Description:
English creamware, "Leeds Revival" oval teapot with cover decorated with the molded shields of the Leeds coat-of-arms with a hanging fleece, and swagged medallions containing the figure of Bishop Blaise (patron saint of woolcombers) and sailing ships. This teapot, which is stamped "LEEDS POTTERY" on the base, is part of a Leeds creamware service made to commemorate the royal visit of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandria to Leeds in July 7, 1908. 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. 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. This domed teapot cover and body have intertwined cord loop handles with leaf terminals; the lid has a gadrooned edge; the shoulder of the body is plain and tapers inward; the spout is s-curved; and the body has straight sides and molded florette and reed bands around the base and just below the shoulder. The body of the pot has black speckling, and the interior has a fine crackle and a glassy green appearance where the glaze has pooled. Other pieces of tea set are known - sugar bowls, teapots, and cream pots - some with silver luster decoration.
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+87.022 |
