The attribution of actual pieces to his factory has long been uncertain, and terms such as "Whieldon-type" are now often used for a variety of different types of wares. Other terms reflecting the lack of certainty are "Whieldon ware" as a type, and "Astbury-Whieldon", used for early Staffordshire figures, where the two were pioneers. He worked in earthenware and stoneware, using a variety of types of body and ceramic glazes. He is especially associated with agate ware and tortoiseshell ware; in both cases Whieldon refined the techniques used, and made the types more popular.
Whieldon is first recorded as a potter in 1744 when he married Anne Shaw at Barlaston Church. Little is known about his early career and it is not known where he served his apprenticeship.[1] Anne died in 1757 and in 1758 Whieldon married Alice Parrot, the daughter of a notable family from Newcastle-under-Lyme. Josiah Wedgwood recorded how Alice later died very suddenly at church one Sunday night in 1772.[2] Whieldon married a third time in 1776, marrying Sarah Turner, who was from London society, although there was a family connection, as yet unknown, with one John Turner of Lane End, Staffordshire, a potter. James Christie, founder of the auctioneering house of Pall Mall, St James's, was a signatory to the marriage settlement.[3]
There were six children from the marriage to Sarah Turner including one daughter and five sons.[4]
Whieldon's Account Book provides much information for his business during the period 1749 to 1762 and from 1754 to 1759 when he was in partnership with Josiah Wedgwood, but beyond that there is little documentary evidence of his family or his life save for the normal run of parish records and occasional mentions in the private correspondence of Josiah Wedgwood and others.[5]
Thomas Whieldon became very wealthy as a result of his business acumen but preferred to live next door to his Fenton Vivian factory, at Whieldon Grove, a fine house from which he was able to see his works. He continued to live there after his retirement in 1780, when he demolished his factory and planted an ornamental garden on the site, as none of his children wished to take on the business. In 1786 he was appointed High Sheriff of Staffordshire, underlining his social position, and in 1789 he was granted a coat of arms.
He died in 1795, surviving his former partner Josiah Wedgwood by just a few weeks, and was buried in the parish church of Stoke-upon-Trent.
Whieldon the potter
At some time between 1742 and 1747 Whieldon became a tenant at Fenton Vivian[6] and in 1748 he bought the freehold. He was to remain at this site throughout his career. By 1750 he had bought an additional pottery factory at Fenton Low but this was let to tenants and there is no evidence he ever used the factory at Fenton Low himself.[7] Archaeological finds of sherds at Fenton Low cannot be taken as evidence of Whieldon's early production therefore.
Whieldon's high reputation enabled him to attract into his employment some of the most important figures in the early history of Staffordshire pottery. These included Aaron Wood, the most prominent ceramic block-cutter or modeller of the day; Josiah Spode, who went on to found his own renowned ceramics factory and William Greatbatch, another prominent figure. From 1754 to 1759 Whieldon enjoyed a partnership with the young Josiah Wedgwood.[8]
A block mould by Aaron Wood, 1757–65 (the mould is shown rear left, with a similar finished sauceboat in the foreground). Aaron Wood, who formerly worked for Thomas Whieldon, was one of the leading block-makers of the time. On display at the V&A Museum, London, Room 138.
Thomas Whieldon was recognised by his contemporaries as one of the most successful potters in Britain and one author has suggested that, aside from Wedgwood's family members who were already established in business, "there was probably no one who could have taught him so much about the innovative techniques that were already changing an ancient craft into a substantial industry."[9]
Other writers have pointed to a possible lack of innovation, on the contrary: according to Brian Dolan, Whieldon's production appears to have altered little between 1759, when Wedgwood left him, and 1780 when he retired.[10]
Robin Hildyard has said, less generously, that Whieldon lacked creative ambition and "was content to mass-produce unadventurous wares for general consumption", providing Wedgwood only with "an object-lesson in how to acquire wealth with a minimum of risk."[11]
Wedgwood and Whieldon: the partnership 1754–1759
Wedgwood and Whieldon cauliflower teapot
Thomas Whieldon took Josiah Wedgwood into partnership at his factory at Fenton Vivian in 1754. By then Whieldon was 35 years old and had already achieved financial success and a considerable reputation whilst Wedgwood was just 24 years old; Whieldon had clearly recognised his great potential.[12]
Whieldon's pottery production is described by Josiah Wedgwood in his contemporary Experiment Book where there is a wealth of manuscript material on the partnership.[13] Here Wedgwood explains that by 1759 there was an urgent need to improve the quality of lead-glazed creamware which was the principle ware being produced by Whieldon at the time. Prices for this type of ware were rapidly declining and the quality of production was suffering as a result.[14]
It is likely that Wedgwood's work with Whieldon was largely experimental and concerned with improving the factory's wares and looking to the future. This set Wedgwood on a course of experimentation that lead on to his future fame.
