Crown Ducal Period Advertising

Period advertising material for Crown Ducal can be found online in projects that are scanning old newspapers. I found hundreds of examples within a few hours searching, but the majority are not explicit about the pattern and so are of no real value, but I do believe this could be useful resource to help with the production history of Crown Ducal ware.

The main surprise for me was for how long the popular patterns remained in production. One always felt that the well known patterns, Red Tree, Sunburst and Bristol had long production runs, but if one takes the advertising at face value there could have been quite a few designs that Richardsons were able to rely upon throughout the 30s, 40s and 50's. 

Here are a few observations that caught my eye.

Lithograph Rosalie on Florentine tableware shape, ivory glaze & gold edge

Rosalie on Florentine shape, ivory glaze and gold edge

Quite a common pattern and easily found at auction but I never knew how old the design was. The standard Rosalie on Florentine shape, ivory glaze with gold edge is not recorded in the surviving pattern books. The transfer, (made by Ratauds, No.6319), is known to exist from the early 1930s because it exists with other shapes or glazes. There is publicity material for Rosalie in a trade magazine from 1955 but the Florentine shape itself dates to about 1930. There was always the possibility that Rosalie on Florentine could have been either a post war introduction or date to early 1930’s but it is great to have found the evidence of its long production history.

Advertisement in The Binghampton Press 5 October 1943

So far I have found advertisements for Rosalie in the:

Albany (New York) Evening News 2 June 1933

Leader Post (Regina) 15 October 1935

The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 May 1940

The Binghampton Press (New York) 30 April 1943

The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October1943 (illustrated)

The Knickerbocker News (Albany New York) 6 June 1945

The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 July 1945 (illustrated)

The Binghampton Press (New York) 29 September 1949
Pottery and Glass April 1955

Western Herald (NSW) 20 July 1956

The June 1933 advert is significant because the pattern books start at pattern 2900 which dates to May 1933 and so the pattern probably predates the start of these documents by a few months or a year. Therefore there is good evidence that the pattern remained in production for almost 25 years, (possibly longer).

Empress pattern (4746) on Avon shape tableware

The advertisement shown above with Rosalie also promotes the Empress pattern. This is a design with a known pattern number, 4746, which dates to the summer of 1936. It is one of the earliest popular designs that Crown Ducal created with a rich coloured band on the Avon shape and with gold coloured detailing and floral transfers. The same design was also made with a maroon, (deep pink), band as pattern 4745 and a green band as pattern 4747. I believe the name Empress was used for all three colour versions. The floral transfer was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd. (litho number 8944). For Crown Ducal patterns it is referred to as the Yukon litho after their first pattern that used it. 

Empress pattern 4746 on Avon shape tableware

Advertisements for the Empress pattern have been found in the:

The New York Sun 2 February 1940
The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 May 1940

The Binghampton Press (New York) 19 February 1943

The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October 1943 (illustrated)

Charm pattern (1790) on Gainsborough shape tableware

The Charm pattern is the third design illustrated in the above advertisement. This is the oldest design of the three and is one of the earliest, and most popular patterns on the Gainsborough shape. The lithograph decoration was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd., (litho number 7506). From the dates of the advertisements Charm remained in production for at least 15 years. There is a mystery why examples of Charm are numbered with 1790 as do references to the design in Crown Ducal documents. But Richardsons own publicity for the launch of the pattern in the Pottery Gazette of 1930 labels it as pattern 1768, (or perhaps there is a minor design difference between the two that I am missing).

An example of Charm, 1790

Advertisements for the Charm pattern have been found in the:

The Pottery Gazette and Glass trade Review 5 February 1930 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 16 October 1930
The Montreal Gazette 19 October 1934 (illustrated)
The Rochester Chronicle 27 January 1937 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 12 January 1940
The Vancouver Sun 9 December 1942 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 9 July 1943 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 5 October 1943 (illustrated)
The Binghampton Press (New York) 13 July 1945 (illustrated)

Advertisement in The Montreal Gazette 19 October 1934

The George Washington bicentenary commemorative plates of 1932

A series of twelve plates made for the USA market in celebration of the Washington bicentennial. Two feature articles have been found discussing the home furnishing memorabilia available including the Crown Ducal plates.

An example of a Washington bicentenary commemorative plate

Feature article in the New York Sun 25 January 1932

The feature in The New York Sun of 25th January 1932 includes the following text relating to the plates:

A whole series of Washington plates is offered by several of the stores, and each plate in the set of twelve illustrates a different event in the life of Washington. Service, dinner and dessert plates are available in this design in Crown Ducal ware, of which the borders recreate fine old eighteenth century patterns, and the colorings include dark blue, pink or mulberry on white. The center scenics show each of the houses connected with Washington Sulgrave Manor, ancestral home of the family in England; Wakefield; his birth place, and Mount Vernon. The leading events in his career are depicted, together with groups of his family, associates and friends.

Feature article in the Brooklyn Eagle Magazine 21 February 1932

A full page article in the Brooklyn Eagle Magazine of 21st February 1932 has an illustration of one of the plates and discusses the themes thus:

Another patriotic textile is somewhat broader in scope, beginning with the landing of the Pilgrims and including the boston Tea Party and Betsy Ross at work upon the flag; also reproducing the famous "Spirit of 76" and Washington Crossing the Delaware". Leutze's great painting is one of the most frequent designs to be met amongst the bicentennial decorations, as in spite of the outbursts that come now and then from some art critic denouncing the great achievement as bad art, or from a matter of fact sailor who rails against the possibility of a rowboat holding so many people and the impracticability of the father of our country standing in such attitude under such circumstances, the famous picture continues to be the symbol of patriotism and courage for Americans.

