DABBER Equipment. Used in the decorating department during groundlaying. Tool. Cotton wool rolled into a ball and covered with silk. The surplus silk tied around with twine to form a handle. Used in groundlaying to apply the oil pior to dusting with ceramic colour.
DABBER Equipment. Transfer printing. Decorating Department. Tool used by the transfer printer to force the warmed ceramic colour (the consistency of Marmite) into the engraved surface of the flat, engraved copper plate.
Transfer printing demonstration
DAFT APE EARTH Dialect. A term of endearment. "You daft ape-earth. What have you gone and done that daft thing for?"
DAMPERS Equipment. Robust hinged flaps of iron and firebrick - a crown damper plus four quarter dampers - that control the draught, and so the firing conditions, in a bottle oven. Raised or lowered by a pulley system from ground level, they let the fireman regulate any part of the oven during firing. The quanity of dampers installed varied by individual kiln builder and manufacturer's needs.
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| Crown damper on a bottle oven |
DARNERDS Dialect. Also DIE NERDS. Downwards.
DAYWAGE Method of payment for pottery workers. Not piecework. Daywagers were/are paid for the time they spend at their place of work, not for the amount of pieces they produce (who are pieceworkers). Daywage guarantees a fixed income calculated on daily attendance.
DEAD COAL Material. Ovens department. Coal for firing used in the bottle oven which has not yet been lit. Lumping coal, not baiting coal.
DE-AIRING Process. The removal of air bubbles and air pockets from soft (plastic) clay. This is an essential part of the potting process and can be carried out by hand by wedging or in a de-airing pug mill. If air bubbles are left to remain they will explode during the firing process and could ruin the piece.
DE-AIRING PUG Equipment. See directly above.
DECAL Short for decalcomania, the American name for ceramic transfers used in decoration. A litho, water-slide or a slide-off. Applied surface decoration.
DECK-EAT Dialect. Stop it immediately! Or alternatively - woo, look at me or look at that. Admire that. Lads out on a Friday up anley, duck.
DECORATE Process. In the decorating department. Applying a surface pattern to enhance the pot. May be simple or very elaborate and expensive. Various processes involved.
DAYWAGE Method of payment for pottery workers. Not piecework. Daywagers were/are paid for the time they spend at their place of work, not for the amount of pieces they produce (who are pieceworkers). Daywage guarantees a fixed income calculated on daily attendance.
DEAD COAL Material. Ovens department. Coal for firing used in the bottle oven which has not yet been lit. Lumping coal, not baiting coal.
DE-AIRING Process. The removal of air bubbles and air pockets from soft (plastic) clay. This is an essential part of the potting process and can be carried out by hand by wedging or in a de-airing pug mill. If air bubbles are left to remain they will explode during the firing process and could ruin the piece.
DE-AIRING PUG Equipment. See directly above.
DECAL Short for decalcomania, the American name for ceramic transfers used in decoration. A litho, water-slide or a slide-off. Applied surface decoration.
DECK-EAT Dialect. Stop it immediately! Or alternatively - woo, look at me or look at that. Admire that. Lads out on a Friday up anley, duck.
DECORATE Process. In the decorating department. Applying a surface pattern to enhance the pot. May be simple or very elaborate and expensive. Various processes involved.
DECORATING END - the DECORATING DEPARTMENT A department in a potbank. Obviously where the decorating is done and in some potbanks a very big and important place. Onglaze and under glaze decoration, enamelling shop, printing shop including Murray Curvex, hardening-on kiln, enamel kiln, decorating kiln.
DECORATING FIRE Process. Ovens department. The firing taking place after the application of onglaze decoration. Around 800°C.
DECORATING KILN Sometimes known as the enamel kiln. The kiln in which enamel or onglaze colours are fired.
DECORATOR'S SIZE Material. A mixture of oils which is applied to unglazed and glazed ware to help the adhesion of prints or lithographs decoration.
DEFLOCCULATE or DEFLOCCULATION Dispersion of slip or glaze by the addition of an electrolyte Eg: sodium silicate or soda ash. Makes the slip feel more fluid or runny.
DEFLOCCULANT Material. Component of pottery body recipe. An alkaline material that gives clay particles identical electrical charges, making them repel each other and stay in suspension. This produces a flowing slip with less water content, meaning lower drying shrinkage - vital for slip-casting. Only a tiny amount is needed: about ¼ of 1% of dry batch weight in soda ash and/or sodium silicate.
DECORATING FIRE Process. Ovens department. The firing taking place after the application of onglaze decoration. Around 800°C.
DECORATING KILN Sometimes known as the enamel kiln. The kiln in which enamel or onglaze colours are fired.
DECORATOR'S SIZE Material. A mixture of oils which is applied to unglazed and glazed ware to help the adhesion of prints or lithographs decoration.
