INDUSTRIES 



is used for Doiilton ware is often fired with- 

 out a glaze in the terra-cotta kihis. Well- 

 burnt terra-cotta can be obtained in several 

 natural colours or can be easily stained through- 

 out its mass with quiet harmonious colours. 

 Many important statues and groups of figures 

 have been carried out in this material for use 

 as public memorials, decorations of public 

 buildings and the like. 



' Dry Impasto ' or * Vitreous Fresco ' is a 

 process, which like those of ' Lambeth Fai- 

 ence ' and ' Crown Lambeth ' requires several 

 firings for its different stages. The method 

 was introduced by Messrs. Doulton & Co. 

 for use especially in positions of prominence 

 where the ordinary glaze of faience tiles 

 would be too bright. The painting is made 

 upon terra-cotta slabs in a very rich palette 

 of colours, which fire without a high gloss. 

 Gold is sometimes used to add brilliancy ; it 

 is fired on and burnished afterwards where 

 necessary. The term Fresco has been ap- 

 plied to it because of the similarity of its 

 effect to fresco paintings, which are of course 

 strictly speaking executed upon plaster. 'Vit- 

 reous Fresco ' however has the advantage 

 over ordinary fresco that, all the painting 

 being fixed by firing, it is a permanent decor- 

 ation. Moreover the designs can be carried 

 out in the studio free from the difficult con- 

 ditions of working direct upon the walls or 

 ceilings to be decorated. 



A material, which has been introduced by 

 Messrs. Doulton & Co. only so recently as 

 1898, and is especially adapted for the per- 

 manent exterior decoration of buildings, is 

 ' Stoneware Polychrome.' Under this name 

 the company has sought to carry out on a 

 stoneware basis the method of decoration 

 known as majolica painting. The designs 

 are fired at the same stoneware fire as the 

 slabs or blocks on which they have been 

 painted, and being fused at such an intense 

 heat as this are not likely to be attacked by 

 the deleterious acids found in city atmos- 

 pheres. 



The above account exhausts the principal 

 processes employed by Messrs. Doulton & 

 Co. at Lambeth. It will be seen that hardly 

 a use, which the art of the potter can be 

 made to serve from the most prosaic and use- 

 ful to the most ornamental, has been neg- 

 lected. Of the company's Burslem works, 

 which were acquired in 1877 and are devoted 

 to the production of the finest class of china 

 ware, it is not within the scope of the present 

 inquiry to treat. 



Of Mr. Henry Doulton, to whom, as we 

 have seen, the present company is mainly in- 

 debted for the high place it now holds in 



British industry, it may be here noted that 

 he was awarded in 1885 the Albert Medal of 

 the Society of Arts ' in recognition of the 

 impulse given by him to the production of 

 artistic pottery in this country.' While 

 however the award was made on this ground, 

 the council of the society desired it to be 

 understood that they had also in view Mr. 

 Doulton's other services to the cause of tech- 

 nical education, especially the technical edu- 

 cation of women ; to sanitary science, and in 

 a less degree to other sciences by the manu- 

 facture of appliances of a suitable character. 

 The medal was personally presented by the 

 Prince of Wales (as our present King then 

 was) on the occasion of a visit to the 

 Lambeth pottery for that special purpose. 

 Mr. Doulton had received from the French 

 Government in 1878 the distinction of a 

 Chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and in 

 1887 was knighted by the late Queen. Upon 

 his death, on 17 November 1897, the business 

 was continued by his son, Mr. Henry Lewis 

 Doulton, but on i January 1899 was con- 

 verted into a limited company, Mr. Doulton 

 assuming the position of managing director, 

 Mr. Ronald D. Doulton, Mr. Benjamin 

 Hannen and Mr. W. A. TurnbuU constitu- 

 ting with him the Board of Directors, with 

 Mr. Charles L. Jones as secretary. 



The following brief account of the extent 

 of the Lambeth works of this firm at various 

 stages of its career and at the present time 

 may serve for the purpose of interesting and 

 instructive comparison. 



When the establishment of Doulton & 

 Watts first removed to High Street, Lambeth, 

 in 1826, it consisted of about twelve persons, 

 working but one kiln a week. The surround- 

 ings of the potteries were then very different 

 to what they are now. A substantial resi- 

 dence adjoined the factory, and an acre of 

 garden was attached to it, which has since been 

 gradually absorbed by the works. About the 

 year 1850 the number of persons employed had 

 increased to about a hundred. This was after 

 Mr. Henry Doulton had commenced the 

 manufacture of stoneware pipes in 1846, and 

 had induced his father to join him in erecting 

 the special factory for these near Lambeth 

 Bridge. The annual consumption of coal 

 was then 1,500 tons, of clay 1,800 tons. 

 The account which gives these figures makes 

 special mention of the use of the steam 

 engine, which Messrs. Doulton had been the 

 pioneers in introducing into the manufacture 

 of pottery, to prepare the clay and to turn 

 the wheels and lathes. In 1878 after Mr. 

 Henry Doulton had successfully established 

 his manufacture of art pottery we learn that 



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