Staffordshire

This is my favorite – a very lovely model of a cow and calf with boscage (or bocage…a term for leafy decoration on pottery of this era).  I bought it from the London store of Oliver-Sutton antiques, who attributed it to Tittensor, circa 1780.  I’ve tried to find out more about Tittensor – it’s both a family name, and an area near Stoke-on-Trent, and I expect the reference is to the latter since the only Tittensor potter I can find is Harry, an artist for Doulton & Co. who wasn’t active till much later.  Help anyone?  The tree, front and back, is quite distinctive.

The cow on the right, purchased from the same dealer, was identified as a Whieldon, circa 1780, and bears an old inventory #509 from the C.B.Kidd collection.  Thomas Whieldon (1719-95)  of Fenton Low, Stoke-on-Trent, was a Master Potter who – according to the Famous Potters page from that town (www.thepotteries.org/potters) taught both Josiah Spode and Ralph Wood, and from 1754-1759 was in partnership with Josiah Wedgewood.  Its companion on the left bears the mark “Leeds” in script, dates from @1800, and was #883 in the same Kidd collection.  I can’t find anything about that collection or its owner; presumably at some point it was broken up by auction. Both of these have ‘mushroom’ handles on their lids, and the lid on the Whieldon, like some other early ones, has simply been cut out of the back of the cow rather than being a separately fashioned plug.

The creamers on the left and right are identified as Prattware @1790 (as I understand it, Prattware is a term used to refer to a type of multi-colored underglazed pottery, and especially potlids;  see www.thepotteries.org/features/pearlware.htm and www.thepotteries.org/features/pearlware2.htm for a discussion of this term and others).  The cow in the middle – also from the Kidd collection via Oliver-Sutton Antiques – is another Whieldon type from around 1800, also with an incised lid.

This spatter-painted brown Prattware creamer is very similar to the blue one on the right above.  The eBay seller called it softpaste Pearlware, early 19c, and said it came from an Indiana estate where the owner had been collecting from the 50s through the 80s.  Bet he paid less than I did, albeit the eBay price was a bargain compared to what these go for in London shops these days.

In general, I’ve found that many of the earlier creamers have flat-plate bases like these two. The raised oval and rectangular ones seem to come later.  Both of these are (presumably) Prattware, dating from the 1790s.  The milkmaid and milkman are working hard although she seems to have taken her eyes off the job at hand.

The one on the left here is the same as the one with the milkman above…repeated with a couple from the same mold to show that these were indeed sort of ‘mass produced’ in a sense even if handpainted and thus each slightly different.

Three more creamers with flat bases – the sellers said from @1820 for the two on the sides, and 1800 for the one in the middle.  The one on the left, “Ol’ Ug” I’ve dubbed her, is particularly crude compared to many of the others.  The one on the right is Prattware, and has quite an unusual shape to the face.

This beautiful cow with calf on a flat green base with canted corners dates from ~1810, and is most likely Scottish (the seller stated that the red sponged pearlware is typical of Scotland) of from the north country. It has had some well done professional restoration to the horns and is missing its little lid, but I find it lovely nonetheless.

More Prattware, here a pair with the milkmaids – arms at their sides and without any facial characteristics – on opposite sides.  Here the curled horns and small ears have avoided damage, and I’d guess that a fine ornamental pair like this didn’t see much hard or regular use.

Here are three more interpretations of cows being milked. The sellers indicated that the one on the left was probably from Yorkshire, 1780-1800.  The middle one is from around the same date, but looks to be Prattware; and the one on the right was described as Pearlware from @1830 (pearlware seems to be a somewhat ambiguous and general term relating to coloring and glaze, see the reference above).  These three have interesting different representations of milkmaids; some potters seem not to bother with arms, others like to include facial features.

Here’s another pair, Victorian creamers with milkmaids (arms, no hands!) from @1850.  They’re quite large and heavy, and have the protective smushing of protuberances (surely there must be a technical term for this…).

