Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction and Present-Day Scenario

Abstract

Early literature relating to the Swansea and Nantgarw porcelain manufactories is reviewed and placed in context: several inconsistencies are indicated which demand a review and reappraisal. The scientific analytical work is mentioned and reasons given for the necessity of adoption of a holistic approach which considers detailed historical, documentary and scientific data taken together to elucidate and re-evaluate existing statements for credibility and acceptance.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 2. Porcelain Manufacture in South Wales in the 19th Century

Abstract

The start of porcelain manufacture in South Wales in the early 19th Century, from an already existing ceramics industry in Swansea headed by Lewis Weston Dillwyn to the fledging and novel start-up in Nantgarw by William Billingsley and Samuel Walker. Billingsley’s ambition to create the finest porcelain as a vehicle for his esteemed ceramic painting initiated his set-up at Nantgarw: initial success and demand for this new ceramic product was plagued by unacceptably high kiln wastage and the venture failed economically. This prompted his move to Swansea along with the expert kiln master, Samuel Walker, who engaged in experimental recipes for porcelain paste bodies and glazes with Dillwyn to create the famous duck-egg Swansea translucent body which was so admired in Regency society. The departure of Billingsley and Walker from Swansea to re-fire the kilns at Nantgarw, this time with secure financial backing, started the second phase of porcelain production there, only to fail again because an insatiable demand from the London retailers, their ateliers and purchasers still could not be met because of kiln wastage upon firing.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 3. Historical Research Issues

Abstract

The issues facing historical research into porcelain factories in the 19th Century and the problems facing Swansea and Nantgarw china works research: the absence of factory pattern books and work schedules for commissioned services is especially noteworthy for these two small factories in comparison with their larger contemporary competitors such as Worcester and Derby, where original records are still extant for consultation and study. The use of pattern numbers, absent for Nantgarw and sporadic for Swansea is discussed along with the presence of factory impressed and applied stencil and script marks, which especially for Nantgarw products were prone to mimicry and faking. Disputed attributions again illustrate the necessity for a holistic approach to vet and confirm genuine articles form spurious porcelain generated at other factories but bearing a Swansea or Nantgarw mark. The attribution of an artist to the decoration of ceramics has always been challenging and is no exception for these two factories and a list of artists who have been identified as working at Swansea and Nantgarw is provided.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 4. A Chronological Summary of the Billingsley Family and Their Contribution to Porcelain Manufacture and Decoration

Abstract

This chapter covers the birth and apprenticeship of William Billingsley at the Derby china works at the age of 16 to his reaching the epitome of porcelain decoration there in the 1790s and the accolade of the best painter of roses and flowers on china in England, to his departure in 1796 for a succession of other places, including Pinxton and Worcester, where he strove to develop and manufacture the finest porcelain body to demonstrate and set off his exquisite painting on china. Swansea and Nantgarw were the final two places, where he did achieve his ambition but with consequent appalling financial losses. The role of his immediate family, wife Sarah, daughters Sarah and Lavinia, and now his son-in-law Samuel Walker is reviewed and their support given to the William Billingsley’s china manufacturing and decorating enterprise is delineated.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 5. Burnishing and Gilding

Abstract

A scientific and historical review of burnishing and gilding, the exceptional skill levels involved in the process of gilding porcelain and the dangers recognised for burnishers and gilders in the 18th and 19th Centuries due to their exposure to mercury is discussed. The role of William Billingsley’s daughters, Sarah and Lavinia, in this operationat Swansea and Nantgarw, citing evidential documentation from their previous employment at the Worcester factory, is proposed and the effects of mercury poisoning are considered.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 6. Commercial Exploitation

Abstract

The commercial exploitation of china manufacture and the incorporation of ideas into contemporary competitors factory products is raised in this chapter with the relevant example of a case study of a visit of Robert Bloor, proprietor of the Derby china works, to the workshops of John Sims in London where he purchased several Nantgarw plates which had been decorated exquisitely with various scenes by James Plant. Bloor then used these plates as an inspiration to create the most sumptuous china service ever made at Derby for Lord Ongley: previous authors have stated that these Derby plates were identical to the Nantgarw versions but the evidence for this is re-examined and investigated here.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 7. Service Types and the Importance of Nomenclature in Their Attribution

Abstract

A description of the types of porcelain service manufactured at Swansea and Nantgarw and the special services recorded as being owned by notable people: the concept of attribution of a named service commission and how this originated and their historical importance for chronology of output from a factory and also the association of a particular artist and decorator with such a named service. A listing is prepared of the main sponsors of the Swansea and Nantgarw factories who reasonably might have been expected to have ordered such services from the fledgling factories in support of their activities and from which an idea could be gauged of potential missing services of this type which may still be in existence. Finally, it is realised that the dispersal of large remnants of Swansea and Nantgarw services at auctions during the last century would probably have now resulted in the loss of context with their original attributions.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 8. Armorial Porcelains

Abstract

The importance of armorial porcelain as reference points for historical chronology and provenancing is discussed for the few examples which are extant from the Swansea and Nantgarw factories compared with their contemporaries. Important armorial commissions depicting crests or coats of arms are detailed and their placement in the historical record is undertaken wherever possible.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 9. Documentary Porcelain and Historical Provenancing

Abstract

The relevance of documentary porcelain, including that made for specific purpose such as a matrimonial celebration or that which has been specifically commissioned from a particular artist, is especially important for provenancing and for the identification of an artists’ work elsewhere. Correlation with recorded attributions from other factories is not only helpful but necessary as artists moved around between factories. The case of William Billingsley being a classic example of this, and examples of his definitive work on Derby, Pinxton and other factories provides a useful means of determining his work on Swansea and Nantgarw.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 10. The Production of Porcelain Services

