Slipware, Bideford, Donyatt and Stoneware Pottery
Whilst the list could be endless, it primarily includes the vast range of Rhine
stoneware from the resilient Westerwald salt-glazed flagons, to the creamier
Freiberg and Sieberg bodies and also the charming Bellarmine
jugs that were popular imports.
A salt-glazed Bellarmine jug (FS1/24).
The Bellarmine stippled, brown-glaze was eventually copied by domestic potters The
the more finely potted English salt glazed-teapots, caddies and other tea wares,
mugs, bowls show that good stoneware could be a genuine competitor to porcelain.
The latter, more often than not made in Staffordshire, though some very
attractive pieces were made locally at Bovey Tracey.
A Stafford salt-glazed teapot (FS9/553).
Also on the domestic front and predominantly, though not exclusively, Staffordshire,
are slip wares – a pottery body enhanced with the decorative addition of contrasting
liquid clays that could be applied in a profuse and meticulous way similar to the
work of the late 17th century potter Thomas Toft, or a little more naively
like his close contemporaries at Wrotham or more uniformly in the striking
linear or combed designs most commonly found on baking dishes.
A North Devon pottery jug (FS5/17).
However, being West Country based, the most significant group must be the home grown,
North Devon pottery, made from the local red clays and decorated with white
china clay slip from Peters Marland.
Sometimes applied with trailed slip designs, but more traditionally with profuse
sgraffito decoration of sailing vessels, flora and fauna that reflects it's rural
and coastal location.
Amongst this group, it is the harvest jugs with their bellied form and handle terminating
in a typical tight scroll that are the most desirable, often used as presentation
pieces for births, birthdays and marriages. The best examples are adorned with names,
dates, places and poetic texts. Although rustic and rural in their appeal many were
exported to America through the ports of Bideford and Barnstaple.
A Donyatt pottery puzzle jug (FS7/20).
Two similar groups of local pottery worthy of mention is that centred around Donyatt
in Somerset which is often quite similar in design and decoration to North Devon
wares. Unsurprising, as the first potter in Donyatt, John Jewell hailed
from Bideford.
A Fishley (Fremington) pottery bowl (FS16/416).
And finally, a mention for the Fishley family from Fremington
– midway between Barnstaple and Bideford, thoroughly steeped in the North Devon
tradition and providing a bridge between the traditional artisan potters and the
so called art and studio potters of the late 19th and early 20th century.
Specialists
 | Nic Saintey
Department Head
|  | Andrew Thomas
Ceramics and Glass Expert
|