THE

DELLA ROBBIA POTTERYBIRKENHEAD 1894–1906

PETER HYLAND

1. Introduction

2. The Backgrounda. The Rathbones of Liverpool

b. Philip Rathbone (1828–1895)

c. Art and Applied Art on Merseyside

i. The growth of art appreciation

ii. Art education in Liverpool

iii. The Liverpool Art Congress 1888

iv. Applied art: the Art Sheds

v. The Laird School of Art

vi. Philip Rathbone’s Role in the Arts

d. Harold Rathbone, the Artist

i. Upbringing

ii. Art education

iv John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites

v. Ford Madox Brown

vi. The 1890s

e. The Arts and Crafts Movement

i. The Ruskinian philosophy

ii. The Art Guilds and Craft Schools

iii. The Keswick School of Industrial Art

3. The Founding of the DellaRobbia Potterya. Della Robbia Ware and its origins

b. The Growing Fashion

c. The New Company

i. Della Robbia Pottery Limited

ii. Choice of name

iii. Subscribers and shareholders

iv. Banking

iv. Press reaction

e. The Della Robbia Pottery Council

i. Council members

ii. G.F. Watts

iii. William Holman Hunt

f. Birkenhead

i. Town development

ii. Practical advantages

g. The Pottery’s Aims

i. Main objects; School of the Mersey

ii. Precedents

4. Premises, Methods andWorkforcea. The Pottery premises

i. Exterior

ii. Interior

b. Materials

c. Production methods

i. Guiding principles

ii. Larger panels and figures

iii. Smaller wares: throwing or

moulding

iv. Sgraffito decoration

v. Firing, painting and glazing

vi. An eye-witness report

vii. Lead hazard

d. Design and decorative themes

i. Architectural design

ii. Domestic ware: shapes

iii. Domestic ware: decoration

iv. Choice of design

v. Inspection and approval; production

standards

vi. Technical influences

vii. Tube-lining and slip trailing

e. The Workforce

i. Staff list

ii. Male and female workers

iii. Recruitment and training

5. First Period of Business1894–1900a. Early Production

i. The first pots

ii. Improvement

iii. Ethical problems

iv. Compromise

b. Re-financing

c. Publicity and Advertising

d. The 1896 Catalogue

i. Contents

ii. Prices

iii Portraits and customer orders

e. Sales Outlets

i. London

ii. Liberty’s

iii. Liverpool, Manchester and overseas

f. Royal Patronage

i. Princess Louise

ii. Royal family

g. Arts and Crafts Exhibitions

i. The Home Arts and Industries

Association

ii. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society

iii. The Walker Art Gallery Autumn

Exhibitions

iv. Paris Universal Exposition 1900

h. Press Comment

6. Second Period 1900–1906:The Della Robbia Potteryand Marble Co. Ltda. The New Company

i. Dissolution and merger

ii. Terms of management

iii. Shareholders

b. The 1900 Catalogue

c. Religious and Political Influences

i. Unitarianism

ii. Positivism

iii. Female equality

d. Daily Life at the Pottery

i. Hours of work

ii. Coping with the Manager

e. Exhibitions 1900–1906

i. London and Liverpool

ii. The Cork International Exhibition,

1902

iii. The Glasgow Exhibition, 1904

f. Notable Public Works

i. Fountains

ii. ‘Days of Creation’ panels

iii. Figures for bank facade

g. Art Nouveau

7. The Final Yearsa. Sales Difficulties 1900–1905

b. Closure

i. Dispersal of staff

ii. Liquidation

iii. Final sale

iv. Pottery premises

v. Payment of debts and dividend

c. End of the Dream

d. Aftermath

8. A to Z of Della RobbiaPottery Artists, Workmenand AssociatesStaff Photograph

Ted Ackerley

Agnes

Henry Bloomfield Bare

Ruth Bare

May Barker

Annie Beaumont

Miss Beckett

Robert Anning Bell

Arthur E. Bells

Arthur Bolton

Jim Bowen

John Bowers

William Broster

Gwendoline Buckler

Jim Callaghan; Jim Caton; Tom

Connolly

Charles Collis

Benjamin Creswick

Alice Maud Cunningham/Rathbone

Annie Davis

Emile de Caluwé

Marian de Caluwé

Sebastian de Caluwé

Conrad Dressler

i. Origin and influences

ii. Dressler and Ruskin

iii. ‘The Curse of Machinery’

iv. Harold Rathbone and the

‘unknown land’

v. Rising tension

vi. St George’s Hall

vii. Departure

viii. Medmenham

ix. Dressler’s Della Robbia legacy

John T. Firth and Susannah Firth

Harry Fletcher

John Fogo

George Francis

Miss Furniss

Tom Hall

Harold Hewitt

James Hughes

Percy Jacques

Alice Louisa Jones

Annie Jones

Hannah Jones

Miss Kearney

Herbert Keegan

J.L. Levy

E. LL.

Carlo Manzoni

i. Upbringing and emigration

ii. Move to Birkenhead

iii. Della Robbia June 1894–June

1895

iv. Hanley, and ‘Minerva Art Ware’

v. London again

vi. Return to Della Robbia

vii. The Final Venture

Harry Pearce

Albert Peers

Aphra Peirce

Lena Peirce

May Pollexfen

Alice Rathbone

Edmund Rathbone

Richard Llewellyn B. Rathbone

Albert Richardson

Tom Robertson

Ellen Mary Rope

Gertrude Russell

George Seddon

John Cecil Shirley

Jessie Sinclair

Annie Smith

Newman Smith

C. Taylor

Edith Trantom

Edward Turri

Cassandra Annie Walker

William Warwick

Frank Watkin

E. Jennie Whitehead

Liz Wilkins

Annie Williams

Willie Williams

Emily Margaret Wood

Enid Woodhouse

Violet Woodhouse

Unidentified artists

9. Della Robbia Pottery Marksa. Factory Marks

i. ‘Ship’ mark

ii. Pottery name; dates and numbers

b. Artists’ Marks

i. In general

ii. Identity of artists

c. List of Marks of Artists

d. Other Marks

Appendix A1896 List of Della Robbia Ware Shapes

Appendix BWorks by the Della Robbia Pottery

and its Associates exhibited

at the Walker Art Gallery Autumn

Exhibitions 1894–1906

Appendix CCatalogue of the Della Robbia Pottery

Closing Sale 1906

CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. The Backgrounda. The Rathbones of Liverpool

b. Philip Rathbone (1828–1895)