Abstract

Other methods of attribution of service production in porcelain factories are discussed and the identification of selected copies of original specifications can be differentiated by subtle changes to the design, ground colour, scene distribution, composition or a variation in pattern numbers. The difficulties in attribution of an original service arising from its sale and re-acquisition are also mentioned and some examples are chosen to indicate the resultant problems caused in provenancing.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 11. The Scientific Analysis of Porcelain

Abstract

In this chapter the scientific analysis of Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains is described comprehensively from the earliest recorded elemental analyses of Eccles & Rackham (Analysed Specimens of English Porcelain in the V&A Museum Collection, 1922) which involved the destruction of the items being investigated, to the latest microspectroscopic and diffraction studies in the 1990s which still involved destructive sampling but on a smaller scale. The composition of factory wasters excavated archaeologically from malformed specimens taken from the kilns after firing and broken as being unsuitable for sale. The results are reviewed individually and then compared holistically: several inconsistencies are noted and these influence and compromise several important conclusions relating to the experimental changes made during Dillwyn’s or Billingsley’s attempts to improve their porcelains. The findings of the analyses are also compared with the formulations and mixture compositions outlined in Dillwyn’s notebooks for his empirical experiments on improving Swansea porcelain and cross-referenced with his best approved porcelain mixture composition. During the discussion, the sourcing of materials and their potential impurities are discussed and the effect of kiln firing temperatures has upon the ceramic chemical composition. A Table is produced of the common chemical and molecular constituents of porcelains and those common to Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains are identified.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 12. Named Artists

Abstract

Here, the major artists involved in both Swansea and Nantgarw porcelain decoration are discussed: the evidence presented to earlier authors by personnel who actually worked at or who remembered relatives accounts of who had worked at the factories is considered. A rather tenuous link is explored between three people who could have had some overlap at Nantgarw and some interesting conclusions drawn about whether or not the Billingsley daughters could have painted at Nantgarw.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 13. Classification of Factory Output

Abstract

A brief outline of the classification of factory output from Swansea and Nantgarw, describing the types of porcelain made and/or decorated on site, i.e. locally decorated, and in the London ateliers.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 14. Nantgarw Porcelain: Named Services

Abstract

A comprehensive account of all the important Nantgarw named services identified as a result of research undertaken for this book with illustrations or directions as to where these may be located and identified. These number more than 33 separate services, several of which are still extant in museums but many of which have now been dispersed into private collections.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 15. Swansea Porcelain Named Services

Abstract

A comprehensive account of all the important Swansea named services identified as a result of research undertaken for this book with illustrations or directions as to where these may be located and identified. These number more than 18 separate services, several of which are still extant in museums but many of which have now been dispersed into private collections. These number fewer than those considered for the Nantgarw discussion in the previous chapter, despite Swansea having a considerable number of set patterns already identifies the absence of the factory workbooks is a severe disadvantage for historical provenancing issues.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 16. Miscellaneous Named Services

Abstract

A short description is made of stylised patterned services form Swansea and Nantgarw which never formally had descriptors associated with them at the factory unlike those considered hitherto, but their names now reflect their patterns and appearance with names such as gazebo, elephant and rock, parakeets, kakiemon, mandarin, fretwork bands and arrowheads, carp in a blue pool and elephant under a palm tree. These are usually locally decorated in a simple palette and several are transfer patterned or infilled services.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 17. Conclusions

Abstract

A summary is undertaken here of the conclusions drawn from this research and its holistic approach to considering together both the scientific and historical aspects of porcelain manufacture at Swansea and Nantgarw. Some services which have been described in earlier texts but for which a trace can no longer be found are described.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 18. The Discovery of a Long Lost Nantgarw Dinner-Dessert Service

Abstract

A first introduction to the author’s personal quest to discover a “lost” Nantgarw dinner/dessert service first mentioned in a text in 1948 and not thereafter: a successful outcome to this detective work is reported and further details of this Farnley Hall service and its discovery are recounted in an Appendix to the text.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 19. The Attribution of Unknown Porcelain to Swansea or Nantgarw: A Protocol

Abstract

In this chapter the author has proposed a protocol for the attribution of porcelain of unknown origins to either Swansea or Nantagrw based upon several characteristics described in the text, including shape, translucency, texture, surface glaze, moulding, gilding, measurements and decoration. There followed ten case studies carried out as test pieces to evaluate the protocol from which several definite Swansea and Nantgarw pieces can be identified and also several probables and possibles. This should act as a reasonable exercise for the reader to apply for the identification of the products of these two factories, much of which was unmarked.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 20. Statement Made by Henry Morris to Colonel Grant Davidson in 1850

Abstract

An important historical document that is referred to by authors of Welsh porcelains is the statement made by Henry Morris, a celebrated artist who worked at Swansea and is esteemed for his decoration of Swansea china, to Colonel Grant Davidson in 1850: this document has received much interest because it was made by someone who actually worked at the china works, who knew Dillwyn, Walker and Billingsley and who could shed some light upon what happened there and who worked there. As part of this study this statement has been dissected and analysed and several inconsistencies announced of which readers need to be aware.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Chapter 21. William Billingsley—An Epilogue

Abstract

A short statement about William Billingsley and his ambitious idea to create the world’s finest porcelain to match his exquisite ceramics decoration: a venture in which he was shown to have been successful but which made him financially impoverished, his family predeceasing him and leaving him a pauper. In this brief summary, the only known picture of Billingsley shows him as a lean ascetic figure probably around 1795 at the height of his ascendancy at Derby and with his ambition still to be realised at Swansea and Nantgarw.

Howell G. M. Edwards

Backmatter