Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains Howell G.M

Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains Howell G.M. Edwards Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains A Scientific Reappraisal 1 3 Howell G. M. Edwards Department of Chemical and Forensic Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences University of Bradford Bradford UK ISBN 978-3-319-48712-0 ISBN 978-3-319-48713-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-48713-7 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016960033 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover illustration: Nantgarw porcelain dessert plate, impressed NANT-GARW C. W., from a service commissioned by the Prince Regent later King George IV, for his younger brother, Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, on the occasion of his marriage in 1818 to Princess Augusta of Hesse-Cassel. Private Collection. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Foreword This book provides a timely survey of the output of the two Welsh porcelain factories at Swansea and Nantgarw which were operational in the second and third decades of the nineteenth century, between about 1814 and 1823. The linking theme of William Billingsley and his efforts to make and decorate porcelain of the highest quality and translucency is explored from his apprenticeship at the Derby China Works in 1771 and his ascendancy at Derby until his departure in 1795, moving on to Pinxton, thence to Mansfield, Brampton-in-Torksey, Worcester, Nantgarw, Swansea, and Nantgarw again and thence finally to Coalport, where he died alone in 1828. The holistic approach adopted in this book brings together the historical documentation from the first account of William Turner in 1897 and scientific analyses that have been carried out on ceramic products of Swansea and Nantgarw from the first efforts of Eccles and Rackham in 1922 until the most recent analytical chemical literature in 1999. The author, a well-respected analytical chemical spectroscopist who has been researching at the arts/science interface on artworks and archaeological artefacts, has published extensively in this field in the scientific literature in collaboration with museum scientists, conservators, art historians and archaeologists. He is particularly suited to a scientific approach to the verification of several questions and statements that have been proposed in ear- lier texts and an evaluation of the conclusions. The compilation of a list of “named services” has been undertaken for each factory using historical documentary information about their origins, which is of an inestimable importance for both Nantgarw and Swansea identification since the original factory pattern or workbooks are no longer extant. Scientific explanations are proposed for the famous Nantgarw clarity and translucency, the Swansea duck- egg body colouration and the iridescence of Nantgarw items supplied in the white for enamelling at the London workshops. Finally, some protocols for the characterisation of potential Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains are proposed which will assist in the vetting of unknown items. It has been an immense pleasure to have discussed the intricacies and pit- falls involved with the characterisation and attribution of Derby, Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains with the author for almost 50 years, and I can fully endorse v vi Foreword the scholarship evident in writing this book which provides a significant advance in the knowledge that we have for the appreciation and preservation of these pre- cious works of ceramic art. Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK Bryan Bowden August 2016 Author and Bryan Bowden at the William Billingsley Exhibition, York Antiques Fair, July 2016, arranged by Dr. Morgan Denyer. Both the author and Bryan Bowden have collaborated for a total of 100 man-years on the evaluation of Derby, Nantgarw and Swansea porcelains and have roots near Nantgarw—Bryan Bowden was born within a few miles of the Nantgarw China Works— Howell Edwards’ paternal home is Pontypridd, a few miles up the valley from Nantgarw (and William Edwards, architect of the bridge over the River Taff at Pontypridd in 1756, is an ancestor) Preface This book represents the culmination of almost fifty years of the appreciation of and research into the products of the two Welsh porcelain factories at Swansea and Nantgarw, which started in the early nineteenth century and existed for only about ten years intermittently before their closure in the early 1820s. During this short time, they produced some of the finest porcelain ever seen, superbly deco- rated and gilded, and set the gold standard for ceramic art for many years to come. The brainchild of the enterprise was the enigmatic and restlessly energetic William Billingsley, who started his apprenticeship at the Derby China Works in 1774, thence moving to Pinxton, Mansfield, Brampton-in-Torksey, Worcester, Nantgarw, Swansea, and Nantgarw again and finally Coalport. His ambition was the creation of the most highly translucent and beautiful soft-paste porcelain through empirical experimentation which could act as the perfect vehicle for displaying his enamelling and decorative artistry. He was eventually successful in his venture, but this could be achieved only at the expense of exceptionally high kiln losses and result- ing economic non-viability in a highly competitive arena despite an almost insatia- ble desirability for its ownership by Regency society and aristocratic patrons. Born in Skewen, near Swansea, his maternal birthplace and with a paternal birthplace in Pontypridd near the Nantgarw China Works site, the author became interested in these local ceramics from an early age, and in later life, his analytical scientific expertise applied to cultural heritage problems fuelled a desire to exam- ine further the literature and science which existed on the Swansea and Nantgarw porcelains. The earliest dedicated record of the history of these factories appeared in a book researched by William Turner in the 1880s and published in 1897, which contained much important information gleaned from people who had actually worked at the two factories. This was followed by the seminal works of E. Morton Nance and Dr. William John which appeared in the 1940s and 1950s; these later studies highlighted several incongruities and misinterpretations that had been made seemingly through the acceptance of erroneous assumptions and the dis- missal of critical evidence for apparently superfluous reasons. Later works by Elis Jenkins and by Sir Leslie Joseph and Jimmy Jones in the 1970s and 1980s aimed vii viii Preface at correcting some of these for the Swansea China Works, but it was clear that a timely scientific reappraisal on holistic grounds was now needed for both factories. This would necessitate a survey being undertaken of the growth and develop- ment of the factories at Swansea and Nantgarw, the identification of the artistic and commercial personalities involved, who by the very nature of their employ- ment in the ceramics industry were peripatetic, and in particular an historical study of the key figure, William Billingsley, and his associates and family members during this time. A reassessment of the scientific analytical conclusions on Swansea and Nantgarw porcelain paste composition was published in diverse papers and journals from the earliest by Herbert Eccles and Bernard Rackham undertaken on specimens in the Victoria & Albert Museum Collection in 1922 up to the latest of Victor Owen and colleagues in 1999 was also reviewed as part of this process. Because of the itinerant nature of ceramic artists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, this survey could obviously not be conducted in isolation from relevant information pertaining to other contemporary and competitive China factories, especially those at Derby, Worcester and Coalport. A novel aspect of this book is the research and identification into the so-called named porcelain services from Swansea and Nantgarw to facilitate their correct attribution and chronological placement: a task that has always been difficult because of the absence of factory pattern books at both Swansea and Nantgarw China Works and the availability of only limited work notes of experimental paste compositions and diary entries made by Lewis Weston Dillwyn in particular at Swansea. A novel protocol proposed here for the identification of unknown or suspected

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