Jug by William Greatbatch, c. 1770–1782 in the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.
William Greatbatch (circa 1735 - 29 April 1813[1]) 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.
North Staffordshire became a centre of ceramic production in the early 17th century, due to the local availability of clay, salt, lead and coal. The nature and scale of local pottery production changed dramatically during the course of the 18th century as part of the Industrial Revolution.
Greatbatch served as an apprentice to Thomas Whieldon at Fenton Vivian before setting up as an independent manufacturer. He developed and supplied wares to Josiah Wedgwood during a business partnership lasting some twenty years and later, following a bankruptcy, worked directly for Wedgwood at the Etruria works until his retirement.
Greatbatch was especially important as a designer and modeller of complicated patterns for tableware shapes, designing and making the moulds for Wedgwood and other potteries.
A typical William Greatbatch teapot, depicting 'The Fortune Teller'. Creamware with overglaze printed and painted decoration. c. 1778–1782.
Personal life and antecedents
Aurora teapot, 1760s, hand-painted overglaze enamels over transfer-printed black.
The exact date and place of William Greatbatch's birth have not been established. It is thought that he was born around 1735 and the surname Greatbatch suggests a local Staffordshire origin for the family.
Writing in 1829, Simeon Shaw stated that Greatbatch's father was a farmer at Berryhill who supplied coals to the pottery manufacturers of the area, including Thomas Whieldon,[2] but modern scholars have considered this to be unsupported by evidence.[3]
On 26 March 1759 Greatbatch married Sarah Simpkin and they had three sons, Hugh, William and Richard. The two eldest sons went on the work in the pottery business.
Career as a potter
William Greatbatch was apprenticed to Thomas Whieldon at Fenton Vivian, possibly in 1753. Whieldon was one of the most prolific and influential potters of the day and Greatbatch's apprenticeship would have offered many opportunities. Greatbatch was a highly skilled and innovative modeller and followed in the footsteps of Aaron Wood, one of the greatest Staffordshire modellers who had left Whieldon's employment a few years previously.[4] Greatbatch first met Josiah Wedgwood when apprenticed to Whieldon, during a time when Whieldon and Wedgwood were in business partnership (1754 to 1759).[5]
William Greatbatch left Whieldon's employment sometime before 1762 and possibly as early as 1760.[6]
He was confident enough in his mid-twenties to set up an independent business at Lower Lane, Fenton. Here, he enjoyed a business arrangement with Josiah Wedgwood from at least 1762, supplying Wedgwood with a wide range of pottery wares as well as block moulds. William Greatbatch was a skilled modeller, designer and maker of block moulds for the more elaborate types of ware which needed to be press-moulded or slip-cast.[7][8]
(Rear left): Block mould for a sauceboat by Aaron Wood, 1757–65. In front is a finished vessel from a similar mould. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Room 138.
As well as working for Wedgwood, Greatbatch also designed, manufactured and sold wares in his own right for the following twenty years.
Bankruptcy
The London Gazette dated 12 to 16 February 1782 carried a notice of William Greatbatch's bankruptcy, the reasons for which are not known.[9][10] It is unclear what happened immediately following his vacation of the Lower Lane site by 1783, however, by 1786 he is recorded as being in the direct employment of Josiah Wedgwood at the Etruria works, holding an unspecified senior position. It is possible he was taken on as general manager when Wedgwood's cousin Thomas Wedgwood left around the same time (1788) intending to establish his own works (though Thomas died shortly afterwards).[11] On his bankruptcy the pottery works were taken over by the landlord, William Baker of Fenton House, who established his own pottery on the site.[12]
Retirement and death
Greatbatch continued in this position until his retirement around the year 1807, aged about 72, when his work notes cease. He enjoyed an unusually generous pension thereafter, on the instructions of Wedgwood who had pre-deceased him in 1795, as well as the rent-free use of a substantial house owned by Wedgwood, in recognition of his high regard.
Josiah Wedgwood: Sauceboat c. 1760. Cream-coloured earthenware, moulded & glazed. The model by William Greatbatch was supplied to Wedgwood. British Museum MLA Pottery Cat. H4
The exact date of death was not recorded but burial records show he was interred on 29 April 1813 in the churchyard of St. Peter ad Vincula in the parish of Stoke upon Trent.
The wares
Greatbatch is best known as a producer of creamware, and finished wares were either finished with transparent glaze or were hand painted or, after 1770, had transfer-printed decoration applied under the glaze.
Creamwares included the tortoiseshell wares, and a variety of moulded and colour-glazed wares such as the cauliflower wares.
Pearlware was also produced from around 1775. This is closely related to creamware (but not used synonymously by experts). Pearlware uses a china glaze which is a lead glaze with a blue tint resulting from the addition of a minute quantity of cobalt to the recipe.[13] Often the same designs were used in production of both creamware and pearlware.