c. Art and Applied Art on Merseyside

i. The growth of art appreciation

ii. Art education in Liverpool

iii. The Liverpool Art Congress 1888

iv. Applied art: the Art Sheds

v. The Laird School of Art

vi. Philip Rathbone’s Role in the Arts

d. Harold Rathbone, the Artist

i. Upbringing

ii. Art education

iv John Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites

v. Ford Madox Brown

vi. The 1890s

e. The Arts and Crafts Movement

i. The Ruskinian philosophy

ii. The Art Guilds and Craft Schools

iii. The Keswick School of Industrial Art

3. The Founding of the DellaRobbia Potterya. Della Robbia Ware and its origins

b. The Growing Fashion

c. The New Company

i. Della Robbia Pottery Limited

ii. Choice of name

iii. Subscribers and shareholders

iv. Banking

iv. Press reaction

e. The Della Robbia Pottery Council

i. Council members

ii. G.F. Watts

iii. William Holman Hunt

f. Birkenhead

i. Town development

ii. Practical advantages

g. The Pottery’s Aims

i. Main objects; School of the Mersey

ii. Precedents

4. Premises, Methods andWorkforcea. The Pottery premises

i. Exterior

ii. Interior

b. Materials

c. Production methods

i. Guiding principles

ii. Larger panels and figures

iii. Smaller wares: throwing or

moulding

iv. Sgraffito decoration

v. Firing, painting and glazing

vi. An eye-witness report

vii. Lead hazard

d. Design and decorative themes

i. Architectural design

ii. Domestic ware: shapes

iii. Domestic ware: decoration

iv. Choice of design

v. Inspection and approval; production

standards

vi. Technical influences

vii. Tube-lining and slip trailing

e. The Workforce

i. Staff list

ii. Male and female workers

iii. Recruitment and training

5. First Period of Business1894–1900a. Early Production

i. The first pots

ii. Improvement

iii. Ethical problems

iv. Compromise

b. Re-financing

c. Publicity and Advertising

d. The 1896 Catalogue

i. Contents

ii. Prices

iii Portraits and customer orders

e. Sales Outlets

i. London

ii. Liberty’s

iii. Liverpool, Manchester and overseas

f. Royal Patronage

i. Princess Louise

ii. Royal family

g. Arts and Crafts Exhibitions

i. The Home Arts and Industries

Association

ii. The Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society

iii. The Walker Art Gallery Autumn

Exhibitions

iv. Paris Universal Exposition 1900

h. Press Comment

6. Second Period 1900–1906:The Della Robbia Potteryand Marble Co. Ltda. The New Company

i. Dissolution and merger

ii. Terms of management

iii. Shareholders

b. The 1900 Catalogue

c. Religious and Political Influences

i. Unitarianism

ii. Positivism

iii. Female equality

d. Daily Life at the Pottery

i. Hours of work

ii. Coping with the Manager

e. Exhibitions 1900–1906

i. London and Liverpool

ii. The Cork International Exhibition,

1902

iii. The Glasgow Exhibition, 1904

f. Notable Public Works

i. Fountains

ii. ‘Days of Creation’ panels

iii. Figures for bank facade

g. Art Nouveau

7. The Final Yearsa. Sales Difficulties 1900–1905

b. Closure

i. Dispersal of staff

ii. Liquidation

iii. Final sale

iv. Pottery premises

v. Payment of debts and dividend

c. End of the Dream

d. Aftermath

8. A to Z of Della RobbiaPottery Artists, Workmenand AssociatesStaff Photograph

Ted Ackerley

Agnes

Henry Bloomfield Bare

Ruth Bare

May Barker

Annie Beaumont

Miss Beckett

Robert Anning Bell

Arthur E. Bells

Arthur Bolton

Jim Bowen

John Bowers

William Broster

Gwendoline Buckler

Jim Callaghan; Jim Caton; Tom

Connolly

Charles Collis

Benjamin Creswick

Alice Maud Cunningham/Rathbone

Annie Davis

Emile de Caluwé

Marian de Caluwé

Sebastian de Caluwé

Conrad Dressler

i. Origin and influences

ii. Dressler and Ruskin

iii. ‘The Curse of Machinery’

iv. Harold Rathbone and the

‘unknown land’

v. Rising tension

vi. St George’s Hall

vii. Departure

viii. Medmenham

ix. Dressler’s Della Robbia legacy

John T. Firth and Susannah Firth

Harry Fletcher

John Fogo

George Francis

Miss Furniss

Tom Hall

Harold Hewitt

James Hughes

Percy Jacques

Alice Louisa Jones

Annie Jones

Hannah Jones

Miss Kearney

Herbert Keegan

J.L. Levy

E. LL.

Carlo Manzoni

i. Upbringing and emigration

ii. Move to Birkenhead

iii. Della Robbia June 1894–June

1895

iv. Hanley, and ‘Minerva Art Ware’

v. London again

vi. Return to Della Robbia

vii. The Final Venture

Harry Pearce

Albert Peers

Aphra Peirce

Lena Peirce

May Pollexfen

Alice Rathbone

Edmund Rathbone

Richard Llewellyn B. Rathbone

Albert Richardson

Tom Robertson

Ellen Mary Rope

Gertrude Russell

George Seddon

John Cecil Shirley

Jessie Sinclair

Annie Smith

Newman Smith

C. Taylor

Edith Trantom

Edward Turri

Cassandra Annie Walker

William Warwick

Frank Watkin

E. Jennie Whitehead

Liz Wilkins

Annie Williams

Willie Williams

Emily Margaret Wood

Enid Woodhouse

Violet Woodhouse

Unidentified artists

9. Della Robbia Pottery Marksa. Factory Marks

i. ‘Ship’ mark

ii. Pottery name; dates and numbers

b. Artists’ Marks

i. In general

ii. Identity of artists

c. List of Marks of Artists

d. Other Marks

Appendix A1896 List of Della Robbia Ware Shapes

Appendix BWorks by the Della Robbia Pottery

and its Associates exhibited

at the Walker Art Gallery Autumn

Exhibitions 1894–1906

Appendix CCatalogue of the Della Robbia Pottery

Closing Sale 1906

CONTENTS

13

INTRODUCTION

The town of Birkenhead, situated on the river Mersey directly opposite Liverpool, is chiefly knownfor the ships which were built there during the last 150 years – two Ark Royal aircraft carriers cometo mind, and countless other ships and submarines. Residents familiar with the town’s history willalso know about Lee’s Tapestry Works which exported top-class fabrics and embroideries world-wide during the 1930s and helped furnish the Queen Mary. Far less well known is a remarkable littlefactory, a pottery, in the centre of Birkenhead which was at the heart of the British Arts and CraftsMovement – the Della Robbia Pottery, just off Hamilton Square, in production from 1894 to 1906.

Why would such a small pottery, set up to revive an antique Italian style as its name suggests, bestarted up on Merseyside? An answer can be found in a speech given on 10 February 1894 by SirWilliam Forwood, a prominent member of Liverpool City Council, at the opening of the WalkerArt Gallery Spring Exhibition. Sir William emphasised how desirable it was to cultivate thedecorative arts on Merseyside and went on to say:

“We have very few industries and handicrafts of our own in Liverpool at the present time.This has not always been the case, for looking back over a period of 50 years we will findthat Liverpool had her potteries at Seacombe and in the neighbourhood of the HerculaneumDock. To my mind there is no reason why what has been done in the past should not bedone in the future (hear, hear). I am glad to think that Mr Rathbone and some members ofhis family have already made a departure in that direction by forming a company for themanufacture of art pottery (hear, hear). I would like also to see pottery establishments formedfor the manufacture of pottery for mercantile purposes.”1

The Rathbones referred to were Alderman Philip Rathbone and his son Harold, who were present.Also among the invited VIPs was the artist and designer Walter Crane, a clue to the significance of theoccasion, for Liverpool artistic and political leaders were waking up to the fact that a new movement,known in retrospect as the Arts and Crafts Movement, had swept the country and that in the productionof individually designed and hand-crafted articles, Merseyside was being left behind.

