Antique Arsenal Wardle Majolica Nautical Ocean Coral Shell Sea Pitcher Jug

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Large antique Arsenal Pottery after Wardle Majolica nautical Ocean pitcher / jug / carafe featuring a coral seashell and seaweed … Read more Large antique Arsenal Pottery after Wardle Majolica nautical Ocean pitcher / jug / carafe featuring a coral seashell and seaweed theme.

Arsenal Pottery
The Arsenal Pottery was founded in 1876 by Joseph S. Mayer (1846–1907), an English-born-and-trained potter and inventor, as well as a consummate salesman. Initially, the firm produced other types of earthenware, specifically the mottled-brown ware known as Rockingham as well as yellow-bodied ware, or yellowware. By 1882, following the arrival of Mayer’s older brother James (1841–1883), who had a “chemical knowledge of colors” that he applied to the formulation of glazes, the pottery had begun to make majolica.

As a high-volume producer of low-cost wares, Mayer employed a strategy aimed at making majolica accessible to the masses—an approach that made him, at one time, a very wealthy man and an important figure in the ceramic history of Trenton. The plates and jugs that his firm produced are the kinds of decorative wares that adorned the parlors and dining tables of middle- and working-class Americans in the 1880s and 1890s. The plant and animal motifs are suggestive of the nineteenth-century notion that proximity to nature, whether real or manufactured, would make the home a healthy, nurturing environment. Most of these designs were available in a range of color combinations, further expanding Arsenal Pottery’s majolica offerings, which the firm produced well into the 1890s.

Joseph S. Mayer’s motto “everybody wants a jug” reflects the Arsenal Pottery’s commercial strategy to satisfy market demand through the manufacture of low-cost goods at high volume. Many of the firm’s majolica wares were copies of models made by well-known English manufacturers, including its Tea Jug and Marine Jug, which were derived from prototypes introduced by Josiah Wedgwood & Sons and Wardle & Co., respectively.


The Majolica of James & Eliza Wardle
Wardle potted some of the best known patterns available to buyers. Also, Wardle was the only major majolica pottery operated by a woman, known affectionately as Mother Wardle.

Founder James Wardle was born in 1823. Apprenticed as a potter in his youth under his potter father, he soon advanced to a modeler in the Staffordshire potteries. At the age of 31 he opened a small plant in Hanley. In 1859 he decided to form a partnership with George Ash in Hanley. They specialized in decorative pottery. After an uneventful six years the partnership dissolved and Wardle struck out on his own operating under the name James Wardle. In 1865 he began the production of majolica. Unfortunately his company declared bankruptcy the following year and all production ceased. He reorganized and began another pottery under the same name in 1867.

His output of decorative pottery, including majolica, continued for the next five years, registering several designs for majolica use. He recognized the interest in decorative pottery abroad and began exporting majolica to expand his customer base.

James Wardle’s unexpected death in 1871 forced his wife Eliza into the unusual situation of owning and operating a pottery. She entered into a partnership with Joshua Seddon —a man believed to have been employed as a manager in her husband’s pottery— to assist in running the pottery. Eliza remained chief operator until 1876 when Seddon left the partnership.

After Seddon departed, the business officially reverted to Wardle & Co. and Eliza took on complete ownership of the company. The business received an injection of capital in 1882 by entering into a partnership with David Jones, the husband of her daughter Sarah. The company increased its output under this partnership and entered its most prolific period. Wardle and Jones enlarged the size of the pottery by expanding to the newly opened Washington Works Pottery.

It was during this period that Wardle & Co. produced its most successful patterns: Bamboo & Fern, Pineapple, Sunflower, Blackberry, Chrysanthemum, Fan, water lily, and Ocean. All of these were heavily influenced by the Aesthetic Movement, then in vogue. Eliza expanded on her husband’s export strategy by shipping huge amounts of majolica to the expanding middle class market in the United States.

Wardle and Jones ran the pottery jointly until Eliza’s death in 1889 at which time Eliza's sons William and Frederick joined David Jones to assume ownership of the pottery. The company continued expanding its line of wares incorporating barbotine decorated ware for which they became well known, sand majolica—called moss ware—and simple utilitarian ware. Beginning in 1891 Wardle majolica was marked "Wardle England."

By 1900 both Wardle sons left the partnership and Jones assumed management of the pottery with a partnership of several investors. In 1903 Jones developed financial difficulties and restructured the company under the name Wardle & Co. Ltd. enlarging production of art pottery in response to changing tastes but still continuing some majolica wares.

After Jone’s death in 1908 the company was dissolved and what remained was purchased by Robinson & Sons, Ltd. In 1909 the pottery was moved to the Wolf Street Works and operated under the name of Wardle Art Pottery. They produced art pottery as well as a variety of other wares. It was eventually absorbed by the Cauldon Pottery who kept it in operation at Wolf Street until 1935 when Wardle Art Pottery was dissolved.

One of the more interesting aspects of Wardle & Co. is that it was a springboard for other famous potters. Manufacturer Thomas Forester worked for the company until 1875 and later left to open his own pottery making majolica. Pottery designer Charlotte Rhead began her career at Wardle & Co. Ltd. in 1903. Frederick Hurten Rhead, Charlotte’s brother and a major potter of the Arts & Crafts and Art Deco period, also designed work for Wardle Art Pottery.

Dimensions:
8" x 7" x 8" (Width x Depth x Height) See less