Torquay pottery or Torquay ware is pottery made in Torquay, Devon, England, using local clay, at one of fifteen or so local potteries chiefly serving the tourist trade,[1][2][3][4] but also supplying high-end retailers such as Liberty of London.[3]
The commonest form was mottoware - pottery such as plates or jugs decorated with inspirational or humorous text,[4] often written in a Devon dialect,[2] and thus known as Devon mottoware.[5] Some items were produced in Cornish dialect, for "export" to, and sale in, Cornwall.[5] Novelty items with no functional use were also produced, but are rarer.[4]
The first pottery, the "Watcombe Terra Cotta Clay Company"[3] (later Watcombe Pottery; acquired in 1901 by the nearby Aller Vale Pottery), was established in 1875 by G. J. Allen, after he discovered a particularly fine clay in the grounds of Watcombe House.[3][4][6]
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Other potteries included the Longpark Pottery (1883; originally the "Longpark China and Terracotta Works"[6]), in the Long Park district, which closed in 1957;[7] Lemon & Crute; Torquay Terra-Cotta Company; and the St. Marychurch Pottery.[3]
Notable potters included Blanche Georgiana Vulliamy.
A Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society, established in 1976, encourages the study and collection of such wares.[1] The society organised an exhibition, "Torquay Pottery: A Local Story" at Newton Abbot Town Museum in 2001.[8] a North American Torquay Society was formed in 1990, for the same purpose.[9]
References edit
- ^ a b "Website for collectors of Torquay Pottery". Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Torquay Potteries". Studio Pottery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Torquay Pottery". The Antique Shoppe. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Westpoint 32". Bargain Hunt. Series 50. Episode 8. 24 March 2020. BBC Television. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Torquay Devon Mottoware". Studio Valuations. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ a b "Potteries in Torquay area". Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ "Longpark Torquay Ware". Gunns Gallery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
- ^ Torquay Pottery: A Local Story: An Exhibition At The Newton Abbot Town Museum Opened Jointly By Mr Ian Green. Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. 2001.
- ^ "Torquay Pottery". The North American Torquay Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
Further reading edit
- Lloyd Thomas, David; Lloyd Thomas, E. (1978). The Old Torquay Potteries, from Castle to Cottage. Stockwell. ASIN B004WYQW9I.
- Violet, Andy (2004). Artisans of the Torquay Potteries (revised, 2nd ed.). Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. ISBN 978-0951508978.