It is one of the twelve patriotic designs imprinted upon a set of Crown Ducal plates, one of the modern Staffordshire wares. And here again history repeats itself as the idea of featuring American scenes and symbols upon chinaware was first adopted by the Staffordshire potters immediately after the Revolutionary War as a means of capturing the American trade. All feelings of animosity engendered by the war were put aside in the interest of business. And upon the "Old Blue" Staffordshire ware - the tableware of early America and one of the most prized subjects of Americana - was to be found patterns representing American scenes, episodes from American history, and the likenesses of our national heroes.

In the same -colors, today - the blue, the mulberry and pink – as a century and a half ago the new Staffordshire pottery repeats itself. And among the new designs on the patriotic plates we see reproduced famous paintings and prints, "Surrender of Cornwallis." "Washington and his mother." "Adams proposing Washington as Commander-in-Chief." "Washington and His Family." also views of Mt. Vernon, Wakefield, his birthplace, and Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of the Washingtons in England.

With dated commemorative plates they end up in the sales the following year. Here is an example from the New York Sun in 1933.

Advertisement in The New York Sun 15 February 1933

The twelve designs in the series are titled:

• Surrender of Cornwallis
• Washington and Lafayette at Mount Vernon
• John Adams Proposing G Washington as Commander in Chief of the American Army
• Washington at Trenton
• Washington crossing the Delaware
• Washington’s Headquarters Morristown NY
• Washington and His Family 
• Washington and His Mother
• Mount Vernon
• Washington at Valley Forge
• Birthplace of Washington at Wakefield
• Washington Ancestral Home

Images of all the plates can be found on the New York Historical Society website

http://www.nyhistory.org/exhibits/search?words=washington%20crown%20ducal

Two Queen Anne shape designs, Melrose and Vine and Charlotte Rheads Rialto and Belfast designs on Cotswold shape.

The Queen Anne shape with fluted moulding was always more popular in the USA than the UK and here are a couple of lithograph designs with ivory glaze that were mentioned in the advertisements. Vine, 3566, was designed in early 1934, and Melrose, 4041, is from the end of 1934. The Vine lithograph was made by the Universal Transfer Co. Ltd, No. 8535 and the Melrose litho was made by Ratauds.

Platter in Vine, 3556 and coffee cup in Melrose, 4041

Advertisement for Vine in The New York Sun 5 December 1934

Advertisement in The Binghampton Press 28 January 1937

The advertisement for Melrose is not illustrated with the Crown Ducal patterns but is still useful as it tells us that the design was on sale and probably in production for around 3 years. A similar production period would to apply to the other designs mentioned, Rialto, 3140 and Belfast, 3154, which are probably Charlotte Rhead designs from late summer of 1933.

Top Belfast , 3154 and below Rialto, 3140

It has been interesting to link recent images of Crown Ducal pottery to the period advertising and fortunately there is plenty of scope to revisit the subject with more patterns in a future post. 

W. B. Johnson - Art Director 1861-1943

A Biography of William B. Johnson

Art Director for A.G. Richardson & Co. Ltd 

As an enthusiastic collector I enjoy being able to use this blog to post information about Crown Ducal and Charlotte Rhead pottery. Predictably it will be mostly to report on new discoveries, to share previously unpublished information and any ideas or observations that add to the documented history of A. G. Richardson & Co. Ltd.

This post is different because it is not so much about pottery, but about a person, Mr William Borer Johnson who held the post of art director at A. G. Richardson & Co. Ltd from 1918 until he retired in 1938.

Little is known about the company and the people who worked there. We have the books by Bernard Bumpus focusing on Charlotte Rhead and the dissertation by Gerrard Shaw from 1993 on the Crown Ducal tableware production during 1920-1940, (hopefully soon to be published as a book). Apart from those sources we are left with searching through fragments in trade journals and other publications of the period. The Potteries Museum and Library in Stoke on Trent are custodians of the some surviving Crown Ducal pattern books but these are not easily accessible to most, and they do not contain much helpful information about the company itself or the people who worked there.

So it was quite a thrill to be contacted by Douglas Johnson, the grandson of William. He has kindly made available the documentation, newspaper cuttings and family history to be able to compile this biography. All the important content has been provided by Douglas and I am just happy to have been able to help publish this piece Crown Ducal history.

William Borer Johnson

A grandfather remembered

Will Johnson was not born of artistic parents. He was the third child of John Johnson, a tailor of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent and Frances Turner, a farmer's daughter from Alfold in Surrey. The rest of the family were Selina, Emma, Francis, Albert and Eva Sophia his paternal grandfather was Thomas Johnson, a coal miner from Audley, North Staffordshire.

As a boy I used to wonder where Grandpa got his "funny" middle name from. In fact it came from Frances Turner whose grandfather was William Borer, an apothecary and surgeon from Rusper in Sussex. He was a kind and gentle man who once gave me a book of Omar Khayam's poems inscribed "the pen is mightier than the sword". 

He married in 1884 Eliza Ann Copestake, (who descended from a long line of potters). He was described as a china flower painter and she a paintress. They had four children, Frances, Adelaide, Mabel and Frank, (my father). He was a keen bowls player, and a past captain of Wolstanton Bowls club. 

He loved story telling and used to talk about his days as an apprentice. One evening working late with a colleague clearing up the mess in the decorating shop and tipping the various waste into a drum containing slip, they decided to have a joke on a policeman who was having a quiet smoke beneath their first floor window and pour a sample of the slime over him. Just as they thought they had got away with it, the multi coloured bobby appeared and arrested the pair of them which proved to be very costly.

He told me that as a student at Stoke Art School he would walk both ways from Longton until what was eventually called the main route through the six Potteries towns was served by horse buses.

He had a quiet but mischievous side to him and when sitting in his favourite arm chair smoking one of his many pipes and reading a newspaper he would feign deafness with a wink of an eye as Grandma shrieked "Will".

