Late Robert Maling-attributed inscriptions, 1841–1853
|
According to R C Bell, Robert Maling ran the Ouseburn Bridge Pottery until 1853. During this later period, Robert Maling appears to have had at least two pot painters / enamellers. From c1841–1849, Maling employed an enameller with a quaintly naïve hand with spiral curlicues. That enameller appears to have left Maling and moved to the Phoenix Pottery under John Patton around 1849, making some of their wares, particularly 'Gaudy Welsh' items, hard to distinguish. The near-right details are from the Maling-attributed plaques below, presumably made in the 1840s. The far right details from a mug attributed to John Patton and made after 1850. |
    |
From around 1849 a second more accomplished and florid hand starts to appear on Robert Maling items. This enameller continued to work for C T Maling when he took over the pottery in 1853 and on into the late 1850s.
Robert Maling – naïve hand c1841–48
The items in this section are enamelled in a naïve hand with long curly tails to the capital letters. The plate in the top centre below has a Maling impress, but unfortunately I don't have a record of the mark. It also has a dated inscription for 1843, so falls firmly within the Robert Maling period at Ouseburn Bridge. The plaques and mug below have similar script and are attributed to Robert Maling on that basis.
Like many of the North East potteries, Maling produced so called 'Gaudy Welsh' items. The 'T' on the first mug below is unmistakably similar to that on the first two plaques above. The second mug has a very similar 'C' and 'B' to those on the jugs and teapot below.
Norman Lowe has identified James Clark Gilson as being born in Tynemouth in 1844. The 'B' and the 'G' are very similar to those on the teapot below.
Two 'Repousse' (see jugs below for a note on pattern names) Gaudy Welsh mugs with inscriptions for 1845.
Below, two Gaudy Welsh jugs of hexagonal form with inscriptions from 1846 and 1847. Compare the 'H' and 'C' with the mugs above.
Below, three further faceted jugs attributed to Maling. I'm grateful to David Jones for his help here. He says that although there are no contemporary records of pattern names, collectors identify the decoration on the first jug below (and the one above) as 'Repousse'. The second pattern is known as 'Grape' and the third as 'Kerry'. In all cases, plates or saucers have been recorded with these patterns accompanied by the MALING impress (see below).
Sticking with Gaudy Welsh items, below is a rare teapot with a Channel Islands inscription for 1847. The teapot, although unmarked, has accompanying marked 'Maling' plates, and an unmarked coffee pot without an inscription. Collectors refer to this pattern as 'Maypole'.
Below another Gaudy Welsh teapot made for a different member of the Rougier family, also dated 1847.
Below, a Gaudy Welsh coffee pot of similar form to the one above, dated 1848.
1848 is the latest dated inscription I've seen by this enameller that can firmly be attributed to Robert Maling. Sometime in 1848 the enameller appears to have moved to John Patton.
The three mugs, above and below, have dates ranging from 1806–1848. Given the uniformity of the inscriptions and decoration, it seems all three were commissioned at the same time, ie in 1848. Birth records show that the family came from Laybournhold in County Durham. Mark Youngs was a coal miner.
Robert Maling – florid hand c1846–53
And thanks to Ian Holmes for the following information about the mug below: James Archbold was Mayor of Newcastle in 1846 with Joseph Crawhall as Sheriff. Crawhall was Mayor in 1849 but without Archbold. So 1846 is a reliable date for this mug, and 4 years earlier than the mug above. It has the curly capitals of the earlier items above, but is in a more assured and neater hand, and a good match for the early 1850s' items below.
It is entirely speculation, but it seems possible to me that this second enameller was apprenticed to/learnt his trade from the enameller above. However, having surpassed his master, Robert Maling kept him on and let the earlier hand go.
This mug, with hand painted flowers, has an inscription dated 1849. Norman Lowe informs me that Dorothy was born and christened in Woodhorn, Northumberland, and is recorded at living in Morpeth in 1851, with her mother Isabella and grandfather Robert who was a tailor. Thanks to David Jones for the following information about this particular flower pattern: 'The pattern was first used by Davenport in the early 1810s-20s, and it has the pattern No.701. One of the most popular designs of the C19th, Last used by Allerton in 1944.'
This jug, and the one beneath it, also belong to the Robert Maling period, as their inscriptions predate 1853.
These mugs are interesting because the inscriptions might relate to the Snowball family of potters. According to Baker, a Thomas Snowball (b 1830) set up the High Southwick Pottery in around 1850, aged 20 or thereabouts, He and his brother Ralph (b 1832) 'worked mainly as pot decorators at Sheepfolds Warehouse'. It doesn't seem likely that either of the brothers decorated the mugs below, which have Maling-attributed transfers, and whose inscriptions and date match others on this page.
Photo The Sunderland Site
Although undated, this jug is very similar in decoration and form to the two above.