This is a lovely example of a similar form – said to date from the 2nd quarter of the 19c – with a Rockingham glaze of the ‘flint enamel’ type – characterized by the touches of bright color fused in the glaze - on yellowware. There’s a bit about this type of glaze in the Bennington section because it was very popular on American pottery (and the American versions are reputed to be superior to the British ones). A bit of additional information is that this mottled brown glaze has its origins at the Swinton factory on the Marques of Rockingham’s estate near Rotherham, South Yorkshire. The Wikipedia article on Rockingham pottery notes that “After the closure of the works in 1842, some of the craftsmen remained on site to continue manufacturing on their own. The most successful of these was the Baguley family, the most senior of whom Isaac Baguley had been the manager of the gilding department at the factory. Baguley decorated porcelain that was bought in as unglazed biscuitware from other potteries. The classic brown Rockingham glaze was used, the rights to which Baguley had acquired after the closure of the pottery, with much use of gilding and occasional enamelling. Baguley eventually moved to nearby Mexborough and the family continued decorating bought-in porcelain there until the end of the 19th century.”

This creamer is virtually identical to the one above (except that it’s missing its lid), but with a lovely and darker ‘treacle’ glaze.  I’ve included a shot of her head to depict how by this time the potteries (or at least some of them, for some creamers) had learned to make the ears and horns flat against the head to prevent breakage

This one is somewhat less lovely, but another good example of mid-19c Staffordshire, presumably in this case a rather inexpensive one at the time. It has some black ‘cold paint’ – i.e. not glazed – that may have been a touch-up after manufacture. It also has a older restored tail and an old replacement lid, not unusual for one of this period.

Here are two cute 19c Staffordshire cows on thick oval bases – almost surely Victorian. I couldn’t resist the purple and orange noses, in spite of minor damage to each of them.

These seven creamers are Welsh, from the potteries in Swansea. The museum’s website at www.swanseaheritage.net  provides some interesting information.  It indicates that cow creamers were produced at both the Cambrian Pottery and the Glamorgan Pottery, and that the Cambrian ones “can be distinguished by the ‘brisket’ or breastbone of the animal.  The Glamorgan moulds have a more slender appearance and a squarer head, where as the brisket on the Cambrian version is very pronounced and protrudes downward”.  Using this as a guide I’d guess that the matched pair from @1820 are definitely Cambrian (and they were sold as such!), as are the two outer ones in the picture on the right (both early 19c), and the others are most likely Glamorgan. The middle in the right hand picture one with the circular marks, and the one without a base in the middle picture date from @1840-50, and the flat-faced one with the red base from @1800-1810.   Anyone Welsh pottery fancier care to correct me, please??

This is a lovely example of a Swansea creamer from the Glamorgan pottery with a black-transfer print of a rural scene(see the discussion below, in the section with blue-willow transfer print creamers). From the web site of the Abersystwyth University Ceramic Collection & Archives we learn that “The Glamorgan Pottery was established in about 1813. Its history demonstrates how closely the pottery industries of South Wales were linked. George Haynes, who had worked with Lewis Weston Dillwyn at the adjacent Cambrian Pottery, was active at the pottery and many of the shapes and patterns are very similar to those of the Cambrian. The wares are largely for domestic use and are marked "B B & I", the initials of the owners, Baker, Bevan and Irwin. As the other business interests of the owners failed, the pottery business was offered for sale. It was purchased in 1837 by Lewis Llewelyn Dillwyn who was running the Cambrian Pottery and was son of Lewis Weston Dillwyn. In 1838 L.L. Dillwyn closed the Glamorgan Pottery. Copper plates for transfers and other equipment were purchased by William Chambers who established the South Wales Pottery at Llanelly in 1840. Many of the workers transferred to the new pottery.” You can learn even more about “The Glamorgan Pottery, Swansea, 1814-38” from the 1995 book of that name by Helen Hallesy. From the Swansea section of the Catalog of the collection of English Pottery in the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities of the British Museum we further learn that George Haynes was the one who coined the term “Opaque China” for the fine white earthenware from the Swansea potteries, and that much of its reputation is due to the paintings of W.W.Young who illustrated L.W.Dillwyn’s Natural History and painted on some Swansea earthenware; as I understand it the engraver Rothwell then used some of his scenes for transfer-printing, and I believe that’s what’s on this creamer. Also of note is that there is a creamer like this one in the China Gallery of the Swansea Museum.