Will Johnson was a modest self effacing man whose life was his work and it doesn't surprise me that he didn't leave much evidence around of his 58 years continuous service to the pottery industry. As well as being a fine artist he was an accomplished water colourist, occasionally giving paintings to his friends, generous to a fault and a lovely man to have as a grandfather. His favourite colour was vermillion, and when he gave me his old paint box it was the one tablet almost gone!

Douglas Johnson 2013

The two sides of WBJs "apprentice piece" probably dating to 1882

William B. Johnson 1861-1943

1861   28th February. Birth of William Borer Johnson at 65 Caroline Street, Longton. He lived there until his marriage in 1884.
1875    Apprenticed to William Slater at Harvey, Adams & Co, Longton and a student at Stoke-on-Trent Art School
1882    Joins Doulton to work under John Slater as a flower painter at Nile Street works, Burslem, and progresses to have charge of one of the decorative departments at Doulton & Co. Ltd.
1884    Marriage to Eliza Ann Copestake
1885    Residing in Church Street, Fenton

1900    Residing in Lorne Street, Burslem

1911    Residing at Vale View, Porthill, Wolstanton

1925    Residing at 23 Albert terrace, Wolstanton

1918    Joins A.G. Richardson as Art Director
1931    Residing at 22 Marsh Avenue, Wolstanton 
1931    William is honoured with 70th birthday celebration by the company and his work colleagues
1938    Retirement

1943    Dies at the family home in Maybank, Newcastle under Lyme

Pottery art director honoured

To demonstrate the high esteem in which William Johnson was held by his employers and work colleagues, the Tunstall town hall was hired for his 70th birthday party. Entertainments included whist drive, catering and dance orchestra.

The event was recorded in the local paper, The Evening Sentinel edition of 30 March 1931 and The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trades Review, May edition. The following text in italics is how the Pottery Gazette described the event.

POTTERY ART DIRECTOR HONOURED.—At Tunstall Town Hall on March 28, to mark the attainment of the seventieth birthday of Mr. W. B. Johnson, art director to the Gordon Pottery of A. G. Richardson & Co., Ltd., a whist drive and dance was held, at which two notable birthday gifts were presented to Mr. Johnson. These gifts took the form of an all-mains wireless set presented to Mr. Johnson on behalf of the principals of the concern (Mr. John Rushton and Mr. J. Harrison), and an easy chair, the gift of the employees. Several speakers took part in expressions of warm affection for Mr. Johnson, numerous references being made to the pronounced ability which he has brought to bear upon his work at the Gordon Pottery over a long period of years. Mr. Rushton said it was a great joy to him when he learned that the staff had decided upon making a presentation of their own, for this showed that not only were Mr. Johnson's qualities and abilities recognised by the directors and administrative staff, but by the employees throughout the factory. They all knew the difficulty of bringing out new patterns and designs, and in this connection Mr. Johnson had, no doubt, had disappointments as well as successes, but by the latter he had helped to place the Gordon Pottery in the high position that it now occupies in the estimation of the whole industry. Mr. J. Harrison, supporting, said that there was only one regret that he entertained that evening, and that was that he had not been brought into contact with Mr. Johnson earlier than he was. Mr. Johnson, returning thanks for the gifts, said he could safely say that the last ten years had been the happiest of his life. If a man at the age of seventy had the affection of his fellow-workers and the confidence of his employers, he could hardly wish for more.

It is interesting to recall in connection with an event of this kind that Mr. Johnson, the recipient of the gifts above referred to, who was apprenticed to painting in his early days at Longton with Mr. William Slater, was subsequently in charge of one of the decorative departments at the famous Nile-St. Works of Doulton & Co., Ltd., where he came into close and personal contact with many famous artists, amongst whom may be mentioned Mr. C. J. Noke, John Slater, Edward Raby, Robert Allen, David Dewsbury, John Hugh Plant, George White, William Hodkinson, Herbert Betteley, and Joseph Hancock. It is good to be able to look back upon such associations and all that is implied thereby. It only remains to be said that Mr. Johnson is not retiring. This was no valedictory function; its purpose was to enable Mr. Johnson's friends and colleagues to show to him, whilst he remains in full harness, what a lot they think of him.

An example of WBJs work at Richardsons

One of the most frustrating aspects with having so little AGR company documentation is that we do not really know who designed what. We attribute all the tube-lined designs to Charlotte and also give her credit when the same motifs turn up in plain enamels. But what of WBJs contribution? It is difficult, we know he was an accomplished flower painter, but Richardsons did not produce expensive hand painted items, their stock in trade was print and enamel, lithographs and relatively simple freehand floral and band and line decoration.

We do have one design element that we can definitely attribute to William Johnson and that is a lithograph that the company refers to as "Roma".

The "Roma" lithograph with W B Johnson signature

Detail of signature on "Roma" lithograph

The lithograph centre incorporates the signature of WB Johnson and so it is beyond doubt that William painted the original artwork of this floral arrangement in a basket. The painting would then be made into a lithographic design for the company to use for its various patterns. At least thirty Crown Ducal designs are known to have incorporated this particular lithograph which was named “Roma” by the company.

Collectors will actually find more than thirty different styles using this centre transfer because the Crown Ducal fashion at this time was to produce each design in several colours for their Avon tableware shape. So, one of the more common patterns, 5080 can be found in solid colours blue or green and in the powder colours blue or green. It would not be a surprise if examples appear in solid maroon, ivory and powder pink as well as these were all used for similar tableware patterns.

The lithos, or transfers were not made by the Richardson’s but by specialist companies such as UTC, Ratauds, Butchers and Chromo. The Crown Ducal pattern books record that WBJ’s floral painting was made into a lithograph by the Universal Transfer Company Ltd. and given the number 8864. The documents refer to the litho as either UTC 8864 or the name Roma. As the Richardson’s art director, WBJ would probably have been responsible for working with these external companies to oversee the production of proprietary Crown Ducal lithographs as well as selecting “off the shelf” non-proprietary transfers.

