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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 Redware as a single word is a term for at least two types of pottery of the last few centuries, in Europe and North America. Red ware as two words is a term used for pottery, mostly by archaeologists, found in a very wide range of places. Howeve ...
or unglazed
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 ...
to
Staffordshire pottery The Staffordshire Potteries is the industrial area encompassing the six towns Burslem, Fenton, Hanley, Longton, Tunstall and Stoke (which is now the city of Stoke-on-Trent) in Staffordshire, England. North Staffordshire became a centre of c ...
. Arguably they were the first producers of "fine pottery" in North
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 although their own operations were not financially successful, they seem to have had a considerable influence on the following generation, who led the explosive growth of the industry in the 18th century.


Early life and education

John Philip Elers was born in
Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
in 1664, the son of Martin Elers, a German living in
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, who married in 1650 a daughter of Daniel van Mildert; he had a sister married to Sir William Phipps, and a brother David. There was an uncle selling ceramics in London, and Martin Elers was involved in that business from the mid-1670s. John Philip Elers and his brother had some technical training in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
, and then are thought to have moved to England in the 1680s.


Career

The Elers brothers came to England in the 1680s. After moving to London, David was still recorded working as a
silversmith 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 ...
in London in 1686.Grove By about 1690, the brothers were in business in
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
, making stoneware. They discovered a fine red clay at Bradwell in Staffordshire, which was very suitable for producing
redware Redware as a single word is a term for at least two types of pottery of the last few centuries, in Europe and North America. Red ware as two words is a term used for pottery, mostly by archaeologists, found in a very wide range of places. Howeve ...
in imitation of
Yixing ware Yixing clay ( zh, s=宜兴泥, t=宜興泥, p=Yíxīng ní, w=I-Hsing ni) is a type of clay from the region near the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province, China, used in Chinese pottery since the Song dynasty (960–1279) when Yixing clay was fi ...
, the Chinese red pottery, which the East India companies imported into England. According to one Chinese scholar it was "even finer than the clay used at Yixing". Around 1690, John Philip Elers settled in Bradwell Wood, near
Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Staffordshire, Hanley, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in ...
, a secluded spot, where he established a factory. The products were stored in Dimsdale, about a mile away, and the buildings were said to be connected by a speaking tube; the pottery was sold by David Elers in London, at his shop in the
Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...
. Their speciality was a red unglazed pottery, chiefly teapots, with sprigged relief ornament mostly in Chinese styles. Like earlier Dutch stoneware, their teapots, one of their most common lines, were heavily influenced by Chinese
Yixing ware Yixing clay ( zh, s=宜兴泥, t=宜興泥, p=Yíxīng ní, w=I-Hsing ni) is a type of clay from the region near the city of Yixing in Jiangsu Province, China, used in Chinese pottery since the Song dynasty (960–1279) when Yixing clay was fi ...
, also unglazed stoneware mostly used for teawares. The vessel shapes often also drew from European silversmithing. Some pieces, like the teapot in the
Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
illustrated, have imitation Chinese characters, usually described as "imitation Chinese seal marks" by scholars. Yixing teapots had been reaching Europe over recent decades. It is now accepted that they used
slipcasting Slip casting, or slipcasting, is a ceramic forming technique, and is widely used in industry and by craft potters to make ceramic forms. This technique is typically used to form complicated shapes like figurative ceramics that would be diffic ...
for all their wares, even the round shapes which would have been easy to pot on a wheel. This increased their costs, and so their selling prices, and probably led to the financial failure of the business. They were important innovators in this, probably drawn to the technique by their experience of making
pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin (85–99%), antimony (approximately 5–10%), copper (2%), bismuth, and sometimes silver. In the past, it was an alloy of tin and lead, but most modern pewter, in order to prevent lead poi ...
objects by
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...
, which was the standard technique for forming that material. A letter later written to Paul Elers, son of John Philip, by
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 ...
, mentioned the brothers making ware "by casting it in plaster moulds and turning it upon the outside by lathes"; this was dismissed as "astounding" by the Rheads, but research in recent decades has shown it to be correct. Simeon Shaw, in his work ''History of the Staffordshire Potteries'' (1829), made much of the commercial secrecy employed by the Elers brothers in their Burslem pottery; Shaw relied on local oral tradition. He wrote that they employed the stupidest workmen they could obtain; and an idiot to turn the wheel. At last Josiah Twyford and
John Astbury John Astbury (1688–1743)"Astbury, John" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th edn., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 649. was an English potter credited with innovations and improvements in earthenware associa ...
discovered the secret, the latter by feigning idiocy. The Elers brothers became the targets of legal action by John Dwight, also of Fulham, who had a monopoly of salt glazed stoneware. In the period from 1691 to 1693 they set up in Staffordshire, but also kept a London outlet, and a works in
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( , ) is an area of South London, within the London Borough of Lambeth. Named after a medieval manor called Fox Hall, it became well known for the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. From the Victorian period until the mid-20th century, Va ...
. Though archeological digs have not found any evidence of salt glazed shards under their workshop, they settled with Dwight by taking out a licence, that ran to 1698. In 1698, John Philip gave up his lease on the Bradwell property, where he had also been a
gentleman farmer In the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, a gentleman farmer is a landowner who has a farm (gentleman's farm) as part of his estate and who farms as a hobby rather than for profit or sustenance. The Collins English Dictionary defin ...
, but the Vauxhall works continued until both brothers became
bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...
in 1700. After Elers left Bradwell, he became connected with the glass manufactory at Chelsea, where he assisted in the manufacture of
soft-paste porcelain Soft-paste porcelain (sometimes simply "soft paste", or "artificial porcelain") is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either its hig ...
. Subsequently he moved to
Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
, where he set up a glass and china shop.


