Success to America. English Pottery for the American Market, by patricia a. halfpenny and ronald w. fuchs ii

Transcription

1 Success to America In July of 1769, George Washington ordered a set of dishes from his English agent, requesting that they be ye most fashionable kind of Queen s Ware, 1 the most elegant, refined, and stylish earthenware available. The purchase was made despite the troubled relationship between England and her American colony. In May of 1769 the leaders of the Colony of Virginia had declared that they would purchase nothing of British manufacture after September of that year. Washington met the letter of the agreement by ordering his pottery just weeks before the deadline. Political embargoes and skirmishes on land and sea regularly took place as America won independence from Britain and established a English Pottery for the American Market, by patricia a. halfpenny and ronald w. fuchs ii position on the world stage. And at every opportunity, sympathetic English potters, eager to secure the custom of this emerging nation, produced wares that commemorated the American cause. 2 Decoration memorialized revolutionary heroes and newly elected presidents; hand-painted personalized mementoes were designed for maritime merchants; and printed and painted patriotic imagery of all kinds gave support and credibility to the young America. George Washington s order was for creamcolored earthenware, known today as creamware and first developed in Staffordshire in the 1740s. It is generally accepted that through his improvements in the body and glaze, and the adaptation of the biscuit and Spring

2 gloss firing cycle, Enoch Booth (1717 ca.1743) was the first to develop cream colored earthenware. It did not take long for its popularity to spread throughout colonial America. As early as 1751, Boston newspapers carried advertisements for the sale of Cream colored Tea-Pots, Sugar Dishes. 3 Plain creamware was the cheapest and most ubiquitous. The forms were stylish, and the pottery was elegant and hardwearing. Apart from rarely encountered underglaze painting in cobalt blue, manganese brown, or copper green, decorated creamware was printed or painted over the glaze. Printing offered the opportunity to depict complex scenes, realistic portraits, and recognizable events, but the process was confined to monochrome colors, usually black, occasionally red, and, rarely, lilac. It was possible, however, to enliven the print with touches of hand-painted color, though this was not normally successful over a large area of print. The most commonly found supplementary colors are the reds and blues added to prints of ships so that a flag could depict the Union Jack of Great Britain or the Stars and Stripes of America, customizing the design for a specific market. For special commissions, completely hand-painted designs offered an expensive but colorful way of celebrating unique events, people, and places. The vast majority of decorated creamware had designs that were of a fashionable but general nature. Scenes of classical ruins, groups of birds, generic landscapes, shepherds, musicians, and simple mottos appealed to the widest possible audience, allowing English potters to sell their wares throughout Europe and the colonies. Before the Revolution, decoration was rarely specifically related to matters arising in the colony but there were examples of political imagery that might find favor on both sides of the Atlantic. Among these early pieces is a teapot with the painted bust portrait of the English radical John Wilkes ( ) inscribed, Wilkes & Liberty and the enigmatic inscription No. 45 painted on the reverse (Fig. 1). A champion of civil liberties and an ardent defender of the American colonists cause, Wilkes became an inspiration for American freedom. In 1762, when King George III arranged for his close friend the Earl of Bute to become prime minister, there was an outcry over his inexperience and incompetence. Wilkes established a weekly newspaper in June 1762 in which he severely attacked the king and his prime PREVIOUS PAGE: Fig. 1: Teapot, probably Staffordshire, possibly Yorkshire, Painted creamware. Diam. 4½ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of S. Robert Teitelman ( ). ABOVE: Fig. 2: Jug, Staffordshire, , prints signed Francis Morris Shelton. Pearlware. H. 17¾ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of S. Robert Teitelman ( ). minister. After issue number 45 of the newspaper accused the king of telling lies, George III had Wilkes arrested, thereby helping to establish Wilkes as a symbol of liberty and opposition to tyranny. The rallying cries of Wilkes & Liberty and No. 45 were as familiar on the streets of Boston as in London. Boston silversmith and patriot Paul Revere s ( ) famous Sons of Liberty punch bowl prominently displays the inscriptions No. 45 and Wilkes & Liberty. 4 The importation of English ceramics to America ceased during the Revolution, but afterward, when pottery exports resumed, designs were made to appeal specifically to American consumers. Heroes such as Franklin, Washington, Jefferson, and Adams were all depicted on creamware. A map recognizing the new nation s independence and showing an image of the American flag first published April 3, 1783, by John Wallis of London, served as inspiration for a number of designs printed on creamware, including one by Francis Morris of Shelton, Staffordshire (Fig. 2). A map of the eastern seaboard of North America is framed by the figures of Washington and Franklin. The inscription identifies Washington securing Liberty to America and Wisdom & Justice 2010 Antiques & Fine Art 207

