Jane and Keith Riley have lived in Chippy for many years but are fiercely proud of their Yorkshire roots. Recently they mounted an exhibition - UP NORTH - with a fine collection of furniture and pottery from the North of England. Jane introduces us here to Creamware - a type of pottery made in Staffordshire, Leeds, Liverpool and Bristol in the late 18th C.

 

My parents had made the decision to move from our home in the comfortable, mild Cheshire plain back to their roots in the then old West Riding of Yorkshire. The place they chose was a solid millstone grit farmhouse in the upper reaches of the Ryburn valley where the high, bleak Saddleworth Moor separates the old Yorkshire wool towns of Halifax, Huddersfield and Bradford from the Victorian cotton kings of Oldham and Rochdale. But their upland hamlet was set in that older landscape of long low sheep farms with a barn attached under one heavy stone roof and tall weaver’s cottages with their long rows of mullioned windows set high up under the eaves to catch all the available light in the steep sided valleys where dusk comes very early. Set amongst these hard working homesteads is a rich sprinkling of fine old wool merchant’s houses set into the lee of hills away from the ever blowing westerly winds. It was in this landscape that I first encountered Miss Maud. Across the lane and down a narrow track winding between dry stone walls nestled Miss Maud’s cottage, a long, low farmhouse under its stone roof dipping into the hillside behind and just beyond her humble farm lay Upper Cockroft, a sturdy, gabled Tudor yeoman’s house. Miss Maud was in her early nineties then and her passion was cats.

The house was known as The Cattery and they were everywhere, roaming the lanes, sunning themselves on the low roofs on those rare, special summer days when the air was still, the skylarks rose high above the moor singing and the view off hills and distant valleys stretched for miles under an ever changing sky. The house was a complete jumble of possessions from a long lifetime of frugality and hard work with very little ever being thrown away. Every deep window ledge, shelf and work surface was packed with lifetimes necessities. The occasional visitor rarely got beyond the front door leading straight into the dark, low kitchen cum living room but it was on a visit to deliver letters wrongly posted at our house that I gained a glimpse into this other world. Amongst all the piles of every day objects jostling for space what caught my eye was an assortment of old pottery, mostly plain cream , some chipped and stained, some with small painted patterns of small flowers and roses, and one jug with a verse and name on it sitting on the high stone shelf over the fireplace. A variety of old sauces and plates containing tit bits for the cats punctuated the crowded surfaces, some on the flagstone floor, others on the kitchen table or tucked under a chair. Again one or two of these cats dishes were the same delicate creamy colour if a little stained and chipped and not especially clean! This was my introduction to the elegant world of creamware pottery.

 

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Creamware is a light-bodied English earthenware covered with a tin slip glaze. Wedgwood the most famous producer of creamware, which he called Queen’s ware, developed the technique of producing relatively cheap light weight earthenware which imitated porcelain in 1765. Creamware was first made in raised patterns of basket weave and in pierced and perforated leaf. Wedgwood made some of the finest pierced creamware. The pierced creamware of Leeds is considered as fine as or finer than that of Wedgwood. The perforations are made by hand and the hearts, diamonds, ovals, and squares are more interesting than the perforations on Wedgwood's pieces, but Wedgwood pieces usually have a finer shape and the glaze is creamy, while Leeds has the characteristic greenish glaze. Centrepieces, chestnut, and fruit bowls of pierced creamware are rare and expensive. In 1756, John Sadler of Liverpool applied transfer printing to Liverpool Delft tiles and other Liverpool ware, and by 1765 Wedgwood was sending his Queensware for Sadler to print. At first the designs were printed in black and were similar to the designs printed on tiles.  The borders were moulded or impressed and often a flower border was painted by hand in addition to the transfer. Similar designs of transfer printing were also done by Sadler and Green for Leeds Pottery. Richard Frank and Joseph Ring of Bristol employed a workman from Staffordshire to assist in the manufacture of creamware. Queensware was also made in Liverpool in 1773 at Okill & Company. From about 1783 through to 1830, the popular black-transfer bowls, mugs, and jugs with patriotic designs were made. These included portraits, battle scenes of the War of 1812 and early sailing ships.Transfers were also made with Liverpool views. This ware is very popular with present-day collectors, and for this reason it is more expensive than some of the earlier creamware.

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All the pieces shown above are part of the collection in the exhibition "Up North" - at Key Antiques in October. Brief details from the top are:

1. Printed Creamware Jug. "Success to the Pilchard Industry" Probably Liverpool.
    Late 18thC  14.5cms high
2. Pierced Creamware Dessert Plates Yorkshire or Staffordshire.
    c 1780-90  9.5ins
3. Leeds Creamware Tea Canister. c1780 3.5 ins high
4. Leeds Pottery Oval Stand. Pierced and moulded. c1780-90
5. Liverpool Creamware Mug. "Signals at Bilston Hill" Late 18thC 15.5 cms high
6. Sunderland Creamware Mug Dawson & Co Low Ford Late 18thC 14cms high
7. Creamware Jug Yorkshire or Staffordshire.  c1780-90 13 cms high