DEFLOCCULATE or DEFLOCCULATION Dispersion of slip or glaze by the addition of an electrolyte Eg: sodium silicate or soda ash. Makes the slip feel more fluid or runny.
DEFLOCCULANT Material. Component of pottery body recipe. An alkaline material that gives clay particles identical electrical charges, making them repel each other and stay in suspension. This produces a flowing slip with less water content, meaning lower drying shrinkage - vital for slip-casting. Only a tiny amount is needed: about ¼ of 1% of dry batch weight in soda ash and/or sodium silicate.
DEFLOURINATED STONE Component of pottery body recipe. Similar to China Stone but with the small amount of naturally present fluoride removed by the floatation process.
DEK as in DEK THAT! Dialect. 'Look at that! Wow!'
DELFTWARE (Delph or just Delft)
Decorative tin-glazed earthenware. English-made versions resembled ware made at Delft — the blue and white pottery produced in and around Delft in the Netherlands. After the Dutch East India Company began importing Chinese porcelain into Europe, particularly to Delft, local potters imitated it using soft clay, giving rise to what became known as Delftware. It was hugely in demand, and the Dutch exported it across the western world.
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| Examples of delftware Blue and white pottery made in and around Delft in the Netherlands |
DEVITRIFICATION Glaze fault. Crystallisation of glaze after firing. Often at the surface of the glaze making it look cloudy or matt. Not glossy.
DEWATERING Process. Removal of water from clay slip by filter pressing to make the slop clay (slip) stiffer and more 'plastic.'
DIALECT A regional variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary. The Potteries dialect is a dialect found almost exclusively in and around Stoke-on-Trent. Like all English dialects, the Potteries dialect derives from Anglo-Saxon Old English.
DIDDLER Equipment. Potter's tool. Stick with a small sponge fastened to one end. Used to sponge smooth the recently cast spouts and handles of clay pots.
DIE Tool. Equipment.
1) A robust metal attachment at the exit of a clay extruder (small pug mill or hand-operated extruder) designed to give the final external shape to the extruded plastic (soft clay) clay column. An example would be a column of clay which can be worked into shapes for handles for holloware - mugs, and jugs etc.
2) A special, precision tool for shaping articles by pressure. A metal mould into which moist powdered clay, or soft clay, is charged prior to it being pressed into a desired shape or profile. During pressing, the clay is formed to make it take the shape of the interior of the die. One example is the die press for making thimbles used in glost placing. Another is the press for making individual floor or wall tiles. This process is sometimes referred to as dry-pressing or plastic-shaping.
Many thanks go to Anthony Parton, May 2025, for suggesting this word.
Placers' thimbles were produced using a die in a die press.
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| Thimble die press |
DIE FITTER Occupation. On a potbank, a die fitter would be responsible for the assembly and maintenance of the component parts of the clay extruder or die press. Most clays used in these machines can be quite abrasive and over time the metal die would show signs of wear. In order to maintain the intended shape of the extruded or pressed item the dies would need regular inspection and maintenance. It is unlikely that a die fitter would be fully occupied with this occupation on one potbank so he may have been employed on other duties within the factory. Many thanks go to Anthony Parton, May 2025, for suggesting this occupation.
DIE PRESS The device which holds a die.
DIE NERDS Dialect. Also DARNERDS. Downwards. "yer goo die nerds when yer goo dine bonk dine Penkhull New Road."
DIGITAL PRINTING "Digital printing of decals and ceramic tiles is already well established. Computer generated images can be printed directly onto ceramic tiles via special inkjet systems. Alternatively a photocopier type system can be used to print onto decal paper ... Three dimensional digital printing was developed initially for rapid prototyping of plastic objects it is now being used for small special ceramic parts." Quotes from Ivan Wozniak – The Potters Friend More here>
DINE BONK Potteries dialect. Down bank. Opposite to 'up bonk.' "Gooeen dine bonk" is going down hill.
DINNA Lobby :) Food for the hungry potter!
DIGITAL PRINTING "Digital printing of decals and ceramic tiles is already well established. Computer generated images can be printed directly onto ceramic tiles via special inkjet systems. Alternatively a photocopier type system can be used to print onto decal paper ... Three dimensional digital printing was developed initially for rapid prototyping of plastic objects it is now being used for small special ceramic parts." Quotes from Ivan Wozniak – The Potters Friend More here>
DINE BONK Potteries dialect. Down bank. Opposite to 'up bonk.' "Gooeen dine bonk" is going down hill.
DINNA Lobby :) Food for the hungry potter!
DINNER AND DINNERTIME
Beware ... this is complicated!
