THE EARLY POTTERIES OF STAFFORDSHIRE. 



57 



over and settling here, and English workmen prosecuting 

 their researches and experiments in a successful manner, 

 soon altered this state of affairs, and the home market became 

 stocked with home-made goods. Thus, instead of looking 

 to foreign states for a supply of wares, England so success^ 

 fully competed with them in their production as soon to be 

 able to export at a cheaper rate than they could manufacture. 

 Delft ware, although not generally known to have been 

 made in England, was, as I have on another occasion shown, 

 undoubtedly made in several localities. Liverpool produced 

 its Delft ware of excellent quality, and there its manufacture 

 continued till quite a late period, as many examples in 

 Mr. Mayer's museum, and in my own collection, testify. 

 London, Bristol, Lowestoft, and indeed several places 

 besides the Staffordshire district, produced the same kind 

 of ware during the last century. The peculiarity of the 

 Delft ware is that the body is formed of a soft buffish- 

 coloured clay, and then washed on its surface with a fine slip 

 of a blueish or greenish-white tint, on which the pattern is 

 painted generally in blue and then glazed over. The 

 effect produced is extremely soft and pleasing, and the better 

 pieces have a nearer approach in softness and brilliance of 

 appearance to Oriental porcelain than most wares have. 



The accompanying engraving of two plates of Delft ware, 

 from my own collection, will serve to show the commoner 



