• •  Pastoral Davenport Large Serving Bowl
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  •  The scene depicts two men in a wooded area chopping down trees. A mother and her children sit atop a huge log already fallen. A small boy has one leg up over the log as he tried climb atop. To the right, a woman balance upon her head a bundle of small twigs tied together. To the left is a small dog sniffing from a ewer and basket. In the background a horse drawn cart is preparing to pull a loaded log from the forest. The border in this pattern is one of may favorites, combining a unique blend of lattice and ivy framing insets of farm implements...rake-hoe-shovel and a beeskeep. Each piece in this series has a different design so check my other listings as I've got more in this pattern.  The glaze has a distinctive green hue which is difficult to find.  It is a  wonderful addition to any transferware collector, but especially to those of you who collect this pattern.

Measures: 9 1/2" x just under 4" deep

Condition is wonderful. No chips, cracks or repairs. There may be some minor crazing present, as is associated with age.

A.J. Wilkinson (Arthur J. Wilkinson, Royal Staffordshire Pottery) was a pottery or potbank at Newport in Burslem, owned by the Shorter family since 1894. A sprawling complex of bottle ovens, kilns and production shops, it lay beside the Trent and Mersey Canal, the artery which provided it with coal and the raw materials for earthenware. In its heyday it employed 400 manual workers.

The pottery had formerly been operated in turn by Hopkin & Vernon, Hulme & Booth, Thomas Hulme, Burgess & Leigh, and Richard Alcock, who enlarged the works extensively. On Alcock's death in 1881, the owners became Wilkinson & Hulme and in 1885 to Arthur J. Wilkinson.

The works at first produced earthenware for the home market, but later operations concentrated on white graniteware for the United States. Wilkinson introduced gold lustre on graniteware so was one of the first to introduce this overlay type pottery with metals.  In about 1896 A. J. Wilkinson took over the Royal Staffordshire Pottery in Burslem.

The pottery was managed by Colley Shorter, an affluent Victorian and his brother Guy. Colley, whose full name was Arthur Colley Austin Shorter (1882-1963).  He moved in exclusive circles and had a taste for antiques and fine furnishings. His second wife was the famed ceramic designer Clarice Cliff.

In 1920 Business had expanded so much, that the firm of A.J. Wilkinson was able to take over another neighbouring pottery which came to be known as the Newport Pottery Co.

In 1964 The factory was sold to Midwinter.