1.
Stoke-on-Trent
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Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles. Together with the boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, it is part of North Staffordshire. Stoke is polycentric, having formed by a federation of six towns in the early 20th century. It took its name from Stoke-upon-Trent, where the town hall, Hanley is the primary commercial centre. The four other towns are Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent is the home of the pottery industry in England and is commonly known as the Potteries. Formerly a primarily industrial conurbation, it is now a centre for service industries, the name Stoke is taken from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent, the original ancient parish, with other settlements being chapelries. Stoke derives from the Old English stoc, a word that at first meant little more than place and these variant meanings included dairy farm, secondary or dependent place or farm, summer pasture, crossing place, meeting place and place of worship. It is not known which of these was intended here, because Stoke was such a common name for a settlement, some kind of distinguishing affix was usually added later, in this case the name of the river. The motto of Stoke-on-Trent is Vis Unita Fortior which can be translated as, United Strength is Stronger, or Strength United is the More Powerful and it was not until 1 April 1910 that the Six Towns were brought together. The county borough of Hanley, the boroughs of Burslem, Longton. The combined borough took the town of Stoke. In 1919, the borough proposed to further and annex the neighbouring borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. This never took place, due to objections from Newcastle Corporation. A further attempt was made in 1930, with the promotion of the Stoke-on-Trent Extension Bill, ultimately, Wolstanton was instead added to Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1932. The borough was granted city status in 1925, with a Lord Mayor from 1928. The decision was overturned, however, when an approach was made to King George V. The public announcement of the elevation to city status was made by the King during a visit to Stoke on 4 June 1925, the county borough was abolished in 1974, and Stoke became a non-metropolitan district of Staffordshire. Its status as a unitary authority was restored on 1 April 1997, for Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS3 region
2.
Tableware
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Tableware is the dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining. It includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes and other items for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of objects according to culture, religion, number of diners, cuisine. For example, Middle Eastern, Indian or Polynesian food culture and cuisine sometimes limits tableware to serving dishes, special occasions are usually reflected in higher quality tableware. Sets of dishes are referred to as a service, dinner service or service set. Table settings or place settings are the dishes, cutlery and glassware used for formal and informal dining, in Ireland such items are normally referred to as delph, the word being an English language phonetic spelling of the word delft, the town from which so much delftware came. Silver service or butler service are methods for a butler or waiter to serve a meal, Setting the table refers to arranging the tableware, including individual place settings for each diner at the table as well as decorating the table itself in a manner suitable for the occasion. Tableware and table decoration is more elaborate for special occasions. Unusual dining locations demand tableware be adapted, dishes are usually made of ceramic materials such as earthenware, stoneware, faience, bone china or porcelain. However, they can be made of materials such as wood, pewter, silver, gold, glass. Before it was possible to purchase mass-produced tableware, it was fashioned from available materials, industrialisation and developments in ceramic manufacture made inexpensive washable tableware available. It is sold either by the piece or as a set for a number of diners, normally four, six, eight. Large quantities are purchased for use in restaurants, individual pieces, such as those needed as replacement pieces for broken dishes, can be procured from open stock inventory at shops, or from antique dealers if the pattern is no longer in production. Possession of tableware has to a large extent been determined by individual wealth, the greater the means, the higher was the quality of tableware that was owned and the more numerous its pieces. In the London of the 13th century, the more affluent citizens owned fine furniture and silver, while those of straiter means possessed only the simplest pottery and kitchen utensils. By the later 16th century, even the poorer citizens dined off pewter rather than wood and had plate, jars, the nobility often used their arms on heraldic china. Table decoration may be ephemeral and consist of items made from confectionery or wax - substances commonly employed in Roman banqueting tables of the 17th century, in modern times, ephemeral table decorations continue to be made from sugar or carved from ice. In wealthy countries such as 17th century France, table decorations for the aristocracy were made of silver
3.