A pottery worker's dinner is eaten in the middle of the day, at lunchtime, which a potter calls dinner time. Lunchtime would be regarded as a 'posh' dinnertime. In the 19th Century, when potters worked very long hours, the lunch break or dinner time could last as long as 2 hours when a cooked meal was eaten.The meal would have been prepared at the factory over a pot-stove or on the hob of a bottle oven, or it could have been fetched from the nearby home. Lobby was a favourite dinner. As was bacon, fried on a No.8 British Standard Shovel, heated in the blazing mouth of the bottle oven being fired. In the mid 20th Century works canteens began to appear, built by factory owners. These often became important for socialising, with clubs and societies being formed. For example at the Spode Factory in Stoke, there was an important choir and a drama group which performed in the canteen.
At Twyford’s canteen in Cliffe Vale, Stoke, a full sized stage with proscenium was designed by Gordon Forsyth, the famous and important designer.
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| Dinner time at Twyfords fireclay works canteen 1950s Proscenium arch designed by Gordon Forsyth |
In the late 20th Century working hours decreased and breaks became relatively shorter. Often lunch became just a snatched ‘pace’ sometimes taken at the bench.
A proper dinner comprises of food which is most often associated with a 'Sunday Lunch'. Roast meat, potatoes and at least 1 vegetable (in the Potteries this can be 3 or 4 different vegetables) and lots of gravy. Still served today, in some pubs everyday of the week in North Staffordshire, there seems to be a challenge as to how much gravy a flat plat will actually hold without spilling.
So dinner is lunch unless it is a Christmas dinner when it really is a dinner at lunchtime, or just after lunchtime, but before the Queen’s speech.
Dinner could be taken at teatime for tea, after work. This is not afternoon tea which is between lunch or dinner and tea or dinner. Potters can, of course, have a dinner for tea - the evening meal. In one household the question would arise 'Are we having a dinner for tea?'
Now, some readers, particularly Southerners, may need a lie down at this point!
We go on ... Tea is drunk is copious amounts during the potter's day but tea is the main meal of the day too, actually dinner. A really hungry potter might sneak a bit of his dinner at breakfast, which was a couple of hours after he started work maybe signalled by the factory bell or siren. So if he really did have his dinner for his breakfast then he would have no dinner left for his lunch and would have to wait till he got home for his tea and had a proper dinner, for his tea. In any case he should be having ‘pobs’ for his breakfast with a pot of tea. Unless, of course, he worked shifts in which case his breakfast actually would be his dinner. Then he would have another dinner at teatime. Perhaps a Wrights pie or grilled oatcake and cheese.
A potter might go out for a meal and if it was a posh affair it would be a 'dinnerin' which required dressing up. A 'works dinnerin' was usually just before Christmas, sometimes paid for by the boss. This would be held after teatime but before supper which might be a 'pace' of cheese and maybe tea just before bed. This was not a posh person’s supper which was a dinner or evening meal, served after tea. Any dinner left over after tea would be 'orts' and they could be had next day, warmed up.
So now you know!
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| Les Dennis at Gladstone's Last Bottle Oven Firing 1978 Cooking late breakfast (or early dinner - lunch!) Bacon sizzling in its own dip on a British Standard Shovel, fresh from the firemouth |
DINNERIN Potteries dialect. A posh do. May be at Christmas. Definitely an official event, and probably with wine, not Bass! Sometimes paid for by the boss. In Potteries dialect you might say "Arm goo-in the works dinnerin ternate. At thay?"
THE HEART OF YOUR HOME - from the
BRITISH POTTERY PROMOTION SERVICE LIMITED - 1971
"Today, when all our lives are hectic, it is more important than ever to make the table the heart of your home. Each meal is a chance for the family to gather together in the seclusion of their own home to talk and exchange ideas, as well as to enjoy the food served in an attractive setting.
Some family meals such as breakfast, may be taken in the kitchen, some eaten round a trolley or from a tray, but even when the meal is simple and the setting humble, there is no excuse for the milk bottle on the table, wrapped bread on the cloth, odd pieces of tableware, or, horror of horrors, chipped, cracked or even partly broken pieces!
It is always worth taking the extra trouble and that extra five minutes to set the table attractively; perhaps gather a few fresh flowers from the garden and place them into an unusual container.
As for the chipped pieces or odd saucers - throw them away and treat yourself to some new ones.
An attractive dinner service for six can be bought for as little as £9. "
DINNER SERVICE About the same as the meaning for dinnerware. All those pottery dishes used for serving, and eating food. Includes plates, dishes and bowls. A set of dishes, including serving pieces. Not tea-ware.
DINNERSET About the same as the meaning for dinnerware. All those pottery dishes used in serving, and eating food. Includes plates, dishes and bowls. A set of dishes, including serving pieces. Not tea-ware.