3 Fig. 3: Jug, Herculaneum Pottery, Liverpool, Creamware. H. 10 ⅜ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of S. Robert Teitelman, Roy T. Lefkoe, and Sydney Ann Lefkoe in memory of S. Robert Teitelman ( ). INSET: Fig. 3a: Detail from front of jug in figure Spring

4 dictating to Dr. Franklin who writes in a book titled 4 July The print is signed F. Morris Shelton who was listed as a gilder, enameller & printer of earthenware at premises in Shelton in the Staffordshire Potteries; 5 it is not unreasonable to suppose one of the neighboring factories made the piece before Morris decorated it. Another version of this design occurs, but with a different frame, on creamware that may be the product of the Herculaneum Pottery in Liverpool. Liverpool, a major transatlantic port and the destination of many American merchant ships, was home to a small but thriving pottery trade, the Herculaneum Pottery being one of the largest and best known of the factories. For its seafaring clientele, Liverpool potters were in a prime position to produce personalized designs while they were in port, painting names of ships and masters on stock prints of sailing ships or producing original hand-painted designs. Creamware from the area is often marked on the base with the impressed name HERCULANEUM, and occasionally a printed design of an eagle based on the Great Seal of the United States includes the name Herculaneum beneath. John Follet purchased two such jugs, one for himself and one for his brother Robert (Figs. 3 and 3a). The brothers were ship captains, builders, and ship owners based in Kittery Point, Maine. Their ship the Two Brothers plied between Maine and England, and as well as bringing the two jugs home, on one occasion it also carried two English tall-case clocks, one for each of the brothers. 6 Printed designs were produced from engraved and etched copper plates. These could be used almost indefinitely; the images could be reproduced as long as there was a market for them. Consequently, printed images are the most common form of decoration. Original and often unique designs were more likely to be found amongst the rarer hand-painted designs. There is little information about the sources of hand-painted decoration for the American market, but, as it was usually done to order, it seems probable that most designs were commissioned and completed in Liverpool either by independent decorators working on plain pieces purchased from Staffordshire, Liverpool, or other English potteries, or that the creamware was produced and decorated by the Herculaneum Pottery in Liverpool. Just such a jug celebrates Caleb Bates captainship of the Venelia. Whether the jug was made in Staffordshire or Liverpool, it was most probably ABOVE: Fig. 4: Jug, Liverpool or Staffordshire, probably painted in Liverpool, Creamware. H. 10⅜ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of S. Robert Teitelman ( ). decorated in Liverpool (Fig. 4). The palette is unusually delicate and colorful, and the ship s name appears on the pennant flying at the top of a mast. Although it is thought that painted images of ships are often accurate portraits, the vessel painted here is a large three-masted ship, while the registration papers for the Venelia state that it was a two-masted brigantine built in Haverill, Massachusetts. Caleb Bates, whose name appears beneath the lip of the jug, was the Venelia s first master on at least five voyages between Boston, Liverpool, Dublin, and Cowes between 1798 and He subsequently captained other ships traveling to England, the Continent, India, and China. One of the largest painted jugs was made to commemorate the launching of the Lydia (Fig. 5). Inscribed THE LYDIA Jacob Rhoades Builder, the scene suggests that the artist had a limited understanding of a ship launching. He shows the ship with beautifully painted hull, but the attendant rigging is a little premature, as masts and rigging were usually put in place when the hull was afloat. Also, in struggling with the angle of the shipway, the painter has had to resort to tilting the horizon to give the sensation of the vessel slipping down into the water Antiques & Fine Art 209