Service plate in pattern 5313, maroon

The pattern number is either 4951 or 5313, they are both the same design and are recorded as duplicates in the Crown Ducal pattern books.

4951 is annotated with:

• Blue band underglaze
• Best gold bands & line
• 41∕16” - litho
• Gold print
• Service plate

The description for pattern 5313 adds no further information.

Service plate in pattern 5313, blue

This design is known to have been produced in at least three colours, blue, maroon and green. The plates are 101∕2” in diameter with 41∕16” diameter lithograph centres. Several sizes of the transfer would have been made, large ones for plates down to the smallest for the centre of a saucer. Although for this particular design only service plates were made, but they may have different size lithographs, some have a smaller centre with a diameter of 31∕8”.

The design dates for 4951 and 5313 would be around November 1936 and February 1937 respectively. However, the earliest known pattern incorporating the lithograph is 4830, (a design with Charlottes snow glaze), from about August 1936 and so WBJ’s original artwork must have been painted in the early summer of 1936 or sometime before then. 

The patterns 4951 and 5313 are applied to “service plates”. These were attractive place setting pieces to decorate the table at its best before dining, they were not intended to be eaten from. Crown Ducal is earthenware, not fine china, but the finish of these plates is higher quality than their standard tableware so it is quite possible that the company used this design to show off how close to fine china they could make their earthenware. This idea is supported by the base markings on the pair of examples shown which both have inscriptions in gold indicating they were made as souvenirs for dignitaries when the factory was visited by a member of parliament. It should be recognised that WBJ’s own artwork is to be found on Richardson's highest quality productions and that the company used the design for presents and promotional material.

Base markings of blue service plate

Hopefully, one day, it will be possible to document more of Williams designs because from the tribute at his 70th birthday party he must have made a significant contribution to "bringing out new patterns and designs" from the Gordon Pottery.

The friendship between William and Charlotte Rhead

Bernard Bumpus in his books on Charlotte Rhead rather skims over the relationship between William Johnson and Charlotte Rhead as if this might be an awkward subject. He being the elder, in post, art director and Charlotte being the prize catch designer of tube-lined ware. 

What we now know is that WBJ knew both Frederick and Charlotte Rhead very well and that Charlotte was a close friend of Mabel, (WBJs daughter), who always referred to her as Cissy Rhead. Their association went back many years, long before Charlotte joined Richardsons. The families lived a few doors from each other in Marsh Avenue, Wolstanton. In fact the Rheads moved to Marsh Avenue in the same year that WBJ started work at Richardsons in 1918. WBJ was present at Frederick Rheads funeral in 1933 as Richardsons company representative, but he was also there surely because he was a family friend.

Obviously when Charlotte joined Richardsons after her break with Burgess & Leigh Ltd, it was a huge boost to the company's decorating department and WBJ probably had a hand in guiding her towards the company. Mabel is remembered as being quite sure that WBJ was involved in securing Charlottes appointment.

William Johnson retired from A. G. Richardson & Co. Ltd in 1938 and we have evidence that there was an enduring friendship between William and Charlotte after he had left the company. We know this because Charlotte made at least two personalised tube-lined gifts to William. The gifts are not dated but they both have unique stylistic characteristics which can be dated from known Crown Ducal designs.

The first is a pestle and mortar with W B JOHNSON tube-lined around the interior. The text style is exactly the same as that used for the lithographed commemorative design created for the royal visit of George VI and Elizabeth to Canada during May-June 1939. (Crown Ducal pattern 5814). That text style is not used on any other Crown Ducal pattern and the commemorative ware would have to be produced  and shipped to Canada prior to the visit. This would have been around the same time as Williams birthday at the end of February 1939.

Personal gift from Charlotte to William probably for his birthday in February 1939

The second gift is tube-lined smokers set of a lidded box and four ash trays. The design is a modified version of pattern 6010 to incorporate the WBJ monogram and with a border in gold. The other gold embellishments of dots around the lid edge and the line on the ashtrays are also modifications to the original design. The pattern 6010 has a design date of around Christmas 1939 or New Year 1940, and this would be the best estimate for when the idea for this gift was conceived. To tube-line the slip to form the whole design, (rather than use lustres and enamels), was a method that Charlotte used for many of her designs, especially her early years at Richardson’s around 1933/4 for USA salad bowls and platters. Later, in 1937, she experimented further with techniques such as sponging the coloured slip clay. This design for this gift appears to be crafted with a blend of both these techniques and was probably made for Williams birthday in February 1940.

Personal gift from Charlotte to William probably for his birthday in February 1940

Other work by the artist William B. Johnson

Although the focus of this post is to acknowledge William as the art director for Richardson & Co. and the decorating manager of the Gordon Pottery we should be mindful of his work from many years at Royal Doulton and his output of watercolours for his own satisfaction. So if you happen to find this blog whilst researching the WBJ mark on your item of Royal Doulton, or have found the signature of W B Johnson on a watercolour, you will now know more about the man who painted it.

A pair of Doulton vases marked with WBJ
Picture courtesy of 1818 Auctioneers
http://www.1818auctioneers.co.uk/sales/lot/47423/96/162

Watercolour by William B. Johnson

Charlotte Rhead - The Iris Charger

The Iris pattern charger made an exciting appearance more than 25 years after its period of fame in the 1980s. It was sold at auction on 5^th July 2013 at Tennants, Leyburn.

http://www.tennants.co.uk/Catalogue/Lots/199297.aspx

There were four items in the lot. Apart from the Iris charger there was another silent star of the Pottery Ladies film, the Persian Leaf bowl which sits on the table while Rose discusses tube-lining. Also of interest was an experimental colour variation of Foxglove on a 12” charger. The leaf colours are in the usual Cairo and emerald green but whereas the charger border is usually in the same shade of Cairo as the leaves, this example has a full strength dark Cairo border so it appears that the charger has three different green enamel colours, (enlarge the image in the Tennants link above).