In that same month, February 1894, Harold Rathbone had begun production at his Della RobbiaPottery across the water in Birkenhead with funds provided by his family and their businesscolleagues. Unlike most of his kinsmen who were merchants and politicians, Harold Rathbone wasa trained artist who had travelled in Italy and had fallen in love with the figures and relief panelsmodelled by Luca della Robbia and his descendants in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Florence.Back in England, Harold decided that he would attempt to make similar ceramic pieces, and alsotry to copy some of the smaller domestic wares made in Italy in the sixteenth century anddistinguished by their bright colours and glazes. He would do this in accordance with the principleslaid down by William Morris for the revival of traditional skills and pride in workmanship, principleswhich underlay the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. At the same time he would encouragethe artists at his pottery to develop their own individual skills and express themselves when throwingthe pots and decorating them. There was to be absolutely nothing which was mechanical or

1. Liverpool Mercury, 12 February 1894.

Very large plaque, with a portrait of a youngwoman in imitation of 16th century Italianplaques made at e.g. Deruta: see figs. 42, 43.Incised mark “CAW” for Cassandra AnnieWalker. Dated 1904. 50cm.Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.

13

INTRODUCTION

The town of Birkenhead, situated on the river Mersey directly opposite Liverpool, is chiefly knownfor the ships which were built there during the last 150 years – two Ark Royal aircraft carriers cometo mind, and countless other ships and submarines. Residents familiar with the town’s history willalso know about Lee’s Tapestry Works which exported top-class fabrics and embroideries world-wide during the 1930s and helped furnish the Queen Mary. Far less well known is a remarkable littlefactory, a pottery, in the centre of Birkenhead which was at the heart of the British Arts and CraftsMovement – the Della Robbia Pottery, just off Hamilton Square, in production from 1894 to 1906.

Why would such a small pottery, set up to revive an antique Italian style as its name suggests, bestarted up on Merseyside? An answer can be found in a speech given on 10 February 1894 by SirWilliam Forwood, a prominent member of Liverpool City Council, at the opening of the WalkerArt Gallery Spring Exhibition. Sir William emphasised how desirable it was to cultivate thedecorative arts on Merseyside and went on to say:

“We have very few industries and handicrafts of our own in Liverpool at the present time.This has not always been the case, for looking back over a period of 50 years we will findthat Liverpool had her potteries at Seacombe and in the neighbourhood of the HerculaneumDock. To my mind there is no reason why what has been done in the past should not bedone in the future (hear, hear). I am glad to think that Mr Rathbone and some members ofhis family have already made a departure in that direction by forming a company for themanufacture of art pottery (hear, hear). I would like also to see pottery establishments formedfor the manufacture of pottery for mercantile purposes.”1

The Rathbones referred to were Alderman Philip Rathbone and his son Harold, who were present.Also among the invited VIPs was the artist and designer Walter Crane, a clue to the significance of theoccasion, for Liverpool artistic and political leaders were waking up to the fact that a new movement,known in retrospect as the Arts and Crafts Movement, had swept the country and that in the productionof individually designed and hand-crafted articles, Merseyside was being left behind.

In that same month, February 1894, Harold Rathbone had begun production at his Della RobbiaPottery across the water in Birkenhead with funds provided by his family and their businesscolleagues. Unlike most of his kinsmen who were merchants and politicians, Harold Rathbone wasa trained artist who had travelled in Italy and had fallen in love with the figures and relief panelsmodelled by Luca della Robbia and his descendants in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Florence.Back in England, Harold decided that he would attempt to make similar ceramic pieces, and alsotry to copy some of the smaller domestic wares made in Italy in the sixteenth century anddistinguished by their bright colours and glazes. He would do this in accordance with the principleslaid down by William Morris for the revival of traditional skills and pride in workmanship, principleswhich underlay the Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain. At the same time he would encouragethe artists at his pottery to develop their own individual skills and express themselves when throwingthe pots and decorating them. There was to be absolutely nothing which was mechanical or

1. Liverpool Mercury, 12 February 1894.

Very large plaque, with a portrait of a youngwoman in imitation of 16th century Italianplaques made at e.g. Deruta: see figs. 42, 43.Incised mark “CAW” for Cassandra AnnieWalker. Dated 1904. 50cm.Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.

3332

Fig. 18. ‘Annunciation’, Andrea dellaRobbia (1435–1525), Hospital of theInnocents, Florence. © 2012 Photo Scala, Florence.

3332

Fig. 18. ‘Annunciation’, Andrea dellaRobbia (1435–1525), Hospital of theInnocents, Florence. © 2012 Photo Scala, Florence.

necessary, but it was also the result of Harold Rathbone’sapproach which was that of an art tutor, not that of a potter.A tutor must always encourage, and a Pottery artist who hadshowed a spark of true artistic flair in incised decoration wouldhave his piece fired and coloured. Only ‘slipshod’ work wasrejected (although the dividing line is not always clear). Thisartistic tolerance caused many pieces to be put on the marketwhich other potteries would have smashed, and is a cause ofthe disdain with which Della Robbia wares have sometimesbeen treated. Most Della Robbia enthusiasts have at least onerather rough-looking piece in their collection, but have learntto love it because of the honest effort it represents.

Harold Rathbone knew all this. In his article for The Sphinxin 1895 he wrote:

‘Local talent alone being employed, these early effortswere naturally somewhat crude. But in that thematerial was also a local product, the true spirit of lifeand growth (which has since so remarkably developed)was in them.’

vi. Technical influencesHarold Rathbone must have known about contemporarypotting trends, the lustre-glazed wares of William de Morganfor example, and the technical advances and glaze experimentsbeing carried out at the Linthorpe Pottery in Middlesboroughwith the active encouragement of Dr Christopher Dresser.Nearer home, the Salopian Pottery at Benthall, founded in theearly 1880s, was decorating wares with coloured slips andhigh-temperature colours under the glaze, and there is someevidence of a link between this pottery and the Della RobbiaPottery (see p. XXX), but unlike Salopian and Linthorpe, theBirkenhead factory never really experimented once adecorating and firing routine had been established at thebeginning. After being forced at the outset to compromise tosome extent and betray the principles of William Morris byusing moulds and a turning lathe, Harold Rathbone then drewa line and would go no further. No other mechanical aids wereallowed. His kiln was built to fire red earthenware clay at alow temperature (1100–1150º) and that was sufficient for him.He was not interested in potting technology, and he importedskills from Staffordshire only to the extent needed to obtainminimum standards of quality. Above all, he detested ‘slickness’.20