Wares could also be decoratively turned by lathe, or rouletted for effect; sponged or painted with colour either under-glaze or over-glaze or slip decorated (at this period this would mean marbled). Applied relief decoration was also common at least until around 1770.[14]
Greatbatch produced a wide range of domestic wares, including teapots, coffee pots, cups and saucers, bowls, dishes and plates amongst others. The invoices for supply of wares to Wedgwood suggest there were probably at least 60 different models in production at any one time, though the type of ware (e.g., creamware or red stoneware) is not specified on these lists.[15]
Greatbatch was an expert modeller and maker of block moulds for the production of wares and often produced these for Wedgwood and others.[16]
Certain types of pottery were popular and produced by many manufacturers of the time, and were commonly traded amongst each other for business reasons, so it is not always possible to say which manufacturer made any particular piece. Minute examination of form in remaining sherds found on site – whether handles, spouts or decorations – have allowed some unique Greatbatch features to be recorded (see Typology (Archaeology)).
Of all the types produced, the moulded creamware Fruit Basket Ware type has now been shown to be uniquely the work of Greatbatch.[17] This fine type included tea and coffee wares, canisters, cups, jugs and plates, each with a distinctive design of a band of woven basketwork, above which is a trellis band with fruit of various sorts piled into the basket.
Tortoiseshell wares and Thomas Whieldon
Tortoiseshell wares are those that have been decorated by the application of coloured metallic oxides prepared as slips and applied to the biscuit body of a pot either by sponge or by brush. These were then covered by a transparent lead-glaze and fired a second time (known as glaze or glost firing).
Historically, tortoiseshell wares have come to be associated almost exclusively with Thomas Whieldon, however, in his 1991 study, Staffordshire ceramics expert David Barker states:
"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."[18]
Examples of mid-18th century Staffordshire earthenware with glazes stained by underglaze pigments. Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Room 138
The Fenton site, described below, contained many examples of tortoiseshell wares from the Greatbatch factory from throughout the 1770s.
Archaeology
The discovery, early in 1978, of a quantity of 18th century factory waste material in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, unexpectedly brought the name of William Greatbatch to the attention of ceramics students.[19] The significance was first recognised by ceramics expert Donald Towner and the site was then excavated by David Barker on behalf of the City Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. An exceptionally large waste tip was uncovered containing layers of pottery showing the various types of wares produced by the Greatbatch works over a period of twenty years from 1762 to 1782.[20]
The site of Greatbatch's factory was some 100 metres away. This was close to the works owned by Thomas Whieldon with whom Greatbatch served his apprenticeship, at Fenton Vivian. Thanks to these excavations, Greatbatch's products have become the best documented of all the wares of the period.[21]
Barker, David (1991, reprinted 1999). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. 283 pp. ISBN9780951214039. The major monograph available on the work of William Greatbatch, this is now the standard reference work.
Barker, David (1991). Beneath the Six Towns: The Archaeology of the Staffordshire Potteries. City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. ISBN9780905080932.
Shaw, Simeon (1829). History of the Staffordshire Potteries. Hanley, Staffordshire.
Related Research Articles
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.
Thomas Whieldon was an English potter who played a leading role in the development of Staffordshire pottery.
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 by the company of the same name, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two extremely important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide success of the English pottery industry in the century to follow.
The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Stoke and Tunstall, which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent 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.
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.
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.
Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of English pottery. From the start, the backbone of the business was a wide range of utilitarian wares, mostly stonewares, including storage jars, tankards and the like, and later extending to drain pipes, lavatories, water filters, electrical porcelain and other technical ceramics. From 1853 to 1901, its wares were marked Doulton & Co., then from 1901, when a royal warrant was given, Royal Doulton.
Thomas Minton (1765–1836) was an English potter. He founded Thomas Minton & Sons in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, which grew into a major ceramic manufacturing company with an international reputation.
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.
A potbank is a colloquial name for a pottery factory in North Staffordshire used to make bone china, earthenware and sanitaryware.
Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take varied forms, including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is a visual art. While some ceramics are considered fine art, such as pottery or sculpture, most are considered to be decorative, industrial or applied art objects. Ceramic art can be created by one person or by a group, in a pottery or a ceramic factory with a group designing and manufacturing the artware.
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.
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 pew group is a rare type of pottery Staffordshire figure, apparently made only in the 1740s. Typically it has two or three "rigidly posed" figures sitting on a high-backed bench, often with a woman in the centre; great attention is paid to details of hair and clothing. The setting is not church, as the usual name suggests, but a comfortable home or inn, where high-backed settles were a common piece of furniture. Details are picked out in dark brown or black glaze, and dogs and musical instruments may be depicted, or the gentlemen may be taking snuff.
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). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 64
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 58
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 167
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 187
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 88
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 96
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P. 241
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P.82
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P.67
↑ Barker, David (1991). Beneath the Six Towns: The Archaeology of the Staffordshire Potteries. City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent. ISBN9780905080932.
↑ Barker, David (1991). William Greatbatch: A Staffordshire Potter. London: Jonathan Horne. P.102
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
