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Porcelain Revolution in England

There were many factories that came up in the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. And some of these factories are still in production like the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company. Most of these factories have closed down long time back, like that of the Longton Hall. Many of the pieces of their wares are still in existence.

Robert Chamberlain left Flight's about 1783, and after a period in which he decorated porcelain bought from other factories, started his own works in Worcester. His sons were skilled painters, and they decorated in a manner similar to that of the older company. Chamberlain ware is of a marked grey tint and the paste is often lumpy, much showy gilding was used and a salmon-pink ground was very popular.

Thomas Grainger started a further Worcester factory in 1801, and produced wares similar to those of the other two factories. Finally, Chamberlain's formed a partnership with the original factory and this became eventually the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company, which is still in production.

Longton Hall
This Staffordshire china works was started in about 1750 and lasted for only ten years. Its productions and its very existence were almost forgotten until the year 1881, when newspaper advertisements relating to it were discovered and reprinted. Further details published in 1957, including some of the original documents and excavations on the actual factory site, confirmed the origin of many pieces that had been allocated to it.

The wares are made of a greyish paste, mostly glazed with what has been described as a covering resembling 'candle-grease', and many of the larger productions were sold with fire-cracks, bubbles and other blemishes. In spite of this, it has both charm and interests many of the designs of both tableware and figures are original, and the painting is occasionally of a high standard.
An under glaze color of a noticeably strong dark blue was used, and this was over painted sometimes with a thick white enamel to give a lace-like effect. An under glaze dark purple was also employed occasionally.

Many Longton Hall pieces are still confused with those from other factories, notably Liverpool. Most of it is not marked.

Liverpool
The city of Liverpool was the seat of a number of porcelain factories during the eighteenth century although evidence of their activities and their productions is scanty. Richard Chaffers is known to have made a ware similar to that of Worcester and containing soapstone as an ingredient. Zachariah Barnes is said to have been the maker of pieces printed in under glaze blue of a dark shade. Identified Liverpool porcelain is occasionally of good quality, but most of it is commonplace domestic ware. No figures have been found.

John Sadler and Guy Green of Liverpool claimed that they had invented a process for decorating pottery and porcelain with transfer-prints. In 1756 they said they had done this four years before, but they did not trouble to patent their process and it is open to argument whether they were the first to use it. Local porcelain was decorated by them, as well as ware from factories farther distant, and a small number of surviving Liverpool pieces are printed in several colors.

Besides Worcester Liverpool was believed to be the seat of porcelain factories. Accounts of some of the potters and the evidence found from there gave us some insights on the kinds and styles of their decorations of porcelain made in Liverpool and other cities of England.

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