Personal life

Elers married Miss Banks, by whom he was father of Paul Elers, who was educated for the law, and married Mary, the daughter and heiress of Edward Hungerford of Blackbourton Court, Oxford. He died in 1781, aged 82, leaving by her, among other children, Maria, the wife of
Richard Lovell Edgeworth Richard Lovell Edgeworth (31 May 1744 – 13 June 1817) was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor. He had 22 children. Biography Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, son of Richard Edgeworth senior, and great ...
, and mother of
Maria Edgeworth Maria Edgeworth (1 January 1768 – 22 May 1849) was a prolific Anglo-Irish novelist of adults' and children's literature. She was one of the first realist writers in children's literature and a significant figure in the evolution of the novel i ...
, the novelist. There is a medallion portrait of John Philip Elers done by
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 ...
, from a painting in the possession of the family, and there are two small mezzotint portraits of Paul Elers and his wife, engraved from the life by Butler Clowes.


Legacy

The Elers brothers brought the techniques of lathe turning, slip casting and relief ornamenting to Staffordshire, which may have been the result of their experience as silversmiths or because of their knowledge of European pottery.The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent Their revolutionary processes were not continued in 1698, but left to be rediscovered some 40 years later: In the 1730s their technique was revived and continued to the late 18th century. Fanciful shapes were press molded. From the 1740s ready-molded leaves were also used. The Elers had a considerable influence on the following generation, who led the explosive growth of the industry in the 18th century. The difficulty of distinguishing their wares from those of the many imitators who continued their broad style has long been recognised by scholars, but progress has been made, based on an understanding of their distinctive technique. The works of the imitators are often described as "Elers type", "style of Elers", and similar terms.
Johann Friedrich Böttger Johann Friedrich Böttger (also Böttcher or Böttiger; 4 February 1682 – 13 March 1719) was a German alchemist. Böttger was born in Schleiz and died in Dresden. He is normally credited with being the first European to discover the secret of th ...
, the European who eventually worked out how to make
porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...
, was to make similar "Böttger ware" teaware before doing so.Lo, 250


Notes


References

*Elliott, Gordon, "The Elers in Staffordshire", in ''Aspects of Ceramic History: A Series of Papers Focusing on the Ceramic Artifact As Evidence of Cultural and Technical Developments'', 2006, Gordon Elliott, , 9780955769009
online
*"Grove": "Elers" in ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts: Two-volume Set'', ed. Gordon Campbell, 2006, Oxford University Press, USA, , 9780195189483 *Lo, Kuei-hsiang, ''The Stonewares of Yixing: From the Ming Period to the Present Day'', 1986, Hong Kong University Press, , 9789622091122
online
*"MET"
MMA page, "Mug"
*"V&A
V&A page, "Teapot"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elers 1738 deaths Dutch potters English potters 17th-century Dutch people 17th-century English people Artists from Utrecht (city) Staffordshire pottery