Enobarbus said of Cleopatra, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety,” and the sentiment embodied in this remark seems singularly applicable to china. Year after year it wears the same charm and beauty if taken care of, while we see evidence of its infinite variety every day. To the amateurs who are desirous of gathering together a collection let me remind them that “a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.”

I was recently examining a teapot, the only mark on which was “25s.” in ink, and on commenting on the price to a lady who was also looking round, was amused at her remark that “it did not seem excessive if it was either hard or soft Lowestoft.” I did not argue the point, but it came into my mind that I had read that the furnaces at Lowestoft were never capable of firing hard China. Moreover, I had seen an identical teapot in a shop about a mile away, and I have one almost identical labelled “Newhall” and marked “N” (see Shelf 3, Plate XLII, facing p. 136); also Lowestoft china is very scarce. I believe if all the china which has been, and still is being, offered as Lowestoft had been made at that small early factory it would have necessitated its being many times larger than Doulton’s is to-day.

These remarks caused me to reflect on the difficulty I experienced in learning to distinguish between hard and soft china, as I had no desire to collect any but old English. I read that the surest way was to use a file, but I always feared antique dealers might resent my testing their stock in this effective manner, although it would have been a useful tip for some who have sold me pieces of Chelsea and called them Oriental. I have for some time been fitted with a thumb-nail of experience on which I have to rely. As illustrative of what may be “won by waiting” let me relate the following:

In the year 1912 I was in Harrogate and had a desire to acquire a blue-and-white china sauce-boat, and I found one which the dealer and I agreed must be Lowestoft. The price was high, but he advised me to buy, as I might not find another. Seven years after I was struck with the strange appearance of another blue-and-white sauce-boat which I bought for a nominal sum. I found it bore a faintly impressed mark, and this enabled me to identify it as made at Bow and printed at Battersea. This discovery led to another, which I think worth recording. In 1912 among other pieces I purchased a triangular-shaped tray with fretted sides, and not being able to locate its origin said nothing when I found it had been appropriated for use in the bathroom as a receptacle for soap. When I had labelled the Bow sauce-boat, which was made of a thick body with a yellowish cast, I looked through my collection for anything like it and found a small blue-and-white saucer and the tray which had been desecrated with soap instead of decorated with sweetmeats and consigned to the risks of a bathroom instead of the safety of the display cabinet. Pursuing my investigation I turned out an oblong basket-work pattern dish with quaint fret edge and with every evidence of old age, which had been in my cupboard for nearly ten years, and then realised that it also was early Bow.

You will see on Plate XV a 9-inch Bow bowl of the famille rose design; this appeared in an auctioneer’s catalogue as “Oriental bowl” and was knocked down for half a crown to a broker who took a profit of one shilling from me for his bargain.

Here is another incident:

“Will you buy that bowl?”

“Well hardly, but I don’t mind making you a sporting offer for the rivets,” I said.

These were the oldest type of rivets used for china I had seen, and they, with some very ancient shellac, held the two halves very firmly together. My offer was accepted, and I do not mind telling you the bowl is early Bow and the only piece with green in the decoration I have ever seen. (See Plate XV.)

I shall not attempt to place values on any of my specimens as it seems to me they are worth just as much as I could get for them, while the same theory holds good in buying.

I show on Plate XLI, Shelf 1, a cup and saucer which are marked with cross swords; the matched cup and saucer were sold to me by a dealer as Dresden for about 10s., whereas an odd saucer, also with cross swords (Shelf 3, Plate XLII), was sent to me marked “4d.” with some other china, mostly rubbish, on approval. These three items might have belonged to the same set, and are excellent examples of the beautiful hand decoration turned out at Bristol about the end of the 18th century.

I was changing trains at a station and had some short time to wait, so I strolled into the principal street of a town that is constantly visited by dealers or their representatives, when I espied in a secondhand furniture shop a pair of hand-painted dark-blue lidded pots which at first glance I thought were Chinese ginger jars, and yet I desired to make closer acquaintance. On enquiring from the girl what was the price she shortly returned and said: “She has been asking three-and-six for them, but she will take two-and-six.” The pots and lids were quite thick, and I could make nothing of them in the train; but when I got home, and in a dark room switched on the electric light, turned them round until I came to a part thin enough to be transparent, then by the cast of the paste I knew they were what I anticipated, real Old Worcester teapots.

