Chestnut baskets pierced with complicated lacy designs and exquisitely moulded handles. Towering table centrepieces fashioned as oyster shells supported on the backs of frolicking dolphins. Table services with delicate reticulated borders, the surfaces unadorned so the lustrous pale cream body shines. Welcome to the wonderful world of Leeds creamware, a ceramic genre christened after the city pottery that was once a major centre of production, although far from being the first - or the only factory to make these distinctive wares.
Inspired by the quest to find a material to rival porcelain, creamware is a fine form of earthenware pottery. White clay from Cornwall or Devon was mixed with local flint to add resilience, then finished with a lead glaze, also mixed with flint, to give a slightly golden tinge.
The material was developed by Staffordshire potter Enoch Booth of Tunstall in the 1740s and refined by Wedgwood two decades later. Wedgwood's creamware was as fine as porcelain, and he proudly supplied dinner services made from this wonder material to Queen Charlotte and Catherine the Great, christening it Queens ware to add a splash of royal cachet.
Other potters were quick to catch on, and in its heyday, from 17801820, the Leeds factory became Wedgwood's pre-eminent rival, making plain creamwares decorated with elaborate moulded and pierced decoration, as well as enamelled creamwares and a wide range of other products including stoneware, pearl and transferprinted wares.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Special 2024-Ausgabe von Homes & Antiques.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Special 2024-Ausgabe von Homes & Antiques.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Collecting Dioramas MINIATURE WORLDS
From elaborate taxidermy museum displays to humble folk art creations, a diorama can transport us to another time and place
Pride of place LEEDS CREAMWARE
In its heyday the pre-eminent rival to Wedgwood's Queens ware, Leeds creamware is still much revered by collectors for its understated elegance
Bohemian Rhapsody
An exuberant approach to decor, with rooms enveloped in colour and pattern, has brought this historic home merrily into the 21st century...
THE ANTIQUES THAT SHAPED ME Rory Hutton
The accessories designer on his love of silver spoons and Sévres porcelain
European HERITAGE B&Bs
Is there anything more inspiring than staying somewhere that's both beautifully stylish and imbued with history? Rhiannon Batten explores five gems across Europe, from Sweden to Spain...
STAR SALES
A Hitchens painting, a museum-quality teapot and a Parisian chocolate box are all top of the lots
Textile designs by artists
Influential 20th-century fine artists and sculptors, from Picasso to Barbara Hepworth, gained additional status as textile designers until decline set in during the 1970s
Period DRAMA
A painstaking renovation has brought this 1725 former Huguenot silk weaver's house in London's Spitalfields back to life
An artist's RESIDENCE
Rustic details and a restrained palette lend a sense of simplicity to this lovingly restored Friesian bakery
Carefully Curated LIVING
This lovingly restored Gustavian manor has become both home and showroom for its owners, Maria & Jan Åke, who deal in European antiques