Bedford Works
Milan Jugs
For a long time wares made by the Ridgways at the Bedford Works were thought to have been made by Dudson. There was clearly co-operation between the two factories and it is difficult to establish exactly how far that went. There have, however, been doubts expressed as to whether a factory the size of Hope Street with its two tiny bottle ovens (the large oven was not completed until 1872) could have been capable of manufacturing the wide range of wares attributed to them. Tony Curnock was the first to express the opinion that the ebony wares attributed to Dudson were made by Ridgway at the Bedford Works. These wares share many shapes with the jasper wares. I became convinced of the matter after reading Jewitt's The Ceramic Art of Great Britain (1878). Volume 2 where he describes the products of both the Bedford Works and Dudson's Hope Street Works. Jewitt states that both factories produced moulded ware and mosaic ware, but only the Bedford Works produced jasper ware and jet ware, and he praises both wares with effusive language. Whilst the comment on jet or ebony ware was to be expected after Tony Curnock's article, that on jasper ware was not. All jasper wares were, up to then, thought to have been produced at Hope Street. It now seems clear that Dudson made no jasper ware between the 1830s and March 1882. It appears that, after James Dudson completed the construction of the large bottle oven in 1872, he was looking for additional wares to produce. It is on record that he experimented with simplifying the production of mosaic and jasper wares. The Ridgways must have agreed to allow him to produce some mosaic ware from the mid-1870s and jasper ware from March 1882. Audrey Dudson has admitted that Dudson only started to advertise jasper wares in 1882. Both factories continued in production (presumably with some sort of joint marketing agreement), and the Ridgways seem to have withdrawn from the market around 1891, leaving Dudson in sole production. Only Ridgway production will be found listed here. Dudson manufactured wares will be found in the Dudson section of 'Other Manufacturers'.
E. J. Ridgway (& Son)
Ridgway, Sparks & Ridgway
Impressed Number Series
Pattern 12 "MILAN / PATENT MOSAIC"
Pattern 27 "MILAN" "E. J. RIDGWAY"
Pattern 50 "PATENT MOSAIC / MILAN"
Pattern 56 "MILAN" "E. J. RIDGWAY"
Incised Number Series
Fractional Number Series
Impressed Number Series
Pattern 1 "MILAN"
The jug is 190mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip.
The interior is full glaze whilst the exterior is smear glaze.
The impressed mark "MILAN" appears to be the same as on the "E. J. RIDGWAY" marked Pattern 27 jug below, which implies that they were both made in the same factory. The impressed "1" appears to be a pattern number as it is consistent with other 'Milan' jugs with the same decoration.
Photos © Anonymous 2021
The jug with Britannia Metal lid is 200mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip.
In the final smoothing of the base the impressed "MILAN" has almost been lost, but there is just enough left to see that was what must have been there.
Photos © Paul Fawcett 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 5 "MILAN"
The jug is 120mm across and 150mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigging.
Photos © Joan Cowan 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 6 "MILAN"
The two jugs. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
The jug is 165mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
An impressed "24" size marker can just be seen in the side of the footrim.
The jug is 140mm tall excluding lid. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 12 "MILAN / PATENT MOSAIC"
The jug is 203mm tall. White stoneware covered with blue slip and white & blue mosaic work and white incised lines.
A rare example of a Milan jug with five points to the end of the handle instead of three.
Is the number "12" a pattern number or a size number? It is about right for the size and Pattern 50 below looks suspiciously similar. Only experience shows an impressed number with "PATENT MOSAIC" is always the pattern number.
Photos © Paul S Fawcett 2022
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 27 "MILAN" ("E. J. RIDGWAY")
The jug is 195mm tall and 260mm at the widest point. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
The interior is full glaze whilst the exterior is smear glaze.
The number "27" appears to be a pattern number. See also the turned jug above.
Photos © Tony Curnock 2021
The jug is 152mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
This jug shows the power of the retailers in not allowing a maker's mark on the jug, and also confirms "27" as a pattern number.
Photos © Paul Fawcett 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 47 "MILAN"
The jug is 140mm tall. White stoneware, the neck covered with blue slip with white classical sprigs.
The impressed "30" is a size marker, and the "W" probably a tally mark that occurs on many of the slip dipped jugs.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 48 "MILAN"
The numbering of this jug is surprising as it appears to be a 'Patent Mosaic' interloper in the 'Milan' series.