This reminds me of another adventure when I passed a shop on my way to catch a train, and noticed in the window a blotchy blue and white teapot and felt sorry I was tied to time. About three months after, I had occasion to visit the town again, and my business being finished I went straight to that window, when to my joy the teapot was still there. A very short examination and I had made up my mind to have it although it was minus a lid.

On asking the price I was told 1s., but—bless their honesty!—they wouldn’t guarantee it was old. That teapot will be found among my Lowestoft group and it is probably the earliest example.

I will here refer to the Liverpool teapot on Shelf 3, Plate XLI. I had travelled by train to a town about twenty miles off and there called in a shop kept by a man whom his most intimate acquaintances might have found to be one of the best, but to my mind had some of the Stone Age blood in him, for he was indeed a hard case. I asked how much for the teapot.

“Five shillings to you.”

“Five shillings? Well, I’m sorry, but they ought not to have told you.”

“What are you getting at?”

“I just thought you must know your number’s up and that you are in training for the repentance stakes.”

“No sir, but I’m pleased to see you, and to be able to offer you a bargain this time.”

“Oh, thanks—I apologise.”

When I was leaving with the teapot under my arm he added to his farewell, “You’d be surprised if you knew how little I gave for it.”

This remark rankled, and I was no sooner in the train than I carefully examined my purchase, when I found that the spout had been snapped off clean just where it entered the body of the pot, and had been carefully and neatly stuck in again, and so the mysterious outburst of genial generosity was revealed.

Blue and white takes my eye always, pulls me up every time, and I fancy myself fortunate in having so much of it in pottery and porcelain considering the means I have adopted while collecting.

I do not flatter myself that I have any china of extraordinary value, but the reader will gather from the photographs that, taken as a whole, I have found something worth looking for. Being wishful that the amateur may derive assistance from my book I have arranged several groups as specimens of various factories, and although the photographs can give only a poor idea of the colours, yet the style of decoration and the shapes may be some guide. I have succeeded in obtaining a black background by making use of the bookcase on the bureau, which gave me a side light. I am glad to say that all the handling, moving from place to place, fixing on wire stands, arranging on the shelves, shifting from one position to another, taking down and getting back into their respective quarters has been achieved without a chip. Beyond the annoyance of having to arrange a grouping twice, owing to an oversight which was not discovered until some days after the first negative had been taken, the photography was interesting, and I hope the result will be so to the reader, who is recommended to use a magnifying glass.

BOW (PLATE XL)

I have drawn my bow at a venture in getting this bag and my first shot brought in a saucer pronounced “Worcester” which I found had an impressed Bow workman’s mark; next I potted a saucer which was so thick and heavy that I thought it was all pot; then came in sight the teapot sold as “Worcester,” Dr. Wall period, and soon after I got a small bowl, strange to say flying under the same false colours. Other stray shots account for the odd handle-less cups. All these are hand-painted in blue, and as they vary in shade and hardness of paste they have been very entertaining. The tea-caddy on which I placed a small cup inverted, and two cups with saucers are painted in red, blue and gold. I have already spoken of my large bowl, the bowl with green decoration, sauce-boat, fretted bon-bon tray and basket pattern dish, so I need not again refer to them.

CHELSEA (PLATE XXXIX)

I fancy the two cups hand-decorated in red were among the first pieces made, and I wonder what has become of the saucers for they would be so thick they would not be likely to be broken except by a twentieth-century washer-up. I have three large plates, two of which were sold as Oriental, while the other was exchanged for a remark about the weather and half a crown. The two small plates were “certainly Lowestoft.” The fine cup I found at Dunbar, and strange to say I picked out a saucer to match it at a Southport shop a few days later. Here I also bought the little vase as Oriental, and at the next antique shop I visited I was kindly furnished with an Oriental lid which fitted, thus completing the picture in a way. The Chelsea painting is exquisite, yet the whole does not bear careful scrutiny. Still the two make handy examples of hard and soft paste. The odd cup dates between the cups already spoken of. The small figure of Cupid holding a shell for sweets completes the group, but an early bowl will be found on Plate XV.

