Description:
English creamware "twig" fruit basket that came with a stand (HD 1663.2), which was owned by the Hawks family of Wapping, a village just south of Deerfield, and acquired from Julia D. Snow and sold to Henry Flynt in 1950. The base on this basket is impressed with "T P & Co / FERRYBRIDGE." In 1792, the first pottery was built in Knottingley by the partnership of Timothy Smith (a coal proprietor and owner of the land), William Tomlinson (1746-1833, a grocer from Pontefract) and John Seato (a banker), who were later joined by John Foster, a ship owner, and John Thompson, both of Selby; they conducted business as Tomlinson, Foster and Co. In 1798 Ralph Wedgwood (1766-1837), the eldest son of Thomas Wedgwood (1734-1788) and nephew of Josiah Wedgwood, joined the Knottingley partnership. The full name of this partnership was Tomlinson, Foster, Wedgwood & Co., but they used shortened form of "WEDGWOOD & CO" presumably to profit from the famous Wedgwood name. Continuing the types of wares he had produced at the Hill Works in Burslem from 1788-1798, Ralph Wedgwood made creamware, pearlware and jasper in the Wedgwood style until the end of 1800 when the partnership was dissolved because of the financial strains on the company resulting from his ceramic experiments. The original partnership was also weakened by the deaths of John Thompson around 1797 and Timothy Smith in 1803. In 1804, a new company was formed with William Tomlinson, John and Thomas Foster (sons of John Foster) and John Plowes, the son of a Castleford pottery owner. The firm was established as "Tomlinson, Plowes and Company" and the name of the works was changed to Ferrybridge Pottery which used an impressed "Ferrybridge" mark. Although the firm was a successful one it was continuously in financial crisis, which resulted in the bankruptcy of John and Thomas Foster and the departure of John Plowes; William Tomlinson acquired the company shares until he eventually became the sole owner of the pottery. The opening of the Knottingley-Goole canal in 1826 brought a much needed boost to the trade of the company, giving it access to china clay from Cornwall and other essential raw materials. Despite the assistance from William's son Edward, the business declined until in 1828 it was advertised for sale. It appears that Edward Tomlinson retained the ownership of the premises after his father's death in 1833, which were leased out to several partnerships. In 1851 Mr. Lewis Woolf, a London china merchant leased the pottery for a period of five years and upon expiration of the lease, purchased the works. In 1926 the tenancy was acquired by Sefton and Brown who commenced production of domestic ware. Since 1985 the pottery has traded as Cauldon Potteries Limited, producing a variety of practical kitchenware and pet bowl products. This "twig" form, which was produced by a number of creamware manufacturers, played an important role on the dining table as a centerpiece filled with fruit to complement the final course. Its woven appearance (made of strips of clay woven together by hand to form the open basket shape), like a splint basket and basketwork base, capitalized on the Enlightenment fascination with the out-of-doors and the imitation of natural materials. The same form of twig basket was included in the 'Frog' Service, a 952-piece creamware dinner and dessert service made by Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795) for the Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1773-4. The two pieces appear to be made by different creamware manufacturers; the basket is a darker creamware than the stand, and has a rope twist border around the well edge rather than the gadrooned borders of the stand. However, they have probably been together for many years. The base has four red-outlined labels with ink inscriptions: "T.P. & CO. #524 / Ferrybridge / Tomlinson - Plowes"; "Early pottery [???] / by Ralph Wedgwood [?]; "Very rare / Crack"; and "CJ. Jewitts / Ceramic Art / Great Britain."
Label Text:
Twig baskets were first advertised by Wedgwood in his 1774 Queen's ware catalogue. They are delicate circular or oval fruit baskets which are formed from woven strips of clay. These strips have been extruded from a special die known as a dod. Highly skilled work then follows to form the basket over a mould and to weave the strips in place. The clay strips woven roughly halfway up the basket are not fused to the vertical strips and this plait remains separate. Twig baskets have been produced by Wedgwood intermittently since, and are today noted as prestige items. Oval or circular stands for the baskets were also illustrated in the 1774 Catalogue. The inside of the vessel is decorated with a moulded center in the form of basket work.
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