Description:
Lead-glazed white earthenware (pearlware, china glaze), James and Ralph Clews, circa 1825; printed in underglaze blue with a version of the ‘Willow’ pattern depicting two birds flitting above a sampan in a Chinese riverscape with three figures crossing a bridge and with various pavilions and trees, impressed crown encircled by STAFFORDSHIRE CLEWS WARRANTED mark.There are also two modern paper labels on the base, one is written "WILLOW PATTERN" and the other is scratched out but possibly reads "Clews." The firm's history is detailed on the Patriotic America website: Ralph and James Clews, born in 1788 and 1790 respectively, were two of the sons of John Clews, a hatter, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. We know little of their early life, but by 1811 James Clews was acting as clerk to the potter Andrew Stevenson, and he and Ralph were in business on their own account by the autumn of 1813. The Bleak Hill Works in Cobridge, near to Burslem was probably their first pottery. Bleak Hill, a small factory with two ovens, had been operated by Peter Warburton until his untimely death in January 1813 at the age of 40, and his widow Mary was advertising the works for sale or to let in the following month. An insurance policy which the widow Warburton took out in July 1817 specifies the premises as being in the occupation of Ralph and James Clews and it seems likely that the brothers took the opportunity presented by the empty factory when they first entered business in 1813. In 1817, the brothers rented a second factory in Cobridge, the Globe Works, and it was at this pottery they developed their enormous export trade to the United States. The Clews brothers continued to occupy the Bleak Hill factory until 1827, when the works was advertised to let and they took out a lease on the Cobridge Works of Andrew Stevenson who had retired from business around that date. The 1827 move from Bleak Hill to the much larger Cobridge Works was clearly intended to provide additional manufacturing capacity, the rent was double that of the nearby Globe Works which they continued to operate. A major contribution to the growth of Clews’ business was their close relationship with the firm of merchants and importers Bolton, Ogden, & Co., who effectively financed the manufacturers by advancing a proportion of the value of consignments prior to sale. This arrangement resulted in Clews becoming substantially indebted to their importer. When production problems arose, due to industrial unrest in the Potteries in 1834, the business had no reserves to cope with the loss of revenue and the Clews brothers went bankrupt with enormous liabilities and relatively few assets. Bolton,Ogden & Co were owed over £68,000, of which some £35,000 was unsold ware.
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+2023.4.1 |