Due to this basic and unvaried house technique, theBirkenhead pots do have a unique and consistent appearanceand can be distinguished at a distance from the wares of otherart potteries. The colour palette used in decoration is certainlya recognisable feature, in particular the predominance of the‘Della Robbia turquoise’. The glaze, too, is unmistakeable – itlooks glossy, as if still wet. The high-flux colours which wereused have blended with the viscous glaze, and the pieces gleam– this was deliberate, as Harold Rathbone had a clear idea ofhow he wanted the pots to look. The inspiration owed muchto the bright colours of Deruta, Gubbio and other sixteenth-century Italian manufacturers and in particular the laterCantagalli revivals of those early styles. Della Robbia pots wereintended for the dark corners of Victorian houses, where oillamp-light would pick out their Mediterranean liveliness and,as the Magazine of Art put it, ‘the ordinary meal would havethe comparative air of a banquet’.21

vii. Tube-lining and slip trailingThere was, however, one development in decorative techniquelate on in the Pottery’s existence. The artist Charles Collisspent two years at the Doulton factory at Burslem, duringwhich time he learnt the technique of slip trailing, a processin which a coloured clay slip is dropped or trailed onto thesurface of the pot to form part of the pattern outline, and alsotube-lining, a similar process in which a thin even line of clayis ‘piped’ onto the surface, often to form the edge of a designfeature. On his return to Della Robbia in 1902 he introducedthese techniques there, having brought the necessaryequipment with him from Staffordshire. In his memoirs Collismakes it clear that Harold Rathbone disapproved of this, as hedid any technical innovation:

‘I introduced slip work, that is raised like the oldEnglish tygs, and coloured slips – no one else [at DellaRobbia] did this type of work. After working in thePotteries, I was able to introduce new ideas. MrRathbone was very conservative and reluctant toaccept anything that was mechanical.’

Gertrude Russell recalled that she did once try out a pipeddecoration on a pot but was stopped by Harold Rathbone.She was told that designs had to be sgraffito, and not put on ‘asone would ice a cake’.

64

Fig. 47. ‘New Vase’, shape no. 59 in the 1896 Catalogue. Incised mark ‘HP’for Harry Pearce, painted monogram ‘HJ’ for Hannah Jones; c. 1898. 21.5cm.Private collection.

20. Ibid.21. The Magazine of Art, 1897, p. 7.

necessary, but it was also the result of Harold Rathbone’sapproach which was that of an art tutor, not that of a potter.A tutor must always encourage, and a Pottery artist who hadshowed a spark of true artistic flair in incised decoration wouldhave his piece fired and coloured. Only ‘slipshod’ work wasrejected (although the dividing line is not always clear). Thisartistic tolerance caused many pieces to be put on the marketwhich other potteries would have smashed, and is a cause ofthe disdain with which Della Robbia wares have sometimesbeen treated. Most Della Robbia enthusiasts have at least onerather rough-looking piece in their collection, but have learntto love it because of the honest effort it represents.

Harold Rathbone knew all this. In his article for The Sphinxin 1895 he wrote:

‘Local talent alone being employed, these early effortswere naturally somewhat crude. But in that thematerial was also a local product, the true spirit of lifeand growth (which has since so remarkably developed)was in them.’

vi. Technical influencesHarold Rathbone must have known about contemporarypotting trends, the lustre-glazed wares of William de Morganfor example, and the technical advances and glaze experimentsbeing carried out at the Linthorpe Pottery in Middlesboroughwith the active encouragement of Dr Christopher Dresser.Nearer home, the Salopian Pottery at Benthall, founded in theearly 1880s, was decorating wares with coloured slips andhigh-temperature colours under the glaze, and there is someevidence of a link between this pottery and the Della RobbiaPottery (see p. XXX), but unlike Salopian and Linthorpe, theBirkenhead factory never really experimented once adecorating and firing routine had been established at thebeginning. After being forced at the outset to compromise tosome extent and betray the principles of William Morris byusing moulds and a turning lathe, Harold Rathbone then drewa line and would go no further. No other mechanical aids wereallowed. His kiln was built to fire red earthenware clay at alow temperature (1100–1150º) and that was sufficient for him.He was not interested in potting technology, and he importedskills from Staffordshire only to the extent needed to obtainminimum standards of quality. Above all, he detested ‘slickness’.20

Due to this basic and unvaried house technique, theBirkenhead pots do have a unique and consistent appearanceand can be distinguished at a distance from the wares of otherart potteries. The colour palette used in decoration is certainlya recognisable feature, in particular the predominance of the‘Della Robbia turquoise’. The glaze, too, is unmistakeable – itlooks glossy, as if still wet. The high-flux colours which wereused have blended with the viscous glaze, and the pieces gleam– this was deliberate, as Harold Rathbone had a clear idea ofhow he wanted the pots to look. The inspiration owed muchto the bright colours of Deruta, Gubbio and other sixteenth-century Italian manufacturers and in particular the laterCantagalli revivals of those early styles. Della Robbia pots wereintended for the dark corners of Victorian houses, where oillamp-light would pick out their Mediterranean liveliness and,as the Magazine of Art put it, ‘the ordinary meal would havethe comparative air of a banquet’.21

vii. Tube-lining and slip trailingThere was, however, one development in decorative techniquelate on in the Pottery’s existence. The artist Charles Collisspent two years at the Doulton factory at Burslem, duringwhich time he learnt the technique of slip trailing, a processin which a coloured clay slip is dropped or trailed onto thesurface of the pot to form part of the pattern outline, and alsotube-lining, a similar process in which a thin even line of clayis ‘piped’ onto the surface, often to form the edge of a designfeature. On his return to Della Robbia in 1902 he introducedthese techniques there, having brought the necessaryequipment with him from Staffordshire. In his memoirs Collismakes it clear that Harold Rathbone disapproved of this, as hedid any technical innovation:

‘I introduced slip work, that is raised like the oldEnglish tygs, and coloured slips – no one else [at DellaRobbia] did this type of work. After working in thePotteries, I was able to introduce new ideas. MrRathbone was very conservative and reluctant toaccept anything that was mechanical.’

Gertrude Russell recalled that she did once try out a pipeddecoration on a pot but was stopped by Harold Rathbone.She was told that designs had to be sgraffito, and not put on ‘asone would ice a cake’.

64

Fig. 47. ‘New Vase’, shape no. 59 in the 1896 Catalogue. Incised mark ‘HP’for Harry Pearce, painted monogram ‘HJ’ for Hannah Jones; c. 1898. 21.5cm.Private collection.

20. Ibid.21. The Magazine of Art, 1897, p. 7.

Robbia Pottery & Marble Co Ltd – new show-rooms andoffice’. In a contemporary advertisement the façade wasdepicted – a twin-bay frontage with large letters affixed atfirst-floor level: ‘DELLA ROBBIA POTTERY’. Theadvertisement also featured the words ‘Unique Local Industry’and ‘Makers of Vases, Panels, Fountains, Friezes’. Charles Collishas recorded that this shop was staffed by a manager, a MrMaggs, and an assistant. Alas, these fine premises were openedtoo late, and barely lasted a year.

Sales agents in other cities were listed in the 1896 DellaRobbia catalogue: in Manchester, Goodalls, King Street, andHaywards, Deansgate; in Paris, Liberty, Avenue de l’Opera, andJansen Bros, 5 Rue Royale; and in New York, MessrsMcHugh, 5th Avenue. There is no record of the volume ofsales in these stores, but in the case of the overseas outlets, itwas probably not very high and may have consisted of just afew of the better Birkenhead pieces, despite the fact that partsof the Della Robbia catalogue were set out in French.