"These considerations induced me to try for some more solid improvement, as well in the Body, as the Glazes, the Colours, & the Forms, of the articles of our manufacture."[15]
Wedgwood was brought into partnership to address these problems and was mainly engaged in improving the lead glazes for creamware. Creamware at that time had already achieved an acceptable white body but no one had succeeded in producing a transparent lead glaze.[16] By 1759, when Wedgwood decided to leave and set up his own independent business, he had already made his first successful experimental glazes.
Even after Wedgwood had established his own business, he continued to buy-in wares from Whieldon, usually biscuitware for later decoration and glazing, to meet demand, when needed. He also frequently bought wares from William Greatbatch, whom he knew from his time with Whieldon.[17]
The wares
Archaeological excavations at the Fenton Vivian site conducted by Arnold Mountford on behalf of Stoke City Museum between 1968 and 1970[18] found evidence of salt-glazed stoneware, tortoiseshell ware, agateware, red stoneware, glazed red earthenware, blackware and a small amount of plain creamware, all dating from the time of Whieldon's partnership with Wedgwood. There were also a few fragments of painted creamware, depicting Chinese-inspired figures and flowers, of a type rarely associated with Whieldon.[19]
Whieldon kept an Account and Memorandum Book[20] and his records for 1749–53 show a wide range of pottery goods produced, including coffeepots, teapots, punch pots, bowls, ewers, sugar dishes, plates, tureens and ‘toys’ or trinkets.[21] There is evidence of a range of figures being produced but not in great quantities.[22] Forms were sometimes based on contemporary silver and pewter shapes, and were both press-moulded and slipcast.[23]
None of Whieldon's pottery was marked, making attribution difficult. The shards excavated at the Fenton Vivian site are a vital source of information allowing some attribution by typology. It was common practice for factories in the 18th century to share or copy designs, or to buy and sell ceramic block-moulds, so care has to be taken in ascribing particular pots to particular factories in the absence of any other supporting evidence. Finishes such as spouts, handles and knops can provide vital clues.
Tortoiseshell ware
Tortoiseshell Ware plate attrributed to the Whieldon factory, c. 1765Thomas Whieldon: A tortoiseshell-ware plate, possibly by the Thomas Whieldon factory, c. 1760. A similar pattern was known to be used by William Greatbatch for production of transfer-printed creamware in the 1770s (see below). Private Collection.
Tortoiseshell ware is an earthenware, often creamware, that is decorated with a limited, rather dark, palette to imitate tortoiseshell, as fashionable material in the period. It was made before Whieldon, by William Greatbatch and many others in Staffordshire and also Liverpool and Leeds. The original technique was to sprinkle the unfired (or green) wares with "powdered lead oxide and calcined flint with a trace of manganese oxide". This produced the colour effect within the glaze.[24]
Whieldon's innovation, about 1750, was his "first important contribution to the pottery trade".[25] The pigments were applied under the glaze by painting or sponging with metallic oxides, and then a transparent glaze was applied. During the glost firing, the colours flow to produce the tortoiseshell effect.[26]
Teapot, c. 1755
Tortoiseshell wares were first mentioned by Thomas Whieldon in his Account and Memorandum Book of 1749.[20] In his Experiment Book,[13] Josiah Wedgwood states that in 1759 tortoiseshell ware was the second most important ware at the Whieldon factory, but the market was declining:
“[…] But as no improvement had been made in this branch for several years, the country was grown weary of it; and though the price had been lowered from time to time, in order to increase the sale, the expedient did not answer, and something new was wanted, to give a little spirit to the business."[27]
Historically, tortoiseshell wares have come to be associated almost exclusively with Thomas Whieldon, however, Pat Halfpenny warned that:
“The ‘Whieldon’ label has inhibited scholarly research and limited our understanding of the pottery production dates in North Staffordshire.”[28]
"Many of the wares manufactured by Whieldon are of types now known to have been made by Greatbatch and have been found on the Greatbatch site. Whieldon ware, or Whieldon-type ware are terms which are widely accepted in describing a variety of ceramics, particularly tortoiseshell wares, but which lead to problems in any objective research into the pottery of the period."[29]
In the absence of any supporting information, caution is therefore needed in ascribing any particular tortoiseshell wares to Thomas Whieldon.[30][31]
Workforce
In the 18th century it was common for whole families, including children, to be working in pottery manufacture. Workers were engaged, for example, as specialist potters, painters or ‘oven’ (or kiln) men. Whieldon had an exceptionally large workforce for the period and expected ‘scrupulous obedience, respectful behaviour and strict punctuality’. Workers were organised into teams and well paid, with skilled workers’ pay being linked to productivity.[32]
Whieldon was remarkable for being the first employer in the potteries to offer rented accommodation for his workers, which he did as early as 1750 with eight houses.[33] Later, Josiah Wedgwood took up the idea of a community for his workforce at the Etruria works when he founded the village of Etruria in 1769, consisting of 42 dwellings and an inn.[34]
