Church Works and Cobden Works
Early Tea and Breakfast Wares
For later tea wares see the E J Ridgway tea wares page.
William Ridgway & Co.
William Ridgway, Son, & Co.
'No.11' black basalt
This teapot is something of a puzzle. The moulding exactly resembles the Pattern 11 teapot in buff stoneware shown in the traveller's pattern book formerly in the possession of Geoffrey Godden and now in the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. But black basalt is not one of the bodies previously reported for William Ridgway & Co., which gives us a problem. It is reputed that Willam took over the Church and Cobden Works from Joseph Mayer who was well known for producing black basalt. William's partner Leonard Stanley Abington was a modeller who had previously worked for J. D. Bagster and Joseph Mayer. So it may well be that the mould for Pattern 11 may have been produced under Joseph Mayer, when this black basalt teapot was made, and then used again to produce Pattern 11 in buff stoneware under William Ridgway & Co.
The teapot is 254mm long. Black basalt.
Photos © Buckinghamshire Antiques 2020
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'Tam o'Shanter' pale blue
The mouldings are based on scenes from the 1790 Robert Burns poem 'Tam o'Shanter'.
The sugar box. Pale blue stoneware.
Regretfully I have no photo of the base, but information indicates it is unmarked.
Photos © Trent Antiques 2021
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'Alhambra' buff stone
For jugs with this moulded design see here.
The teapot is 220mm spout to handle, and 105mm tall. Buff stone coloured earthenware.
The double mark in the centre is probably a moulder's tally mark.
Photos © David Beresford 2020
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'Alhambra' pale blue
For jugs with this moulded design see here.
The sugar box is 111mm width across flats, and 89mm tall.
Photos © Marci Andrews ~ Andrews Vintage 2020
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'Alhambra' greenish-grey
For jugs with this moulded design see here.
The honey pot or beehive is 136mm in diameter and 116mm tall. Greenish-grey coloured earthenware.
The only mark is this tiny anchor, which is probably a moulder's tally mark.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
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"Forget Me Not" puce
The teapot is 270mm spout to handle, 165mm tall, and 160mm wide. Earthenware.
The unhandled tea cup and saucer. Saucer is 140mm in diameter. Tea cup is 95mm in diameter and 57mm tall. Earthenware.
Photos © Tommy Cheatham 2019
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"Forget Me Not" purple & grey
When I first bought this piece I thought the enamel on the outside (the inside is purple only) had faded to grey in patches, but the backstamp, which would be the part most protected from the light, is pure grey. I now believe this is an attempt at two colour printing using a single printing plate. As such I am not sure that it's entirely successful. The effect is best seen on the base shot.
The slop bowl is 138mm in diameter and 67mm tall.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
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"Helical" green on blue
For reference to print name see Godden, Ridgway Porcelains (1985), p.158, Plate 177.
For a jug with the same decoration see here.
The tea cup & saucer. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
The saucer is 144mm in diameter. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
The tea cup is 57mm tall, and 67mm to the tip of the handle. It is 96mm in diameter, and the handle protrudes 22mm. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
The 8 inch muffin is 191mm in diameter. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
The toast rack is 190mm long, 123mm wide, and 84mm high. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
No marks whatsoever. Identification was purely by print and colour.
Photos © Angela Grant 2019
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"Helical" black on blue
The breakfast saucer is 168mm in diameter. Blue coloured earthenware or earthenware with blue slip coating.
The curious star-like device is probably a tally mark for the person applying the transfer.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
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"Marcella" puce
The unhandled 'Grecian' cup & saucer. Earthenware.
The saucer is 143mm in diameter. Earthenware.
The unhandled cup is 98mm in diameter 67mm tall. Earthenware.
Photos © Bonnie Jean Seiwell ~ Lady in Decadence 2020
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"Union"
For dinner wares in this pattern see here.
At first I thought that the subject matter of this print, as usual, bore no relation to the name. I then observed what the two boys at the foot of the central urn were doing. The boy on the right has a loose bundle of sticks and is breaking each one individually across his knee. The boy on the left, however, has a bundle of sticks that are tightly bound together, and therefore cannot be broken. This is a version of what came to be known in English radical circles as 'the parable of the sticks'. Hence a 'union' of many is stronger than each individual alone. The Ridgways were Methodists in religion and Liberals in politics, so the use of this symbol is hardly surprising.