LOWESTOFT (PLATE XL)

Before you set out to collect Lowestoft it would be as well if you learned something about it, for as no marks are known of in connection therewith it makes a most convenient name to conjure with. I have had all sorts of stuff offered to me as Lowestoft. After I had coached myself up I rambled out one day to endeavour to make a start and you will scarcely credit it but at the first shop I came to I was successful. After going through the china that was visible I worked my way to the back where I found a few plates and odds and ends jumbled together, and after turning them over came across the pair of small blue hand-painted plates shown. I was told the plates had been in the window ever so long, but as nobody wanted them I could have them for a shilling each. I have found the other two odd plates quite at haphazard, and they were treated as just ordinary old ware by people who have not sunk deep into the mysteries of porcelain and glazing. Three cups and a saucer in blue, also a cup and saucer with basket and garland floral decoration in colours, make up the lot after including the teapot to which I have already alluded as probably one of the earliest pieces, owing to the way in which the design had run causing its smudged appearance. The handle-less cup may be Longton Hall.

BRISTOL

To the group Shelf 3, Plate XLII, I think it worth while to call special attention. To begin with I invested one shilling on the handle-less cup blue and gold, marked “T,” and I concluded this identified it with Tebo and Bristol; next I was sold the blue-and-white coffee cup marked with crossed swords and guaranteed “Worcester”; then I bought the spill-holder with crossed swords. All these at different times and places. Later I spotted a dirty teapot, with no mark and no gilt, which when washed looked well. It was evidently closely related to the coffee-cup in decoration and age, and was undoubtedly old Bristol. Then my faith in the “T” mark wavered, and when a few days after I saw a feeding-cup which appeared new, and which on handling revealed the “T” again, I began to feel cheap. Anyway, this settled the doubt I had in my mind and convinced me that while I had found an old Bristol piece which had copied the Dresden mark I had been deceived by “Dresden” faking the old Bristol mark. I show the two wastrels alongside the absolutes to illustrate my perplexity; certainly the soft paste, hand decoration, and very little gilt remaining helped to take me down. I wonder which of the copyists originated the design? “T” on this class has meant taboo since.

The first Bristol cottage china teapot (Shelf 2) I discovered was on a shelf and as I lifted it down I noticed the cross mark in red, and as no lid was in evidence I was charged one shilling. On wrapping it up I found the lid inside and called attention thereto, but was met with the remark “That makes no difference.”

MINTON (SHELF 1, PLATE XLI)

I am noticing this name because thereby hangs a tale. While in a well-stocked shop I was charmed with a cup and saucer, which I examined and found impressed “Minton,” together with the name of the artist, and dated 1864 in red. At the time of my find (1912), this artist had risen to the important position of Art Director at ——, and I wondered why he had gone to such trouble to please someone whose initials are worked into the design on the cup and saucer, and how it came to be sold to me with the remark, “Oh, that’s only modern; you can have it for——” (so little), as it is hand painted with sweet delicacy. The plate is a typical example of hand-painted fruit, with the border of turquoise blue. Further specimens are on Shelf 1, Plate XLII, a Minton plate giving a Spanish noble’s coat-of-arms in green, and a rather ordinary cup and saucer in pink and turquoise.

---

Owing to a very recent purchase just in time to be included in Plate XXXIII, Shelf 1, there will be seen two Minton Plates; the one in the centre is pottery, is mainly hand painted in bright colours, one over the glaze, and impressed “Minton.” That on the right is thick porcelain with one colour over the glaze, the outline of the design in black transfer, the colouring done by hand. I have had a pair of the latter some time, and the marked plate confirmed my opinion that they also came from the same factory, so I included one for the benefit of the reader, who will do well to study old Minton. Because—I have just been pulled up short when passing a shop which exhibited a large dish (20 in. by 15½ in.), having been struck by its almost dazzling decoration and its perfect condition. I found it bore no maker’s mark, but as I had Minton’s style in my mind’s eye, I bought it in a hurry as pottery. Now I have time to examine it at home I find it is excellent porcelain, translucent throughout, although it weighs 6½ lb. It is the largest piece of china I have and the most brilliant in colouring, which is all hand painted, being touched up here and there with dark brown for a finishing effect after glazing. There is enough work on this dish to keep a “Ca’ Canny” artist (did such exist) toiling for a week. It is a greatly glorified edition of the marked plate, and it is just in time to be too late to photograph, as this is my final haul before going to press. Here is another proof of my previous remark that “You never know your luck when collecting,” but I must add that your fortune may be considerably influenced by the knowledge you have acquired. You should first of all make up your mind where you want to go, and ascertain the best way to “get there,” as there are many pitfalls on the road. The six plates referred to have been found at five different places (the pair 100 miles away); and as to the cost, well, that is a detail which might depreciate the descriptive notes.