DINNERSET COMPOSITIONS In 1971 'The British Pottery Promotion Service Ltd' published "usual set compositions." It was quite specific! "It is often puzzling to the homemaker to know just what is needed in the way of tableware, cutlery glass and linen. Certainly if you plan any formal entertainment you will need a dinner service - which need not be costly - for at least six people." "You will also find you need a tea service. There is a vast range of English Tableware both traditional and modern from which to select the pattern of your choice."
24 piece
6 dinner, sweet and side plates
2 covered vegetable dishes
1 oval meat dish (small)
1 gravy boat
25 piece
As 24 piece plus a gravy boat stand
30 piece
As 24 piece plus 6 soup plates
31 piece
As 24 piece plus 6 soup plates and a medium size oval meat dish
32 piece
6 dinner, sweet and side plates
6 soup plates
2 covered vegetable dishes
3 oval meat dishes (3 sizes)
1 gravy boat
36 piece
As 38 piece without medium size oval meat dish and gravy boat stand
37 piece
As 38 piece without gravy boat stand
38 piece
6 dinner, sweet and side plates
6 cream soup cups and stands
2 covered vegetable dishes
1 small size oval meat dish
1 medium size oval meat dish
1 gravy boat and stand
47 piece
12 dinner, sweet and side plates
2 covered vegetable dishes
3 oval meat dishes (3 sizes)
2 gravy boats and stands
59 piece As 47 piece plus 12 soup plates
71 piece As 47 piece plus 12 cream soup cups and stands
DINNERWARE All those pottery dishes used in serving, and eating food. Includes plates, dishes and bowls. A set of dishes, including serving pieces. Not tea-ware.
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DIMPLE Glaze fault. Found after firing. A round shallow lump or scar on the glaze surface caused by salts in the glaze.
DIP Verb. Process. The act of dipping (fully immersing) a biscuit pot into glaze - a suspension of glaze ingredients. Then the surplus is shaken off prior to drying and firing.
DIPPING Process. Also known as GLAZING Biscuit ware is dipped (fully immersed) into a suspension of glaze ingredients. Then the surplus is shaken off.
DIPPING HOUSE Department in a potbank where biscuit pots are dipped into tubs of glaze prior to a second fire.
DIPPING TUB Equipment. The same term is used either for storage of glaze or for using as a vat into which pots are dipped. Large tub made either from wooden staves (similar to a very large beer, wine or whisky barrel) or rubber and containing the liquid glaze.
DIPPER Occupation. Ovens department. Male for heavy pieces and female for the smaller lighter ware. The person who immerses biscuit ware into a tub of liquid glaze (which is basically crushed glass suspended in water) before the glost fire.
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DIPT Dialect. Used on the Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent. Past tense of dip. (dipped)
DIRTY ARK Equipment. Machine. Containing freshly made slip which has not been sieved and magnetted to remove oversize dirty material and tiny iron particles. Compared with slip stored in the clean ark which has been sieved and magnetted.
DIRT or DIRTY WARE Pottery fault. Any sort of non-organic dirt from the kiln atmosphere, placers hands, kiln furniture or blown in from outside can cause a fault on glazed pots. The dirt appears as black speckles in the fired glaze.
DISEASE Glaze fault. Irregular bare patches distributed over the surface of glost ware. Also dry patches on under-glaze colours.
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DIMPLE Glaze fault. Found after firing. A round shallow lump or scar on the glaze surface caused by salts in the glaze.
DIP Verb. Process. The act of dipping (fully immersing) a biscuit pot into glaze - a suspension of glaze ingredients. Then the surplus is shaken off prior to drying and firing.
DIP Noun. Food. The exciting bacon juices and fat produced when grilling
or frying bacon. Used to fry eggs to go with a traditional Potteries breakfast.
Also used to fry bread, black pudding and tomatoes. A delicious way to use it,
is to dip bread in it and wipe the pan round whilst the dip is still warm.
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| https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-cook-bacon-on-the-stovetop-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-185903 |
DIPPING Process. Also known as GLAZING Biscuit ware is dipped (fully immersed) into a suspension of glaze ingredients. Then the surplus is shaken off.
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| Dipping a toilet. Strenuous and exhausting work - have you ever tried to pick up a toilet? |
DIPPING HOUSE Department in a potbank where biscuit pots are dipped into tubs of glaze prior to a second fire.
DIPPING TUB Equipment. The same term is used either for storage of glaze or for using as a vat into which pots are dipped. Large tub made either from wooden staves (similar to a very large beer, wine or whisky barrel) or rubber and containing the liquid glaze.
DIPPER Occupation. Ovens department. Male for heavy pieces and female for the smaller lighter ware. The person who immerses biscuit ware into a tub of liquid glaze (which is basically crushed glass suspended in water) before the glost fire.
