John Patton inscriptions
According to press announcements, Carr and Patton set up at the Phoenix Pottery in Newcastle in 1846, but their partnership there was dissolved that same year. Both potteries commissioned a signed version of the mariners' compass transfer sometime after the partnership dissolved. The signatures show John Patton continuing in Newcastle, presumably at the Phoenix Pottery, and in North Shields. (We know from press announcements that Patton also ran a brewery in North Shields.) John Carr, on the other hand, continued to make pottery at Low Lights, in North Shields. It is unclear how long Patton continued to make pots in Newcastle, but by 1857, RC Bell records a change of ownership to the Phoenix Pottery Company, and by 1860, the premises had been converted into a chemical works.
Like John Carr, Patton produced items with French Inscriptions, destined for the Channel Islands. Press advertisements announce to 'Shipowners, Captains trading Foreign and the Public in general' that they can find 'the best Quality, Fancy Shapes and Patterns, Burnished Enamelled Lustre, Etc,' [...] 'adapted to every Market, both Home and Foreign' at the Phoenix Pottery Ouseburn.
Photo Martel Maides Auctions
Photo Bespoke British Auctions
This jug has the printed mark, 'JP Newcastle & N Shields'.
Thanks to Jeffery Bates for supplying images of this mug. The text has similarities to the jugs above and below. The High Level Bridge opened in 1849, so perhaps this mug was a 21st birthday present for Ralph Woodward?
A small Christening mug in a similar florid hand dated 1851. Matching up these items on the basis of script is a far from precise science. This script also has similarities with late items from Dixon, Phillips & Co. However, the 'W' and 'B' are a better match with the mug above.
Photo The Sunderland Site
Later items with a similar hand with 'John Hobson' transfers
The relationship between John Hobson and John Patton is as yet unclear. We do know that what look like degraded Patton transfers appear on a late and poorly executed bowl marked 'HOBSON'. According to RC Bell and MAV Gill, John Patton's name last appears as owner of the Phoenix Pottery in a directory of 1855. The jug below with the 'Hobson' transfers is dated 1854, so falls within the Patton period. It seems possible that Patton sold the transfer plates on to Hobson when he closed his business at the Phoenix Pottery. See the Marco Polo, Gudrun and The Tear pages for these transfers on slop bowls marked 'J.H'.
Another undated jug with the 'Hobson' transfers and the hand that appears on Patton items.
This jug looks to be by the same hand as the pot painter of the items above. By 1863, three years after the closure of the Phoenix Pottery, it is unclear at which pottery he was working. These transfers have no obvious association with John Hobson.
