Torquay pottery

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A "mottoware" teapot made at Aller Vale, using the "Scandy" pattern Torquay Motto Pottery Aller Vale Scandy Pattern Small Teapot.jpg
A "mottoware" teapot made at Aller Vale, using the "Scandy" pattern

Torquay pottery or Torquay ware is pottery made in Torquay, Devon, England, using local clay, at one of fifteen or so local potteries chiefly serving the tourist trade, [1] [2] [3] [4] but also supplying high-end retailers such as Liberty of London. [3]

The commonest form was mottoware - pottery such as plates or jugs decorated with inspirational or humorous text, [4] often written in a Devon dialect, [2] and thus known as Devon mottoware. [5] Some items were produced in Cornish dialect, for "export" to, and sale in, Cornwall. [5] Novelty items with no functional use were also produced, but are rarer. [4]

The first pottery, the "Watcombe Terra Cotta Clay Company" [3] (later Watcombe Pottery; acquired in 1901 by the nearby Aller Vale Pottery), was established in 1875 by G. J. Allen, after he discovered a particularly fine clay in the grounds of Watcombe House. [3] [4] [6]

Plaque marking the site of Longpark Pottery Plaque at Longpark - geograph.org.uk - 1728780 (wire removed).jpg
Plaque marking the site of Longpark Pottery

Other potteries included the Longpark Pottery (1883; originally the "Longpark China and Terracotta Works" [6] ), in the Long Park district, which closed in 1957; [7] Lemon & Crute; Torquay Terra-Cotta Company; and the St. Marychurch Pottery. [3]

Notable potters included Blanche Georgiana Vulliamy.

Earthenware mug inscribed "For A Good Boy" Vintge Torquay Pottery Sailing Ship Motto Ware Mug " For A Good Boy" - 1.jpg
Earthenware mug inscribed "For A Good Boy"

A Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society, established in 1976, encourages the study and collection of such wares. [1] The society organised an exhibition, "Torquay Pottery: A Local Story" at Newton Abbot Town Museum in 2001. [8] a North American Torquay Society was formed in 1990, for the same purpose. [9]

Related Research Articles

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Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hornsea Pottery</span> Former pottery manufacturer in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Creamware</span> Cream-coloured, refined earthenware with a lead glaze over a pale body

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovey Tracey</span> Town in Devon, England

Bovey Tracey is a small town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". It is about 10 miles south-west of Exeter and lies on the A382 road, about halfway between Newton Abbot and Moretonhampstead. The village is at the centre of the electoral ward of Bovey. At the 2011 census the population of this ward was 7,721.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Studio pottery</span> Modern hand-made artistic pottery

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Barbotine is the French for ceramic slip, or a mixture of clay and water used for moulding or decorating pottery. In English the term is used for three different techniques of decorating pottery, though in all cases mainly for historical works. For clarity, these types are numbered here as A-C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torre railway station</span> Railway station in Devon, England

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Wemyss Ware was a line of pottery first produced in 1882 by Czech decorator Karel Nekola and Fife pottery-owner Robert Heron. The pottery took its name from the Wemyss family, titled incumbents of Wemyss Castle on the east coast of Fife, who were early and enthusiastic patrons of Nekola and Heron's ceramic creations. After being desirable in its own day, the pottery subsequently became extremely popular with collectors. Since 1985, the name has been used by the Griselda Hill Pottery in Ceres, Fife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teco pottery</span>

The American Terracotta Tile and Ceramic Company was founded in 1881; originally as Spring Valley Tile Works; in Terra Cotta, Illinois, between Crystal Lake, Illinois and McHenry, Illinois near Chicago by William Day Gates. It became the country's first manufactury of architectural terracotta in 1889. The production consisted of drain tile, brick, chimney tops, finials, urns, and other economically fireproof building materials. Gates used the facilities to experiment with clays and glazes in an effort to design a line of art pottery which led to the introduction of Teco Pottery. American Terra Cotta's records are housed at the University of Minnesota and include original architectural drawings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coffinswell</span> Village in Devon, England

Coffinswell is a small village in South Devon, England, just off the A380, the busy Newton Abbot to Torquay road. It lies within Teignbridge District Council.

The South Devon Football League, known under a sponsorship arrangement as the TCSSDFL, is a football competition based in England. Its top division, the Premier Division, sits outside of the English football league system although it is a feeder to the Devon Football League which sits at Step 11 of this system. There are five divisions in the league. The SDFL's primary cup competition is the Herald Cup. It is a simple knockout competition featuring all SDFL clubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brannam Pottery</span> Pottery in Barnstaple, Devon

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aller Vale Pottery</span>

The Aller Vale Pottery was formed in 1865 on the northern edge of the village of Kingskerswell in South Devon, England on the likely site of a medieval pottery. It became well known for the creation of art pottery at the end of the 19th century and gained Royal patronage, but declined thereafter, closing on this site in about 1924. The name continued in use until 1962 related to the production of mass-produced motto ware for the tourist market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladding, McBean</span> Industrial ceramics company in Lincoln, California

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bovey Tracey Potteries</span>

The Bovey Tracey Potteries were a collection of potteries in the Bovey Tracey area of Devon, based on the clay from the Bovey Basin. Pottery making developed in the area developed on an industrial scale from around 1750 and lasted for around 200 years under various owners and names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American art pottery</span>

American art pottery refers to aesthetically distinctive hand-made ceramics in earthenware and stoneware from the period 1870-1950s. Ranging from tall vases to tiles, the work features original designs, simplified shapes, and experimental glazes and painting techniques. Stylistically, most of this work is affiliated with the modernizing Arts and Crafts (1880-1910), Art Nouveau (1890–1910), or Art Deco (1920s) movements, and also European art pottery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Michell (studio potter)</span> English potter (1947–2018)

Roger Michell was a British studio potter, artist, illustrator, poet and writer. Although foremost a potter, his deep insight, curiosity and his singular skills enabled him to work across a range of disciplines. He was a prolific reader, often reading several books a week. His mind was constantly working on future projects, he had a vivid and complex imagination which was evident in his work. He was most known for designing Walking Ware, a tea set on legs with over-sized Mary Jane shoes. During the nineteen seventies and eighties, thousands of these tea sets were sold, either hand made from Lustre Pottery studio or manufactured by Carltonware in Stoke-on-Trent.

References

  1. 1 2 "Website for collectors of Torquay Pottery" . Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Torquay Potteries". Studio Pottery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Torquay Pottery". The Antique Shoppe. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Westpoint 32". Bargain Hunt. Series 50. Episode 8. 24 March 2020. BBC Television . Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Torquay Devon Mottoware". Studio Valuations. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  6. 1 2 "Potteries in Torquay area". Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  7. "Longpark Torquay Ware". Gunns Gallery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  8. Torquay Pottery: A Local Story: An Exhibition At The Newton Abbot Town Museum Opened Jointly By Mr Ian Green. Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. 2001.
  9. "Torquay Pottery". The North American Torquay Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.

Further reading