VII

COALPORT

The history of Coalport porcelain manufactured in Shropshire on the banks of the Severn is worth the telling, and those readers who are possessed of specimens of the older ware issuing from this factory will be glad to hear of its first beginnings.

Unlike some of the other great manufactories, Coalport, we are happy to say, is still in existence. Bow and Chelsea, Nantgarw and Swansea, Bristol and Plymouth have disappeared. The potter’s wheel is silent, and the brush of the artist has been laid aside for ever. Long since the potters have turned into clay themselves. At Bow, where the exquisite ware was produced on the banks of the Lea (“New Canton,” as the manufactory styled itself), a match factory stands on the old foundation. Instead of delicate and fragile cupids they now make matches, but of the kind more associated with Lucifer than with Cupid.

With Derby and with Worcester, Coalport can boast that it was established in the middle of the eighteenth century. Indeed, there is evidence that the Salopian china made in Colebrookdale is taken from the same beds of clay which fifteen hundred years ago supplied the Romans with material for their white ware, for their jugs, their mortaria, and their bowls, which are constantly being unearthed at various spots in the valley of the Severn.

The site of the first works was at Caughley, where a small pottery was begun about 1754. Early in its history the names of Brown, Gallimore, and Turner occur. In my “Chat” on the great Worcester factory I showed that Dr. Wall was the leading spirit who infused life into the concern, and it would appear that Thomas Turner was in some measure induced to emulate him, and it is seen on comparison that the early examples of Caughley were very similar to those of contemporary Worcester. The patterns were principally confined to blue flowers and decorations on a white ground. From 1756 to 1776 the manufactory attained a great excellence. There exists a mug bearing the date 1776, and the name “Francis Benbow.” There is a nautical ring about the name. One recollects Admiral Benbow and his gallant deeds; our Francis Benbow was a bargeman, for whom the mug was made, but his name will go down to posterity on this Caughley mug, as it is the most perfect specimen of its kind.

We give a reproduction of this mug, and readers will observe the anchor marked over the name, and we would call especial attention to the nature of the decoration upon the mug. Dated chinas of old manufacture are specimens very worthy of notice, as they are much sought after, and in many cases are being reproduced with the old dates upon them.

The excellence of Turner’s porcelain and the invention of the beautiful dark blue of the Caughley china, attributed to him, brought the factory into great prominence. But great secrecy was employed in its manufacture, and the place hidden away in the hills was an ideal spot for a manufactory wishing to be self-contained and free from prying strangers. In 1780 was produced the celebrated “Willow Pattern,” which is in demand even at the present day, and has been copied by all the other manufactories. The “Blue Dragon,” another favourite pattern, originated at Caughley, and it was here that the first blue-printed table service was made in England. It was made for Thomas Whitmore, Esq., of Apley Park, near Bridgnorth, the pattern was called the “Nankin.” It is interesting to note that Thomas Minton, of Stoke, assisted in the completion of this service, being articled as an engraver there.

Until the end of 1790 Messrs. Chamberlain, of Worcester, had their porcelain in the white from Thomas Turner, of Caughley. As an instance of the great secrecy employed by Turner, we may say that he used to mix all the bodies himself, but afterwards instructed his sister how to do it. It may add an additional zest to your old white and blue Caughley ware to know that a woman who could keep a secret was intimately associated with its manufacture.

In 1780 Turner, who had paid a visit to France to study the foreign methods, brought back with him a number of skilled artists and workmen. About this time, too, Mr. John Rose, who had learned the art of pottery under Turner, left him to establish a factory of his own at Jackfield. Jackfield, it may be noticed in passing, is one of the oldest potteries in the country. As early as 1560 entries occur in the parish registers of Stoke-upon-Trent of potters “from Jackfield.” In a disused coal mine here, some years ago, a brown mug was found which bore the date 1634. Jackfield was noted for some of its black decanters of superior glaze, and up to quite a modern date made a yellow glazed earthenware.

Finally, the competition between Mr. Rose and the old Caughley works became so great that the old factory was swallowed up by the new one, and Coalport became the headquarters and the name of the firm became John Rose and Company, Mr. Turner withdrawing from the business.

The exact dates are as follows: Between 1780 to 1790 John Rose established his works at Coalport (he was only at Jackfield for a few years). He carried on these and the Caughley, which he purchased in 1799, up till 1814, when Caughley was finally discontinued.

All these are very dry facts which you must master in order to understand the specimens on your china shelf. There is an additional interest, it always seems to me, in knowing of the men and women who gave their lives to the perfection of an industry. There are in existence portraits of Thomas Turner and his wife, and we should particularly like to see the likeness of the lady who secretly mixed the chinas. Perhaps some of our readers may come across some family in Shropshire who may possess them.

With regard to marks, unfortunately not all the specimens of Caughley were marked. The above are some of the varieties of the crescent occurring on some of the ware, and show pretty clearly the transition from a half-moon to the engraved C. The word “Salopian” is sometimes impressed, and on one known specimen is the name “Turner.” Various forms of the letter “S,” sometimes with a cross, are used.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the written name “Coalport” was used, though not extensively, and another mark, the letters “C. D.,” standing for Colebrookdale, was also used, but somewhat sparingly.

In 1820 both Swansea and Nantgarw factories were incorporated with Coalport, and Messrs. Billingsley and Walker, well-known names in the history of English china manufacture, came to Coalport. In 1820 Mr. Rose received the gold medal of the Society of Arts for his Felspar porcelain, and this date is a turning point in the history of Coalport.

