Fig. 132.
Two apparently well-authenticated examples of bowls, in the possession of Mr. W. Bemrose, jun., and formerly belonging to Mr. J. J. Briggs, are shown on Figs. [131] and [132]. They are of the ordinary class of earthenware (like those of the Tofts, Taylors, &c.), of a dark brown or chocolate colour, well glazed, and ornamented with a white slip. The larger one bears a very rude representation of a fox-hunt—a fox and three dogs, and a tree. The smaller one bears a somewhat gracefully thrown lily, and other ornaments. Another example, in my own collection, is the candlestick engraved on Fig. [138]. It is of precisely the same kind of ware, with white slip ornaments. The decoration of the base will be seen to bear a strong resemblance to the outer ornament of the large bowl.
Perhaps among the most interesting of existing examples are the fragments engraved on Figs. [133 to 136]. These are in the possession of Sir John Crewe, Bart., and are undoubtedly authentic, having been dug up on the spot. They are heads formed of a buff clay and “touched” with a darker slip. Figs. [133 and 136] show the front and back of the principal of these fragments. The head-dress and ruff indicate the period to be at all events about the reign of Mary or Elizabeth. Fig. [134] bears the plaited cap of the same period. They are all engraved of the full size. It will be seen on reference to Figs. [137 and 139] that, in general character, these heads bear a marked resemblance to some which were found in 1854 on the site of a mediæval potwork on the North Cliff at Scarborough. Another vessel there found is engraved in vol. i., Fig. [299].
Figs. 133 to 136.
Figs. 137 to 139.
Kings Newton.
At this pleasant little village (so celebrated for its hall, now in ruins, where Charles I. passed a night, and as being the place from which the family of Hardinge, now represented by “Baron Hardinge, of Kings Newton,” takes its origin) one of the finest assemblages of examples of Anglo-Saxon Ceramic Art has been brought to light,[37] and here, in recent times, pottery of a good quality and excellent character has been made. The Anglo-Saxon urns[38] were, there can be no possible doubt, made from the same bed of clay from which the modern specimens have been produced, but it seems not to have been worked in intermediate times. About 1852 Mr. Henry Orton (brother to James Orton, author of “The Three Palaces,” “Excelsior,” &c., and himself a writer of no mean repute under the nom de plume of “Philo”), then of the Chauntry House, Kings Newton, considering the bed of clay at this place well adapted for useful and ornamental purposes, erected workshops, sheds, and kilns, and commenced the manufacture of garden-vases, chimney-tops, flower-boxes and pots, brackets, and a large variety of other articles. These he produced both in their natural colour and surface-painted and gilded, and many of them were of excellent design. From one of the beds of clay a fine red terra-cotta was produced, and from another a fine buff colour was made. Mr. Orton was so impressed with the importance of these beds for ceramic purposes, that he caused a number of domestic and ornamental articles to be made in the Staffordshire potteries from Kings Newton clay, and the results were highly satisfactory. Circumstances, however, occurred which prevented his plans being matured, and after a large expenditure of time and money on his part they were abandoned. The place is now carried on as a steam brick yard, and the clay is of so good and tenacious a quality that the maker stamps the name of KINGS NEWTON on each brick produced.
Of the articles made from this clay (which, being very few, are now of the utmost rarity), I possess examples. One of these is a butter-cooler, with perforated cover and twisted handles, formed of red unglazed clay of remarkably fine and compact character. Another is a pressed jug, with groups of relief flowers, in a chocolate-coloured clay; partly lined with white slip inside, and glazed in its natural colour. The other examples are a terra-cotta flower-vase and stand of fine light buff-coloured clay, and a two-handled goblet or drinking-cup, silver lustred, and of excellent quality. This is made of the brown, or chocolate, clay. The probability is that some day these clays may be turned to better account than that of making bricks for railway tunnels.