87

ii. Liberty of LondonLiberty’s famous store at 150 Regent Street is accepted asbeing the most influential as regards the marketing of arts andcrafts furniture and decorative items, and the latter includedDella Robbia wares. In deciding what was fashionable anddesirable, Liberty had an advantage in that the store was quiteclose to the New Gallery in Regent Street, where the Artsand Crafts Exhibitions were held.

A full-page advertisement in The Magazine of Art inNovember 1896 (see fig. 73) announced that ‘a representativeand extensive Collection of English Art Potteries’ was on viewat Liberty’s Regent Street galleries, which ‘happilydemonstrates the recent advance made in our English ArtPottery’. Three Della Robbia examples are illustrated, alongwith three examples of Aller Vale products. The two factorieswere clearly regarded by the store as appealing to the samemarket. In their catalogues, Liberty stressed that the wares of

both factories were hand-made by ‘young lads’ or ‘youngapprentices’, while ‘girls’ were employed ‘for the paintingprocess’. Very occasionally, Della Robbia items are found stillbearing their adhesive Liberty label.

iii. Liverpool, Manchester and overseasThere were numerous outlets for Della Robbia products inLiverpool, including Stoniers in Church Street, a famousLiverpool china and glass supplier, and Warings in Bold Street,Liverpool’s most fashionable shopping quarter, where regular‘special displays’ of Della Robbia pottery were put on. After1900 the Pottery gave the address of its showrooms as 42 BasnettStreet, a general house furnishing store owned by CharlesSouthorn & Co. Harold Rathbone made two attempts to openhis own showrooms, the first being at 4 Cook Street Arcade inthe commercial quarter of the city in 1899. This shop evidentlydid not last long, as by 1901 a different occupant was listed. TheArcade was comparatively new and no doubt intended toemulate the London West End arcades, but the rents were high,the Della Robbia shop costing £7 a week plus rates.8

Towards the end of the Pottery’s existence, a largershowroom was opened at 7 Berry Street, Liverpool (at the topof Bold Street), listed in Gore’s Directory for 1906 as ‘Della

86

Fig. 72. Della Robbia miniature globe vase. Base of vase showing Liberty’slabel still attached. Artists’ marks obscured, 7cm.Private collection.

Fig. 74. Advertisement for the Berry Street showrooms, 1905–06.

Fig. 73. Liberty & co. advertisement in The Magazine of Art, 1896.

8. Charles Collis file, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.

Robbia Pottery & Marble Co Ltd – new show-rooms andoffice’. In a contemporary advertisement the façade wasdepicted – a twin-bay frontage with large letters affixed atfirst-floor level: ‘DELLA ROBBIA POTTERY’. Theadvertisement also featured the words ‘Unique Local Industry’and ‘Makers of Vases, Panels, Fountains, Friezes’. Charles Collishas recorded that this shop was staffed by a manager, a MrMaggs, and an assistant. Alas, these fine premises were openedtoo late, and barely lasted a year.

Sales agents in other cities were listed in the 1896 DellaRobbia catalogue: in Manchester, Goodalls, King Street, andHaywards, Deansgate; in Paris, Liberty, Avenue de l’Opera, andJansen Bros, 5 Rue Royale; and in New York, MessrsMcHugh, 5th Avenue. There is no record of the volume ofsales in these stores, but in the case of the overseas outlets, itwas probably not very high and may have consisted of just afew of the better Birkenhead pieces, despite the fact that partsof the Della Robbia catalogue were set out in French.

87

ii. Liberty of LondonLiberty’s famous store at 150 Regent Street is accepted asbeing the most influential as regards the marketing of arts andcrafts furniture and decorative items, and the latter includedDella Robbia wares. In deciding what was fashionable anddesirable, Liberty had an advantage in that the store was quiteclose to the New Gallery in Regent Street, where the Artsand Crafts Exhibitions were held.

A full-page advertisement in The Magazine of Art inNovember 1896 (see fig. 73) announced that ‘a representativeand extensive Collection of English Art Potteries’ was on viewat Liberty’s Regent Street galleries, which ‘happilydemonstrates the recent advance made in our English ArtPottery’. Three Della Robbia examples are illustrated, alongwith three examples of Aller Vale products. The two factorieswere clearly regarded by the store as appealing to the samemarket. In their catalogues, Liberty stressed that the wares of

both factories were hand-made by ‘young lads’ or ‘youngapprentices’, while ‘girls’ were employed ‘for the paintingprocess’. Very occasionally, Della Robbia items are found stillbearing their adhesive Liberty label.

iii. Liverpool, Manchester and overseasThere were numerous outlets for Della Robbia products inLiverpool, including Stoniers in Church Street, a famousLiverpool china and glass supplier, and Warings in Bold Street,Liverpool’s most fashionable shopping quarter, where regular‘special displays’ of Della Robbia pottery were put on. After1900 the Pottery gave the address of its showrooms as 42 BasnettStreet, a general house furnishing store owned by CharlesSouthorn & Co. Harold Rathbone made two attempts to openhis own showrooms, the first being at 4 Cook Street Arcade inthe commercial quarter of the city in 1899. This shop evidentlydid not last long, as by 1901 a different occupant was listed. TheArcade was comparatively new and no doubt intended toemulate the London West End arcades, but the rents were high,the Della Robbia shop costing £7 a week plus rates.8

Towards the end of the Pottery’s existence, a largershowroom was opened at 7 Berry Street, Liverpool (at the topof Bold Street), listed in Gore’s Directory for 1906 as ‘Della

86

Fig. 72. Della Robbia miniature globe vase. Base of vase showing Liberty’slabel still attached. Artists’ marks obscured, 7cm.Private collection.

Fig. 74. Advertisement for the Berry Street showrooms, 1905–06.

Fig. 73. Liberty & co. advertisement in The Magazine of Art, 1896.

8. Charles Collis file, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead.

Ted AckerleyAlbert Edward (“Ted”) Ackerley wasborn in 1876 in Birkenhead, andbrought up by his mother Jane and hisstepfather John Williams whom Janehad married in 1878 after Ted’s fatherThomas Ackerley had died pre -maturely of tubercolosis. Ted Ackerleyjoined the Della Robbia Pottery at the

age of 18 or 19 not long after it opened, as did his half-brotherWillie Williams, both resident at the family home at 3Willaston Place, barely 200 yards from the Pottery. Theirmother Jane had died in 1893.

Ted Ackerley was chiefly a clay presser (i.e. he pressed clayinto moulds), and worked in the architectural department at28 Argyle Street. Charles Collis lists him, in the early years, as“assistant presser, clay maker, and jobber”. By 1905 he hadbecome the sole presser and, according to Collis, “madeplaques etc for me to decorate”. He was one of the lastemployees to leave. Although a painted letter “A” is sometimesfound on Della Robbia pieces, it is not thought that this relatesto Ted Ackerley, who seems always to have been a clay-worker.