There were some other lots at the auction with important and previously unrecorded Crown Ducal, Rhead designs. If I am correct in assuming they came from the same source then probably the 5623 charger and definitely the 5803 bowl in lot 338 also featured in the Pottery Ladies film. There was also a splendid galleon vase, which must surely be another Rhead rare design. See Peters blog for more details:
http://www.rheadpottery.com/charlotte-rhead/mysterious-galleon-vase-charlotte-rhead/

Charlotte Rhead tube-lined Iris charger of "Pottery Ladies" fame at Tennants

The colourful Iris charger (12”) featured in the Pottery Ladies TV programme in 1985.

Then, during 1986-1987 it went on tour, to London, Bradford, Bristol and Stoke-on-Trent with the “Rhead: Artists & Potters 1870-1950” exhibition.

Bernard Bumpus also included it in his book of 1987, “Charlotte Rhead Potter & Designer”.

Since it is one of the few Charlotte Rhead designed Crown Ducal items that has some documented history attached to it, I thought it might be interesting to bring together what is known about it.

Charlotte Rhead DVD

For more info:
https://web.archive.org/web/20120211135847/http://artsonfilm.wmin.ac.uk/films.php?a=view&recid=152

In the Pottery Ladies documentary, Rose Dickenson is holding the charger and tells her anecdote relating to the charger.

Miss Rhead did this as a pattern, you know, as a sample actually.

And she said, “Well I don’t know Rose”, she says, “Whether it will become a seller”. She says “It could be”, she says, “But I think it will be too expensive to do. To put the gold on and to commercialise it”.

So I said, “Well Miss Rhead the pattern you did, it is still on the table, if you haven’t any further use for it could I possibly have it?”

She says, “Would you like it Rose?

I said, “Yes”.

She was a little bit on her R’s but very fascinating to talk to.

And she said, “Can you pay for it Rose before you take it off the works, that is important”.

And I said, “Yes”, because you couldn’t take anything off the works that wasn’t accounted for.

I treasured it, I’ll tell you, and especially something that Charlotte herself had done.

So from this, it has to be assumed that Rose Dickenson became the owner soon after the charger was made.

Rhead: Artists & Potters 1870-1950

Bernard Bumpus created a series of exhibitions in conjuction with the Geffrye Museum during 1986-1987,  the catalogue he compiled became the basis for his two books on Charlotte and the Rhead family in general. The venues and dates were:

Geffrye Museum, London, 7 March- 25 May 1986
Cartwright Hall, Bradford, 6 July - 8 September 1986
Museum & Art Gallery, Bristol, 26 October - 7 December 1986
City Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, 7 February - 9 May 1987

Copies of the exhibition catalogue can sometimes be found on bookfinder.com if you are interested – just search with keywords geffrye rhead:
http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?keywords=geffrye+rhead&mode=advanced&st=sr&ac=qr

Extract from Geffryre Museum catalogue

With regard to the Iris charger there are some relevant points to note.

• The charger is illustrated in the catalogue.
• F19 is the catalogue entry for the exhibit. The charger still has the original exhibition sticker on the reverse with F19. Anyone who bought items at the Bernard Bumpus Collection sale at Halls, Shrewsbury on 9^th February 2011 will be familiar with these stickers as some of those items were exhibited at the same exhibition and had retained their stickers at the time of the auction.
• Mrs Norah Dobbs was the owner of the charger at the time of the exhibition and also features in the Pottery Ladies film. So perhaps the charger changed hands between Rose and Norah some time before the Pottery Ladies film was made?
• Bumpus annotates the entry with “Charlotte Rhead almost certainly tubed the iris flower herself on this trial piece and would have closely supervised the application of the mottled glazes. The standard border was executed by the tube-liner Fanny Morrey. The design was not commercially produced.”

Charlotte Rhead Potter & Designer

In 1987, after the exhibition Bernard Bumpus published his book. There is an image of the charger, (not the same one as in the exhibition catalogue), and a brief description under the “Patterns without numbers” section. It is recorded as “Naturalistic Iris in blue, yellow, pink with green leaves. Mottled blue and purple ground. Not commercially produced.”

Sotheby’s 1987?

The charger has a previous auction label on the reverse recording that it may have been in an auction at Sotheby’s in Chester on 7^th September 1987. I have not been able to confirm this.

The exhibition ended in May 1987 and so presumably the owner consigned it for auction soon after.

Tennants 2013

The charger reappears at auction in an antiques and interiors sale on 5^th July 2013 at Tennants, Leyburn, without any of its history in the description, but with publicity on the internet it does not go by unnoticed.

What else is known?

The charger has the usual 1935-1938 backstamp style and has the facsimile signature of Fanny Morrey.

The glaze has been used before, it is documented and known as “Glaze 78”. The only numbered pattern that uses it is 5981, (Floretta). This pattern is illustrated in a previous post, (the last image):

http://rhead-crownducal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/print-enamel-decoration-in-1930s.html

The same glaze appears to have been used for a version of Persian Leaf/Tarragona. You can see an example on George Conners website:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101112194205/http://charlotterhead.jimdo.com:80/crown_ducal.php

Scroll down to the image after 5391 titled “Persian Leaf unusual colour way”.

Crown Ducal documents of the period record the following details for “Glaze 78”

Inside weakened yellow

Outside Blown White Matt Harrisons

Top Mottled    

29 green

                        Yellow

                        Mauve

                        Blue

Foot

                        29 green

                        Off green

Fox brown

Lightly mottled primrose over plain white parts.

Based on the design date for Tarragona/Persian Leaf, (1938), which has examples with the same glaze and backstamp, and the fact that most examples of  5981, (Floretta), have younger backstamps than the one on the Iris charger, it seems most likely that the Iris charger was made in 1938.

