THE EARLY POTTERIES OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 27 



Geology. It is of much the same kind of ware as the tygs, 

 and has its ornaments in white clay. It bears the date 1649, 

 and the initials E. M. 



The manufacture of BUTTER POTS was an important branch 

 of the potter's art at Burslem at an early period, and it may 

 be well to say a word or two upon them, for the purpose of 

 exploding an opinion which I believe has gained very general 

 credence, that, till the time of Josiah Wedgwood, none but 

 these coarse vessels were made in the potteries. Nothing 

 could possibly be further from the truth than this, and I 

 trust that this glance at the history of the Staffordshire 

 potteries will prove that the potters had a far higher aim in- 

 their art than the production only of such rude but useful 

 utensils. Butter pots had been made long anterior to the 

 year 1670, in which year the attention of Government was 

 called to the frauds carried on by means of the pots not 

 being of an uniform size and thickness. An Act was accord- 

 ingly passed, * compelling the Burslem potters to make their 

 pots of a size to hold 14 Ibs. of butter, and sufficiently hard 

 not to imbibe moisture ; for it appears that, by being porous, 

 the dealers soaked them in water, and thus the buyer did not 

 get nearly his proper weight of butter. 



* 13 and 14 Charles II. cap. 26, 1661. 