Agnes .......The single letter “A” which occurs as a painted mark on someearly Della Robbia pieces can be linked with the name“Agnes” which has been seen painted in full as an artist’s mark(see e.g. “Bulbous Vase” – No. 302 in the 1981 Williamson ArtGallery Della Robbia Exhibition Catalogue). Agnes was likelyto have been quite young, probably under 20, butunfortunately there is no record of her surname. CharlesCollis, who arrived at the Pottery in mid-1895, made nomention of Agnes in his memoirs, probably because she hadleft by then. As there were over 100 young women called“Agnes” living in Birkenhead at the time according to the1891 census, this artist has proved impossible to trace. The two“Agnes Jam Pots” listed as Nos. 71 and 72 in the 1896 DellaRobbia Catalogue were no doubt designed by her.

Henry Bloomfield BareHenry Bloomfield Bare was the father of Ruth Bare, aprominent artist at the Della Robbia Pottery. He was born in

1849 at Hungerford, Berkshire. By the age of 13 he had joinedan architect’s office in Hungerford and eventually qualified asan architect and surveyor, practising in Liverpool. In 1889 heand his wife and two daughters emigrated to the USA, toPhiladelphia, PA, where he set up practice and also edited anArts and Crafts magazine. However, his American careerfoundered and in 1896 the family returned to Merseyside,where Bloomfield Bare was to play a prominent role in artsand crafts design, and in publicising the work of students at theSchool of Architecture and Applied Art, chiefly in the magazineThe Studio for which he was the local correspondent.

In Liverpool he is remembered mainly as the designer ofthe wrought iron and copper gates of the Philharmonic Hotelin Hope Street, completed in 1900. In the following year Bareenrolled himself at the Liverpool School (the “Art Sheds”) forhalf a term of classes in design and antique modelling, andbrass and copper working. By 1901 he had opened his ownart studio in Liverpool and organised an exhibition of “localartists and craftsmen” there later in that year, which he dulyreported in The Studio, commenting that it was

greatly enhanced by the specimens of Della Robbiapottery interspersed with the other exhibits, a few ofthe more important pieces being designed by HaroldRathbone, Cassie Walker, and Ruth Bare”.1

Bloomfield Bare can be exonerated from any charge ofnepotism here – it was no more than the truth, as CassandraWalker and his daughter Ruth were undoubtedly the mostgifted artists at the Pottery at that time.

Bare’s studio seems to have been at the hub of a tightnetwork of local artists and art students: also exhibiting in 1901were Marian Walker (Cassandra Walker’s sister) and FlorenceCooban (a flatmate of Cassandra’s), who both showedpaintings; Mrs Gray Hill (wife of a Della Robbia shareholder)who exhibited decorative panels; Frances MacNair (wife ofHerbert and one of the “Glasgow Four”) who exhibitedstencilled hangings, as did Ruth Bare; Susanna Firth (daughterof potter John Firth) (stamped leather work); and BloomfieldBare himself (copper and white metal panels).

In 1903 Bare moved his studio to New Ferry, Wirral, andfrom there he exhibited frequently at the Walker Art Gallery

133

CHAPTER 7:

A to Z of Della Robbia Pottery Artists,Workmen and Associates

Brief biographies, where details are known, in alphabetical order.In some cases, no photograph is known.

1 The StudioVol 24 (1901) pp. 286, 287.

Fig. 112 Photograph of Della Robbia staff probably taken early in 1898. The photo was published in The Sketchmagazine in March 1898. As in the earlier staff photograph, not all the artists are present.

1 Frank Watkin2 William Warwick3 Ruth Bare4 George Francis5 John Cecil Shirley

6 Ted Ackerley7 Annie Smith8 Harry Fletcher9 Charles Collis10 George Seddon

11 Willie Williams12 James Bowen13 Jim Connolly or Caton14 Edward Turri15 Arthur E Bells

16 Aphra Peirce17 Emily Margaret Wood18 Alice Maud Cunningham19 Albert Richardson20 Miss Furniss

21 Newman Smith22 Harry Pearce23 Harold Rathbone24 John Bowers25 ..... Coles (clerk)

Fig. 112A Key to personnel shown in fig 112, as identified by Charles Collis:

Ted AckerleyAlbert Edward (“Ted”) Ackerley wasborn in 1876 in Birkenhead, andbrought up by his mother Jane and hisstepfather John Williams whom Janehad married in 1878 after Ted’s fatherThomas Ackerley had died pre -maturely of tubercolosis. Ted Ackerleyjoined the Della Robbia Pottery at the

age of 18 or 19 not long after it opened, as did his half-brotherWillie Williams, both resident at the family home at 3Willaston Place, barely 200 yards from the Pottery. Theirmother Jane had died in 1893.

Ted Ackerley was chiefly a clay presser (i.e. he pressed clayinto moulds), and worked in the architectural department at28 Argyle Street. Charles Collis lists him, in the early years, as“assistant presser, clay maker, and jobber”. By 1905 he hadbecome the sole presser and, according to Collis, “madeplaques etc for me to decorate”. He was one of the lastemployees to leave. Although a painted letter “A” is sometimesfound on Della Robbia pieces, it is not thought that this relatesto Ted Ackerley, who seems always to have been a clay-worker.

Agnes .......The single letter “A” which occurs as a painted mark on someearly Della Robbia pieces can be linked with the name“Agnes” which has been seen painted in full as an artist’s mark(see e.g. “Bulbous Vase” – No. 302 in the 1981 Williamson ArtGallery Della Robbia Exhibition Catalogue). Agnes was likelyto have been quite young, probably under 20, butunfortunately there is no record of her surname. CharlesCollis, who arrived at the Pottery in mid-1895, made nomention of Agnes in his memoirs, probably because she hadleft by then. As there were over 100 young women called“Agnes” living in Birkenhead at the time according to the1891 census, this artist has proved impossible to trace. The two“Agnes Jam Pots” listed as Nos. 71 and 72 in the 1896 DellaRobbia Catalogue were no doubt designed by her.

Henry Bloomfield BareHenry Bloomfield Bare was the father of Ruth Bare, aprominent artist at the Della Robbia Pottery. He was born in

1849 at Hungerford, Berkshire. By the age of 13 he had joinedan architect’s office in Hungerford and eventually qualified asan architect and surveyor, practising in Liverpool. In 1889 heand his wife and two daughters emigrated to the USA, toPhiladelphia, PA, where he set up practice and also edited anArts and Crafts magazine. However, his American careerfoundered and in 1896 the family returned to Merseyside,where Bloomfield Bare was to play a prominent role in artsand crafts design, and in publicising the work of students at theSchool of Architecture and Applied Art, chiefly in the magazineThe Studio for which he was the local correspondent.

In Liverpool he is remembered mainly as the designer ofthe wrought iron and copper gates of the Philharmonic Hotelin Hope Street, completed in 1900. In the following year Bareenrolled himself at the Liverpool School (the “Art Sheds”) forhalf a term of classes in design and antique modelling, andbrass and copper working. By 1901 he had opened his ownart studio in Liverpool and organised an exhibition of “localartists and craftsmen” there later in that year, which he dulyreported in The Studio, commenting that it was

greatly enhanced by the specimens of Della Robbiapottery interspersed with the other exhibits, a few ofthe more important pieces being designed by HaroldRathbone, Cassie Walker, and Ruth Bare”.1

Bloomfield Bare can be exonerated from any charge ofnepotism here – it was no more than the truth, as CassandraWalker and his daughter Ruth were undoubtedly the mostgifted artists at the Pottery at that time.