The jug is 195mm tall. White stoneware, the neck covered with blue slip in which there are three bands of mosaic work in white.
An impressed "12" size marker can just be seen in the side of the footrim.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 50 "PATENT MOSAIC / MILAN"
Another stray from the Patent Mosaic series, though this time so marked.
The jug is 100mm across and 170mm tall to top of dolphin knob and 135mm to the jug rim. White stoneware, the neck covered with blue slip in which there is one band of mosaic work and six incised lines in white.
Photos © Joan Cowan 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 51 "MILAN"
The jug is 165mm tall. White stoneware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 52 "MILAN"
The two jugs. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
The jug is 195mm tall. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
The jug is 145mm tall. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 56 "MILAN" "E. J. RIDGWAY"
The jug (minus Britannia Metal lid) is 165mm tall. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
Photos © Dick Henrywood 2022
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 77 "MILAN"
The jug is 140mm tall. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
The following jug has the same pattern number but minor differences in the sprigging.
The jug (minus Britannia Metal lid) is 170mm tall. White stoneware with blue slip and white sprigging.
Photos © Tony Curnock 2022
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 79 "MILAN"
The jug is 160mm tall. White stoneware with blue bands and turning.
The size marker "24" is just visible on the side of the footrim.
The "9" of the pattern number is not fully impressed, but it clearly is intended to be a 9.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 131 "MILAN"
The jug is 190mm tall. White stoneware with green slip band and white sprigging.
Photos © Paul Mooney 2023
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 198 "MILAN"
The jug is 165mm tall. Buff stoneware with green slip band and white sprigging.
The size marker "24" is just visible on the footrim.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Incised Number Series
Pattern 8
The jug is 180mm widest diameter and 230mm tall.
The impressed "W" and "S" are probably tally marks.
The impressed figure "6" is probably a size marker for a large jug, the "W" probably a tally mark.
Photos © Joan Cowan 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 80
The jug is 195mm tall. White stoneware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
The impressed figure "12" is a size marker, the "W" probably a tally mark.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 229
The jug is 203mm tall. White stoneware covered with blue slip and white sprigs.
Photos © Paul Fawcett 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 990
The jug is 130mm across and 170mm tall. White stoneware with drab sprigs.
Photos © Joan Cowan 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 992
Two jugs. Grey-green stoneware.
The jug is 160mm tall. Grey-green stoneware.
The impressed "24" is a size marker.
The jug is 145mm tall. Grey-green stoneware.
The impressed "30" is a size marker.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Fractional Number Series
Pattern 2/5600 "MILAN 1"
The jug is 125mm tall. White coloured earthenware covered with blue slip.
The "1" is further away from the "MILAN", but it clearly is the impressed pattern number. The fractional number is for the added gilding. Note also the curved tool mark that often appears on these wares and is probably a tally mark.
Photos © Tony Curnock 2022
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 2/8118
The jug is 180mm tall. Ebony or jet ware.
The small chip tells us that the jug has a white slip liner that has been coloured blue.
Photos © Tony Curnock 2022
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 2/8158 "MILAN 609"
The jug is 152mm tall. Red or terracotta ware.
The markings here seem to indicate this jug belongs to the impressed number series as well as the fractional number series. Perhaps the "609" refers to the bare jug before the decoration was applied. The impressed "30" is a size marker indicating a small jug.
Photos © Paul Fawcett 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 3/6030
The jug is 205mm tall, excluding lid. Earthenware.
Detail from Flaxman's drawing from Homer's Iliad: 'Diomed casting his spear against Mars'.
Detail from Flaxman's drawing from Homer's Iliad: 'Hector's body dragged at the car of Achilles'.
The impressed date code reads "9/77"for September 1877. The "12" is a size marker.
Photos © Clare and Alan Walker 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Pattern 3/8794
The jug is 178mm tall and 152mm lip to handle. Ebony or jet ware.
The body of this jug is dark terracotta, but it appears to be lined with earthenware slip.
The impressed "24" appears to be a size marker. The impressed cross in probably a moulder's tally mark.
Photos © Marci Andrews ~ Andrews Vintage 2021
Return to Bedford Works patterns
Notes.
1. G.A.Godden, Ridgway Porcelains (1985), p.219.