Royal Crown Derby
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The Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company is the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain manufacturer, based in Derby, England. The company, particularly known for its high-quality bone china, has produced tableware and it was known as Derby Porcelain until 1773, when it became Crown Derby, the Royal being added in 1890. The factory closed down in the past under Royal Doulton ownership, in 1745 André Planché, a Huguenot immigrant from Saxony, settled in Derby, where between 1747 and 1755 he made soft-paste porcelain vases and figurines. At the beginning of 1756 he formed a partnership with William Duesbury, a porcelain painter formerly at Chelsea porcelain factory and Longton Hall. Planché disappeared from the scene almost at once, and the business was developed by Duesbury and Heath, a talented entrepreneur, Duesbury developed a new body which contained glass frit, soapstone and calcined bone. This enabled the factory to begin producing high-quality tableware and he quickly established Derby as a leading manufacturer of dinner services and figurines by employing the best talents available for modelling and painting. Figure painting was done by Richard Askew, particularly skilled at painting cupids, zachariah Boreman and John Brewer painted landscapes, still lifes, and pastorals. Intricate floral patterns were designed and painted by William Billingsley, in 1770, Duesbury further increased the already high reputation of Derby by his acquisition of the famous Chelsea porcelain factory in London. He operated it on its site until 1784, when he demolished the buildings and transferred the assets, including the stock, patterns and moulds. Again, in 1776, he acquired the remainder of the formerly prestigious Bow porcelain factory and he seems not to have enjoyed good relations with the highly skilled workforce, and many eminent artists left. Others however produced good work under his management, including Moses Webster, the best-known artist of this time was William Pegg, a Quaker, famed for his striking and idiosyncratic flower painting. He started in 1797 but his religious beliefs led him to the conclusion that painting was sinful and he returned in 1813, but left again in 1820. Despite much good work, the Kean period was disruptive and the company suffered financially, in 1815, the factory was leased to the firms salesman and clerk, Robert Bloor, and the Duesburys played no further part in it. These designs proved extremely and lastingly popular, and Derby continued to thrive, in 1845, however, Bloor died, and after three years under Thomas Clarke, the Cockpit Works were sold and the factory closed in 1848. No mechanical processes were used, and no two pieces produced were exactly the same, among the items preserved was the original potters wheel of the Duesburys, still owned by the present Royal Derby Company. In 1877, a new factory was built by new owners of the Crown Derby name in Osmaston Road, Derby. Crown Derby’s patterns became popular during the late Victorian era, as their romantic. In 1890, Queen Victoria appointed Crown Derby to be Manufacturers of porcelain to Her Majesty, in 1935 Royal Crown Derby acquired the King Street factory, thus reuniting the two strands of the business
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Royal Worcester
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Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, established in 1751. Since 2009 part of the Portmeirion Group, Royal Worcester remains in the luxury tableware and giftware market, the early wares were soft-paste porcelain with bodies that contained soapstone. This places Worcester in a group of early English potteries including Caughley, in 1783, the factory was purchased by Thomas Flight—the former London sales agent for the concern—for £3,000. He let his two sons run the concern, with John Flight taking the role till his death in 1791. In 1788 George III, following a visit to the company, granted it a royal warrant, knowledge of this period is largely a result of the excellent diary that John Flight kept from 1785–1791. This is discussed in detail in Appendix III of Flight & Barr Worcester Porcelain by Henry Sandon, during this period, the factory was in poor repair. Production was limited to low-end patterns of mostly Blue and White porcelains after Chinese porcelain designs of the period and it was also pressured by competition from inexpensive Chinese export porcelain, and from Thomas Turner’s Caughley Factory. Martin Barr joined the firm as a partner in 1792, porcelains of this period are often identified by an incised capital B and, later, Thomas Flight died in 1800, leaving the factory in the hands of his son Joseph Flight and Martin Barr. Barr’s sons Martin Barr Jr. and George Barr were being prepared at that time to run the factory, in addition to the warrant granted by George III, royal warrants were also issued by the Prince of Wales in 1807, and the Princess of Wales in 1808. The factorys former site includes the independent Museum of Royal Worcester owned by the Dyson Perrins Museum Trust, the Museum houses the world’s largest collection of Worcester porcelain. Artists and designers who worked for the factory included Thomas Baxter, William Billingsley, John Stinton, David Bates, James Hadley, after the 1976 merger with Spode, and due to heavy competition from overseas, the production was switched to factories in Stoke and abroad. 100 staff were made redundant in 2003 and another 100 went in 2005, fifteen porcelain painters left the Severn Street factory on Friday 29 September 2006, together with 100 other workers. The last trading date for Royal Worcester was 14 June 2009, as Portmeirion Group has a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, the purchase did not include Royal Worcester and Spode manufacturing facilities. A century of potting in the city of Worcester, being the history of the Royal Porcelain Works, a guide through the Royal Porcelain Work. The Illustrated Guide to Worcester Porcelain 1751–1793, lawrence Branyan, Neal French, John Sandon. Worcester Blue & White Porcelain 1751–1790, Worcester Porcelain, The Wall Period and its Antecedents. Coloured Worcester Porcelain of the First Period 1751–1783, ISBN 978-1-85444-127-0 Simon Spero, John Sandon. Worcester Porcelain 1751–1790, The Zorensky Collection, antique Collectors Club Dist A/C,2007
5.