Bare’s studio seems to have been at the hub of a tightnetwork of local artists and art students: also exhibiting in 1901were Marian Walker (Cassandra Walker’s sister) and FlorenceCooban (a flatmate of Cassandra’s), who both showedpaintings; Mrs Gray Hill (wife of a Della Robbia shareholder)who exhibited decorative panels; Frances MacNair (wife ofHerbert and one of the “Glasgow Four”) who exhibitedstencilled hangings, as did Ruth Bare; Susanna Firth (daughterof potter John Firth) (stamped leather work); and BloomfieldBare himself (copper and white metal panels).

In 1903 Bare moved his studio to New Ferry, Wirral, andfrom there he exhibited frequently at the Walker Art Gallery

133

CHAPTER 7:

A to Z of Della Robbia Pottery Artists,Workmen and Associates

Brief biographies, where details are known, in alphabetical order.In some cases, no photograph is known.

1 The StudioVol 24 (1901) pp. 286, 287.

Fig. 112 Photograph of Della Robbia staff probably taken early in 1898. The photo was published in The Sketchmagazine in March 1898. As in the earlier staff photograph, not all the artists are present.

1 Frank Watkin2 William Warwick3 Ruth Bare4 George Francis5 John Cecil Shirley

6 Ted Ackerley7 Annie Smith8 Harry Fletcher9 Charles Collis10 George Seddon

11 Willie Williams12 James Bowen13 Jim Connolly or Caton14 Edward Turri15 Arthur E Bells

16 Aphra Peirce17 Emily Margaret Wood18 Alice Maud Cunningham19 Albert Richardson20 Miss Furniss

21 Newman Smith22 Harry Pearce23 Harold Rathbone24 John Bowers25 ..... Coles (clerk)

Fig. 112A Key to personnel shown in fig 112, as identified by Charles Collis:

ambitions than anything else but is a rare insight into the morepersonal side of the Della Robbia workplace.

The years 1903 to 1906 saw some of Cassandra Walker’sbest work for the Pottery. She specialised in wall plates andplaques which she decorated with style and confidence butshe would, on occasion, paint wares designed by others whenrequired. This was an established Della Robbia practice, andeven Harold Rathbone was known to paint his employees’pots on occasion. Cassandra’s painted mark appears, forexample, on panels designed by Carlo Manzoni and vases byCharles Collis.

Women’s Suffrage Movement, to the extent that she wasconvicted and sent to prison for breaches of the peacecommitted while protesting. Both Palethorpe sisters laterbecame “suffragettes”. There is no evidence that CassandraWalker was an active campaigner for women’s rights but sheis likely to have been a sympathiser and would certainly havebeen aware of the Palethorpes’ strong beliefs.

Not that Mary Palethorpe was Cassandra’s closest friend –that was Ruth Bare, her colleague at Della Robbia. Theymixed in the same social circles, some clue of their sharedinterests being given by Ruth’s diary entry for 24th March1901: “Went to hear Dr Aked with Cassie and Alice”. (DrAked was the minister at Pembroke Chapel, Liverpool, whopreached radical and controversial sermons and latertransferred to Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York; “Alice”

was Alice Rathbone.) On the 1895 staff photo, CassandraWalker is wearing, under a full-length apron, a dress with “legof mutton” sleeves and a high white collar: contrast this withAnnie Jones next to her with a white starched apron over aplain black frock. Furthermore, Cassandra is reputed to haveoften worn a type of long Arabic cloak when walking roundLiverpool. All this could be regarded by some as free-spiritedness – a descendant of Cassandra Walker has recalledhow “Cassandra could not tolerate the way in which womenwere treated. She was a woman of independent ways andbehaviour even in her dress”.82 To others it might haveseemed as if she was merely putting on airs and graces – AliceLouisa Jones in her 1978 interview described CassandraWalker as being “very high and mighty”. This remark wasprobably due more to the contrast in personalities and

200

82 Kathleen M. Hawley, ‘Women Artists at the Della Robbia Pottery’ (PhD Thesis 2002, Williamson ArtGallery, Birkenhead) p 183.

Fig. 200 Large plaque, with profile of the head of a woman wearing a bonnet. Incised “CAW” for Cassandra Annie Walker. Dated 1905. 38cm. Bonhams Knightsbridge.

Fig. 201 Small plaque, with startling pattern of rings and spheres in aplanetary formation. Incised monogram “CW” for Cassandra Walker. C.1904. 26.5cm. The design perhaps owes something to the fact that CassandraWalker also designed jewellery.Private collection.

Fig. 199 Very large plaque, with marsh marigold design. Incised mark “CAW” for Cassandra Annie Walker. Dated 1905. 50cm. Private collection.

ambitions than anything else but is a rare insight into the morepersonal side of the Della Robbia workplace.

The years 1903 to 1906 saw some of Cassandra Walker’sbest work for the Pottery. She specialised in wall plates andplaques which she decorated with style and confidence butshe would, on occasion, paint wares designed by others whenrequired. This was an established Della Robbia practice, andeven Harold Rathbone was known to paint his employees’pots on occasion. Cassandra’s painted mark appears, forexample, on panels designed by Carlo Manzoni and vases byCharles Collis.

Women’s Suffrage Movement, to the extent that she wasconvicted and sent to prison for breaches of the peacecommitted while protesting. Both Palethorpe sisters laterbecame “suffragettes”. There is no evidence that CassandraWalker was an active campaigner for women’s rights but sheis likely to have been a sympathiser and would certainly havebeen aware of the Palethorpes’ strong beliefs.

Not that Mary Palethorpe was Cassandra’s closest friend –that was Ruth Bare, her colleague at Della Robbia. Theymixed in the same social circles, some clue of their sharedinterests being given by Ruth’s diary entry for 24th March1901: “Went to hear Dr Aked with Cassie and Alice”. (DrAked was the minister at Pembroke Chapel, Liverpool, whopreached radical and controversial sermons and latertransferred to Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, New York; “Alice”

was Alice Rathbone.) On the 1895 staff photo, CassandraWalker is wearing, under a full-length apron, a dress with “legof mutton” sleeves and a high white collar: contrast this withAnnie Jones next to her with a white starched apron over aplain black frock. Furthermore, Cassandra is reputed to haveoften worn a type of long Arabic cloak when walking roundLiverpool. All this could be regarded by some as free-spiritedness – a descendant of Cassandra Walker has recalledhow “Cassandra could not tolerate the way in which womenwere treated. She was a woman of independent ways andbehaviour even in her dress”.82 To others it might haveseemed as if she was merely putting on airs and graces – AliceLouisa Jones in her 1978 interview described CassandraWalker as being “very high and mighty”. This remark wasprobably due more to the contrast in personalities and

200

82 Kathleen M. Hawley, ‘Women Artists at the Della Robbia Pottery’ (PhD Thesis 2002, Williamson ArtGallery, Birkenhead) p 183.

Fig. 200 Large plaque, with profile of the head of a woman wearing a bonnet. Incised “CAW” for Cassandra Annie Walker. Dated 1905. 38cm. Bonhams Knightsbridge.

