Early North East Creamware 1760–1789
The attributions on this page are largely the work of two pioneering collectors of early North East creamware, Sheila Bidgood and Tom Walford. Walford wrote a paper 'Early Creamware from north east England' for the English Ceramic Circle (ECC) publication 'Creamware and Pearlware Re-Examined', 2005. Some of the items on this page appeared in the ECC exhibition 'Shipwrecks and Marriages – Dated and documentary ceramics', 2009. A third publication that has been very helpful is the Bonhams auction catalogue of 'The Tom Walford Collection', 2012. As always, I'd be very excited to hear from anyone who can add to the information on this page.
In a lecture to the Northern Ceramic Society, 'Tyne and Wear Pots and Coal from Shore to Ship' (see NCS Newsletter 157, March 2010), Tom Walford sets out some of the early North East potteries as follows:
To date, printers' records don't appear to have helped to pinpoint attributions to particular potteries. For instance, we know that in 1788, Maling commissioned a Jack on a Cruise transfer from another local engraver, Thomas Bewick. However, there are many variations of that transfer, so we will probably never know which items were made by Maling.
In a lecture to the Northern Ceramic Society, 'Tyne and Wear Pots and Coal from Shore to Ship' (see NCS Newsletter 157, March 2010), Tom Walford sets out some of the early North East potteries as follows:
- Heworth Common, Gateshead, advertised in 1760
- Maling at North Hylton from 1762
- Newbottle Low Pottery advertised wares as 'perfect' as Staffordshire in 1765
- William Hillcoat advertised cream-coloured earthenware in 1769
- Paul Jackson, Sheriff Hill, Gateshead advertised earthenwares including cream coloured in 1773
- In 1786 there's notice of the sale of St Anthony's Pottery Newcastle (later Sewell & Donkin)
To date, printers' records don't appear to have helped to pinpoint attributions to particular potteries. For instance, we know that in 1788, Maling commissioned a Jack on a Cruise transfer from another local engraver, Thomas Bewick. However, there are many variations of that transfer, so we will probably never know which items were made by Maling.
This coffee pot appears on the cover of an earlier ECC exhibition of 'Creamware & Pearlware' in 1986. At that time it was catalogued as 'Staffordshire or Yorkshire', likely because its distinctive features were hard to pin down. The girl is said to be Nancy Dawson dancing the hornpipe, based on a print in the 'Ladies Amusement' in 1762. Walford points out some unusual features that set the pot apart from Staffordshire and Yorkshire items. The mushroom-shaped, centrally-pierced knop appears on many items on this page and is perhaps peculiar to the North East. The colour palette is darker and the trees are painted more naturalistically than on 'Rhodes'-style items. The painted buildings on the lid and crossover strap handles also appear on the three coffee pots below.
Photo Martyn Edgell
Walford notes that the three 'nail head' terminals to the cross-over handle on this pot are exactly the same as the Nancy Dawson coffee pot above. Note also the similarity of the house decoration on the lid. Walford suggests that the more naturalistic landscapes on these items may have links to the Beilby family of craftsmen in Newcastle. William Beilby, a glass enameller, used the motif of a winged insect as a signature on his most important items. Walford points out that the pot below has a large flying insect, although that may be coincidental. Walford writes (NCS Newsletter 157) that Laws is a 'local name' (to Newcastle) with links to the potting industry.
Walford writes that the houses on the mug below are a match for those on the lids of the items above (NCS Newsletter 157). The mug is inscribed 'Phillip Reed Master Metter of Maldon' c1875, and shows two men on a Newcastle keel boat. Maldon in Essex was a known destination for Newcastle coal. Walford says that 'Master Metter' denotes someone who measures quantities of coal for taxation purposes.
Photo Bonhams Auctioneers
Many of the following items from the 1770s and 80s have variations of distinctive cartouches around the inscription that combine roses with yellow-hatched or leaf-formed borders.
Tom Walfard reproduces in the ECC article a set of notes found inside the coffee pot which were apparently contemporary with the pot's early life. 'All of them point to Mary Clark's background in the Newcastle area. She married in Wallsend, and was of that parish. John Hudson her husband came from South Shields, a few miles away. The next note in the pot mentions her date of birth 20th December 1774, her marriage, and the birth of a daughter and son and the last note tells of her children and adds that John Hudson [junior] sailed from Shields 8th September 1813 and arrived at South Stoneham, now a suburb of Southampton on 22 September 1813'.
Thanks to Norman Lowe for the following: Mary Clark married John Hudson at Wallsend on 11 July 1792. From the use of her maiden name it can be presumed that the pot dates to 1792 or earlier.
Thanks to Norman Lowe for the following: Mary Clark married John Hudson at Wallsend on 11 July 1792. From the use of her maiden name it can be presumed that the pot dates to 1792 or earlier.
This teapot with the inscription 'Thos Trip, Cooper Lowestif 1774', appears two ECC publications 'Shipwrecks and Marriages – dated and documentary ceramics' and 'Creamware and Pearlware Re-Examined', which state that Trip was a prominent Methodist preacher in Lowestoft and a friend of John Wesley's. North East wares were transported along the East Coast of England (and Scotland), and inscriptions from coastal towns appear frequently on later 19th century wares.
The dark enamels on this mug are similar to other items on this page. Compare the roses with the items above and below.
This 3-legged coffee pot, n the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, is catalogued as possibly made in Sunderland. Walford attributes it to Newcastle, noting that Fenwick is 'a well-known Newcastle family name'. There are clear decorative similarities with the 'Little' mug below.
This teapot, in the Norwich Castle Museum collection (image courtesy of Norfolk Museums Service), has identical leaf moulding to the base of the spout, flattened flower knop and single flowers to the terminals of the handle. The pot has gilded decoration.
Photos showing the other side of this mug can be found in the ECC publication 'Shipwrecks and Marriages – dated and documentary ceramics'. The full inscription reads 'Jno & Cathn. Little 1781. It is attributed to 'Newcastle on Tyne area'.
Photo Bonhams Auctioneers
Bonhams catalogue entry states that a William Clifford married a Hannah Landle on 25 February 1800 in Medomsley marriage Registers. Medomsley is about 40 miles west of Sunderland.
Photo Bonhams Auctioneers
A pair of mugs attributed to the North East from the Sheila Bidgood collection. The first is inscribed 'Cathrine Smith. May 5th 1789', the second 'Jane Smith. May 6th 1789
Photo 1st Dibs
In early North East transfers of Jack on a Cruise (see below), a woman of easy virtue signals a run-down tavern. We know from records that Thomas Bewick of Newcastle produced a copper plate with this transfer for the Malings in 1788. However, there are many versions. The version on the bowl below, or one very like it, was probably copied by the enameller on the bowl above.
Photo Mc Tears Auctioneers
The other sides of the painted bowl have Chinese scenes. The green and red hatched areas to the inside of the rim are very like some of the items that follow.
The enamelling on the coffee pot above (see left image below) is a perfect match for that on the teapot below, with a mushroom-shaped knop to the lid. These items are much closer in appearance to those attributed to North Hylton in the 1790s.
