Soup Tureens And Other Large Bowls

The custom of serving soup from a tureen, or large bowl, developed during the late seventeenth century in England and France. The tureen was placed on a side table or in the center of the dining-room table. The idea of a large, attractive, covered bowl for soup has changed very little during the past three […]

English Silver Marks

This table shows some important marks used by English and colonial American silversmiths. English Marks Standard quality mark City mark London Sovereign’s head Before 1850 Colonial American Maker’s Mark John Hull 1645

History Of Silver In America, 1640-1900

The history of silver in America began in Boston, Massachusetts, with Richard Sanderson (1608-1693) and John Hull (1624-1683). Sanderson, trained as a silversmith in England, arrived in the colonies in 1638. Hull had been trained by his half-brother, Richard Storer. Hull and Sanderson worked together and made the earliest American silver pieces known to exist. […]

Shelley

Shelley china is so distinctive it is easy to spot at a show. Its modern angular shapes, flower-garden designs, chintz patterns, and unusual shapes and colors become familiar. The company began in 1860 as the Foley China Works owned by Henry Wileman. By 1872 Wileman had a partner, Joseph Shelley, and the company became Wileman […]

The Bride’s Choice

After World War II, a middle-class bride went to a department store or gift shop bridal registry and listed the dishes and other gifts she hoped to get as wedding presents. The dinnerware patterns were almost all traditional, the type of dishes her mother used. In the 1960s and 1970s, usually a less formal type […]

British Art Potteries, Designers, and Studio Potters

This table lists art pottery makers and designers with dates and marks. Parentheses enclose the birth and death dates of the artist. Other dates given are approximate working dates of the pottery or artist.   Pottery Location Date of Operations Mark Ashby Potters Guild Woodville, Derbyshire 1909-1922 Ault and Tunnicliffe Ault Potteries Ltd. Swadlincote 1923–1937 […]

Clarice Cliff (1899–1972)

Clarice Cliff was a decorator and designer who began work at A. J. Wilkinson’s Royal Staffordshire Pottery in Burslem, England, in 1916. She is known for her original, bold, geometric art deco designs. By 1927 she had her own studio at Newport Pottery in Burslem, where she designed Bizarre ware, a hand-painted line of dishes […]

Susie Cooper (1902-1995)

In the 1940s, breakfast in an American middle-class home was often served on dishes by the English designer Susie Cooper. Cooper’s modern shapes and abstract designs sold well in England, but more conservative American buyers preferred her less unusual dishes, made with rings of beige and brown shades. Cooper started as a designer for A. […]

British Art Potteries

Pottery and Location Location Dates of Operation Mark Aller Vale Pottery Newton Abbot, Devon 1887-1901 Ault, William Swadlincote 1887-1923 Bailey, C.J.C. & Co. Fulham, London 1864-1889 Barons Pottery Rolle Quay, Barnstaple 1899-1939 Barum See Brannam, C.H. Belleview (Bellevue) Pottery See Rye Pottery Bingham, Edward (Hedingham Art Pottery) Castle Hedingham 1864-1901 Bishops Waltham Hampshire 1866-1868 Bramfield […]

Portneuf Or Canadian Spongeware

A special type of spongeware called Portneuf was made for the Canadian market. It was originally believed that the crude earthenware was made at Portneuf, Quebec, but studies have proved that it was probably made in Scotland for sale in Canada. Portneuf is very similar to the spongeware that was made for sale in Pennsylvania […]