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| A dipper dipping teapots into tub of glaze. |
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| A dipper dipping plates into tubs of glaze |
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This video really does work!
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The size of it will change to suit how you are looking at the video
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DIPT Dialect. Used on the Spode Factory, Stoke-on-Trent. Past tense of dip. (dipped)
DIRTY ARK Equipment. Machine. Containing freshly made slip which has not been sieved and magnetted to remove oversize dirty material and tiny iron particles. Compared with slip stored in the clean ark which has been sieved and magnetted.
DIRT or DIRTY WARE Pottery fault. Any sort of non-organic dirt from the kiln atmosphere, placers hands, kiln furniture or blown in from outside can cause a fault on glazed pots. The dirt appears as black speckles in the fired glaze.
DISEASE Glaze fault. Irregular bare patches distributed over the surface of glost ware. Also dry patches on under-glaze colours.
DISH A large, rectangular or oval, serving plate, used, for example, for roast meat or poultry. Sometimes now referred to as a platter. These were supplied in various sizes as part of a dinner service, often with the size, in inches, stamped into the base. Some dish makers became afflicted with potters nod! Here>
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| Spode - Turkey Dish |
Link to dishes at the V&A museum https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=spode++dish&year_made_from=&year_made_to=
DISHCLOTH END Fenton. Not neck end which is further south. Between Fenton and Longton. Almost. Or thereabouts. Not 'neck end' which is Longton proper.
DISHED Dialect. 'Proper dished' Really upset by a nasty remark or disappointing event. Perhaps disappointment with a useless gift.
DISH MAKER Occupation in the dish making shop. Potting department. Specialist jiggerer making oval dishes on a jigger.
DISHCLOTH END Fenton. Not neck end which is further south. Between Fenton and Longton. Almost. Or thereabouts. Not 'neck end' which is Longton proper.
DISHED Dialect. 'Proper dished' Really upset by a nasty remark or disappointing event. Perhaps disappointment with a useless gift.
DISH MAKER Occupation in the dish making shop. Potting department. Specialist jiggerer making oval dishes on a jigger.
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The Dish Maker From Wedgwood Series 22 postcards displaying pottery manufacture at Josiah Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. Etruria Works, Stoke-on-Trent early 20th Century |
DISH SAGGAR A saggar. Equipment. A saggar with a particular shape and used for a particular purpose in a bottle oven during firing. One of many different shapes of saggar.
DISH SHOP Workshop in the potting department where clay dishes are made.
DISSECTOR Occupation. Warehouse. Sorts out faulty products into categories so that the boss can see what are his most major problems.
DISSECTING Process. Sorting out faulty products to create a list of the worst faults. Creating statistics for the pottery manager to assess and find reasons for faults appearing. Also known as classifying or sometimes sorting. Usually sorting is one stage back from dissecting.
DISTANCING "Keeping plates apart, using thimbles in saggars, so that they don't stick together during the glost fire in a bottle oven" (APOLOGIES: This is not a potbank word. It's made up. Created during the lockdown caused by the Corona Virus Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020.
DOBBIN Equipment.
DOBBIN DRYER Equipment. Type of dryer for clay ware in a potbank. Ware, still on its plaster mould, is placed on horizontal turntables which rotate into the warm air zone of the drying cabinet.
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| Dobbin dryer |
DOD BOX Equipment. Device for extruding rods of pottery clay body from which cup handles or basket ware can be made.
DOD HANDLE Cup or jug handle made with clay extruded from a dod box. Dod handles are made from strips of soft clay squeezed through the die in the dod box to give the required section, cut into lengths and bent by hand while soft to the right shape.
DOFFER A dare. "Do it for a doffer".
DOGGED Term used in firing a bottle oven. May refer to when an oven is not working as it should and the temperature at the front of the oven, by the clammins, has not risen as well as the rest remaining parts of the oven "When the front of the oven is dogged, putting a little fire at the front of the clammins will assist it." From: PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE MANUFACTURE OF POTTERY by John Gater, Consultant Potter, 1921
DOGS Used in bottle oven building. Special large hand-made nails made from ½" (1.25cm) thick metal, sharpened at one end and bent over at the other. Used for securing dampers into position on the crown.
DOG PLATE Equipment. The shredder in a pug mill. May be peculiar to Enoch Wedgwood, Tunstall.
DOG SHELF Where a tired dog plonks itself. On the floor.
DONUT (DOUGHNUT) also known as a placer's roll or placer's ring. Made from rolled up stockings and worn under a cap to help balance saggars on the placer's head when placing (loading) a bottle oven.
