Dawson inscriptions pre-1830
It is rare for items of this early period to be marked, but in the case of Dawson's, we have the fabulous jug below dated 1801 in the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection.
Perhaps the most unifying feature of items on this page is the way the pink roses are painted. Often they are surrounded by hints of blue enamel. The bottom left detail is from a mug, with an inscription for Mary Ann Coates, 1815, and printed marks 'Dawson & Co' and 'Low Ford'. The second, from a mug inscribed 'Love and Live Happy' is shown in the fine script group below. The third is from the simplified flowers group below.
Dawson frog 1
This is the earliest dated example I've seen with the typical frog associated with Dawson creamware mugs (frog 1). The text and simple flower decoration are unlike anything else on this page, and the mug is attributed to Dawson on the basis of the frog alone. The frog has a hollow pear-shaped body and is most often decorated in dark brown with blue eyes. Sgraffito marks, forming the frog's feet, help join it to the body of the mug.
Pink rose group
The next few mugs have the Dawson 'frog 1' (also found on items in the 'red rose' and 'bridge 20' groups below). This mug has a pink daisy above the motto, and four long red and yellow blooms. These decorative features are not unique to Dawson. See also here.
This mug has a Napoleonic verse (pre 1815). There are small crosses in the centre of the flowers.
A mug with very similar red and yellow flowers, but without crosses in the centre, and no frog.
A mug, undoubtedly from the same group, but with a bow motif over the verse. Similar bows have been recorded on Robert Maling items and those attributed to Moore & Co.
Another similar to the mug above, but with a Dawson 'frog 1'.
With red roses
This mug has the Dawson frog 1. It shows that the Low Ford pottery, and not just North Hylton, was decorating items with red roses. The lower case 'a', shown in the last detail, has a distinctive long arm reaching over the body. This appears on many of the items on this page.
Bridge 22 group
The unmarked mug below is from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, and has a bridge transfer attributed to Dawson. The rose motif is a simplified version of those found on some of the items above.
Although the inscription on this jug, dated 1819, is dissimilar to others on this page, it has the same bridge 22 transfer as the mug above. By 1819, the bridge 22 transfer had become degraded. There is also evidence of re-engraving over time. Therefore, the items like the mug above, with simplified flowers, were likely made sometime well before that date.
Below, a mug of similar form to those below, but with an inscription that matches the 1819 jug above.
Photo Gorringes Auctioneers
Simplified flowers group
This mug is unmarked, but the flowers and text are again similar to the mugs above. For the reasons set out in the bridge 22 section above, my guess is these items were made before 1810.
A similar mug to the one above, again unmarked, with a hand-painted ship.
Dawson frog 2
This mug, with a different Dawson frog, has a daisy motif similar to the Coats mug in the fine script group below.
A similar mug with the Dawson 'frog 2'. I have included it here, rather than in the red rose group, because the text is a better match with the mug above.
Fine script group
Two early ovoid creamware jugs. The inscription above, comes from the jug below. Note that the oval shapes to the far left and right of the bridge transfer's title are blank. They would later be engraved 'J Dawson & Co' and 'Low Ford Pottery'. The above right jug has flower decoration in coloured enamels similar to the four mugs above.
The mug below is included here because of the similarity of the flower enamelling to the jug above, and the lettering on the jug below. The Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection catalogue tentatively suggests North Hylton attribution, but it seems to fit better with the items on this page,
The mugs below have a similar double-headed rose motif to the one above. Also, compare the ampersand with the Joseph and Ann Hall jug below.
Photo Norman Lowe
JOSEPH HALL and ANN WATSON were married 24 December 1806 at Hamsterley By Bishop Auckland and in the 1841 census were living at Monks Field, St Andrew Auckland where Joseph’s occupation was given as farmer.
The jug has a printed mark beneath the title 'Dawson & Co Low Ford'.
Although this mug is unmarked, the pattern, showing the pyramid of Caius Cestius (see Baker plate 34), and this form of square handle (also see the mug below), are both known to have been used by Dawson. Interestingly, the inscription for 1815 is printed in the same hand as the jug above (centre detail above).
Although I am unclear of the date of the jug below with a Dawson bridge transfer (in the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection), I have included it here, again, because of the similarity of the 'J' in the inscription.
Although I am unclear of the date of the jug below with a Dawson bridge transfer (in the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection), I have included it here, again, because of the similarity of the 'J' in the inscription.
The mug, with an inscription for 1815, has printed marks 'Dawson & Co' and 'Low Ford'.
A monumental punch bowl, 49cm diameter and 23cm high. It has the same fine script as the items above.
Bridge 20 group
These items have a variation of Baker's (Sunderland Pottery) bridge number 20.
The two jugs below are attributed to Dawson in the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums catalogue, but neither has a Dawson printed mark. Norman Lowe has identified a George Crothall married to Elizabeth in 1796 at London St Benet Paul's Wharf, which fits with the 'view of the cast iron bridge to be erected over the River Thames'. However, parliament passed the Bill for the Southwark Bridge to be built in 1811, and the bridge wasn't opened until 1819. So the first jug was likely made sometime between those dates.
The first creamware mug below has an inscription Thomas Thompson. The 'a', in particular, is quite unusual and matches the items above. The mug below has text very neatly trimmed off the bottom of the transfer. Norman Lowe has tracked down a Thomas Thompson born 13/7/1820 to Thomas Thompson (snr) and Mary Wardell, so this could be a Christening present made in 1820. Interestingly, Thomas Thompson (jnr) by 1841 is recorded as living in the same house as William Barker, believed to be the son of Edward Barker, an engraver who received payments from Scott's Southwick Pottery between 1796 and 1800. For 40 years Edward Barker was foreman at Scott's Pottery, dying in first quarter 1841. The second mug has the inscription 'In love and unity we support each other'.
Pratt colours
This mug, from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, is attributed to Dawson in their catalogue. The text is more crudely painted than on the items above. I have included it here because the enamels have a similar earthy palette to the plate below.
The plate below from the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection has a 'DAWSON & CO' in a semi-circle surrounding the numeral '4' impressed mark.
I have a Van Speyk plate with a very similar impress to the plate below, so again it was likely made c1830.
