commemorative ware

For many hundreds of years pottery has been used to record all kinds of occasions. Public events, causes and people have all found their place on pottery. In fact anything that caught the imagination the public. These could range from local elections to national political events and sometimes the subjects could be quite controversial. For instance the Jacobite cause or the Orange Order and owning a piece showing a certain allegiance could have got you in to trouble with the authorities of the day invoking legal action against the owner of such a piece.

mug bearing a verse written by George Loveless.
He was one of the Tolpuddle Martyrs circa 1834

The majority of events recorded on pottery tend to be quite personal to a family and therefore are not so desirable to the collector other than if they bear a date that can be useful in attributing a certain style of wear or type of body to a certain factory. Occasions such as births deaths and marriages are recorded often these pieces bear the initials or name of the person or persons and the appropriate date. Sometimes remaining in a family for many generations they can be interesting when tracing a family tree. However these wears can frequently be found for sale at auctions and flea markets and when this occurs the items will have usually lost all connection with the original owner with the main attraction being just for their decorative properties. Unless of course the original owner was someone famous such as Lord Nelson then this can multiply the value many times.

Creamware jug circa 1790
'the volunteers were set up to defend Ireland from a
possible French invasion'

Royal commemoratives however are of greater importance and are perhaps the next largest area represented on china particularly in the nineteenth century. The popularity of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and the advent of mass production techniques meant that wears were produced in greater numbers than ever before. Kings queens and princes have all been recorded on pottery of all kinds from German stoneware to modern mass produced porcelain in fact any kind of China has been used to record these events the earliest being delftware of the Stewart period.

Yellow ground and silver resist jug depicting
Sir Francis Burdett circa 1810

German stoneware was a popular medium in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries for recording royalty with William and Mary Queen Anne and King George I all having the initials marked on these wares. Generally the earlier the date the rarer the piece and the greater the value so during the nineteenth century as mass production increased so did the quantity of commemorative wares and whereas a piece recording the coronation of queen Victoria is quite rare and can fetch several hundreds of pounds items recording her death are much more abundant and can be bought for just a few pounds. Similarly pieces recording the coronations of twentieth century monarchs can be found in large numbers and are not of great value unless of very high quality or if they have been designed by someone famous such as Keith Murray or Dame Laura Knight.

 
Mug circa 1830 bearing motifs in support of farming

The next area recorded on China is political events and causes. These range from local elections and politicians to great political leaders and Prime ministers. Sometimes these are not always complementary and can poke fun at the subject depicted on the ware. For instance Napoleon Bonaparte was often caricatured on pottery as was Disraeli and in modern times Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher have had to endure similar such humour. I don’t know of any Tony Blair ones at the moment but the possibilities could be quite entertaining. Most of the time however the owner will be showing his support for a particular political group even though at the time this may have been considered as a rebel group.

 
silver resist lustre jug with the farmers' arms
named John Galyers 1814

Military events have been recorded on china, Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar, the light cavalry charge at Balaclava and Sebastopol and victories in the first and second world wars. Military leaders have also been depicted sometimes in Toby Jug format such as the ones designed by Clarice Cliff for Wilkinson and Co.

jug commemorating Captain Berry and Lord Nelson
circa 1830

From  time to time the events recorded are of machines and inventions such as the hot air balloon which can be found on delftware of the eighteenth century, George Stevenson’s Rocket which has been depicted on pottery of the early nineteenth century and ships which are often found on creamware of around eighteen hundred.

 
Clive commemorative plate circa 1839

The collector of commemorative wares may concentrate either on a type of pottery with a multitude of different subjects or may choose one particular subject for example those with a Masonic connection though once started it can be difficult to confine oneself to just one area.

 
coffee can bearing inscription referring to
William Henry West Betty, a celebrated young actor
circa 1805

Of course the field of commemorative wares extends beyond just pottery and porcelain. Glass has been a popular medium as it can be easily engraved, etched or moulded with many glasses of the eighteenth century bearing Jacobite emblems. Sometimes metal trays are engraved and enamels painted or printed and thus the collector can display a whole range of different items.

Masonic plate circa 1800