DONTIL EDGE A decoration to the edge of flatware (plates, saucers, etc)
DOODLE A saggar. Equipment. Name of a particular shape of saggar. "Half the size of an oval saggar". Peculiar to the Alfred Clough pottery company. Used for a particular purpose in a bottle oven during firing. One of many different shapes of saggar.
DORST Equipment. Clay end. Machine for pressure casting pottery. Pressure casting systems for both tableware and sanitary ware together with plastic (porous resin) moulds.
DOSS as in DOSS-DINE Dialect. Sleep. Or hang around, bored.
DOT Doris or sometimes Dorothy. Can be confusing.
DOTTEY A saggar. Equipment. A saggar with a particular shape and used for a particular purpose in a bottle oven during firing. One of many different shapes of saggar.
DOT PUNCH Equipment. Decorating department. Used by the engraver to punch tiny dots onto a copper plate for printing.
DOTTLING Process during placing a bottle oven. Not to be confused with rearing. Placing or setting glazed pottery flatware, which has been dipped in glaze, into refractory of fireclay thimbles in a saggar. 'Best ware' was dottled. 'General current ware' was reared.
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| Dottled Plates |
DOULTON Pottery manufacturer.
The Doulton Company began as a partnership between John Doulton, Martha Jones and John Watts at Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth, London, making stoneware bottles and salt-glaze sewer pipes. It took the name Doulton in 1853.
In 1871 Henry Doulton, John's son, set up an art studio at the Lambeth works, recruiting designers from the nearby Lambeth School of Art - starting with George Tinworth, then the Barlow family (Florence, Hannah, Arthur), Frank Butler, Mark Marshall and Eliza Simmance.
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| Doulton Lambeth Factory "The most picturesque factory in London" Date: Built 1876-8 |
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| Doulton Lambeth Factory Only surviving part of the factory, built 1876-8 Photo credit: Katie Wignall, Founder of Look Up London Tours https://lookup.london/southbank-house-lambeth/ |
The former Doulton showrooms and studios (1876–8, architects Tarring Son & Wilkinson, now Southbank House) still stand at Lambeth High St/Black Prince Rd. This ornate Gothic terracotta building, once the centrepiece of Doulton's Lambeth riverside works, carried a terracotta tympanum by Tinworth showing Henry Doulton with his artists; it's the sole survivor of a complex once topped by a 233-foot campanile-style chimney.
In 1882 Doulton bought Pinder, Bourne & Co's factory at Nile Street, Burslem, and began making bone china there from 1884, building a reputation for figurines, vases and decorative ware under designers John Slater, Charles J. Noke and, later, Leslie Harradine.
Henry Doulton's death in 1897 was widely mourned. In 1901 Edward VII granted the Burslem factory a Royal Warrant, giving rise to the "Royal Doulton" name and its lion logo. Between the wars, Royal Doulton became a byword for fine English china, driven by innovations like flambé and titanian glazes. Its HN figurine series (launched 1913), Character Jugs, and Bunnykins nurseryware (from 1934, collectable figures from 1939) all proved lasting successes.
Clean-air laws forced the Lambeth factory to close in 1956, ending salt-glaze production there and shifting work to the Potteries; the Black Prince Road office, with its Tinworth frieze of potters and Henry Doulton, still survives.
In 1960 Royal Doulton introduced English Translucent China (now Royal Doulton Fine China), offering bone china's translucency more cheaply. In 1966 it became the first china maker to win the Queen's Award for Technical Achievement. It merged with Minton in 1968 and gained the Royal Albert brand via the 1971 merger with Allied English Potteries.
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| Doulton Lambeth Factory Photo: unknown source Date: 2010 |
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| Doulton Lambeth Photo: Louise Ferriday Date: 2018 |
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| Doulton Lambeth Photo: Louise Ferriday Date: 2018 |
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| Doulton Lambeth Photo: Louise Ferriday Date: 2018 |
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DOWNDRAUGHT BOTTLE OVEN Type of bottle oven. This type of bottle oven is a more complex design than the simple updraught bottle oven. It was developed in the early 1900s to make more efficient use of the coal fires. Technically, the oven should be called 'updraught-downdraught' since the hot gasses pass through the setting of saggars not once but twice, theoretically extracting as much heat as possible from the burning coal.
From the firemouths, the intensely hot gases flow upwards to the crown where they are deflected downwards through the setting of saggars containing pottery, and are then drawn out through the flues in the floor of the oven. The control of the flow of the hot gases was made by the use of dampers (robust adjustable flaps, over the crown, quarter and shoulder holes) which were opened and closed during the firing cycle. It was skilled work. Unfortunately the process has never been recorded, not even written down.
Downdraught ovens were used mainly for biscuit firing, as it was considered that they were more economical in fuel, and that they could be worked to produce a more regular heat over all the oven.