SWANSEA (PLATE XLI)

I must say a few words about this group, as second on the left is a jug which represents my first purchase in old china. I knew nothing about the subject, and when later I discovered its mark “Woodbine” denoted that the piece emanated from Swansea, and that it was actually mentioned in a book, it set me thinking, and I decided to enter for the China Stakes. I have gathered in other Swansea representatives, none of them of a really uncommon type. Four in the centre are lustre decoration, but no one I have come in contact with has been aware that it was all Swansea, so possibly the photograph may be of avail to more than one curious reader. I am well aware that the really artistic Swansea is considered of great value, but the fact that I have no specimens of this class does not keep me awake o’ nights. The jug on the right is Nantgarw.

BLUE DRAGON (PLATE XL)

I had a remarkable experience one morning when I was staying at a seaside town. I turned out to see what I could find, and visited all likely shops. In one where the stock was mostly modern I was told they had no old china, but for some reason I opened a drawer near the door and lifted out a blue dragon bowl bearing an old Worcester mark. They had forgotten all about it, and seemed almost as pleased as I was at the discovery, which ended in a mutual bargain. In another street at a shop where they were giving up business, and only had a little stock left, I saw another blue dragon bowl the same size, marked 4s. 6d. When I got home I removed the price ticket and was shocked when an imitation Chinese mark was revealed proving it to be very early Caughley. No blue dragons or blue devils have since crossed my path, but if I do meet with any green dragons on cups I will see if I cannot make them agree with some which are portrayed on the two early Coalport saucers I show on Plate XLI.

WORCESTER (SHELVES 3 AND 4, PLATE XL)

Reader, I have now brought you to Worcester, which you know is a Sauce-y as well as a Saucer-y place, but that should not influence our careful study of some of its products which appeal to me effectively. There is something so reposeful about the blue-and-white old Worcester china, mellow with age, and soothing with its smoothness, combined with a warmth of feeling, that has ofttimes affected me. When reaching the stage of jadedness after a long ramble, when the results have been up to that point disappointing, I have felt quite revived after treating myself to a taste of Worcester Sauce. You see the variety of articles, wine cup, egg-cup, sweetmeat dish, teapot, cups and saucers—but I wish to call your special attention to the small jug. I saw one very like this recently fitted with a lid, and marked with a crescent, which the dealer said denoted either Worcester or Caughley, and the price was four guineas. As my jug has no mark I call it “Worcester.” The cup and saucer, lotus pattern bear the 1862 mark.

Shelf 3, Plate XLI, coloured and printed Worcester. I bought the English Japanese mask jug, as I was struck with its doubtful beauty, especially as it had only part of the handle. Later it took a journey to London, and returned after a lengthy absence fitted with the artificial limb which, as it has not been put to use since, has proved most satisfactory.

With regard to the coloured cream jug, on one of my cycling rambles I unexpectedly came across an emporium, stocked with a legion of antiques, which I entered, after dismounting of course. Being a beginner I was much bewildered, and was backing out without buying when I was hypnotised by the glare of the proprietor’s gaze, so I grabbed the most strikingly coloured thing that struck my eye, put down half a crown, and scorched away with what I have since discovered to be a piece of old Worcester of a type which is in great demand. I got to know the man fairly well later, and if he had sudden fits of uncontrollable temper at intervals his lungs were O. K., and fitted him for the role of local politician. He did a big trade, and if I caught him in his shirt with his trousers fastened up by his braces tied round him I anticipated we could do business; but on occasions when I found him got up in print shirt-sleeves and a black velveteen waistcoat then I knew he was expecting wealthy clients and I had better call again. His knowledge of marks was somewhat limited, and I wondered why his price always seemed high after I had examined the bottom of a piece; and that he never said what he wanted until he had taken the thing from me and satisfied himself if it had a mark or not. When I tumbled to his game, if I caught sight of a mark I had to put that piece back hurriedly and pick it up again casually just before leaving, this being a case of paste cutting a rough diamond.

