Attributed to Thomas Ainsworth, Stockton Pottery
I'm still piecing together information about the Stockton Pottery. Oxley Grabham's book on Yorkshire Potteries, Pots and Potters states that it was founded in the 1840s by Thomas Ainsworth and closed in 1901. The mark is the Stockton coat of arms, which is a castle impaled by an anchor. Ian Sharp, who owns the first jug below, has alluded to a later partnership of W.H.& J.H.Ainsworth of the Stockton Pottery, Stockton-on-Tees, co. Durham c.1865-90. It is hard to be certain whether the items on this page predate 1865. The jugs are heavily potted and somewhat coarsely decorated, which suggests post 1850. The religious plaques have been more rarely recorded in orange lustre, which was introduced in the early 1860s.
These transfers appear to be unique to Stockton. They are limited in number and merit this page of their own. Ian has described the lustre decoration on this jug as akin to snail trails.
This jug is again rather coarsely decorated with exuberant flower motifs. These are the only two jugs I have recorded from the Stockton Pottery.
The transfers on the jugs also appear on circular plaques. All of the plaques above are unmarked.
Again, more often than not, these circular plaques are unmarked. The first above, however, has the Stockton impress. It is possible that these plaques, which are relatively common, were made over a long period. The orange bordered plaques are rarer and post-date 1860.
