Mariners' Arms

Mariners' Arms – Sunderland

Garrison Pottery 1

Large Dixon jug with a hand-painted inscription dated 1830. Note the zig-zag of foliage to the right of the shield (bottom centre detail).

Below is the same transfer on a creamware frog mug from a similar date. The transfer has been decorated with over-enamels.

The mug has a typical Dixon frog.

Garrison Pottery 2

Although unmarked, the lustre decoration and transfers on this jug are typical of the Garrison Pottery in the 1850s.

Left figure has no buttons on coat on left side (top right detail)
Left hat brim not shaded, right hat brim shaded
Apostrophe after the word 'Mariners'
Pile of cannonballs in front of cannon (last detail)

This version of the transfer was also used on frog mugs, with a large-sized frog. The second jug above with coloured enamels is from the same copper plate, but perhaps earlier, c1840s.

Garrison Pottery 3

This transfer has that same attributes as the one above, and is an almost identical copy. The foliage in the foreground, however, differs. The bowl has the Dixon Phillips with anchor impress used before 1850.

Garrison Pottery 4

Left figure has two buttons on coat below left arm and none above (top right detail)
Brims to hats are shaded
Apostrophe after the word 'Mariners'
Pile of cannonballs in front of cannon (last detail)

Low Ford Pottery, J Dawson & Co

A small and rare jug with a printed mark 'J Dawson & Co Low Ford'.

Moore & Co

Newbottle Pottery

Left figure has two buttons on coat below left arm and two buttons above (top right detail)
Brims to hats aren't shaded
No apostrophe after the word 'Mariners'
Pile of cannonballs in front of cannon (last detail)

Seaham Pottery

Left figure has two buttons on coat below left arm and no buttons above (top right detail)
Brims to hats aren't shaded
No apostrophe after the word 'Mariners'
No pile of cannonballs in front of cannon (last detail)

The black decoration on the handle of the first frog mug is a feature associated with Seaham. The mug beneath it was likely a factory second and was never decorated. It has two scratches to the right of the anchor that appear on later imprints from the plate (see right detail). The large Seaham jug in the Sunderland Museum, dated 1847, has these scratches (see above), but the first frog mug below does not, so was likely made earlier.

Mariners' Arms – Tyneside

Cornfoot, Carr and Co (1832–1838) or
Carr and Patton, North Shields (1838–1846)– plate 1

In the absence of a dated inscription it is harder to attribute North Shields items. Both the partnerships above signed their items with distinctive horizontal lustre marks on the handle (see next section below). This is a smaller version of the transfer, for use on smaller jugs.

Carr and Patton, North Shields – plate 2

This transfer was again likely used by both Cornfoot, Carr and Co (1832–1838) and Carr and Patton (1838–1846) at North Shields. It is very similar to the 1830s' Garrison Pottery transfer at the top of this page.

The other transfers on the jug are shown below. Also, the signature North Shields lustre marks on the handle. These larger, later jugs tend to be heavily potted.

Below are two 'documentary' jugs with the same version of the transfer. The date, 1840, puts them firmly within the Carr and Patton period.

John Carr and Sons, Low Lights Pottery, North Shields – plate 1

In the late 1840s through the 1850s, Carr produced lustre items which are similar to those made by Dixon. These bowls were made c1850.

The bowl below has darker lustre and could easily be mistaken for wares made by Dixon, Phillips & Co's Garrison Pottery in Sunderland.

John Carr and Sons, North Shields – plate 2 (Seaham transfer)

This transfer comes from the same copper plate as the Seaham-attributed items above and has the same nicks and scratches. However, the bowl below was likely made after the pottery's closure, which appears to be c1852. The London impressed mark was used by several Tyneside potteries when making wares for a London retailer. This particular impress is know to have been used by Carr, so the bowl is likely North Shields, c1860.