Chapter V. - Bells Glasgow Pottery

Chapter5
Chapter V.— Wares, Transfer patterns and marks of the
1840s and 1850s.
T
he generally accepted view of the transfer—printed patterns issued by Bells is that the
ones with elaborate backstamps with scenes attached date roughly from the 1840s and
1850s; that those with the pattern name in an oval or oblong frame, however elaborate,
date from the 1860s and those with the pattern name above or below an oval garter mark with J.
& M. P. B. & Co. on it are from the 1870s. Of course, any with J. & M. P. B. & Co. Ld. will
date from after 1880. (40)
As a rough guide this seems to work very well, though the patterns found in the excavations of
1996 would alter it somewhat. One must also remember that the dates are approximate, that not
all patterns of the 1860s would be introduced in 1860 and that there will be exceptions. It is also
necessary to remember that these dates will not apply to individual pieces since some of Bell’s
patterns were made over very long stretches of time. “Triumphal Car" for instance must date
from very early in the Pottery’s life but is made in the period after 1880 still.
Here is a list of some of the patterns with very elaborate pictures in their backstamps, to which
patterns found in the dig have been added where necessary. All such are marked with an asterisk:
Amazon (fig. 5.11) — impressed IMPERIAL on the back — p.28, fig.5.11
Anemone - floral, — App. 3 p.127
Apsley Plants * — p.30, fig 5.18
Arcadia I * - found so far only during the excavation.
Aurora — App. 3 p.122
Balmoral — p.28, Fig. 5.14
Bohemia * — App. 3 p.119
Broseley — never named on the pieces. — App. 3 p.129
California — p.28, fig.5.13 —
the Gold Rush became famous in 1849 which is an acceptable date for the jug pattern which was also made by Jamieson of Bo’ness Pottery on various
shapes of jug, including one that is identical to the Bells’ shape. A similar pattern, made by other
potteries suggests that the main picture is not original but copied from an illustration.
Chinese Sports — App. 3 p.120
Chinese Villa
Corinth - a pattern of classical vases found on teaware. — App. 3 p.118
Crystal Palace — made for the Exhibition of 1851 but not shown there. — App. 3 p.122
Deer Stalking — App. 3 p.118
English Lakes - a lacustrine landscape - extremely rare. — App. 3 p.129
Fibre * (fig.5.1) —this does not have a lavish backstamp but was definitely being made by the
end of the decade. Made by many potteries. In England it is often called ‘Weed’. — p.25 & 38
figs. 5.1 & 7.5
The Gem * — p.52, fig.11.10
German Stag Hunt - a pattern also made by Methven of Links pottery, Kirkcaldy.
Goatherds — App.3 p.123
Going to Market — App. 3 p.123
Gondola * — p.30, fig.5.19
Harvest — App. 3 p.118
Harvest Scene — a pattern revived c.1905. — App. 3 p.118
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Hawking * — a ‘changing’ pattern — App. 3 p.122
Hawking in Olden Times * — found on jugs only.
Herculaneum - perhaps the same as Battle of the Amazons from 1851. — p.22, fig.4.16
Indian Sprig - a mulberry pattern found on early hexagonal jugs - wispy plants. — App. 3 p.119
Italian Lakes * — known in 1851 — a ‘changing’ pattern - issued in blue, grey and green.. —
p.20, fig.4.12
Jenny Lind — p.28 & 30, figs. 5.12 & 17
Malaga — a rare pattern which has been found in Java as well as at home. — App. 3 p.119
Marble * — never named as such at this period. — p. fig. — App. 3 p.120
Marine— p.31, fig 5.20
May Morn - found in blue of blue/green on bedroom wares. — App. 3 p.120
Ning-po* — p.25, fig.5.2
Palestine * — p.27,figs. 5.9 & 5.10, a ‘changing pattern, is almost identical with a pattern used
by T.Mayer of Longport (41), known in blue and sepia. — App. 3 p.123
Parisian Sprigs * — App. 3 p.119
Passiflora — App. 3 p.123
Reindeer — App. 3 p.121
Sporting Subjects * — App. 3 p.121
Swiss Subjects — App. 3 p.120
Triumphal Car * — p.26 & 27,Figs. 5.3 to 5.8—made also by Jamieson of Bo’ness Pottery as tea
ware and by Verreville Pottery — a ‘changing’ pattern in Bell’s manufacture.
