The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-04-02
BY MRS. c. o. ROBINSON

Times Hobby Editor
CTAFFORDSHIRE, England,
- has been noted as a center Of
pottery manufacture since the
early part Of the seventeenth CEN
fury. From that time to the
present various kinds of pottery
and porcelain, including the beau
tiful jasper and basalt of Josiah
WedgeWOod have come from the
hands Of the Staffordshire work.
men to delight housekeeping
hearts.
Much of the lovely china for
table service has been produced in
StaffOrdshire since 1856, when
Richard Charters made the first
English porcelain, and John Sad
Ter Of Liverpool, at approximately
the same time, invented a process
for transferring engravings to pot
terry as decoration.
Sadler's discovery created a
fashion for adjoining china with
views of public buildings and
scenes of historic significance, but
as Sadler kept his process a Sc
cret for many years, the Stafford
shire potteries we're obliged to
send their wares to Liverpool for
decoration. Even the incompara-
bic WedgeWOOd'S superior product
jOstled along the rutted country
roads in a hOrSe-draWn cart to
Liverpool and return.
The earliest Staffordshire ware
of historic design is distinguished
by rich dark blue color and the
artistic beauty of the borders
surrounding the central figure.
Today these pieces are designated
as "old blue StaffOrdshire," and
rank among the most priced addi-
tons to a china collection, espe-
cially if they have distinctive
marks which place them definitely
as the product of such old mas
tiers as Enoch Wood or James
Clews.
The same James Clews, who,
in 1887 at Troy, Ind, built and
put into operation the Indiana
Pottery Company. Labor trouble
and unsuitable clay, however,
caused CleWS to abandon the prof.
ect shortly after it was started.
In accord with the popular fash
ion during the last Of the eight
zenith and first half of the nine
tenth centuries, Staffordshire
china for American markets was
ornamented with representation
of important American buildings
and scenes.
ONE of James Clew's old blue
" StaffordShire designs, called
States has as a central subject
a medallion of the White House,
called at that time the Presidents
house, supported by two female
figures representing Liberty and
Justice The border is formed of
a scroll which bears the names
of fifteen states and is inter-
tWined among flowers. A States
pitcher, once owned by John Her.
ron, is included in the excellent
collection Of Staffordshire ware
belonging to the John Heron Art
Museum of this city.
Special events. such as Lafay-
cites visit to America, the Pill
grim bicentennial in 1920, and the
opening of the Erie canal, were
commemorated on Staffordshire
china When the Baltimore &
Ohio railroad received the first
American charter as a public car
rier of passengers and freight.
Enoch Wood hCnored this step in
American progress by marketing
two varieties Of plates, one Of
which is shown above, by courtery
of the railroad.
As the designs were engraved in
England the train used was a
British model and not the first
American built locomotive, the
Tom Thumb made for the B. &
o. by Peter Cooper.
The Tom Thumb, with its sue
cessors. is pictured on the border
Of special china. similar to the old
plates. which was made on the
one hundredth anniversary of the
b & o. in 1927. for use on din
ing cars OF the line and for sale
as souvenirs.
The Tom Thumb is intact to-
day. and although venerable, is
far from senile. 1t made a per-
SOnal appearance at a Century of
Progress exposition, where it ran
under its own steam in the pag-
cant Of transportation, Wings of
a Century"
OVEN in modern guise, deep
Il blue china holds its popular
ity today and the historic blue
plate has the power to vanquish
a wOman'S sales resistance.
Daughters Of the American Rev.
Olution. knowing this feminine
prediction, obtained funds for
patriotic projects by selling deep
blue Wedgewood plates re-
Sembling the old blue Stafford
shire and depicting scenes from
revolutionary history.
The Francis Vigo Chapter, at
Vincennes, chose the episode of
the conference between William
Henry Harrison and Tecumseh, in
front of HarriSon'S home in Vim
cenneS, as the subject of its plate.
The Paul Revere chapter at
Muncie used The Capture of
Vincennes, a painting by Freder-
lex c. Yohn, which shows George
Rogers Clark and old Fl. Sack
vile.
The present day vogue for early
American furniture and decora-
ton has influenced manufacturers
TO adapt the old blue Staffordshire
historical patterns to modern
china. Crown Ducal ware from
Staffordshire today portrays
scenes from American colonial
history in blue. and the Lennox