This cow and calf is a fairly recent addition to my collection, and is said to be “probably from a Prattware factory in NE England, @1830”.  Here the tail, lower lip and lid have been restored; the ‘smushed’ horns and ears survived intact.

These three creamers all have characteristics that are distinctly different than any of the others described above.  I have been able to learn virtually nothing about them, except that the sellers dated the one on the left to @1830, and the other two to late 19c.

This is a fine example of a treacle or Rockingham glazed creamer, as is described in some detail in the Bennington section.  The mold is typical of that used for many of the Jackfield creamers.  Other than this one and a similar one with gold on the horns that is in the Jackfield section, I haven't found any of this form that aren't black.

Here is another pair with the caramel or Rockingham glaze, this time with gold
gilding,  and a somewhat similar but much trimmer shape.

I acquired this pair in an antique shop on the old walls of Chester.  They again seem to be made of reddish earthenware, with a caramel glaze that reminds me a bit of American Rockingham (see the Bennington category).  These have large teats and, what I find most unusual, small rectangular mouths.  The seller indicated that they were mid-1800s but per usual had no further information. As always, I’d welcome help.

I’ve seen quite a number of these, and they’re often referred to as having a ‘Majolica’ glaze.  The horns and ears are gilded, again as is common with the Jackfields.  Like many others, it was simply dated by the seller to the 19c.  This may have more to do with US import tax rules than anything else…

Here’s a caramel colored one quite similar in shape and style.  It’s had a fair amount of restoration, horns, ears, and lid. 

This white one – most likely from the late 19c Victorian period – is in good shape and shows signs of some considerable use since much of the gilt has rubbed off. It was surprisingly inexpensive for a creamer of its vintage…probably as much of a surprise to the seller as to me.

This one is definitely not “Staffordshire” in the sense of being from one of the early potteries, but is indeed English, sold by a knowledgeable dealer as ‘Late Victorian’, circa 1900.  It’s interesting to me on two counts: first the curly hair, and second the fact that it is stamped with a registration number, “Rd No 445,059”.   I would like to learn more about the use of these numbers, since this is the only one in my collection so marked.

This is a very strange variant – included here because it did indeed come to me from the UK, and was dated by the seller to early 19c.  It’s fashioned of heavy reddish earthenware and has a green tinted glaze, most noticeable on the udder.  It’s fairly crudely made and has a number of firing cracks.   The horns have been replaced, and one of them was then broken at the tip.  Nonetheless a very interesting example, and certainly quite early.

Here are several examples of a creamer style that remains quite popular and is still in production, indeed is the type of creamer available in the gift shop of the Stoke-on-Trent Museum.   In the picture of the four without bases, the two with the purple luster bear a orange stamp that I believe says Wade, England (blurry, and the rest is obscured).  Wade was established in 1810 in Burslem, the town that’s the headquarters of the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent, and is best known these days for a small solid ceramic animal collectors set called ‘Whimsies’ that came out in 1953.  Their website (www.wade.co.uk) didn’t return anything for a search on cow creamer, so I don’t know if these are really from them, but again this is a very popular mold, and has been made by a number of potteries in the area.  See, e.g., Kent under the ‘Factories’ category.  The creamer with the reddish markings between the two purple ones has “England” in script on its belly; and for comparison I’ve included a modern one manufactured by the Kent factory between 1944 and 1962; it bears the William Kent logo of a knot with W and K in the loops, “Staffordshire Ware” above and “England” below, and the initials of the artist who decorated it.  The other two pictures show more examples, including one with a blue-willow transfer, a rather crude one in the middle of the second picture, and another Kent model, the cow with bouquets of blue flowers on flanks and forehead and the raised flower on the base, which is also typical of a large number of creamers.

