KXRAMIC STUDIO 
9i 
and greenish Leeds paste, also the yellowish paste of 
Sunderland with its black print decoration and washes of pink 
lustre. But most generally it is impossible to determine the 
make or date of old lustre pottery. 
Lustres on old English porcelain are not as common as 
they are on pottery. However tea sets are found in this 
country which by their similarity of shape and decoration 
betray the same origin, the decoration consisting generally of 
a narrow band of copper lustre on the edge of pieces, and of 
medallions either in black print or in pink lustre, also of 
bands with lustre decoration. We illustrate here two inter- 
esting sets of this ware which belong to one of our subscribers, 
Mrs. S. E. Posey of Los Angeles, Cal. One has black print 
medallions illustrating a game of battledore and shuttlecock 
and a reading lesson, the other pink lustre medallions of 
buildings and trees. The latter set is especially interesting 
as it consists of tea pot, sugar bowl, creamer, slop bowl, two 
cake plates and ten cups and saucers, in remarkably good 
condition. This practically constituted a complete tea set in 
the old time, the number of cups and saucers varying from 6 
to 12. 
The origin of these lustre porcelain tea sets (there does 
not seem to be anything but tea sets in this ware) is very 
much discussed by collectors. Many think that they are of 
Staffordshire make and there is very little 
doubt that lustres have been used by Stafford- 
shire potters on porcelain. One must not 
forget that the process of metallic oxide dec- 
oration, called lustre ware, was invented early- 
in the Century by Peter Warburton of the New 
Hall Works, in Shelton, Staffordshire. It 
would be strange if the New Hall potters who 
were making porcelain exclusively had not used 
the new decoration invented by one of them, 
and Miss Earle mentions some plates in her 
possession, decorated with lustre and bearing 
the New Hall mark. But New Hall porcelain, 
which is quite rare, is of a very white body, 
rather opaque and heavy, resembling Bristol 
porcelain, and quite different from the lustre porcelain tea 
sets most commonly found and illustrated here, which show 
a good translucent porcelain, not especially white, the light 
showing through it with a slightly greenish tint. 
Other people think that this porcelain is of Swansea 
make. The shapes and style of decoration given by Litch- 
field as typical of the ordinary table ware which was made at 
Swansea bear a strong resemblance to the shapes and decora- 
tion of these lustre sets, same squatty teapots and sugar bowl, 
handle of teapot attached low, broad mouth creamer, medal- 
lion decoration, the medallions being repeated on covers of 
teapot and sugar bowl. If these sets can positively be identi- 
fied as Swansea, they should belong to that period beginning 
about 1 8 1 5, when the Swansea factory gave up the manu- 
facture of fine artistic ware and turned to the manufacture of 
ordinary table ware. 
In fact the history of porcelain making at Swansea is 
short. A pottery was founded there in the middle of the 
last century for the manufacture of common earthenware. It 
was called Swansea or Cambrian pottery. At the end of the 
century they began to manufacture an opaque porcelain 
which was considerably improved by Mr. Dillwyn, the owner 
of the works from 1802 to 1817. In 1814 Mr. Dillwyn 
attached to his pottery two clever artists, Billingsley 
or Beelev and Walker, formerly employed at Worces- 
ter, and who had been for some time manufacturing 
at Nantgarw the famous porcelain of that name. This 
Nantgarw porcelain is very rare and commands high 
prices from collectors, as it is considered the most 
beautiful of old English bodies. It was a vitreous 
paste, having a granulated appearance like that of fine 
lump sugar, and very soft, easily injured by firing, a 
large number of the specimens found being either fire 
cracked, or somewhat warped and bent. It was also 
beautifully decorated, Billingsley, who alone had the 
secret of this peculiar paste, being the first flower 
painter of his time. However, the manufacture of Nantgarw 
porcelain was not carried on very long at Swansea, as Mr. 
Dillwyn received a letter from Barr & Flight of Worcester 
forbidding him to use the services of Billingsley and Walker, 
who it appears had a contract with the Worcester works and 
had broken it. They were dismissed, went back to Nantgarw 
and tried to continue their manufacture, but soon failed. 
Meantime the Swansea works continued to manufacture por- 
celain, but not the Nantgarw paste, the secret of which Bill- 
ingsley had carried with him. 
Jewitt claims that the manufacture of porcelain at Swan- 
sea ceased in 1823 ; Chaffers makes the date 1825, while Litch- 
field seems to think that it was carried on to a later date. 
SALT GLAZE WARE 
Edzviu A. Barber 
NEW England collectors are familiar with the old English 
Salt Glaze Ware which, for some unknown reason, is 
more frequently found through Connecticut, Massachusetts 
and Rhode Island than elsewhere. It is characterized by a 
white body and a pitted, orange-peel surface. The plates 
usually have a relief-work border and are frequently pierced, 
having been usually made from old moulds which had form- 
erly done service in the hands of the old silversmiths. This 