A Turnpike Petition dated 1763 revealed that at that time there were 150 separate pottery businesses operating in the Staffordshire Potteries employing as many as 7,000 people.[35]
Potters working with lead glazes were exposed to lead poisoning and the dangers of serious health problems.[36]
Transportation
As the markets for Staffordshire pottery grew during the 18th century, the need for improved transportation links became more pressing. In the early part of the 18th century, goods were generally sold locally and transported by 'crate-men' who carried goods in large panniers on their backs. Mules were sometimes used instead. Local roads were so poor that mules and men were likely to stumble with their heavy loads into potholes. Some of these potholes were two feet deep or more and were hazardous to life.[37]
Originally, all the main routes by which goods might leave the Potteries involved a combination of road and river transport out to the ports and the coastal trade routes. Road journeys by these routes varied between 20 and 40 miles in length and progress was slow. Because roads were in a poor state before the introduction of turnpikes, many of the finished goods were broken in transit, substantially reducing the profitability of pottery production.[37]
By the 1750s there was a strong London market for goods and some trade with Europe. Whieldon, Spode and Wedgwood were amongst those who subscribed to the first turnpike roads in the neighbourhood. Josiah Wedgwood went on to revolutionise transportation within the Potteries by commissioning the first canals from 1766.
Forgery
Figure, c. 1750, of lady with pannier dress.
Because of the popularity of Whieldon-style tortoiseshell wares and of historic Staffordshire pottery in general, and the high prices they fetch on the market, there has long been a problem of forgery. In more modern times, forgery of Whieldon wares dates back at least until the 1920s when his work commanded high prices.[38]
In 1991 a lawsuit brought a forgery to light when the authenticity of a Whieldon-type candelabrum was called into question. This piece had been vetted by experts before being bought from an English dealer on behalf of an American collector. However, the use of thermoluminescence dating showed that it was modern.[39]
Enduring reputation
Thomas Whieldon's works have long been treasured by collectors and have realised high prices for at least the past century.
In 2011, Edmund de Waal selected a Thomas Whieldon teapot of 1760 for his celebration of the potter's art.[40]
↑ See for example the four tortoiseshell-ware plates illustrated in British Ceramics 1675–1825 (2015). The Mint Museum in association with D Giles Limited, London, p.61.
1 2 Reilly, Robin (1992). Josiah Wedgwood, 1730–1795. London: Macmillan. Pp. 21–22
↑ Wallace Elliot, "Reproductions and Fakes of English Eighteenth-Century Ceramics," in Transactions of the English Ceramics Circle, Vol. 2 No. 7 (1939)
Josiah Wedgwood was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the industrialisation of the manufacture of European pottery.
Faience or faïence is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major advance in the history of pottery. The invention seems to have been made in Iran or the Middle East before the ninth century. A kiln capable of producing temperatures exceeding 1,000 °C (1,830 °F) was required to achieve this result, the result of millennia of refined pottery-making traditions. The term is now used for a wide variety of pottery from several parts of the world, including many types of European painted wares, often produced as cheaper versions of porcelain styles.
Josiah Spode was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze transfer printing in Staffordshire in 1781–84, and with the definition and introduction in c. 1789–91 of the improved formula for bone china which thereafter remained the standard for all English wares of this kind.
Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide success of the English pottery industry in the 19th century: transfer printing on earthenware and bone china.
The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of ceramic production in the early 17th century, due to the local availability of clay, salt, lead and coal.
English delftware is tin-glazed pottery made in the British Isles between about 1550 and the late 18th century. The main centres of production were London, Bristol and Liverpool with smaller centres at Wincanton, Glasgow and Dublin. English tin-glazed pottery was called "galleyware" or "galliware" and its makers "gallypotters" until the early 18th century; it was given the name delftware after the tin-glazed pottery from the Netherlands.
Creamware is a cream-coloured refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body, known in France as faïence fine, in the Netherlands as Engels porselein, and in Italy as terraglia inglese. It was created about 1750 by the potters of Staffordshire, England, who refined the materials and techniques of salt-glazed earthenware towards a finer, thinner, whiter body with a brilliant glassy lead glaze, which proved so ideal for domestic ware that it supplanted white salt-glaze wares by about 1780. It was popular until the 1840s.
Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Pottery decorated using this technique is known as transferware or transfer ware.