Here are 3 more examples of the “Kent” style creamer, showing the similarities between a modern one (on the left with blue flowers) and two 19c examples.  The older ones, typical of the time, have no identifying marks.  So how can one tell what’s new and what’s old?  Well, lacking chemical testing of the glaze part of it has to be based on faith (and the eBay feedback system seems to work quite well for instilling trust in the advertisements from the sellers), but the new ones of this pattern are all clearly stamped. 

This one – again with the same style cow – is interesting because it has the horns, ears, and 3-slash gold gilding that’s typical of Jackfield creamers.

This creamer bears a resemblance to the Kent style, but is from a completely different mold.  The Sandland family website www.sandland.freeuk.com) indicates that there were (at least) two Sandland-related pottery firms that worked in Hanley: "...a firm called Sandland & Colley Limited (Lichfield Pottery) manufactured pottery in Hanley from 1907 - 1910. More prolifically, and much more well known, is the Lancaster & Sandland of Dresden Works, Hanley who manufactured 'Sandland Ware' pottery from 1944 until the 1970s. "  This cow is in very good condition, but could easily date from the early 20c; my guess would be that it's from the Sandland & Colley firm , since most of the "Sandland Ware" pieces I've seen on the web have a very different maker's mark.  Perhaps a Sandland collector, or a member of the family, can help me here.

Here are five examples of another popular shape, depicting a cow with a relatively long neck and conical head raised and mooing.  The ones on the left in both pictures are said to date from 1890’s, and the two on the right are most likely from around the same period.  The one in the center with the mottled red markings on its side is a modern reproduction.  Note that all of these seem to have gilded horns, and some sort of raised flower on the base.

Here is another example of this form, missing its lid and showing its age, but I particularly liked the coloration.

Here are four examples of creamers with the popular ‘Blue Willow” pattern transfers.  The potteries’ website notes that “The origins of multicoloured underglazed printed pottery go back to 1756 when John Sadler and Guy Green invented the process of transfer-printed decoration on pottery”, and that “Transfer printing is a process by which a pattern or design is etched onto a copper (or other metal) plate. The plate is then inked and the pattern is "transferred" to a special tissue. The inked tissue is then laid onto the already bisque fired ceramic item, glazed, and fired again. Initially patterns were transferred to the ceramic items after glazing, but the ink often wore off, thus "underprinting" was born. Transfer items have a crisp, almost decal look about them. If you look closely you can often see the place where the transfer design ends. Often these are the areas where the pattern doesn't quite match, like wallpaper.”  Blue willow, indeed anything Chinese, was extremely popular since it was first imported in the mid-18c, albeit imports slowed down as British potters learned to copy the style.  These examples are said the date from late 19c or early 20c.  They are all from molds similar to creamers I’ve shown elsewhere – long-necked, ‘Kent-like’, or similar to the brownish one with the ‘Majolica’ glaze.

Here is a fifth example, somewhat earlier I believe - probably @1840 - based on a combination of the circular transfer and the fairly high oval base with crude
raised flower.

This lovely dark green glazed 19c creamer really has me puzzled.  It bears a remarkable resemblance to some of the ones near the bottom of the Bennington page, but the coloration and glaze is unlike anything I’ve seen from early American pottery, and it bears the traditional fly, which is also very British.  The Connecticut antique dealer who sold it on eBay sold it as “Whieldon, Staffordshire or Pratt circa 1820” and could provide no information beyond that it came from an estate of English ceramics from the 1700s and 1800s.  Sure wish I knew more…it’s really lovely, and in superb condition.