Iris charger - centre detail

There is not much else to say except that it is good so see it again and that it is safe and sound.

Crown Ducal backstamps. Part 2, mostly pre-WW2 1930s

This is part 2 of my Crown Ducal backstamp styles research and covers the early 1930s and more recently for some styles. If you missed part 1, click on this link:

http://rhead-crownducal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/crown-ducal-backstamps-part-1-1915-1929.html

Richardsons introduced several new tableware shapes during the early 1930s, many with their own backstamps. That is why the date range in the title is ambiguous. Backstamps specific to certain shapes, (such as Gainsborough, Florentine, Premier and Queen Anne), will have been created in the 1930's and then developed until 1950s, 60s and 70s, whereas other shapes were given generic marks depending on when they were manufactured. So my objective here is to look mainly at the backstamps of the 1930's until before World War 2, but some, (relating to specific shapes) , may represent  manufacturing times until the company ceased trading in 1974.

I need to emphasise that this is all a work in progress. The content of this post is all based on observation and inference. I have not discovered any documents of the period that record backstamp styles.

As in part 1, I have numbered the backstamp styles for my own cataloguing purposes and they do not reference the work of anyone else. The type numbers are based on age, style and shape ranges so there is no particular structure or significance to their order. Dates are rough guides only. 





Left, type 109 and right, type 110

As a reminder of what the main backstamps in use were during 1929 the two most commonly found are: type 109 for high gloss glaze lustre ware and type 110 for virtually everything else, tableware and fancies.

Registration Numbers

Before I start with more backstamps, I think it is important to say something about the registration numbers that are often on the base of Crown Ducal items as they are usually an integral part of the backstamp design. These numbers show that the owner of the original design had it registered with the, Board of Trade to try and prevent the copying of successful styles by competitors. The numbers were assigned sequentially and can therefore be dated. The date of the registration number is the date of when the design was registered NOT when the item was made or in most cases even when the pattern was designed. The item would have been made after that date, but not simply anytime after that date.

The oldest and youngest possible manufacturing date for an item depends on the production period for the pattern. For Crown Ducal art pottery and tableware this information is not known with much accuracy, although it is possible to make an educated guess based on design dates, backstamp styles and advertising material of the period. (That perhaps, will be the subject of another post once I understand it better myself!).

Design dates are best determined from the Crown Ducal pattern number. There is a java applet which calculates Crown Ducal design dates for pattern numbers between 2681 and 6353 here:

http://www.rhead-crownducal.info/Patterns/Age_calc/age_calc.html

I wrote this some time ago and it is not particularly accurate, but it gives a reasonable estimate for most pattern numbers within that range used for Charlotte Rhead designs, or any Crown Ducal pattern within that range.

If you would like to know the date of a registration number, it can be calculated from the information on this website:

http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/reg.htm#1842

If you would like to see the original documents of what these registration numbers refer to then you will need to visit The National Archives at Kew, (these documents are not available online):

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/default.htm
Although fascinating to see, they are not particulaly infomative, just a drawing or photograph.

Registration numbers do not really serve any useful purpose, except to help identify a pattern or shape range. But if you feel compelled to use the registration number for any purpose you will need to know what the number is registering and with regard to Crown Ducal it can be one of two things:

1. The TABLEWARE SHAPE range.
2. The actual PATTERN on the ware.

Here is list of Crown Ducal registration numbers. There may be more than this, but these are the ones I know of. 

A consecutive series of six numbers assigned to the Carnival print and enamel design by Norman Keats. The version illustrated in the documents is the matt black ground version with blue interior, but the same numbers can appear on the orange lustre versions. I am assuming that the registration is for the lantern pattern, not the shapes so it seems rather strange why several numbers were needed. There were a lot more shapes produced with this design than the six illustrated. Perhaps each number refers to the arrangement of the pattern as well as the pattern itself. That's a project for collectors of the Carnival pattern!

706196 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a vase (Jun 1924)

706197 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a bulb bowl (Jun1924)

706198 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a rose bowl (Jun1924)

706199 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a flower pot (Jun1924)

706200 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a coffee set items (Jun1924)

706201 = PATTERN CARNIVAL on a ewer and basin (Jun1924)

Richardsons must have learnt a lesson after the registration of Carnival because the Red Tree pattern only gets two numbers. Although I still do not understand why more than one number is needed.

711270 = PATTERN 1211 RED TREE on dinner set items (Feb1925)

711271 = PATTERN 1211 RED TREE on tea set items (Feb1925)

732597 = TABLEWARE SHAPE REGENT (Oct1927)

742838 = PATTERNS 1698 & 1699 (Jan1929)

749657 = TABLEWARE SHAPE GAINSBOROUGH (Oct1929)

752078 = PATTERN LONDON CRIES (Feb1930)

762054 = PATTERN 1915 RED POPPY (Feb1931)

762055 = TABLEWARE SHAPE PREMIER (Feb1931)

778200 = PATTERN 2546 MEADOWSWEET (Nov 1932)

778201 = PATTERN 2545 HAPPY DAYS (Nov 1932)

780964 = PATTERNS 2649 SUNBURST (Mar 1933)

780965 = PATTERNS 2633 ROSEMARY, (& 2534 & 2635?) (Mar 1933)

780966 = TABLEWARE SHAPE VICTORY (Mar 1933) (780960 was applied to the ware!)

784158 = TABLEWARE SHAPE COTSWOLD (Jul 1933)

796148 = TABLEWARE SHAPE QUEEN ANNE (Sep 1934)
813982 = EDWARD VII SHORT CORONATION MUG
813983 = EDWARD VII TALL CORONATION MUG

Returning to the subject of backstamps

Gainsborough

 

Type 201

The first new backstamp style comes with the arrival of the Gainsborough shape for tableware. The design registration number for Gainsborough is 749657 which dates to the autumn of 1929 and this correlates well with when publicity starts to appear for the shape in the Pottery Gazette. I have found five backstamps specific to Gainsborough, and there is one that I am reasonably confident was used from 1929 and that I have named type 201. The earliest known pattern number for a Gainsborough design, (that I know of), is 1760 which is the design where the bramble embossment is overlain with a lithograph of the same pattern to colour it in autumnal shades of brown.

