Description:
English creamware egg tray decorated with elaborate piercings, which was made by either George William Senior or John Thomas Morton of Leeds and sold by the W.W. Slee Co., Leeds, England (illustrated and listed as No. 555 on pg. 16 in W. W. Slee Co. 1913 catalogue). In the late 19th and early 20th century, typical 18th century Leeds Pottery creamwares were produced by members of the Senior family, primarily James "Wraith" Senior (c.1854-1909) who worked over time with his sons, George William (1882-1970) and James Jr. (d.1917), and his brother-in-law, potter John Thomas Morton (1875-1956). Morton was an apprentice to James Senior circa 1888-1895, and returned to work with the Seniors from 1907 to circa 1913 when he left to establish his own pottery; according to John Griffin, it is virtually impossible to distinguish between pieces made by Morton when potting on his own in Leeds (who also used the impressed "LEEDS POTTERY" mark before establishing a pottery at Airey Hill, Filey, in 1933) and those produced by the Senior brothers. John Griffin illustrates a picture of a similar egg tray as made by Morton. James Senior made various types of pottery, including slipware and tiles, at different sites until sometime between 1888 and 1895, when he started producing creamwares in an 18th century style, many based on the products and some using the same molds from the Leeds factory of Hartley, Greens & Co.; the Seniors also produced other pieces, particularly pierced wares which were far more elaborate than those produced by Hartley, Greens & Co. Next to the Wedgwood factory, Hartley, Greens & Co. was one of the most successful of the English creamware potteries established in the 18th century, which first published its catalogue or pattern books in 1783 and continued printing them periodically until 1814, with some wares impressed "LEEDS POTTERY." The Senior reproductions often bear that same original impressed "LEEDS POTTERY" mark; the Senior's quality is often more thickly potted than the original, and the glaze often greyer and more thickly applied, which then pooled (often with a green tone) with a very distinct crackled glaze. However, their wares can also be of such high quality that they can be mistaken for the work of earlier factories. Much of the Senior's production was marketed through an antique dealer, William Wood Slee of 30 Duncan Street, Leeds, who claimed to be the manufacturer of "Reproductions of Leeds Pottery." Although it is not known for how many years Slee published a catalogue, the Leeds Museum and Galleries has a copy of an undated Slee catalogue and 1913 price list, in which he states: "The manufacture of Leeds Pottery revived in 1888 by W. W. Slee, employing workmen and using many of the original moulds and patterns obtained from old works." In fact it is now generally believed that he was only selling George Senior's wares. Interestingly, the Slee catalogue also shows covered chestnut bowls, figs. 615, which are not in the original Hartley, Greens & Co. catalogues, but do appear in Josiah Wedgwood's early catalogues as well as the Wedgwood Company's 1920 catalogue that illustrated creamware identical to examples found in its late 18th century catalogues. The quatrefoil egg tray stands on a high, spreading base with an elaborate moulded border and a double intertwined strap handle with flower and leaf terminals. The tray has is covered with a thick greenish glaze, which is severely crackled, over a white ceramic body. This egg tray is an unusual form for 18th-century creamware; the body color and pierced decoration look right for the period, but upon closer inspection, the piercing appears to be done with mechanical tool or template rather than pierced by hand as the authentic 18th-century examples were done. The tray is covered with a thick grayish-green glaze with all-over crazing, and when broken, the body is brittle and chalky white.
Subjects:
Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+56.025 |