There are three variants of downdraught oven:
- Downdraught hovel type
- Downdraught with separate chimney (Clement Robey Patent)
- Downdraught with integral chimney (Wilkinson Patent)
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| Sketch of downdraught hovel type |
More details about downdraught bottle ovens here> at The Potteries Bottle Oven website
DRAW or DRAWING Process. Emptying a bottle oven (or other type of oven) after it has been fired.
DRAWER A man, part of a team, employed to empty the bottle oven of saggars after firing. May be a placer, if they have no other work, or a casual labourer.
DRAW-THROUGH A saggar. Equipment. A saggar with a particular shape and used for a particular purpose in a bottle oven during firing. One of many different shapes of saggar.
DRAW TIN Equipment. Used around the bottle oven.
DRESSING IRON Equipment. Ovens department. Stout bar of metal about 9 inches long and usually sharpened at each end, like a chisel, used for knocking wads off the top rim of previously-used glost saggars. The dressing iron was also used as a lever to level up a bung of saggars in the oven.
DRESSLER KILN Equipment. The first successful muffle-type tunnel kiln was that built by Conrad Dressler in 1912. The name is now applied to a variety of kilns designed and built by Swindell-Dressler. more here>
DRILLER Occupation. Glost warehouse. Earthenware. He or she who drills one or two very small holes in the back of flatware to pierce the glaze through to the biscuit. When the piece is then fired again, perhaps for a decorating fire, any moisture in the body will escape through the holes to prevent the pottery fault called spit out.
DRILLING One or two very small holes are drilled in the back of flatware to pierce the glaze. When the piece is then fired again, perhaps for a decorating fire, any moisture in the body will escape through the holes. This prevents spit out.
DRINDED Dialect. Drowned or soaked. As in "Lark a drinded rot" (Like a drowned rat).
DROP ARCH Part of a bottle oven. Sometimes also called a glut arch or houster arch. The brick arch below the firemouth of a bottle oven. Allows the admission of primary air to the burning coal. Also allows the removal of clinker and ash during or after the firing.
DROPPER Glaze fault. Same as a gob. Blobs of glaze that are found on glazed pieces after firing. Caused by drops of glaze, which had accumulated on the kiln roof, finally falling off.
DROWNDED Wet through after a sudden downpour. As in "Lark a drinded rot" (Like a drowned rat).
DRUM Equipment. A wooden former used in saggar making to form the basic shape of the saggar.
DRUMMING Problem in the sliphouse during pugging. A pug won't extrude clay unless there's friction between the clay and the pug barrel. Occasionally clay sticks to the centre auger instead, shearing away from the clay against the barrel wall — so it just gets carried round and round with the auger while extrusion stops. This is drumming; the pug then has to be cleared out and cleaned down.
DRY BODY Type of pottery with a particular recipe and requiring particular firing conditions. Black basalt, cane and red stone ware are examples of dry stoneware body. Often unglazed.
DRY EDGES Glaze fault. Insufficient glaze on the edge of the piece. Created by poor dipping or poor handling.
DRYER Equipment A heated chamber in which pottery is dried before firing.
DRYING Process. Critical part of pottery making. Clay dries in different ways depending its thickness. Large pieces dry slower than small ones. Too fast drying can lead to uneven shrinkage and cracking before and during firing. As well as heat, moisture needs to be extracted carefully.
DRYING MANGLE Equipment. A large drying cupboard or tower in which pottery ware, placed on shelves supported by two endless chains inside a vertical, steam-heated shaft, is moved forward each time a handle is turned, bringing a new shelf level with the loading opening. Once dry, ware is removed through a similar opening on the opposite side. Advantages of this mangle-style dryer: ware doesn't need carrying long distances to the dryer, output is higher since makers lose no time transporting ware, and heat is used more efficiently than in other types of drying stove.
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| Drying mangle Photo: Source unknown Date: 1950s |
DRYING STOVE Equipment. A heated chamber in which pottery is dried before firing.
DUCK Dialect. A term of endearment used for anyone, male or female, friend or stranger — as in "Ta duck". Or may be used to indicate a place as in "Up Anley duck". And often used to round off a remark or as a greeting as in "At oh rate duck?"
Its origin is debated. One theory traces it to "Dux," a Latin term for a leader of men (from which "Duke" also derives) — so calling someone Duck marks them as important and respected. A similar theory traces it via the Saxon word "ducas," also a term of respect, from the same root that gave English "Duke."
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| Twyfords Pottery Ducks From 1980s Bathroom Colours catalogue |
DUCKERS Dialect. Large pebbles, no smaller than an apple. Good for throwing. Also the very large 'flint pebbles' which are calcined, crushed and ground to a fine powder for use in some pottery recipes.
With thanks to @pottrays for the suggestion.