Type 202

There is a very similar style, (type 202), with the words U.S.A. PATENT APPLIED FOR instead of R^D N^O 749657. I presume that the company was encouraged by Gainsborough sales in the USA and modified the backstamp for items to be sold in that market. The rest of the script and crown look very similar and the patterns that it is seen on include most of the early ones from 1929/1930, so I am guessing it was created soon after the original style, but I do not have any particular evidence to support this.

 

Type 203

The third style, (type 203), has similar text to the original but with the insertion of “Made in” to precede “England”. I believe this is a later version because the text font is closer to that used for the companys other backstamps of the 1930s and it is found particularly on later Gainsborough designs that were not introduced until much later in the 1930s. There is also a version in the same text style as type 203 but without the words "Made in", (ie similar to type 201 but less crisp text). This is type 204 and may possibly have been created to put on smaller shapes like the bottom of teas and coffee cups, or, was a precursor to type 203.

Type 205

This Gainsborough backstamp is not only unique to the shape style but also the pattern series named "Rural England". It looks similar to type 201 with the addition of the name Rural England above and a small version of the print design on the front with its name of the house or village below. The prints for the Rural England series themselves were used by Crown Ducal on many of their tableware ranges from the 1930s possibly until the 1960s. I believe the Gainsborough Rural England series with this backstamp style are from the early 1930s, but there is uncertainty, so this needs more research.

Cries of London


Type 211

A backstamp style specific to one lithograph frieze design for a range of tableware items including a teapot and stand, biscuit barrel, jug, butter dish and octagonal bowl. The range was called “Cries of London” and the backstamp includes the registration number. 752078 which would date the design to early 1930. It is unknown for how long the pattern remained in production or the pattern number that was used. It is highly likely that the lithograph for the Cries of London pattern was re-used throughout the 1930s and into the 40s and 50s but these later productions may not have used this original backstamp.

Florentine

The earliest pattern number known on the Florentine shape is 1954 which would date the introduction of the range to early 1930, quite soon after Gainsborough. So it is not surprising that the backstamp styles are similar, although I have yet to see a registration number for Florentine, or perhaps it was never given one.


Type 222

Type 223

Type 224

As for Gainsborough I believe the fine script version with the USA PATENT APPLIED FOR text is the earliest version and probably for the USA market. Type 224 is not often seen, it may be the precursor to type 223 or originally made for smaller items. Generally though,  type 223 is the one most likely to be found. The Florentine shape remained in production well into the 1960s and so the backstamp alone is not going to be much use in dating an item.

Premier

The Premier shape, also known as "Old Hall Ivory Ware", has the registration number 762055 and this dates the shape design to the spring of 1931. You will find a wide variety of backstamp styles on this shape and I cannot fathom the rules of how they were used. Type 231 is used in the beginning for the earliest productions but soon after that you find Types 110, 241, 242 and 245 used, (except for specific designs like Bristol). I have made up a story that goes like this. The company creates a new shape, Premier, and at the time they are doing well in the USA market selling Gainsborough and Florentine ware. Someone has the idea to create a separate brand "Old Hall Ivory Ware" to appeal to the fashion in the USA market. Backstamps styles are created, the range sells well. Within that range the Bristol pattern is enormously popular, it get its own version of the backstamp, as does the Countryside series, (see Rural England series under Gainsborough). It is realised that the company is marketing their ware without the company name on it, especially in the home market so items get marked with existing backstamps such as type 110. Soon after that it is regarded as not acceptable to make a stamp with just "England" on it, it has to say "Made in England". Unlike other shape ranges they do not make a new version of Old Hall backstamps, but use another more general style for most patterns and revamp the style for Bristol. It could all be nonsense! One day someone will make sense of it all!

Type 231

Type 231 is the original style probably used for the first couple of years 1931-1932.

Type 232

 Type 232 was used specifically for the Countryside series.

Type 233

Type 233 is believed to be the earliest Bristol style from 1931-1932.

Type 235

Type 235 is the most commonly found on Bristol items and is believed to have used through most of the 30s, 40s and possibly early 50s.

Type 237

 Type 237 is for later Bristol production, probably from late 50's 60s or even 70s.

Type 239

Because the A.G.R is absent, this style, type 239, may represent production after the company was taken over in 1974.

I have not spent much time on studying Bristol marks so there are bound to be corrections necessary. Documenting the sequence of backstamp styles for Bristol would be a worthwhile exercise as the pattern was in production for such a large part of Crown Ducal history from 1931 until 1974. The long production period is confirmed by newspaper advertisements from 1974 still promoting Bristol pattern dinner services The backstamp without A.G.R in the mark suggesting that the pattern might still have been in production after Richardsons had ceased to exist as a separate company lends additional support.

USA Commemoratives

I am going to group these together. I do not have much knowledge of these patterns as they are obviously rare in the UK and there is no publicity material for them in the UK either. The Washington bicentenary must date to 1932 and I believe the Colonial Times range does as well. Probably the others are from the 1930s too. They are all based on the single printed colour pictorial style of design and can usually be found in different colours typically blue, pink and mulberry, (and more rarely green).

The most commonly found are The Washington Bicentenary, Colonial Times and Scenes of Old New Orleans. Other, rarer designs are known to exist that were especially commissioned by towns or businesses in the USA usually to promote their historical interest.



