Piggy Banks and Famous Potteries

Famous Named
Potteries A to O

Here are some more well known potteries that make, or have made, piggy banks.

Belleek
The Belleek Pottery first started production in 1857 with the manufacture of high quality domestic, toilet and table ware. It was only later that the move to production of porcelain was made, leading eventually to Belleek becoming the world renowned producer of fine Parian china.

In the 1860's the company started to produce Parian but it was not until 1872 that it was first publically featured by Belleek at the Dublin Exposition of 1872. Earthenware however remained the principal product for many years, eventually being discontinued in 1946. By 1865 the company had established a growing worldwide market aided no doubt by prestigious orders received from British Royalty.Following the deaths of the two founders in the early 1880's a group of local investors had acquired the property and the Belleek Pottery Works Company Ltd began trading in 1884. A change of ownership took place in 1984 and it was to change hands again in 1988 and 1990 when it was acquired by Dr. George Moore, who still owns it today.
Belleek is well known for its pottery marks from the First Period Black Mark of 1863-1890, followed by the Black, Green and Gold Marks.

Beswick
The Beswick pottery was started around 1894 by J. Beswick, making dinnerware and ornamental ceramics. Beswick went on to produce finely detailed copies of named breeds of animals and pigs, horses, pets, birds, fish, farm and wild animals were amongst the thousands of items produced during the following years. Animals were depicted in humorous, semi-human poses with cats, pigs, monkeys etc playing musical instruments and sports. In 1947 Beswick introduced figures based on characters in the Beatrix Potter books and these quickly became a worldwide success and they remain so today.

By 1969 the Beswick pottery was sold to Royal Doulton. Many pieces were immediately discontinued and new moulds were introduced. These were generally less detailed than Beswick's original styles and by 1989 the Beswick mark was replaced by "Royal Albert" or "Royal Doulton" on the remaining Beatrix Potter and other character series. There is a great demand for original Beswick pieces which has grown dramatically in recent years.

This Beswick 'Piggy Bank' was made between 1961 and 1967.

Bovey
The Bovey Pottery Co Ltd began life as the Bovey Tracey Pottery Company in 1842 and became the Bovey Pottery Company in 1894 and was in production until it's closure in 1957. As its original name suggests it was located in Bovey Tracey in Devon. It is also famous for its association with the Wemyss Pottery which closed following the Depression of the 1920's. Joseph Nekola, the son of the famous Karel Nekola of Wemyss fame, joined the Bovey Pottery in 1930 and continued to produce Wemyss ware under licence. The Bovey Pottery also became famous as the main source of pottery for Jan Plichta through the 1940's and 50's.

CarltonWare
Wiltshaw & Robinson, makers of Carlton Ware, was established in 1890 at the Copeland Street Works, Stoke. From the outset, the Pottery produced high quality earthenwares and continued to do so for almost 100 years until a disastrous take-over in 1987 by County Potteries, a holding company. Two years later County Potteries liquidated Carlton Ware and the Copeland Street works was sold to a property developer.

Although Wiltshaw & Robinson used the trade name of Carlton Ware from about 1893 it wasn't until 1956 that the company's name was changed to Carlton Ware Ltd. In 1967, shortly after the death of the owner Cuthbert Wiltshaw, Carlton Ware was sold to Arthur Wood & Sons and the Pottery entered a new phase. Once the new owners had found their feet, they introduced exciting and original wares using up-to-date designs, one of the main reasons for continued success. The moneyboxes shown here from the 1960s and 70s are good examples.

Over the 100 years of production at the Copeland Street Works, Carlton Ware made a vast range of wares, including many lustre decorations for which it became famous. In 1928, for a short time, the Pottery embarked on the production of bone china tea-ware when it bought the near by Vine Street Works of Birks Rawlins. Click to see a selection of wares

In 1989, the trade name was sold to Grosvenor Ceramic Hardware, who continued to produce a limited range of wares using moulds from the Copeland Street works, but the new owner, John McCluskey, also introduced a good range of novelty teapots, especially popular at the time. Production ceased after a few years and in 1997, Mr McCluskey sold the trade name to Frank Salmon.

Carlton Ware continues to be made for the present holder of the trademark by various Staffordshire Potteries, though it lacks the originality of earlier wares preferring to use pastiche, drawing its sources of inspiration from pottery made in the 1920s and 30s by Shelley, Clarice Cliff and others.
With thanks to Harvey Pettit of Carlton Ware World for this information.