Lastly I come to my first little bit of Worcester. You will no doubt have heard of Dr. Wall, who really created this china; if not, you can read him up, when you will find he took a great interest in Malvern, so it is not surprising that on this mug there is a view of Malvern. Judging by the scene it must be a very early production, more especially as the printing is over the glaze. Every collector seems to be out for reminiscences of Dr. Wall, and I once came in contact with a dealer who labelled most of his Worcester “Dr. Wal period.” On my pointing out the error in the spelling he remarked, “I see—that makes a L of a difference!”

NEWHALL

It is often hard to tell a certain class of Newhall from Bristol common or cottage china, and Newhall seems to have turned out many qualities of work without using any mark. The only pieces I have which are marked are the bowl on “Grandfather Helm” and the teapot in Plate XLII, Shelf 3.

In regard to the bowl I am about to reveal a secret known to very few outside my own family circle. The bowl was given (not thrown) in with several other things I had bought, as it had a piece broken out. It is gaudily painted inside, and having the letter “N” on the bottom I determined to make the most of it. I had a wooden block cut, grooved to just fit the jagged edge when the bowl was on its side, and fitted with a back support which took in the bottom, then a piece of wire holds the bowl always in position. This is a bit of camouflage that has only been noticed by one collector visitor, and the bowl has often been admired. On the top shelf, Plate XLI, you will see two teapots very similar in decoration, the practically perfect one is Newhall and soft; the other, without a handle, is Chinese and very hard. I bought the latter to demonstrate how nearly the English artist copied the Oriental, but the faces always give the show away; the fact is, you cannot make a Chinese mug out of an English face. When I bought this broken pot the following remarks were exchanged:

“I never thought anyone would be soft enough to buy that thing.”

“Ah! but I collect teapots without handles; then they cannot be broken off when they are used at home.”

“But how can they pour the tea out when it’s hot?”

“Pump it out with a strainer.”

“How?”

“Now you are pumping. If you get any more without handles, will you save them for me? Good day.”

DERBY (SHELF 4, PLATE XXXIX)

The cup and saucer on the right are richly decorated in heavy gold only, and are marked. Those at the left end are painted with rural scenery, and I was surprised to find they were Derby. The part-set of handsome Crown Derby will be easily identified by the typical handwork, which is of good early production.

SPODE (SHELVES 2 AND 3, PLATE XXXIX)

I give several specimens representing this prolific factory, and although none of them is marked, I feel sure they are correctly classified. There is a substantial portion of a family tea service of old Spode on the third shelf, to which I have added some cups and saucers of the same design, but whiter in the body. These all have the well-known Mandarin design as decoration with the typical bright green in evidence. The teapot, sugar bowl, and specimen cups and saucers on the shelf below call for no special comment.

LEEDS

I give on Shelf 1, Plate XLI, a charming specimen of some cups and saucers printed in maroon and gilt, and on Shelf 1, Plate XLII, a blue-and-white cup and saucer bearing a square imitation Chinese mark. On “Grandfather Phillips,” Plate III, there is an example of old Leeds pottery, hand painted in blue, with an early Oriental design. I was in doubt where this bowl emanated from, but I am now convinced it is Leeds, for I have just bought a perfect rich blue-and-white Leeds Queen’s ware coffee pot of similar design and glaze. It has a twin twisted handle with flower knob, and cost less than the price of this book. A basket-pattern dish in fine condition appears on Plate XV.

FRENCH PORCELAIN

At the head of Plate XLII you will see a covered potpourri jar and a pair of 8-inch beakers, together with two mugs. I found four of these things at Folkestone, while one mug, with the coat-of-arms of the Earl of Arundel worked into the decoration, I got in Kendal. When I was in Folkestone in 1912 I was hopelessly puzzled as to what this stuff could be. In another shop I had examined a bowl of the same make bearing an imitation Chinese mark, and as up to then I had learnt that only English china was soft—which all these pieces were—I could not understand where it came from. After comparing notes with Mr. J. F. Blacker, who had previously written me very kindly when answering my queries, I felt satisfied it was made in France of a soft quality to suit the English market. The decoration is by hand, and is a mixture between Chelsea and Oriental design. Lots of this stuff has been called Lowestoft, and about that time in an up-to-date shop I saw something like it which I felt sure had not long come over from the Continent. Soon after this holiday I was asked to call at a house near home to look at two “Lowestoft” vases which had just been sent them, and I found they were similar modern Continental. I believe my specimens are about a hundred years old.

---