Type 301

Type 302

Type 311

Type 331

Type 332

Type 333

Type 341

A period of change

It is now time to take a break from the backstamp styles specific to shapes or pattern ranges. During 1929, the range of styles was fairly simple, some of the lustre ware had type 109, virtually everything else had type 110 unless you had your hands on an item of Spectria Flambe which had its own style. Then within a period of less than two years Richardsons successfully  introduces three new shapes, Gainsborough, Florentine and Premier with their own backstamps. I think it is safe to assume that fancies and earlier tableware ranges, (Regent, Ionic and Gem), continued to use the existing styles, but a change happens sometime towards the end of 1932 or the beginning of 1933.

This is close to the time that Charlotte Rhead starts working for the company, but that is probably just a coincidence. There are other big events taking place, a new managing director, purchase of the Britannia Pottery and the introduction of the Victory shape to name a few.

The change is recorded by the appearance of a new backstamp that has a very short period of use. It is found on patterns particularly with numbers in the 2350-2550 range. It is also seen of course on older patterns with long production runs such as Red Tree (1211) and Pinafore (2107). Popular patterns from the range 2350-2650  can be found with backstamps type 110, 241 and 242, but the key is that type 241 occurs in that small cluster of pattern numbers and is not restricted to a particular shape range.

Type 241

Patterns you are most likely to find with type 241 are the printed Crocus and Snowdrops (2361 & 2362), block coloured fancies (2373 and several others), freehand floral (2398), Happy Days (2545) and freehand floral (2628).

The youngest designs which have type 110 come from  the same  pattern number range but are more common and so extend to a slightly younger date. The youngest seen are the freehand floral patterns 2711 and 2745 on the Victory shape. Both patterns have been seen where items in the same set are marked with types 110 and 242. This will because of whatever lag there is in collating sets of tableware after the manufacturing, distribution and warehousing processes. I doubt it will ever be possible to determine a precise cutoff when one backstamp gets replaced by another.

It should be noted that type 110 had a second life to mark small and awkward shapes where there was no room for the newer, larger marks until well into the mid 1930s. So if you come across a Charlotte Rhead table lamp or condiment set with type 110, this is normal. It does not mean that Charlotte was working at the factory in the 20s or that you have a fake item.

Type 242

Type 242 becomes the standard style for most ware with the exception of those shapes  that have their own unique marks, (Gainsborough, Florentine and Queen Anne, and the early period for Premier/Old Hall). Victory and Cotswold items have the same mark but usually with the addition of the appropriate registration number.

Type 245

Type 245 takes over from 242 in early 1935 and becomes one of the most commonly found styles known to collectors of Charlotte Rhead fancies from her peak production period from 1935 to 1938. In general, type 245 stops being used in 1939, although there are some, as yet, unexplained exceptions to this rule.

Victory

The Victory shape was introduced early in 1933, it has the registration number 780960 on the base. (Although the documents at Kew record the design as No 760966). Apart from some very early examples with type 110, most of the first couple of years production have type 243, or sometimes there is no registration number, type 242. Then around 1935 the words "Made in" get added to form type 246. As a general rule, type 246 stops being used sometime around 1939.

Type 243

Type 246

Cotswold

The Cotswold shape, similar to Victory but moulded with the ribbed texture of a hand thrown pot, is also introduced in 1933. It has the registration number 784158. Type 244 is found on early items 1933 -1935 and type 247 on items made after 1935. As a general rule, type 247 stops being used sometime around 1939.

Type 244

Type 247

So, I hear you ask, why do some Charlotte Rhead pots have the Cotswold registration number and others do not? On my rhead-crownducal.info website I alluded to a possible reason being something to do with items for export. I do not think this is a valid explanation now. It is much more likely to have something to do with the Cotswold shape itself. During the early years, around 1933-1935, most of Charlottes tableware, and the large bowls and platters for the USA market were the Cotswold shape and so would have been given the registration number. Also, many of the vase and bowl shapes from this period had the same ribbed effect, (129, 133, 145, 148, 164 and 168 to mention a few), so you could say they were Cotswold shape too. But the application of the registration number to fancies was far less rigorous than for tableware.  I believe that shape 192 is the highest shape number seen with the Cotswold registration number and this makes sense because the new shapes that were introduced in 1935/6  like 198, 199, 207, 209 do not have the Cotswold ribbed effect. It think it would have been too much bother to apply different backstamps to the fancies depending on their shape number and therefore they stopped using the registration number for all fancies; but the company continued to use it for Cotswold tableware.


Queen Anne

A shape that may also be referred to as "Adaptation of Early English" as that is what appears on the backstamp. A fluted shape for tableware that is not very common in the UK. It has the registration number 796148 which dates the shape to the summer of 1934. I have recorded five backstamp styles on Queen Anne tableware, one is a variation of a standard 1930's mark  but because it has the Queen Anne registration number it should be recorded here. There is not really a date order except date type 251 precedes those with registration numbers and type 255 is quite young possibly late 50s at the earliest with the mention of dishwasher safe ceramic prints and glazes.

Types 254 and 255 are specific to the Ivy pattern, another single print colour design that was particularly popular in the USA. Sometimes the pattern gets named Joy, I understand the script style is difficult to read - but trust me, the pattern is named Ivy in the Crown Ducal pattern books. The pattern books do record the design numbers for each colour, blue-green (4012), pink (4013), Old English blue (4014), grey (4035), Cobalt blue with gold edge (4189). These designs all date to the winter of 1934/35 but they were in production certainly until the mid 1960s, possibly later.


Type 251

Type 252

Type 253

Type 254

Type 255

Snow Glaze

Tableware patterns that used the snow glaze usually have their own backstamp style, particularly the earliest productions from 1936-1938. This is type 261.

Type 261

That is enough for now! Part 3 will cover another period of change around 1938-1939, and then the restrictions on decorated pottery, (and their markings), are implemented in 1941-1942 forcing more changes. The rules are relaxed in 1952, allowing new base marks, but despite 1952 to 1974 being the youngest period in the Crown Ducal history it is also the least documented so the uncertainties are just as great.