At this time Coalport began to establish a reputation for its excellence, which placed it on a level with the other great manufactories—a reputation, be it said, that has increased as time has gone on. We reproduce a handsome vase of Coalport manufacture, richly decorated with pink and gold, on a blue ground. Its elegant form is typical of the ware at its best period.

At the present moment the productions of Coalport, both old and modern, are unequalled in their domain. The old traditions of the firm are still maintained, and the ware of to-day is of the highest possible artistic merit and excellence.

By the kindness of the proprietors of the Coalport manufactory, we are enabled to give some further account of the modern ware, and to reproduce illustrations of the later marks used and of the sumptuous plates turned out at the present day from Iron Bridge, in Shropshire.

In the year 1820, the first year of the reign of George IV., Mr. John Rose obtained the gold medal of the Society of Arts for his “improved glaze for porcelain.” At this time a mark was adopted on some of the ware, “Coalport Improved Felspar Porcelain,” enclosed in a wreath of laurel. Surrounding the wreath are the words “Patronised by the Society of Arts.” The name “I. Rose and Co.” is marked underneath. If any of our readers have any porcelain having this mark, they will notice how good is the paste and how excellent the glaze.

Just prior to the mark above alluded to, the word Coalport was used and sometimes the letters “C. D.”—standing for Cole-Brook-Dale. Other marks of a later date are a monogram formed of the letters “C. B. D.,” and the same enclosed in a circle with the word “Daniell, London,” an eminent firm acting as agents and connected with the sale of the ware in London. This firm had depÔts in Bond Street and in Wigmore Street, and there is in the national collection a plate with bleu-de-roi ground, enriched with gilding, one of a service executed by command of Her Majesty the late Queen Victoria for presentation to the Emperor of Russia. This service was exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851. In the centre of the plate is painted the Order of St. Andrew, while the body is ornamented with Russian orders painted on ivory-coloured ground in six compartments.

We now come to a very curious mark which may have puzzled some of our readers, but which is easily explained. It is a scroll somewhat like that which stands for the word “and”—&. Within its curves appear the three letters “C. S. N.” Upon examination it will be found that the aforesaid curves really make two letters, viz., “C. and S.,” which stand for Coalport and Salopian, while the other three letters stand for Caughley, Swansea, and Nantgarw—the whole emblematical of the development of the manufactory and its absorption of the smaller factories.

We give an illustration of the various marks placed in order of date used, up to and including the one now in use by the firm. Our readers may be able to form some idea by comparison of the dates of their specimens.

It must be observed that much of the earlier Coalport was unmarked, while—we blush to have to print it—some of the ware imitated the double “L” mark of SÈvres, and the “C” and anchor of Chelsea and the crossed swords of Dresden, so successfully as to delude the unwary collector. The celebrated egg-shell porcelain of Coalport ranks among the most marvellous china ever produced in this country. It is rarely marked with any letters or signs, but it carries upon it a signature of perfection of manufacture and exquisite symmetry of design such as no other factory dared emulate, and no other factory has since approached. These tiny cups and saucers (the cup follows Chinese models by having no handle) are gems of ceramic art, and happy is the collector who can number one or two good specimens in his china cabinet.

The well-known “Willow Pattern,” first manufactured here, is from a Chinese model. It is still manufactured by the Coalport Company, and is one of their stock patterns. It appears on a list of some forty patterns, which can be and are manufactured without the use of lead.

Readers may find the words “Leadless Glaze” on some of their quite recent purchases in modern china. The terrible effects of lead on the workpeople in china factories is a subject which has received the attention of Parliament (see p. xxiii). But in passing it is highly satisfactory to find that the Coalport Company turn out, without special order, forty patterns entirely “leadless.” Any one who is specially desirous of having “leadless glaze” on any other of the Coalport ware may do so by ordering it.

To come down to the very latest marks, there are three that have been in use. The first in the seventies, the second in the eighties, and the last, now solely used, was adopted some twelve years ago with the addition of the word “England” to meet the requirements of the American Tariff Act, which made it compulsory for foreign goods to be thus stamped.

The first has the words “Salopian, Coalport,” in a scroll, which has within it the old mark of Caughley, a crescent with “A.D. 1750” beneath it, and in addition the letters “C. S. N.,” in scroll as before alluded to, and having the date, “A.D. 1790,” underneath. This is a very complicated mark, and is not generally known.

The second is a crown with the word “Coalport, A.D. 1750,” underneath. The third is the same with the addition of the word “England.”

In conclusion we may quote the fact, to give our readers some idea of the quality of the ware now being exported by the Coalport Company, that some of the dinner ware sent to America costs no less a sum than £5 per plate, while there are even more sumptuous and magnificent specimens of their manufacture which cost £15 each plate. One of these, amongst others, is a plate with a coloured design painted after Sir Joshua Reynolds’ celebrated portrait of Mrs. Robinson.

Characteristics of Caughley and Coalport China.

Caughley.—The early pieces, printed in under-glaze blue, resemble the early Worcester blue and white; but Caughley is whiter in appearance, and the blue has not the mellowness of old Worcester. Introduction of “Willow pattern,” and similar designs, and the “Broseley dragon.”

Coalport.—“Chantilly sprig,” “Tournay sprig,” “Worm sprig,” introduced by Billingsley from Pinxton. A maroon ground, introduced by Walker from Nantgarw about 1822. The deep mazarine blue of Derby, reproduced at Coalport, is quite equal to Derby pieces in tone. The rich ground colours of old SÈvres porcelain were copied with great success at Coalport, particularly the turquoise blue and the rose-du-Barri.

SALE PRICES.