Wedgwood
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Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, commonly known as Wedgwood, is a fine china, porcelain, and luxury accessories company founded on 1 May 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood. In 1987, Wedgwood merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, on 2 July 2015, Fiskars Corporation acquired WWRD. His marriage to Sarah Wedgwood, a distant cousin with a sizable dowry, in 1765, Wedgwood created a new form of earthenware, which impressed the then British Queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz who gave official permission to call it Queens Ware. This new form sold extremely well across Europe, in 1766, Wedgwood bought Etruria, a large Staffordshire estate, as both a home and factory site. Wedgwood developed a number of industrial innovations for his company, notably a way of measuring kiln temperatures accurately. Wedgwoods best known product is created to look like ancient cameo glass. It was inspired by the Portland Vase, a Roman vessel which is now a museum piece, the first jasperware color was Portland Blue, an innovation that required experiments with more than 3,000 samples. In recognition of the importance of his beads, Josiah Wedgwood was elected a member of the Royal Society in 1783. The Wedgwood Prestige collection sold replicas of the designs as well as modern neo-classical style jasperware. Many motifs were taken from ancient mythologies, Roman, Greek, meanwhile, archaeological fever caught the imagination of many artists. Nothing could have been more suitable to satisfy this huge business demand than to produce replicas of ancient artefacts, many representations of royalty, nobles and statesmen in silhouette were created, as well as political symbols. These were often set in jewellery, as well as in architectural features like fireplace mantels, mouldings, Wedgwood has honoured American individuals and corporations as well, both historically and recently. In 1774 he employed the then 19-year-old John Flaxman as an artist, the Dancing Hours may be his most well known design. Other artists known to have worked for Wedgwood include among others Lady Elizabeth Templetown, George Stubbs, Emma Crewe, Wedgwood had increasing success with hard paste porcelain which attempted to imitate the whiteness of tea-ware imported from China, an extremely popular product amongst high society. High transport costs and the journey from the Far East meant that the supply of chinaware could not keep up with increasingly high demand. Towards the end of the 18th century other Staffordshire manufacturers introduced bone china as an alternative to translucent, in 1812 Wedgwood produced their own bone china which, though not a commercial success at first eventually became an important part of an extremely profitable business. Josiah Wedgwood was also a patriarch of the Darwin–Wedgwood family, Josiah Wedgwood II, second son of Josiah I, succeeded his father as proprietor in 1795 and introduced the production by the Wedgwood company of bone china. In 1815, during Josiah IIs time as proprietor, the great English Romantic poet William Blake spent time engraving for Wedgwoods china catalogues, Josiah Wedgwood III, son of Josiah II, was a partner in the firm from 1825 until he retired in 1842
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Spode
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Spode is a well-known English brand of pottery and homewares produced by the company of the same name which is based in Stoke-on-Trent. Spode is a Stoke-on-Trent based pottery company that was founded by Josiah Spode in 1770, Josiah Spode is also often credited with developing a successful formula for fine bone china. Whether this is true or not, his son, Josiah Spode II, was responsible for the successful marketing of English bone china. Today Spode is owned by Portmeirion Group, a pottery and homewares company based in Stoke-on-Trent, many items in Spodes Blue Italian and Woodland ranges are made at Portmeirion Groups factory in Stoke-on-Trent. Josiah Spode is known to have worked for Thomas Whieldon from the age of 16 until he was 21. His early products comprised earthenwares such as creamware and pearlware as well as a range of stonewares including black basalt, caneware, the history and products of the Spode factory have inspired generations of historians and collectors, and a useful interactive online exhibition was launched in October 2010. Josiah Spode I is credited with the introduction of underglaze transfer printing on earthenware in 1783–84. The processes for underglaze and overglaze decoration were very different, overglaze bat printing on earthenware was a fairly straightforward process, and designs in a range of colours including black, red and lilac were produced. Underglaze hot-press printing was limited to the colours that would withstand the subsequent glaze firing, when Spode employed the skilled engraver Thomas Lucas and printer James Richard, both of the Caughley factory, in 1783 he was able to introduce high quality blue printed earthenware to the market. Thomas Minton, another Caughley-trained engraver, also supplied copper plates to Spode until he opened his own factory in Stoke-on-Trent in 1796 and this method involved the engraving of a design on a copper plate, which was then printed onto gummed tissue. The colour paste was worked into the cut areas of the plate and wiped from the uncut surfaces. These designs, including edge-patterns which had to be manipulated in sections, were cut out using scissors and applied to the biscuit-fired ware, the tissue was then floated off in water, leaving the pattern adhering to the plate. This was then dipped in the glaze and returned to the kiln for the glost firing, Blue underglaze transfer became a standard feature of Staffordshire pottery. Spode also used on-glaze transfers for other wares, during the 18th century many English potters were striving and competing to discover the industrial secret of the production of fine translucent porcelain. The Plymouth and Bristol factories, and the New Hall factory under Richard Champions patent, were producing hard paste similar to Oriental porcelain, soapstone porcelains further added steatite, known as French chalk, for instance at Worcester and Caughley factories. The bone porcelains, especially those of Spode, Minton, Davenport and Coalport, the traditional bone china recipe was 6 parts bone-ash,4 parts china stone and 3.5 parts kaolin, all finely ground together. Josiah Spode I effectively finalised the formula, and appears to have been doing so between 1789 and 1793 and it remained an industrial secret for some time. L. Solon hailed as a revolutionary improvement, as the understanding of the work of the early potters depends in part on the study of actual specimens, the loss was both aesthetic and scientific
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