Antique Majollica Thomas Forester Crane Dogwood Creamer Pitcher Jug 6"

Description

Antique Majolica creamer pitcher or jug featuring a basketweave motif with Cranes and Dogwood flowers against a turquoise sky. Attributed to Thomas Forester.

Thomas Forester & Sons was a pottery manufacturer based in Longton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The company started as Thomas Forester in the 1870s and appeared in the Pottery Gazette regularly during the 1880s. They specialised in the manufacturing of Victorian majolica and earthenware.

In 1900, the company employed over 700 people in the Staffordshire area and was seen as one of the largest producers of majolica in England in the late 1800s. In their prime, the company had showrooms in London, Paris, Berlin and Vienna.

Before 1900, the company was known for producing a vast range of Victorian majolica. Techniques were later improved, which led to the production of many elaborate art pottery designs including Trogon Ware during the 1920s and 1930s.

History
The son of a manager at Mintons, Thomas Forester mastered the craft of ceramic manufacture during his early employment at Wardle and the continental firm Peterinck of Tournai, Belgium.

Forester returned to England and established the Phoenix Works in Longton, completed in 1879.

He was joined in partnership by his sons Herbert and Victor in 1883. The firm of Thomas Forester & Sons was one of the last in Staffordshire to continue majolica production. The structure of the Phoenix Works in Longton remains and has been refurbished as office and retail space.

Forester produced a wide array of functional tablewares as well as garden items. Many pieces feature motifs inspired by Minton and other major manufacturers, albeit in a more rustic vein. The firm was one of the first to adopt mechanization in the production of majolica. Delicate floral and foliate decorations of a Barbotine style were applied to vases, baskets and other ornamental wares. Such pieces are often incorrectly described as French majolica.

The Phoenix Works produced an astounding volume of majolica although the quality of the output was variable. Still, the rustic style of Forester majolica is appealing to many collectors and pieces are affordably priced. Particularly handsome is a cheese keeper with the cover divided into four panels, each with a polychrome heron surrounded by foliage and pond lilies in the marsh. The piece was produced with both cobalt and argenta ground. Pointed leaves resembling Christmas trees decorate the cover of another cheese dish produced in several sizes. A sardine box with corner feet composed of fish and the cover decorated with a preening swan is particularly charming. Forester also produced a tea set of rectangular shape with yellow bamboo ground and decorated with a bird in relief. The design resembles one by Griffen, Smith and Hill and is often erroneously attributed to the American manufacturer.

Very little of Forester’s early majolica output was marked. Later pieces may bear an impressed mark ‘FORESTER ENGLAND’ or printed mark T.F.&S. Little documentation of the firm’s designs exists and most knowledge is based on illustrated advertisements in the Pottery Gazette. No doubt many pieces of unattributed English majolica are in fact the products of Thomas Forester and the Phoenix Works.

Due to a decline in the pottery industry in Staffordshire during the mid-20th century, Thomas Forester & Sons ceased as a manufacturer in 1959. This was due to a combination of World War II when production was very limited and by the Clean Air Act that was introduced in 1956.[9] This move stopped the use of bottle ovens.

Condition

Good Overall - wear/crazing

Dimensions

5.5" x 4" x 5.5" (Width x Depth x Height)