Victoria Scroll - impressed ROYAL and a kite mark for 1850 — App. 3 p.123
Victoria Regia
Warwick Vase — p.20, fig.4.11
Wellington — p.28, fig. 5.15— made to commemorate the Duke’s death in 1852.
Willow — App. 3 p.123
fig. 5.2 Ning-po
Fig. 5.1 Fibre
Apsley Plants, Broseley, Fibre, The Gem, Gondola, Italian Lakes, Marble, Ning-po, Arcadia I
and Sporting Subjects do not have pictures on the backstamp but are included as being definitely
known at this period.
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‘Changing’ patterns are very common at this and later periods of production. The border is
constant to all pieces, varying only in size to fit the pot it is on. The central picture, on the other
hand, is constant only for one type of piece, e.g. a dinner plate, and varies, sometimes considerably, from piece to piece. The classic example is Triumphal Car which is known with over a
dozen central pictures.
with Swans
Figs. 5.3 to 6 Triumphal Car
Almost all include a chariot and all include a fountain in a lacustrine landscape but the animals
drawing the chariot vary from horse, through leopards to swans and everything else in the picture
can vary just as much.
Fig. 5.7 Ladles with Triumphal Car
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“Triumphal Car” was an incredibly popular
pattern which was made in enormous quantities and over a long period, even after 1880
when the Company was in other hands. It is
found not only on dinner ware but also on tea
ware made in earthenware and on jugs and
bedroom sets.
While we are on the subject of “Triumphal
Car it would be as well to point out another
mistake of Fleming’s. He claims that the
pattern was designed and engraved by David
Roberts and that the Bell Brothers helped
David Roberts to build a career. A glance at
dates would have corrected this assertion. In
1842, the earliest possible date for the pattern,
David Roberts was already 45 years old and a
Royal Academician, selling his paintings for
hundreds of guineas each and about to break the
£1000 barrier for a single painting to great
applause; it is unlikely, to say the least, that he
would give up any time to designing and engraving a pattern for a provincial pottery comFig. 5.8 Ewer with Triumphal Car
pany or that its proprietors were capable of
furthering his career. It is possible that Fleming had got confused with some story of Robert’s
early career as an engraver for Mauchline ware..
Palestine(Fif 5.9 is a changing pattern but the dinner plate, soup plate and vegetable dish all
share the same central picture, a phenomenon
common as to dinner and soup plates; the
ashets are different from these.
Fig. 5.9 Palestine
Fig 5.10 Palestine
The choice of patterns is very much geared to the market. As well as John Bell’s own classical
taste being pandered to (e.g. Amazon) there are a number of lacustrine landscapes which had
been immensely popular for over 50 years and which were to continue so for at least another 40.
There is also a tendency to follow contemporary events.
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Fig. 5.11 Amazon
Jenny Lind
Fig. 5.12 Jenny Lind
Jenny Lind (figs 5.12 & 5.17) would be
printed for the visit of the singer to Scotland
and California would be produced during the
Gold Rush during 1849 or 1850.
California
Fig. 5.13 California
Fig. 5.15 Wellington
Fig. 5.14 Balmoral
This sometimes results in actual
commemoratives, like Wellington for the death
of the Duke in 1852.
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There is also a tendency which became more marked in later years to follow the fortunes of
the Royal Family (e.g. Balmoral). This displays a good business sense in whoever was choosing
the products in this period, whether it were John Bell or Clough, or, after 1850 some other manager such as Mclaughlin.
The colours used in this period for transfer prints are less restricted than one might have
supposed. Dominant is, of course, blue, and flow blue is known. The Pottery produced a dark
purple colour, usually referred to as mulberry, which is well known in a ‘flow mulberry’ version
which seems to have been very popular with the public. Pink and black are also known from this
period and several patterns appear in a very attractive blue/green colour which seems to be
unique to Bell’s at this time. Grey is known in Fibre and Apsley Plants and in spongeware.
Brown is unknown, as is the purple which was to become so popular in the 1860s, though Bell’s
experimented with a very rich purple-pink which is very beautiful but rarely seen.
The Glasgow Pottery used a number of
backstamps to mark their wares in this period;
some were transfer-printed, some impressed
and one was moulded on a raised pad or sprig.
The transfer-printed marks are many, each one
belonging to its own pattern. The common
factor seems to be simply the pottery description each carries. This can be either “J. & M.
