Jonathan Horne
Triumphs and Tribulations—A Cautionary Tale

Ceramics in America 2014

Full Article
Contents
  • Figure 1
    Figure 1

    Medieval jug, Canterbury, England, 13th century. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 11 1/4". (Unless otherwise noted, all photos from author’s archives.) 

  • Figure 2
    Figure 2

    Medieval jug, Midlands, Eng­land, 1280–1320. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 13 7/16". (Courtesy, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)

  • Figure 3
    Figure 3

    Chamber pot, Harlow, Eng­land, ca. 1650. Lead-glazed earthenware. D. 7". Inscribed, in white slip under lead glaze: “BREAK ME NOT IN YOURE HAST FOR I TO NONE WILL GIVE DISTASTE.”

  • Figure 4
    Figure 4

    Jug, Harlow, England, ca. 1650. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 7". Inscribed: “BREAK ME NOT I PRAY IN HAST FOR I TO YOU WILL GIVE DESTAST BE MERRY AND WIES” (Courtesy, Museum of London.) This jug, recovered archaeologically in Harlow, Essex, was filed down, perhaps for repurposing as a vase. It bears a version of the same verse as the chamber pot illustrated in fig. 3. 

  • Figure 5
    Figure 5

    Bellarmine bottles, Woolwich, England, ca. 1660. Salt-glazed stoneware. H. 8 1/4". 

  • Figure 6
    Figure 6

    Bellarmine bottle, possibly Chelsea, England, ca. 1672. Salt-glazed stoneware. H. 8 7/8". (Chipstone Foundation.)

  • Figure 7
    Figure 7

    Pew group, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1750. Salt-glazed stoneware. H. 6 3/8". (Courtesy, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, C.6-1975.) The details are picked out in brown slip.

  • Figure 8
    Figure 8

    Pew group, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1750. White salt-glazed stoneware. Dimensions not recorded. (Courtesy, National Museum of American History.)

  • Figure 9
    Figure 9

    Chinese figure, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1750. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 4 1/2". (Courtesy, Colonial Williams­burg Foundation, Weldon Collection.)

  • Figure 10
    Figure 10

    Chinese figure, Jingdezhen, China, ca. 1740. Hard-paste porcelain. H. 3 1/2". (© The Trustees of the British Museum; photo © Trustees of the British Museum, PDF,A.495.)

  • Figure 11
    Figure 11

    Dish, Southwark, England, ca. 1660. Tin-glazed earthenware. D. 15 1/4". (Private collection.) 

  • Figure 12
    Figure 12

    Dish, Richard Newnham, Pickleherring Pottery, Pickleherring, England, 1657. Tin-glazed earthenware. D. 18 1/2". (Courtesy, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, C.57-1971.)

  • Figure 13
    Figure 13

    Tile panel, London, England, ca. 1720. Tin-glazed earthenware. Each tile approx. 5" square; overall panel 4' 6 1/2" x 2' 6". Approximately thirty blank tiles fill in for the missing ones.

  • Figure 14
    Figure 14

    The tile panel illustrated in fig. 13, fully reassembled. (Courtesy, Allen Gallery of the Curtis Museum, Hampshire.)

  • Figure 15
    Figure 15

    Pair of parrots, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1755. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 6". (Courtesy, Colonial Williams­burg Foundation, Weldon Collection.)

  • Figure 16
    Figure 16

    Pair of parrots, Johann Joachim Kändler (1706–1775), Meissen Porcelain Manu­factory, Leipzig, Germany, ca. 1745. Hard-paste porcelain. H. 7 1/4". (Courtesy, © Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by Mrs. O. J. Finney in memory of Oswald James Finney, C.4-1984.) 

  • Figure 17
    Figure 17

    Left: Gardener, Ralph Salt, England, ca. 1820. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 6 11/16". Mark, on reverse: SALT. Right: Shepherdess, England, 1979. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 5 5/8". Mark, on scroll on reverse: WALTON (Courtesy of The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.) 

  • Figure 18
    Figure 18

    Two pages from Old Staffordshire Pottery, William Kent, Burslem, England, 1955. William Kent produced the catalog to list the “Astbury” figures he offered for sale. The figures were based on older models. 

  • Figure 19
    Figure 19

    Shepherd group, Staffordshire, England, ca. 1820. Lead-glazed earthenware. H. 9 7/16". (Courtesy of The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.)