Palissy was the trade name under which the English firm of A. E. Jones and Sons, of

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

, marketed their

china China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

. The name was chosen as a tribute to

Bernard Palissy Bernard Palissy (; c. 1510c. 1589) was a Huguenot, French Huguenot pottery, potter, Hydraulics, hydraulics engineer and craftsman, famous for having struggled for sixteen years to imitate Chinese porcelain. He is best known for his so-called "rus ...

, the famous French potter of the 16th century, creator of

Palissy ware Palissy ware is a 19th-century term for ceramics produced in the style of the famous French potter Bernard Palissy (c. 1510–90), who referred to his own work in the familiar manner as ("in the rustic style"). It is therefore also known as rus ...

History

They were bought out in 1958 by the

Royal Worcester Royal Worcester is a porcelain brand based in Worcester, England. It was established in 1751 and is believed to be the oldest or second oldest remaining English porcelain brand still in existence today, although this is disputed by Royal Crown ...

group, and in turn the Carborundum company that already owned

Spode Spode is an English brand of pottery and homewares produced in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Spode was founded by Josiah Spode (1733–1797) in 1770, and was responsible for perfecting two important techniques that were crucial to the worldwide su ...

china and took over Hammersley china in 1972, and then Royal Worcester in 1974. Later pieces are marked Royal Worcester Group, then Royal Worcester Spode Group, but production was undoubtedly still in Longton. From 1982, production of Palissy and Hammersley ranges was merged, until their final demise in 1988.

Pottery

Earlier marks were the word Palissy within a sort of shield or

tureen A tureen is a serving dish for foods such as soups or stews, often shaped as a broad, deep, oval vessel with fixed handles and a low domed cover with a knob or handle. Over the centuries, tureens have appeared in many different forms: round, re ...

shaped outline, which the few published sources seem to think stopped before 1940, but was clearly used as late as 1950, then about 1935 to 1939 some items have a palette outline shape with Palissy Hand painted. Plus some use of the two words Palissy Ware, sometimes in an

art-deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920s to early 1930s, ...

squared format. Postwar usage was also the two words Palissy England, with England written along the horizontal tail of the letter y and pottery with the word Palissy impressed. Plus, perhaps to dupe postwar American export customers, a mark of Palissy Established 1853, around the design of a whiskered head and shoulders presumably trying to allude to

. Many of the same pattern transfers were used, but Palissy ware is somewhat cream and quite distinctive against the whiter body of Hammersley, in the same physical shapes.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Design companies disestablished in 1988 Companies based in Stoke-on-Trent Design companies established in 1853 Staffordshire pottery Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Manufacturing companies established in 1853 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1988 1853 establishments in England 1988 disestablishments in England