In addition to just plain cows, creamers and ‘spill vases’ depicting cows with people, trees, and other scenes were also popular.  These typically have flat, uncolored backs, and the fill hole is usually in the top of a head or other decoration.  These three date from the mid to late 1800s, and apparently this style was most prevalent in the Victorian era. There are also many Staffordshire figures with cows but without holes, or designed as just vases.

These two – which I bought on-line at an auction – are flat-backed and have the tree trunk shaped spill holder which is typical of early to mid 19c spill vases. But… the cows have open mouths – they do pour - and they were sold as creamers. It may well be that they could be used for either purpose. Spill vases were usually kept on the mantle above the fireplace, filled with rolled paper or thin wooden sticks – ‘spills’ – that were used to transfer fire from the fireplace to candles or lamps, or to light cigars. Creamers of course would more likely be found on the kitchen counter or table. Perhaps some enterprising potter figured he could satisfy a wider market with dual-use items like this, or – more likely - simply used a creamer mold to fashion an item that could be readily attached to a separate slip of a tree and base. Some of the spill holders are sufficiently complicated that they almost had to be made from a combination of items cast separately and they connected before firing.

Here’s another late 19c variant – again flat backed, but with a much shorter tree trunk, and thus – I’d guess – more likely to find use as a creamer than as a spill holder.

This is a quite large 19c example of a spill holder-creamer, with a very fine cow and a green bucket to accompany it. The whole top of the spill has been restored- makes me wonder how that could have broken off without damaging the cow in some major way.

This large spill, in fine condition, appears to be from the same or a very similar mold, with a milkmaid added.  It and the one that follows were acquired from A & N Harding Victorian Staffordshire, based in Dover, England (albeit by figures were mailed from Jersey).  For those interested in fine Staffordshire Figures, as well as informative books about them, try www.staffordshirefigures.com

Another fine, traditional spill vase with cow and milkmaid.

In contract to the cow-and-person figurines which are typically made of heavy pottery, this is a porcelain creamer with the fill hole in the back of the cow.  It’s very finely made and painted, but has no marks and I have no information about its age or maker.

This creamer could as easily go into Modern Variations, since it is a modern
version of a traditional Staffordshire creamer with calf.  On the other
hand, its mark (in actuality, the picture of the base is from a nearly
identical creamer from auction-antics, the seller) indicates it was made by
C. Cooke of Staffordshire, so it legitimately fits here.  I don't have a
date for it, but for sure it's from pre-1995, since that's when MAJiLLY was
purchased by Martha and Tony Emilio and moved to Pomfret Center, CT (see
www.majilly.com).  There is a picture of C.Cooke's mark on www.thepotteries.org, but no further info about this potter, and neither the seller nor the current MAJILLY folks could supply any further information.  Help would be greatly appreciated.

This one is also modern, and I have no way of knowing whether or not it really
was made in Staffordshire (actually it came via eBay from Worcestershire), but
someone - perhaps the N. Pratt whose name is written on the bottom - had fun
making this rather crude but delightful copy of a early creamer.  One feature is
unique - the hind legs are hobbled, presumably to keep her from kicking over the
milk pail.  Must have been a very frisky cow.  I have never seen this on an
original old English cow creamer, and am thus wondering if the model had this
feature or if it was added by the imagination of the potter.  There was a horse
figurine by the same potter for sale at the same time, which I didn't purchase.

Finally, here are a couple ‘sports’, about which again I have little to no information.   The one on the left would appear to be modern (and bore a very modest price tag). The wacky cow on the right, which came from the UK via eBay, was called ‘Faience’ by the seller.  The flowers and leaves on its sides are raised, the lid is cut into the back (like my very early Whieldons), and the base bears a hand-done monogram of an overlapping T and R. It is certainly very different from any of the others.