P. B.& Co.” which is the most common or “J.
& M. P. BELL & Co.” which is found on, for
instance, Warwick Vase. Having a different
backstamp for each transfer-printed pattern
seems to be a Scottish trait of this period
which makes the study of marks for identification purposes a rather fruitless occupation. The
important factor in each mark tends to be the
pottery description which can quite often help
Fig. 5.16 moulded on a raised pad
to date the piece.
The commonest impressed mark in this period is the bell with the initials JB inside it. This
seems to be applied to all sorts of wares, even sometimes to transfer-printed earthenwares which
are already marked. It is the only mark found on china. But it is not, perhaps, the earliest
impressed mark.
On the Parian jugs two marks appear which
seem to be earlier than the impressed JB in a
bell. These are: firstly, a blue or white pad mark
with a moulded sheaf of wheat and the words
VINTAGE(fig. 5.16) which is the name of the
pattern (or jug) and J. & M. P. B.& Co.;
secondly there is an impressed mark of J. & M. P. BELL & Co. in an arc. Though this latter
starts early it continues for some time. It occurs on the Vintage jug and on the ‘vine’ jug, then the
JB in a bell mark seems to take over and becomes the standard impressed mark for parian ware
and china for much of the rest of the Pottery’s life. (4.2) (fig.4.1 Ch 4, P16) The ‘tendril’ lug was
registered in this decade and sherds of both ‘vine’ and ‘tendril’ shapes were found in a deposit of
this date on the site of the Pottery.
Words like IMPERIAL, ROYAL and GRANITE in impressed marks on earthenware usually
denote a new and improved body, many of which were introduced by different potteries at this
time in an attempt to make earthenware harder and more durable. One undoubtedly early mark Is
an impressed small anchor which has been noticed particularly on pieces printed with
“Triumphal Car” but is by no means common.
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This seems to cover the repertoire of marks used by the Company at this period. It changed
very little before 1880.
Jenny Lind mark
Fig 5.17 Jenny Lind on another jug shape
One possibility which has so far not been
discussed is the production of earthenware
tea services. These were certainly made in
large quantities by the Glasgow Pottery but
information on them is sparse for the simple
reason that they were used more, and more
carelessly than china tea sets and have consequently survived in smaller numbers. Much
information about teaware in this decade was
obtained from the dig on the site, when at
least 30 biscuit shapes of cups in china, semichina and earthenware were found. Most of
these have never been seen apart from the
sherds but an octagonal cup with ‘Broseley’
and a round, shallow cup with ‘Apsley Plants’
are known, as well as a cup and saucer with
Gondola (fig. 5.19) in a shape not represented
in the wares from the dig.(43)
Fig 5.18 .Apsley Plants
Fig 5.19 Gondola
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In china the Pottery was issuing tea sets with cups, saucers, plates, slop basin and two bread
plates. Sugar basin and cream jug were not normally matched to the tea set, though a few tea sets
have been recorded with both and a tea set in Huntly House has a matching tea kettle. It is probable that all of these date from a later period. The sugar basin and cream jug formed a set with
the tea pot, often in black basalt, a body which Bell’s is not known to have made. Only 2 shapes
of cup have been recorded in collections but many more are known from sherds found on the site
of the Pottery.
No dessert services were found in the 1996
excavations so their production, like that of the
‘Bells’ Cup’ must be dated to 1860 at the
earliest.
In Parian at least four moulded jugs were
issued. The Vintage and the ‘Vine’ shape occur
also in blue dip. The ‘tendril’ and ‘antler
handle’ shapes are rarer; the former is known
with a violet background to its mouldings. As
well as this there must have been a trade in
Parian ornaments. Paisley Museum has a
marked example of a small ornament in the
shape of a dolphin (fig. 21) and a small bust of
one of the original Free Church ministers has
been reported but in general most of the large
pieces made by Bell’s that we know of seem
not to have been marked. This makes attribution difficult in many cases, for example in the
unmarked Parian statuette of Dante in the
Paisley Museum. The replicas of the Warwick
Vase which are in the collections of Paisley
and Glasgow Museums are beyond dispute but
no others have ever been recorded. They are
unmarked. For years the family of John Weir
preserved a figure of Jesus Christ in Parian
which they believed had been made at the
Glasgow Pottery.
Fig 5.20 Covered mug (“Marine” transfer)
As well as this at least four jug shapes in
earthenware were made: two hexagonal and
two octagonal. Besides these jugs the Pottery
made the array of goods mentioned in their
original letter.
Fig. 21 Dolphin (parian ware)
✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏✏
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