The original Castleford Pottery operated from c. 1793 to 1820 in

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in Yorkshire, England. It was owned by David Dunderdale, and is especially known for making "a smear-glazed, finely moulded, white

stoneware Stoneware is a broad class of pottery fired at a relatively high temperature, to be impervious to water. A modern definition is a Vitrification#Ceramics, vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non-refractory fire ...

". This included

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

, giving it a degree of opacity unusual in a stoneware. The designs typically included

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

elements, and edges of the main shape and the panels into which the body was divided were often highlighted with blue

overglaze enamel Overglaze decoration, overglaze enamelling, or on-glaze decoration, is a method of decorating pottery, most often porcelain, where the coloured decoration is applied on top of the already fired and glazed surface, and then fixed in a second firi ...

. Most pieces were teapots or accompanying milk jugs, sugar bowls and

slop bowl In Europe, a slop bowl, slop basin or waste bowl is one of the components of a traditional tea set. It was used to empty the cold tea and dregs in tea cups before refilling with hot tea, as there were often tea leaves in the bottom of the cups. ...

s (but not cups and saucers), and the shapes often derived from those used in contemporary

silversmithing A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

. This style was used by other potteries, in Yorkshire,

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, and probably elsewhere, and the tendency in recent decades is to call pieces that are not marked (the great majority) Castleford-type wares. These were made by several potteries in the same period. The Castleford Pottery depended largely on exports to Europe, especially the Baltic, and apparently owned its own ships. Like other English potteries, the disruption to trade from the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

was a blow from which it never recovered. The works, on what is now Pottery Street, Castleford, had been a pottery under previous owners since about 1770, and continued to be so after the sale by Dunderdale in 1820. It is claimed that the same premises operated as a pottery from c. 1770 until the last business, Clokie & Co, closed in 1961. The "Pottery River", an ox-bow branch of the River Calder, gave easy access to barges. The sculptor

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

, who came from Castleford, attended pottery painting classes in the town in the 1920s.

Castleford-type

The teapots often have a straight-sided octagonal shape, imitating designs in silver. The reliefs follow the general artistic taste of the period, with mild

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

shading into

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. The lids of the teapots are often either hinged, or slide out to the rear, the lid piece including a section of the "gallery" or border around the top hole in the pot. Sowter & Co of

Mexborough Mexborough is a town in the City of Doncaster, City of Doncaster District, South Yorkshire, England, between Manvers and Denaby Main, on the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don close to where it joins the River Dearne, and the A6023 road. It is co ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the north, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north-east, Lincolnshire ...

, and Chetham & Woolley of

Longton, Staffordshire Longton is one of the six towns which Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Bu ...

, in

The Potteries The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, Stoke ( ...

, were two of the other potteries that made Castleford-type wares. The number "22" is often impressed on the base of otherwise unmarked pots, and this has been associated with Sowter & Co. "Basalt ware" teapots and other large teaware items are the other main type of object associated with Dunderdale's Castleford Pottery. These, also made elsewhere, are in a similar style (without enamel) and sometimes both types are found from the same moulds. They also made

pearlware 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''.Osborne, 140 It was created about 175 ...

of good quality, some of which was

transfer-printed Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Fleming, John & Hugh Hon ...

in ornate designs in the style which was becoming popular after 1800. Unlike

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), 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 L ...

Jasperware Jasperware, or jasper ware, is a type of pottery first developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s. Usually described as stoneware, it has an unglazed matte "biscuit" finish and is produced in a number of different colours, of which the most com ...

and other types, where the reliefs were made separately and applied, in Castleford-type wares the reliefs were carried in the moulds, into which the clay was pressed, with two mould for the halves of the main body, the handle being joined later.

Marks

Most pieces are unmarked, but some have impressed marks on the base of "DD CASTLEFORD" until 1803, when David Dunderdale took John Plowes as a partner. Thereafter "DD & CO CASTLEFORD" or "DD & CO CASTLEFORD POTTERY" were used.

Background

Although

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire and one of the largest cities of ...

in Staffordshire was by this period much the most important pottery centre in England, there were other areas with significant groups of potteries. Yorkshire, with good clay and coal from nearby, had several, most importantly

Leeds Pottery Leeds Pottery, also known as Hartley Greens & Co., is a pottery manufacturer founded around 1756 in Hunslet, just south of Leeds, England. It is best known for its creamware, which is often called Leedsware; it was the "most important rival" in t ...

; many made stoneware. Teapots and coffee pots, made without the cups needed to serve tea, had always been a staple of British stoneware since the Dutch

Elers brothers John Philip Elers (7 September 1664 – 1738) 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 ungla ...

began British stoneware in around 1690. Starting in London, they moved to Staffordshire and were much imitated in the area. They usually added small relief elements to teapots, but these were generally plant motifs, either Chinese or Western in style. By about the 1740s Staffordshire potters were making teapots with bolder relief designs, in particular those shaped as camels, in a creamy

salt glaze Salt-glaze or salt glaze pottery is pottery, usually stoneware, with a ceramic glaze of glossy, translucent and slightly orange-peel-like texture which was formed by throwing common salt into the kiln during the higher temperature part of the fi ...

d stoneware. These were rather crude in design, but much more refined stonewares, still very often using relief decoration, were produced by

from the 1760s onwards, soon followed by their many imitators. In particular

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) 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 indu ...

greatly improved the existing black or dark brown stoneware called "Egyptian black", which he renamed "Black Basaltes" when he perfected his version in 1769. This type is now called "black basalt" or "basalt ware". It was also popular for teapots, supposedly because it showed off by contrast the white hands of the hostess as she poured tea. The Castleford Pottery was one of many imitators of basalt wares, which derived their colour from

manganese Manganese is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese was first isolated in the 1770s. It is a transition m ...

and iron added to the body mixture.Godden, xix File:Camel teapot, Staffordshire, England, c. 1750, earthenware, mold-cast and salt-glazed - Krannert Art Museum, UIUC - DSC06663.jpg, "Camel" stoneware teapot, Staffordshire, c. 1750 File:Teapot And Cover, ca. 1785 (CH 18349623) (cropped).jpg, Turner factory, stoneware, c. 1785, antedating the Castleford Pottery File:DAR pot - IMG 8641.JPG, Early Castleford ware commemorative teapot, dated 1792,

File:Castleford ware teapot, basalt ware, c. 1785, Dayton Art Institute.JPG, Castleford ware teapot, basalt ware

Notes

References

*"Fitzwilliam"
"Blue lined 'Castleford-type' teapot, sliding cover"

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

*Godden, Geoffrey, ''An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of British Pottery and Porcelain'', 1992, Magna Books, *Hughes, G Bernard, ''The Country Life Pocket Book of China'', 1965, Country Life Ltd * Jewitt, Llewellynn F. W., ''The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times Down to the Present Day...'', Vol 1, 1878, Virtue and Company
Google books
*Wood, Frank L., ''The World of British Stoneware: Its History, Manufacture and Wares'', 2014, Troubador Publishing Ltd, {{ISBN, 178306367X, 9781783063673

Castleford-type

Marks

Background

Notes

References

Further reading