Lane Delph and Fenton
Lane Delph and Fenton, Staffordshire, England · Pottery · also recorded as Fenton Stone Works, R. Minton Taylor & Co, The Foley
Marks
Plate I
The only mark engraved on this page. The surrounding entries — Heath, Edwards, Phillips, Matthews, Adams and Prince — are recorded by name and date with no mark given, which is why this entry lists them as history rather than as attributions.
What the source records
- Thomas Heath made a good kind of pottery at Lane Delph in 1710, by mixing a clay obtained from the coal-mines with his other clays; the result was durable and not easily affected by change or excess of temperature.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- Heath's three daughters married men who afterwards became celebrated potters — Mr Neale of London, Mr Palmer of Hanley and Mr Pratt of Fenton.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- William Edwards made very good coloured earthenware at Lane Delph in 1750.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- Mr Phillips was an eminent manufacturer at Lane Delph; a fine cream-colour inkstand of his making is dated 1760.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- W. Matthews of Lane Delph made mottled and clouded pottery; his drinking-mugs are well handled and finely rolled but have no spout.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- John Adams and John Prince manufactured red porcelain and white salt-glazed stoneware at Lane Delph about 1750–60 and realised large fortunes.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- The Foley manufactory was erected by the elder Josiah Spode for his second son Samuel Spode, whose name appears in the map of 1802; it was occupied by Charles Bourne in 1829 and stood empty in 1843.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
- Robert Minton Taylor, nephew of Herbert Minton, was formerly managing partner of the tile department at Minton's of Stoke-upon-Trent before running an extensive manufactory of encaustic and majolica tiles at Fenton under the style R. Minton Taylor & Co.Chaffers 1891 · p.674
Why this differs from other listings
This is the unglamorous half of Staffordshire: a run of small Lane Delph makers with dates but no marks. Chaffers records who worked where and when — Heath in 1710, Edwards in 1750, Adams and Prince in 1750–60, the Foley passing from Samuel Spode to Charles Bourne in 1829 and standing empty by 1843 — which is the context that lets an unmarked local piece be placed at all.
The source page
What this entry does not establish
- Most makers named on this page have NO mark recorded. An unmarked Lane Delph piece cannot be attributed to any of them from this source.
- Chaffers takes much of this from Shaw, and says so; the chain is this page to Shaw to the events, not first-hand observation.