactory at Lambeth, they have works for the manufacture of sewer pipes, fire goods, blue bricks, &c., at Rowley-Regis, Staffordshire; Smethwick, Staffordshire; and St. Helen’s, Lancashire. The various kinds of stoneware and terra-cotta produced by Messrs. Doulton at their Lambeth works give employment to about six hundred men; and their consumption of coals at Lambeth alone (exclusive of the quantity used in their Staffordshire and Lancashire factories) is over 10,000 tons per annum.
Fig. 347.—Doulton Ware.
Figs. 348 to 353.—Doulton’s Vases, Filters, &c.
Figs. 354 to 357.—Doulton’s Terra Cotta.