Fig. 201 Small plaque, with startling pattern of rings and spheres in aplanetary formation. Incised monogram “CW” for Cassandra Walker. C.1904. 26.5cm. The design perhaps owes something to the fact that CassandraWalker also designed jewellery.Private collection.

Fig. 199 Very large plaque, with marsh marigold design. Incised mark “CAW” for Cassandra Annie Walker. Dated 1905. 50cm. Private collection.

a. Factory marks

i “Ship” markThe Della Robbia Pottery used the same identifying markthroughout its existence: a simplified outline drawing of asailing ship, in between the initials “D” and “R”. The degreeof care with which this ship was drawn varied considerably,but the outline roughly resembles a Viking longship, withcurved outline, a single mast and a square sail. This type ofvessel at sea was a popular motif of the time among arts andcrafts designers, appearing on, for example, William de Morgantiles and Keswick School metal salvers. The Della RobbiaPottery adopted the ship as their own “logo”, possibly becauseof the Birkenhead maritime connections, and occasionallyeven used it as a principal design on the front of plates andplaques. A detailed version of the ship device also appeared onthe back cover of the Della Robbia Catalogue of 1900.

An outline of the Della Robbia ship mark was usuallyincised into the soft clay on the base or back of each piecebefore it was fired, but also appears in painted form. An artistwho was applying sgraffito decoration to a pot was expectedalso to incise the ship mark. Some artists developed their ownmore imaginative version of the vessel, perhaps adding wavesand seagulls, and even islands.

Very occasionally, the ship mark was omitted, and also theinitials “DR”. Such pieces can often attributed to DellaRobbia on the basis of artist’s initials and their general style.

On the moulded plaques produced by the ArchitecturalDepartment the sailing ship mark was at first scratched out onthe back with a date, but after 1900 a stamp came into use (fig.224). This was the nearest the Della Robbia Pottery ever cameto printing on its wares, and the ship used is the nearest tobeing the “authorised” version. The final digit of the year issometimes indistinct, no doubt due to the practice of updatingthe same stamp each year rather than make a new one.

ii Pottery name; dates and numbersThe name of the Pottery also appears quite often on the baseof Della Robbia pieces, presumably because it was thoughtthat the ship mark was insufficient identification. Thus the fullname “Della Robbia Pottery Birkenhead” is found, or variouselements of it, eg just “Della Robbia” or “Birkenhead”.

The year of manufacture was marked on about 50% of thepieces made at Della Robbia, and there appears to have beenno set rule about this. Inscribed numbers also appear: these,according to the Della Robbia artist Charles Collis, were “arecord for the daily work book”. Such a book would havebeen part of factory administration and would presumablyhave recorded the time during which a numbered piece wasworked on and the names of the employees who worked onit. Collis confirmed that he numbered his designs, and whenhe got near 1,000 he started numbering from one again.However, once again there appears to have been no set rule:Gertrude Russell admitted that the clay decorator “wassupposed to put on a number, which he didn’t always do”.The “good from kiln” payment system used frequently inStaffordshire, under which workers were paid only in respect

210 211

CHAPTER 8:

Della Robbia Pottery Marks

Fig. 218 Large plaque, with a version of the Della Robbia Pottery “ship” markpainted on the front. Incised mark “L” or “LL” possibly for J.L. Levy, paintedmark “W” probably for William Warwick. C. 1895–96. 42.5cm.© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection.

Fig. 220 A typical simple incisedDella Robbia ship mark.

Fig. 219 A detailed drawing of theDella Robbia “ship” mark on the backcover of the 1900 Catalogue.

Fig. 223 A stylised ship mark used byCharles Collis.

Fig. 224 Impressed mark oftenfound on the back of panels.

Fig. 221 A more elaborate sgraffitoship by the artist Arthur E. Bells.

Fig. 222 A romanticised version ofthe ship mark by Harry Pearce.

a. Factory marks

i “Ship” markThe Della Robbia Pottery used the same identifying markthroughout its existence: a simplified outline drawing of asailing ship, in between the initials “D” and “R”. The degreeof care with which this ship was drawn varied considerably,but the outline roughly resembles a Viking longship, withcurved outline, a single mast and a square sail. This type ofvessel at sea was a popular motif of the time among arts andcrafts designers, appearing on, for example, William de Morgantiles and Keswick School metal salvers. The Della RobbiaPottery adopted the ship as their own “logo”, possibly becauseof the Birkenhead maritime connections, and occasionallyeven used it as a principal design on the front of plates andplaques. A detailed version of the ship device also appeared onthe back cover of the Della Robbia Catalogue of 1900.

An outline of the Della Robbia ship mark was usuallyincised into the soft clay on the base or back of each piecebefore it was fired, but also appears in painted form. An artistwho was applying sgraffito decoration to a pot was expectedalso to incise the ship mark. Some artists developed their ownmore imaginative version of the vessel, perhaps adding wavesand seagulls, and even islands.

Very occasionally, the ship mark was omitted, and also theinitials “DR”. Such pieces can often attributed to DellaRobbia on the basis of artist’s initials and their general style.

On the moulded plaques produced by the ArchitecturalDepartment the sailing ship mark was at first scratched out onthe back with a date, but after 1900 a stamp came into use (fig.224). This was the nearest the Della Robbia Pottery ever cameto printing on its wares, and the ship used is the nearest tobeing the “authorised” version. The final digit of the year issometimes indistinct, no doubt due to the practice of updatingthe same stamp each year rather than make a new one.

ii Pottery name; dates and numbersThe name of the Pottery also appears quite often on the baseof Della Robbia pieces, presumably because it was thoughtthat the ship mark was insufficient identification. Thus the fullname “Della Robbia Pottery Birkenhead” is found, or variouselements of it, eg just “Della Robbia” or “Birkenhead”.

The year of manufacture was marked on about 50% of thepieces made at Della Robbia, and there appears to have beenno set rule about this. Inscribed numbers also appear: these,according to the Della Robbia artist Charles Collis, were “arecord for the daily work book”. Such a book would havebeen part of factory administration and would presumablyhave recorded the time during which a numbered piece wasworked on and the names of the employees who worked onit. Collis confirmed that he numbered his designs, and whenhe got near 1,000 he started numbering from one again.However, once again there appears to have been no set rule:Gertrude Russell admitted that the clay decorator “wassupposed to put on a number, which he didn’t always do”.The “good from kiln” payment system used frequently inStaffordshire, under which workers were paid only in respect

210 211

CHAPTER 8:

Della Robbia Pottery Marks

Fig. 218 Large plaque, with a version of the Della Robbia Pottery “ship” markpainted on the front. Incised mark “L” or “LL” possibly for J.L. Levy, paintedmark “W” probably for William Warwick. C. 1895–96. 42.5cm.© CSG CIC Glasgow Museums Collection.

Fig. 220 A typical simple incisedDella Robbia ship mark.

Fig. 219 A detailed drawing of theDella Robbia “ship” mark on the backcover of the 1900 Catalogue.

Fig. 223 A stylised ship mark used byCharles Collis.

Fig. 224 Impressed mark oftenfound on the back of panels.

Fig. 221 A more elaborate sgraffitoship by the artist Arthur E. Bells.

Fig. 222 A romanticised version ofthe ship mark by Harry Pearce.