North Hylton inscriptions
Robert Maling
Baker states that the North Hylton Pottery was established by William Maling in 1762, as a business interest for his sons Christopher Thompson Maling and John Maling. In about 1797, John's son, Robert (1781-1863), joined the business. In 1815, he transferred the business to Ouseburn Bridge Pottery in Tyneside.
The silver resist plate below has a Maling horseshoe impressed mark. Both Staffordshire and North East potters produced 'silver resist' pottery. I've found unsigned examples from just before 1810 into the early 1820s, so tantalisingly, the undated plate below could have been made at either North Hylton or Ouseburn Bridge.
The silver resist plate below has a Maling horseshoe impressed mark. Both Staffordshire and North East potters produced 'silver resist' pottery. I've found unsigned examples from just before 1810 into the early 1820s, so tantalisingly, the undated plate below could have been made at either North Hylton or Ouseburn Bridge.
The thing strongly in favour of the plate having been made at North Hylton, is that the inscriptions found on these silver resist items (see left below) appear to be by the same hand that enamelled items for Dixon, Austin & Co at that site in the mid 1820s (see right below). So it looks as if the Malings moved, but their enameller stayed behind and made very similar wares for the pottery's new owners.
In the absence of a date, the silver resist items below could belong to either the Maling or Dixon, Austin period. The first plate below was made in 1820 to commemorate Caroline of Brunswick's return to Britain to assert herself as Queen (George IV wanted a divorce and barred her from the coronation in 1821). The items below aren't marked.
The only other Maling-impressed piece of pottery I've seen, potentially from Robert Maling's time in North Hylton, is an inscribed plate shown on page 29 of Steven Moore's book, Maling – The Trade Mark of Excellence!, (below left). The hand is similar to the items on this page and never appears on items from the Ouseburn Bridge Pottery, whose inscriptions were entirely different. The two mugs below are unmarked, but included for similarities of decoration.
The mug below with floral enamelling, dated 1814, also appears to be a rare survivor from the Maling period at North Hylton. As with the silver resist, the enameller would continue decorating mugs in this way during the Dixon, Austin period.
Dixon, Austin & Co
When the Malings left, Baker says that the North Hylton Pottery was taken over by John Phillps or his son who already owned the larger Sunderland Pottery (also known as the Garrison Pottery). Adverts in newspapers show that the Dixon, Austin & Co partnership ran from 1818 to 1839 and operated on two sites: 'Sunderland Pottery, in the borough of Sunderland, and also at the Hylton Pottery, in the parish of Monk Wearmouth'. The lower case 't' on the objects on this page is not shaped like a '4'. (Compare with the Dixon Austin items on this page.)
Tennant's Auctioneers provided the following information, starting with the inscription details.
Number 30/Number 28 James & Robert Shields lost Nov 3r 1823 / Be warned then by our sudden call / That you for death prepare / For it will come you know not when / The manner how or where / Joseph & Isabella Watson within a red rose wreath, 14.5cm high
Robert Shields, 30 years old, and James Shields, 28 years old, were killed in the 3rd November 1823 explosion of inflammable air at the Plain Pit of Rainton Colliery, Houghton-le-Spring, belonging to the Marquis of Londonderry. 53 men and boys were killed, and several other seriously hurt, two of whom died later. 12 horses were also killed and the bodies presented a shocking spectacle being burnt and mutilated
Number 30/Number 28 James & Robert Shields lost Nov 3r 1823 / Be warned then by our sudden call / That you for death prepare / For it will come you know not when / The manner how or where / Joseph & Isabella Watson within a red rose wreath, 14.5cm high
Robert Shields, 30 years old, and James Shields, 28 years old, were killed in the 3rd November 1823 explosion of inflammable air at the Plain Pit of Rainton Colliery, Houghton-le-Spring, belonging to the Marquis of Londonderry. 53 men and boys were killed, and several other seriously hurt, two of whom died later. 12 horses were also killed and the bodies presented a shocking spectacle being burnt and mutilated
Photo Tennants Auctioneers
An example from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, which shows Dixon Austin & Co were making items of pink lustreware on this site from the 1820s.
The mug below is attributed to North Hylton on the basis of similarity of the text, which, like the mugs above, is framed within a rectangular border. Beneath it, a Dixon Austin impressed saucer with similar green and pink enamelling.
Photo eBay
A cottage ware jug with an inscription in the same hand, also dated 1824.
Two mugs below dated 1825 from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection.
A pair of marriage mugs with different verses and an inscription for 1825.
The plaque below has a Dixon, Austin & Co mark, and likely dates after 1830.
Similar later items
This mug, from the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums collection, is attributed to North Hylton on the bases of similarities of the lettering to the items above. Compare the lower case 'r', in particular, with the mug above. Interestingly, the mug below has the grape vine decoration found on the earlier silver resist items at the top of this page.
The small mugs below are more loosely decorated but have letters are formed in a very similar way to the mug above, in brick-red enamel.
Below, four Gaudy Welsh jugs painted in the same hand and brick-red text as the Rayner mug above. Norman Lowe has done some research into the inscriptions on these and similar items, and they tend to relate to Yorkshire or Lancashire folk. So some work still needs to be done on the attribution. It is possible that the enameller moved, or that demand for such items was greater in Yorkshire (if indeed they are by the same hand as other items on this page).
However, the evidence below, from Norman Lowe's collection, showing that Dixon Austin were indeed producing Gaudy Welsh items about this time.
