Derby’s crowning glory
It has graced the tables of royalty, nobility and had pride of place in gipsy caravans. Derby pottery has a devoted following second to none
NEWLY wed and looking to start furnishing our home with antiques (actually cheaply purchased auction finds), we enrolled in a Workers’ Education Association night class run by a scary lady who had forgotten more about antiques that we’ll ever know.
She once claimed to the class how she could tell the difference between tankards made from silver and silver plate just by seeing them side by side. It was something to do with how shapes reflected off them.
Naturally, she proved she actually could.
Her house was like a museum. Her 17th century dining table was surrounded by a set of Jacobean chairs and a stunning Welsh dresser was bedecked with Derby porcelain.
We learned later that she had befriended members of the local travelling community and when they came knocking on her door selling lucky white heather and clothes pegs, she had persuaded them to pass on any antiques they came across that they might want to sell.
She and they had a shared love of Derby and it was a match made in heaven. Travellers are still filling their caravans with the stuff and she will be looking down on them with divine approval.
She would have enjoyed visiting Antiques for Everyone at the NEC in Birmingham this weekend.
The Derby Porcelain Society, which has campaigned tirelessly to further research and kept interest in this classic porcelain alive, will be front and centre with an exhibition titled Derby Porcelain – Artistry from the 18th Century to the Present Day.
It will feature examples from the production of all three Derby porcelain factories from around 1750 onwards and will include many rare and previously unrecorded pieces not usually seen in one place.
Three factories? Sounds complicated. Not really, read on.
The city of Derby has a history of fine porcelain-making stretching back almost 250 years.
However, the company proper was founded in 1756 by William Duesbury (1725-1786), an enameller from Longton in Staffordshire; Andrew Planché (1728-1805), the son of a Huguenot immigrant and John Heath, a Derby banker, who provided the finance.
Duesbury was the driving force behind the business. He had been a porcelain decorator in London from 1751-1753, where he also had his own workshop for both woodwork and metalwork repairs.
Under his influence the Derby factory quickly grew in size, producing useful and ornamental wares, while in 1770, he took the brave step of purchasing the failing London Chelsea porcelain factory.
Capitalising on the expertise of its workforce he was able to both raise the quality of Derby’s ware and reach clients in the capital at the very top of the social scale.
This began what has become known as the “Chelsea Derby” period, which ran until he closed the Chelsea factory in 1783.
In 1773, Duesbury opened a showroom in Covent Garden, enabling him to attract patronage from the nobility, while in 1775, he received a Royal Warrant from George III.
This permitted the backstamp trademark to be changed, showing the Duesbury “D” capped with a crown to record that the factory was “China Manufacturers in Ordinary to His Majesty”.
In the same year Duesbury also acquired the Bow factory, but in 1779, Heath declared himself bankrupt. However, despite the crisis, Duesbury had funds enough to purchase Heath’s share of the business, making him sole proprietor.
A further boost came in 1783 when George Prince of Wales chose Derby porcelain for his London mansion, Carlton House.
Duesbury’s son, William II, an entrepreneur with both the necessary managerial skills and artistic appreciation took control on his father’s death. He assembled an outstanding group of artists and, between them, they took production into a period recognised as the factory’s golden age.
Among them were figure painters Richard Askew and James Barford; landscapists Zachariah Boreman and John Brewer and, perhaps most distinguished of all, the flower painters William Billingsley and William ‘Quaker’ Pegg.
After Duesbury’s death, the factory went into temporary decline but, when Robert Bloor, formerly company clerk, took it over in 1811, its fortunes were revived once more.
Such was the demand for Derby patterns during the Bloor Derby period, notably the Japaneseinspired Imari, that enamel painters were “poached” from elsewhere to ensure orders could be filled.
In the Staffordshire Potteries, handbills were posted that read: “Wanted Immediately. About 20 good enamel painters who can paint different Japan Patterns, Borders and &c. Any person of the above description may have constant employ, by applying to Robert Bloor, China Manufactory, Derby. May 15th, 1817.”
Numerous dinner, dessert, breakfast and tea services, vases and ornaments of all kinds were decorated with Imari and other patterns. Women were employed to paint the blue portion, which was done under the glaze, while the gilding and decoration of the remainder was carried out, over the glaze, by the men. All have a marked character
that distinguishes them from similar patterns from other factories. They were described as “good candlelight patterns”, being profusely covered with colours and gold, giving them a truly rich appearance. A number remain in production today.
Bloor died in 1846 and the factory, in Nottingham Road, closed in 1848, but Derby was saved by six former workers who opened a small works in the town’s King Street.
Meanwhile, in 1877, a new factory, the Derby Crown Porcelain Company, opened in Osmaston Road which, in 1890, received the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. The two companies merged in 1935 to become Royal Crown Derby. It continues today.