DUCK (SAVOURY) - SAVOURY DUCK Also known as a faggot. Not uncommon. Made from minced pork off-cuts and offal.
DUDSON Pottery Manufacturer. Richard Dudson opened his first factory in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in 1800. Nine generations later, Dudson remained a privately owned family business—the oldest in the UK tableware industry, specialising in ceramic tableware for hospitality. Early on, the company produced varied domestic ware, including Staffordshire figures, Relief Moulded Stoneware, Jasper Ware, Ebony and Mosaic (rouletted) ware.
When his father died in 1882, James Thomas Dudson, the founder's great-grandson, took over the Hope Street factory and drove changes that secured the company's future. Having travelled extensively for the firm, he spotted potential in a new market: with railways established, shipping lines flourishing, and hotels multiplying to serve a newly mobile population, he foresaw the emerging 'leisure and tourism' industry.
His father's exceptionally strong, vitreous clay body proved ideal for catering ware, so by 1891 Dudson had shifted its full focus to this new growth area.
UPDATE 04.04.2019: "The company announced today that cash flow pressures and deteriorating sales has lead to its collapse." Administrators were brought in and a sale of the Dudson brand was quickly made to the pottery firm of Churchill China. 318 workers were made redundant.
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DULLING Glaze fault. Poor gloss surface created when the piece is cooled too slowly after the glost fire.
DUMP Kiln furniture. Spacer or support for big pieces, or for refractory shelves.
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| Dump |
DUMP A term used in saggar making. A lump of clay ready to 'mau out' into a saggar's bottom. 4 or 5 pounds in weight of saggar marl is used for a saggar's bottom. A flat D-shaped tool called a grafter was used to slice a flat piece of saggar marl from the dump, before use.
DUNNA MAYTHER Dialect. See DUNNA WEREET :) May also have the spelling DUNNER MAYTHER or DUNNER MYTHER or DUNNER MITHER.
DUNNA ROTA Dialect. Stays the same. Doesn't alter.
DUNNA WEREET Dialect. A word of advice to someone who is unjustifiably worried, suggesting them to stop it. As soon as possible! 'Tinna woth eat, duck! (it isn't worth it)
DUNT and DUNTING Pottery body fault. See in-dunt and out-dunt. Cracks which appear in the fired pot passing completely through the body. Created by thermal stress in the body but with some underlying cause. ALSO "Cracking associated with too rapid cooling of the kiln. Putting pots on placing sand can help." Definition courtesy of Potclays Limited here>
DUNT - don't get confused with another meaning of DUNT - a dull knock or blow. ‘Don’t draw your dirk if a dunt will do’ is an old Scots proverb warning against using more power or effort than is necessary.
DUNTED Pottery body fault. Fire-cracked ware. Latent defect due to stress created during the making process but not apparent at the time. Appears as a hairline crack, or even worse. Caused by unequal tension, often during the cooling down after the firing, the ware goes off with a bang. In the more extreme cases the article virtually splits in two. Occasionally a dunt occurs long after the manufacture of the article has been completed. Usually, however, the fault is not long in manifesting itself and generally before the ware has had time to leave the factory. (Many thanks go to Don Parry for sending me this word, Oct 2015)
DUPLEX PAPER Material used during the process. Paper where each side is different. Usually made by laminating two sheets of paper. Duplex paper has a different finish on each side. Potters litho paper is like this to allow the litho decoration to slide off the paper after it has been soaked in water.
DUST Dialect. Meaning 'do you?' A sentence may be started with the words 'dust ear surry?' which means 'now listen here'. Another great dialect sentence might be 'If thee dust out for nowt, do it for thee sen.'
DUST EAR SURRY or DUST EAR YOTH See immediately above.
DUST PRESSING Process. For tile-making. Compacting fine, low-moisture 'dust' clay into a mould or tool. The process was invented by engineer Richard Prosser in 1840 and commercially developed by Herbert Minton, becoming the breakthrough that made industrial tile production possible. A tile press uses a square metal mould with an adjustable base plate set to the required thickness. The mould is filled with slightly moist dust clay and levelled, then a flywheel-driven screw brings a metal plate down to compress the clay slowly, letting air escape; it's raised and pressed again with force to form the tile. The tile is removed, fettled to trim the thin burr from its edges, then biscuit-fired ready for glazing and decorating.
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| Wilkes Screw Tile Press Image: source unknown Date: unknown |
DYSART Material. Glaze. Wedgwood cream coloured glaze.
DYE Material used during the process. For example in sanitaryware manufacture a vegetable dye (which burns away during the firing process, leaving no trace) is added to the tub of raw glaze. Different coloured dyes are used to differentiate between different types of glaze.
DYEAD Potteries Dialect. Dead.
DYEDED Potteries Dialect. Died.
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