CarltonWare piggy banks in all the colourways

Dartmouth
The Dartmouth Pottery was founded in 1947 in Devon and produced ornamental earthenware, teapots, tableware, mugs and fancy goods. It continued to produce the traditional Devon slipware for which it had always been known until finally closing in 2002. The Dartmouth Pottery took over the Honiton Pottery in 1997.

Dartmouth: length 12.5 cms: height 8.0 cms

Dartmouth: length 20.0 cms: height 12.0 cms

David Sharp
David Sharp started work as an apprentice with the Rye Pottery Company in 1947. In 1956 he left to form the Rye Art Pottery, which was later to become the Cinque Port Pottery and subsequently the David Sharp Pottery which opened in 1964. It was not until the late sixties that it began to flourish by which time David Sharp had started making animal figures as well as the wall plaques for which he was to become so famous. The plaques are still produced and shipped around the world today.

Cinque Ports: length 18.0cms:height 11.5 cms

By the mid-1970's David Sharp's animals had become very popular and in 1974 he was commissioned by the chemical company Bayer, to make a sheep for them to give to their farming customers. He repeated this production, with a different animal, for several years. In the late seventies he produced a toby jug of a fisherman for the RNLI but it never went into production. It led however to his producing a series of ‘Buccaneers of Britain' which are now highly sought after.

David Sharpe: length 17.5 cms: height 11.5 cms

By the early 1990's the pottery was producing mainly individual studio pottery and David Sharp produced some fine work during this period, until his death in 1993. The pottery was taken over by his family following his death and still exists in Rye.

David Sharpe: length 16.5 cms: height 11.5 cms

Delft
Delftware is a tin-glazed earthenware first produced in Delft in Holland in the early 17th century. By the mid-1650's there were several factories in Delft producing earthenware copies of Ming Dynasty porcelain. Production spread to England in the late 1600's and was produced in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Ireland. The demand fell in the 18th century when Josiah Wedgwood invented a new type of stronger stoneware. Most of the Delft factories in Holland had closed by 1800 but the Royal Delft Factory still exists.

Geoffrey Maund
The Geoffrey Maund Pottery Ltd was started in 1950 and is still producing pottery in Purley, Croydon, Surrey. The British Studio Potters' Marks book shows two pottery marks for 1953 and 1961.

Geoffrey Maund: length 14.5 cms: height 9.0 cms

Geoffrey Maund: length 14.0 cms: height 9.0 cms

Hornsea
The Hornsea Pottery was established in Hornsea, Yorkshire in 1949 by Desmond and Colin Rawson and they produced a variety of earthenware ornaments and tableware in fashionable designs.In 1970 another factory was opened in Lancaster due to the heavy demand for what had become an extremely popular range of items.

Hornsea: length 18.0 cms: height 9.5 cms

In 1984 the company was sold and then sold again a year later, resulting in the closure of the Lancaster plant. The Hornsea factory finally closed in 2000.

Hornsea: length 16.0 cms: height 7.0 cms

Hornsea: length 15.5 cms: height 7.0 cms

James Kent
The James Kent Pottery was started in 1897 in what had previously been the Bakers Pottery. It has always produced richly decorated earthenware household and table wares and in the 1920's they became famous for their chintz and floral patterns. The pottery was sold several times in the early and mid 1980's and in 1998 the current owners re-launched the 1920's chintz ware designs and these have become premium collector's items. The pottery has used, amongst others, the trade names of James Kent, Foley and Old Foley.

James Kent: length 10.5 cms: height 8.0 cms

Lorna Bailey
Lorna Bailey was born in 1978 and later studied at the Stoke-on-Trent College, which used to be the Burslem School of Art where famous predecessors such as Clarice Cliff, Susie Cooper and Charlotte Rhead had studied. Lorna's father started LJB Ceramics in the old Ellgreave Pottery, Burslem, where Charlotte Rhead had worked whilst at Wood & Son, initially producing traditional hand painted wares and it was here that Lorna, still a student, started work.
The company really took off in 1998 with Lorna Bailey's own range of brightly coloured, Art Deco inspired patterns, very quickly capturing collectors' attention everywhere. She was very soon to become famous for producing her own exclusive striking designs with bold underglaze colours. Her work is much sought after and has achieved some incredible results at auctions.

Lorna Bailey: length 11.0 cms: height 8.0 cms

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