5 Nevertheless, this is a powerful piece and no doubt Jacob Rhoades, a shipwright in Boston, was delighted to receive it. There was an exceptional outpouring of patriotism in the early years of the young American nation. Proud of their hardwon independence and eager for visible symbols to publicly express their sentiments, citizens of the young American nation bought British pottery depicting tangible images of their patriotism. Although the Staffordshire and Liverpool pottery industry seems to dominate the American pottery trade, other British centers were also making pieces for the American market. Potteries in Swansea and Bristol exported from the port of Bristol. At least two examples are known of a large jug colorfully decorated with a version of the Great Seal of the United States and inscribed on the base Bristol Pottery 1819 (Fig. 6). Bristol THIS PAGE, TOP: Fig. 5: Jug, probably Herculaneum Pottery, Liverpool, Creamware. H. 14¼ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of S. Robert Teitelman ( ). THIS PAGE, BOTTOM: Fig. 6: Jug, Bristol Pottery, England, Pearlware. H. 10¼ in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of Mr. B. Thatcher Feustman ( ). had a long history of pottery making and a well-established industry by the eighteenth century. The Bristol Pottery was owned by Pountney & Allies, and in 1819, when this jug was made, it was a prosperous enterprise employing about two hundred people. The pebble design on the spout and the strawberry vine with fruit and leaves is in a style attributed to the painter William Fifield (fl ), and the quirkily painted figure of Liberty seen on the reverse is similar to figures in his surviving sketchbook. The Great Seal is depicted with spirit but little accuracy. The eagle holds only one arrow in its talon instead of thirteen (it should also be in the opposite talon), with the olive branch on the right-hand side. In the official Seal, the motto E Pluribus Unum (thirteen letters) waves on a ribbon grasped in the eagle s beak; perhaps one can forgive the improper placing of the banner in this design as it leaves room for a constellation of twenty-one stars commemorating Illinois joining the Union as the twenty-first state on December 3, While the details lack finesse, no doubt this colorful example would have charmed any patriot. As America began to assert itself on the world stage it was impelled to protect its interests with force. The quasi-war with France, , the Tripolitan War, , and the War of 1812 were all commemorated for the Americans by English potters. The largest number of pieces were made following the Anglo-American War of The Naval Monument by Abel Bowen published in Boston in 1816 supplied English pottery engravers with images suitable for the American market. The first naval episode was the escape of the U.S. frigate Constitution from a squadron of Spring

6 British vessels (Fig.7). Becalmed, Captain Hull launched the longboats and sailors began to row, towing the 1,500 ton vessel. The British, reluctant to give up their first prize, did the same. For sixty hours there was a slow-motion chase across the ocean until clever maneuverings by Hull enabled the Constitution to pull away to the British squadron s applause! Following this last burst of patriotism, the desire for overtly patriotic ceramics declined. As life in America grew more stable, its citizens turned to ceramics decorated with more general imagery. Colorful sponge and spatterware vied in the marketplace with blue printed designs that included scenic views of America, a response to the fashion for topographical imagery. The patriotic creamwares produced between 1770 and 1820 uniquely captured the spirit of America. They have been saved, passed down as heirlooms, and been a timeless source of pleasure for collectors. They tell the story of the establishment of America, of its maritime trade through the port of Liverpool in England, and of its buoyant trade with English potters throughout these tumultuous decades. Success to America: English Creamware for the American Market (Antique Collectors Club, 2010), by the late S. Robert Teitelman, Patricia A. Halfpenny, and Ronald W. Fuchs II, with essays by Wendell Garrett and Robin Emmerson, will be launched at the Winterthur Ceramic Conference April 15 16, when the installation of the collection will be opened. The book ($75) will be available at a discounted rate at the museum bookstore ($47.25) and further discounted for conference attendees ($37.50). For conference program and bookshop details, call or visit Patricia A. Halfpenny is a ceramic scholar, and Ronald W. Fuchs II is curator, Reeves Collection of Ceramics, Washington & Lee University. They are the authors, along with the late S. Robert Teitelman ( ) of Success to America: English Creamware for the American Market. ABOVE: Fig. 7: Jug, Staffordshire, , prints signed Bentley, Wear & Bourne Engravers, & Printers Shelton. Creamware. H in. Courtesy Winterthur Museum; gift of Mr. B. Thatcher Feustman ( ). 1. Susan Gray Detweiler, George Washington s Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982). 2. Scenes promoting early American life were also depicted, ranging from the early nineteenth-century firefighters of Boston, to the fabled merchant-princes of Salem, the struggle for liberty and the battle to end slavery, U.S. Naval vessels to sloops and schooners of the merchantmen. 3. Boston Evening Post, March 11, The silver punch bowl made in 1768 by Paul Revere is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, acc. no The image is available online through mfa.org/collections/index.asp. 5. The Staffordshire Pottery Directory of Staffordshire: to which is added an historical sketch of the country. And an account of the manufacture of earthenware. With a map (Staffordshire: J. Allbut and Son, 1800); Holden s Triennial Directory of Staffordshire (Staffordshire: Staffordshire Educational Council 1982). 6. Brock Jobe, Portsmouth Furniture (Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1993), S. ROBERT TEITELMAN ( ) Success to America: English Creamware for the American Market offers a new visual and documentary interpretation of the early years of the United States through the study of ceramics made in Britain expressly for the American market. Including pieces given to Winterthur by Henry Francis du Pont and Mr. B. Thatcher Feustman, the book features the internationally renowned collection of the late S. Robert Teitelman. Fifty of the finest examples were generously presented to Winterthur by Mr. Teitelman and his nephew and niece Roy T. Lefkoe and Sydney Ann Lefkoe. In addition, they and other friends of Mr. Teitelman s contributed to funds and offered practical support to make the publication of the book, the installation, and the conference possible Antiques & Fine Art 211