Bell Works Patterns
Bell Works Occupation Periods
| George & Job Ridgway and Ridgway, Smith, and Ridgway | c.1792-1802 | |
| George Ridgway (& Sons) | 1802-1814 | |
| John & William Ridgway t/a John Ridgway & Co. | 1814-1830 | |
| William Ridgway | 1830-1854 |
George & Job Ridgway, and Ridgway, Smith, & Ridgway c.1792-1802
George Ridgway (& Sons) 1802-1814
No wares have been so far firmly identified as coming from the Bell Works at this period. The wares, according to contemporary accounts, were chiefly white and transfer-printed earthenwares, but George Ridgway is reported as having started porcelain production in 1805.
John Ridgway & Co. 1814-1830
According to the rate records, John and William Ridgway traded as John Ridgway & Co. from 1814 to 1818 and as J & W Ridgway & Co. from 1819 to 1830. Invoices issued by William Ridgway subsequent to 1830, however, indicate that John Ridgway & Co. was used as a trading name throughout the period.
The pad-marked wares formerly listed under the Bell Works are now listed under Cauldon Place sprigged wares. The reasons for this move are given there.
William Ridgway 1830-1854
The following patterns are the only ones in the collection that can with any certainty be attributed to the Bell Works under William Ridgway. No numbered patterns have come to light. The bulk of the output was probably mostly basic useful wares, the majority of which were unmarked. At some point in the 1830s William added the Charles Street Works to the business, using it primarily for white wares for the American market. At William's first bankruptcy in 1848 the Charles Street Works had to be sold but money supplied by John Ridgway appears to have enabled William to continue at the Bell Works until his second bankruptcy in 1854. At this point William's son Edward John Ridgway, who was in partnership with Leonard Stanley Abington at the Church Works & Cobden Works, appears to have bought all the printing plates & moulds, continuing production of some patterns (particularly "Grecian" and "Oriental") without changing the backstamp.
The shape name 'Albion' was the name used at the Broad Street Works, and the shape name 'Pompeii' was used at the Church Works. Since wares of all the factories in William's control appear to have been marketed using the same agents (regardless of partnership involved) and since there is no evidence to the contrary I have assumed that the same shape names were used in all his factories.
| "Florentine" | Covered bowl & stand. Stepped waisted tea shape. Pale blue earthenware. All-over wild rose floral print in green. |  |
| "Grecian" blue | Covered vegetable dish, dinner plate. 'Albion' shape. Earthenware. "Grecian" print in blue. |  |
| "Grecian" brown | Meat dish, dinner plate. 'Albion' shape. Earthenware. "Grecian" print in brown. |  |
| "Oriental" blue | Dessert plate. 'Albion' shape. Earthenware. "Oriental" print in blue. |  |
| 'Oriental' brown | Sugar box. Earthenware. 'Oriental' print in brown. |  |
| 'Oriental' red | Slop bowl. Earthenware. 'Oriental' print in red. |  |
| "Oriental" black | Covered vegetable dish. 'Albion' shape. Earthenware. "Oriental" print in black. |  |
| "Persian" blue | Covered bowl & stand. Stepped waisted tea shape. Earthenware. "Persian" print in blue. |  |
| "Persian" green | Jug. 'Pompeii' shape. Earthenware. "Persian" print in green. |  |
| "Persian" puce | Meat dish and dessert plate. 'Albion' shape. Earthenware. "Persian" print in puce. |  |
The following are pieces marked "WR" that may or may not belong to this factory.
| 'Willow' | Large meat dish. Earthenware. Standard 'Willow' print in blue. |  |
| "Neva" | Soup plate. Earthenware. "Neva" print in blue. |  |
| "Canton" | Soup plate. Earthenware. "Canton" print in blue. |  |