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapidly successful and was soon one of the largest manufacturers of Staffordshire pottery, "a firm that has done more to spread the knowledge and enhance the reputation of British ceramic art than any other manufacturer", exporting across Europe as far as Russia, and to the Americas. It was especially successful at producing fine earthenware and stoneware that were accepted as equivalent in quality to porcelain but were considerably cheaper.
John Astbury (1688–1743) was an English potter credited with innovations and improvements in earthenware associated with Staffordshire figures.
Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, decorative techniques, and "a glorious pot-pourri of styles - Rococo shapes with Oriental motifs, Classical shapes with Medieval designs and Art Nouveau borders were among the many wonderful concoctions". As well as pottery vessels and sculptures, the firm was a leading manufacturer of tiles and other architectural ceramics, producing work for both the Houses of Parliament and United States Capitol.
Sprigging or sprigged decoration is a technique for decorating pottery with low relief shapes made separately from the main body and applied to it before firing. Usually thin press moulded shapes are applied to greenware or bisque. The resulting pottery is termed sprigged ware, and the added piece is a "sprig". The technique may also be described by terms such as "applied relief decoration", especially in non-European pottery.
John Philip Elers and his brother David Elers were Dutch silversmiths who came to England in the 1680s and turned into potters. The Elers brothers were important innovators in English pottery, bringing redware or unglazed stoneware to Staffordshire pottery. Arguably they were the first producers of "fine pottery" in North Staffordshire, and although their own operations were not financially successful, they seem to have had a considerable influence on the following generation, who led the explosive growth of the industry in the 18th century.
The Ridgway family was one of the important dynasties manufacturing Staffordshire pottery, with a large number of family members and business names, over a period from the 1790s to the late 20th century. In their heyday in the mid-19th century there were several different potteries run by different branches of the family. Most of their wares were earthenware, but often of very high quality, but stoneware and bone china were also made. Many earlier pieces were unmarked and identifying them is difficult or impossible. Typically for Staffordshire, the various businesses, initially set up as partnerships, changed their official names rather frequently, and often used different trading names, so there are a variety of names that can be found.
A potbank is a colloquial name for a pottery factory in North Staffordshire used to make bone china, earthenware and sanitaryware.
The Wood family was an English family of Staffordshire potters. Among its members were Ralph Wood I (1715–1772), the "miller of Burslem," his son Ralph Wood II (1748–1795), and his grandson Ralph Wood III (1774–1801). Ralph I was the brother of Aaron Wood, father of Enoch Wood. Through his mother, Ralph Wood II was related to Josiah Wedgwood.
The Turner family of potters was active in Staffordshire, England 1756-1829. Their manufactures have been compared favourably with, and sometimes confused with, those of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. Josiah Wedgwood was both a friend and a commercial rival of John Turner the elder, the first notable potter in the family.
William Greatbatch was a noted potter at Fenton, Staffordshire, from the mid-eighteenth to the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. Fenton was one of the six towns of the Staffordshire Potteries, which were joined in the early 20th century to become the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
Staffordshire figures are a type of popular pottery figurine made in England from the 18th century onward. Many Staffordshire figures made from 1740 to 1900 were produced by small potteries and makers' marks are generally absent. Most Victorian figures were designed to stand on a shelf or mantlepiece and are therefore only modelled and decorated where visible from the front and sides. These are known as 'flatbacks'. They were shaped either by press moulding or slip casting.
The original Castleford Pottery operated from c. 1793 to 1820 in Castleford in Yorkshire, England. It was owned by David Dunderdale, and is especially known for making "a smear-glazed, finely moulded, white stoneware". This included feldspar, giving it a degree of opacity unusual in a stoneware. The designs typically included relief elements, and edges of the main shape and the panels into which the body was divided were often highlighted with blue overglaze enamel. Most pieces were teapots or accompanying milk jugs, sugar bowls and slop bowls, and the shapes often derived from those used in contemporary silversmithing.
Barker, David (1991, reprinted 1999). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. ISBN978 0 9512140 3 9
Dolan, Brian (2004). Josiah Wedgwood: Entrepreneur to the Enlightenment. London: HarperCollins. ISBN0 00 713901 2
Halfpenny, Pat, "Thomas Whieldon: his Life and Work", English Ceramic Circle Transactions, vol. 16, No. 2 (1997)
Hildyard, Robin (2005). English Pottery 1620–1840. London: V&A Publications. ISBN1 85177 442 4
Hughes, G Bernard, The Country Life Pocket Book of China, 1965, Country Life Ltd
Mountford, Arnold (1972), "Thomas Whieldon's Manufactory at Fenton Vivian" in English Ceramic Circle Transactions, vol. 8, pt. 2, pp.164–82
Reilly, Robin (1992). Josiah Wedgwood, 1730–1795. London: Macmillan. ISBN0 333 51041 0 For Whieldon, please refer in particular to Chapter 3, 'Wedgwood with Whieldon', pp.18–24.
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