The ceramic art of Great Britain from pre-historic times down to the present day, Volume 2 (of 2) : $b being a history of the ancient and modern pottery and porcelain works of the kingdom and of their productions of every classJewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
History
The ceramic art of Great Britain from pre-historic times down to the present day, Volume 2 (of 2) : $b being a history of the ancient and modern pottery and porcelain works of the kingdom and of their productions of every class
Jewitt, Llewellynn Frederick William
Pottery, British -- History
The present firm of Bates, Walker, & Co., produce perhaps a larger
variety of manufactured articles than any other one house in the trade.
In earthenware, dinner, tea, toilet, and other services, and every
variety of article of use and of ornament, are made; and the other
wares are ironstone, opaque porcelain, jet, stone, &c. In tableware,
whether in dinner, breakfast, or tea-services, every variety of
style, from the plain white, ordinary printed, and flown, to the most
elaborately enamelled, painted, and gilt patterns made The jugs, too,
are a speciality; of these there are an immense variety of excellent
shapes, and of strikingly beautiful decoration. The same remark will
apply to the toilet services, which are, as a rule, characterized
by good form and artistic decoration; of these, the “Mistletoe”
pattern is one of the most simply elegant yet produced. Among other
articles in earthenware, the richly ornamented spirit barrels form a
distinct feature. In stoneware, of which I have spoken, well designed
and sharply executed pressed patterns, in jugs, tea-pots, and other
articles, are made in great variety.
[Illustration: Figs. 389 and 390.]
In terra cotta, Messrs. Bates, Walker, and Co. produce statuary groups,
figures, and busts of remarkably good design and of artistic finish.
The body is of a somewhat similar character to that of the Watcombe
ware, but the process is different. The Watcombe “is fired in the
enamel kiln or in an oven not subjected to greater heat, while this
is fired in the biscuit oven; the one is so soft that it may be cut
with a knife, while the other is quite vitreous and hard.” In this
material--a clay found near the works--the firm produce a large variety
of subjects, and a selection of these formed a notable feature in
the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. Among the subjects are “Peace”
and “War,” and “Time unveiling Truth,” by Grispie; “The Fighting
Gladiator,” “The Bath,” “The Young Apollo,” and other subjects from the
antique; “Flora,” “Pomona,” “Washington,” and other pieces by Beattie;
Flaxman’s “Wine” and “Water” vases; the “Crowning of Esther,” “The
Lorelei Syren,” “The Seasons,” “The Elements,” &c.
[Illustration: Figs. 391 to 397.]
Another speciality of the firm is what they have named their “Turner
Jasper Ware.” This consists of a terra-cotta body, with a slip of
various colours--green, blue, chocolate, buff, &c.--decorated with
bas-reliefs, many of which are Flaxman’s designs, as used by Turner at
his famous works of last century. Of a large number of these old Turner
moulds, Messrs. Bates, Walker, and Co. are the fortunate possessors,
and they are reproducing them in a variety of ways and with good
effect, although their body wants the fineness, hardness, and compact
character of the old Turner ware.
[Illustration: Figs. 398 and 399.]
[Illustration: Figs. 400 to 403.]
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