The unhandled tea cup and saucer. Saucer is 146mm in diameter. Tea cup is 102mm in diameter and 57mm tall. Earthenware.
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
Photos © Tommy Cheatham 2019
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Pattern 148
The tea cup & saucer. Pale blue stoneware.
The saucer is 144mm in diameter. Pale blue coloured earthenware.
The tea cup is 61mm tall, and 69mm to the tip of the handle. It is 89mm in diameter, and the handle protrudes 19mm. Pale blue coloured earthenware.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
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Pattern 199
The teapot is 254mm tall. Pale blue stoneware.
Photos © Yorkshire-Antiques.com 2023
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Pattern 222
The 'Roman Toy' sugar box is 64mm tall and 108mm across handles. Pale blue stoneware with applied flowers in white stoneware.
Photos © Judith Ravnitzky 2023
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Pattern 340
The print of this pattern recurs on Pattern 1623 below.
The sugar box is 204mm long, 162mm wide, and 139mm tall. Earthenware.
Photos © Angela Grant 2020
The bread & butter plate is 270mm long and 240mm wide. Earthenware.
Photos © Maria Kultys 2022
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Pattern 484
The tea cup and saucer. Earthenware.
The saucer is 143mm in diameter.
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
The tea cup is 58mm tall, and 64mm to the tip of the handle. It is 103mm in diameter, and the handle protrudes 21mm.
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
Photos © Angela Grant 2018
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Pattern 587
Although the piece is badly damaged I have included photos taken by the owner because of the interesting late use of the "Dresden Opaque China" print originally used in the 1820s by Job Ridgway & Sons at Cauldon Place, and later by John & William Ridgway at Cauldon Place and the Bell Works. For earlier examples of the same print see the "Dresden Opaque China" print page.
How the printing plates ended up at the Church Works is curious. When the partnership between John and William ended, John took the Cauldon Place works, and William took the Bell Works. I have long thought, for various reasons, that the blue & white earthenware patterns of the partnership were made at the Bell Works after John & William took it over from George Ridgway's sons, and that William continued to make them after the partnership broke up. It would therefore have been possible for the Church Works partnership (William being senior partner) to 'borrow' printing plates a decade after they ceased to be used at the Bell Works (run by William alone). See also Pattern 576.
The teapot stand is 182.5mm long and 140mm wide. Earthenware.
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
Photos © Nancy French 2019
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Pattern 629
The teapot is 292mm long and 181mm tall. Earthenware.
The small teapot is 254mm long and 158mm tall. Earthenware.
The sugar box is 200mm long and 156mm tall. Earthenware.
The creamer is 162mm long and 133mm tall. Earthenware.
The slop bowl is 137mm in diameter and 73mm tall. Earthenware.
The tea bowl & saucer. Earthenware.
The saucer is 143mm in diameter. Earthenware.
This is the lowest pattern number I have seen with a William Ridgway, Son, & Co. backstamp.
The unhandled tea cup is 102mm in diameter and 57mm tall. Earthenware.
The 6 inch muffin is 156mm in diameter. Earthenware.
Photos © Bonnie Jean Seiwell ~ Lady in Decadence 2020
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Pattern 1623
The print of this pattern was previously used on Pattern 340 above.
The teapot is 253mm long, 176mm in diameter, and 104mm tall including lid. Earthenware.
The saucer is 145mm in diameter. Earthenware.
The tea cup is 61mm tall, and 64mm to the tip of the handle. It is 97mm in diameter, and the handle protrudes 17mm. Earthenware.
The 7 inch muffin is 187mm in diameter. Earthenware.
The impressed mark reads: "OPAQUE / GRANITE / CHINA / W. R. & Co".
Photos © Angela Grant 2019
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Pattern 2315
This pattern is important because it can be dated. The 'Alhambra' shape jug was reported in the Art-Union magazine for May 1845, so this pattern was probably issued around that time, or shortly after.1
A jug of the same pattern may be found here.
Teapot. Earthenware.
Photos © Jim Mcauliffe 2019
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Pattern 3032
The bread & butter plate is 260mm long and 229mm wide. Earthenware.
Photos © Rebecca Coy 2021
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Notes
1. See R. K. Henrywood, Relief-Moulded Jugs 1820-1900 (1984), pp.79-80.