By Mannie Banner
The production of good quality earthenware in England started toward the beginning of the 18th Century when the right coal, which could be fired at an extremely high temperature was discovered in the stokeon-trent area. Soon after that, fine quality clay was discovered in southwestern England - namely, Devon and Cornwall.The combination of these two elements and a good water supply greatly improved the quality of the pottery, and this was the start of the concentration of the British pottery industry in the Staffordshire District.
In 1799, the firm of Josiah Spode introduced the addition of ground-up animal bone, and the fine bone-china industry in England was born.
Various members of the Shelley family were involved with the pottery industry starting around 1748. After Randle Shelley sold his pottery in 1798, nothing noteworthy was mentioned regarding the Shelley family - for the next 65 years.
In 1985, Henry Wileman became a partner in the Foley Potteries, eventually became sole owner, and proceeded to enlarge his factory and hired Joseph Shelley as a sales representative. Shelley became a partner in 1872, and, when Wileman retired, Shelley became sole owner, but kept the "Wileman" company name until 1925, although the goods were marked "Shelley" from 1910.
Joseph's son, Percy, joined the business in 1881, and had a great desire to strengthen their export business and improve quality. He built his own bone grinding mill, which was unheard of, and had the animal bone ground to his specifications - using only cattle bone, which had the best quality of all.In 1893, Percy hired Frederick Rhead, who had served his apprenticeship with Mintons, and twenty years with Wedgwood. Rhead was one of two designers who came with Shelley - the other was Rowland Morris. These two men elevated Shelley to a higher standard in the industry.
Rhead concentrated on pottery, but left Shelley in 1905 - reason unknown. The "Pottery and Glass Record," which was an outstanding publication of the pottery industry, described Frederick Rhead, at his death, as the "Leonardo DaVinci" of North Staffordshire.
Walter Slater took over the designing reins from Rhead. He, too, had spent many years in the industry, having worked for Mintons and Doulton. He proceeded to design many new patterns in china, using the many different shapes Shelley produced, including a new art nouveau look.
The shadow of WWI hovered, and sales slowed considerably - except for a brisk dinnerware business with the United States.
The years 1914 to 1918 brought out only three new designs - mostly on black backgrounds. Many novelty items, such as toilet seats, bar pottery, etc. were being produced industrywide in order to keep the potteries afloat.
In the mid-20s, Walter Slater began to turn over much of the design area to his son, Eric.
I've seen the many fabulous earthenware products of Shelley, but one fact stands out - of all the beautiful, high-quality items they made, Shelley's mark, worldwide, was in the creation of their fine bone-china. Their delicate tea-ware of the 20s and 30s was typical of the quality for which Shelley was known.
By 1928, Eric Slater was tiring of creating neon patterns for existing shapes, so he dared to go where others had not - into the art deco era with fine bone china. The "Pottery Gazette," a leading industry trade paper, wrote, regarding Eric's forward designs - "There are those who for a long time past have been agitating for a more adventurous spirit in the manufacturing circles of the Pottery Industry - well, here it is! "
Other potteries had tried new advancedlooking shapes, but had not gone forward with them. The combination of Eric's forward thinking and Shelley's fine bone china proved to be a winning one. He created a new shape called "Vogue" - very extreme yet clean - with a cup very wide at the rim and tapering sharply at the foot. The handle was a solid triangular shape. Most patterns used on this shape were new geometric designs, but some of the more simple existing floral designs were also applied.
Frankly, when I first read the book "Shelley Potteries", the photos of the art deco shapes and designs that Shelley produced were what hooked me as a Shelley collector. I later broadened my interests.
"Vogue" was well accepted, but there was an objection to the highly tapered shape, since the shape caused the tea or coffee to cool too rapidly. In response, Eric developed a new shape called "Mode", with had the same deco look with the same geometric pointed handle but a less extreme taper to the cup.
Then a second objection arose on both the "Vogue" and "Mode" shapes, the solid handle prevented the user from putting a finger into an opening for support. This solid handle also prevented hanging the cups on a hook or a ring in the kitchen.
This time Eric created a new shape called "Eve," which incorporated the best lines of both "Vogue" and "Mode" but featured an open handle. "Eve" was heavily produced with all of the deco patterns and did very well. According to the Shelley archives, "Vogue" shape sold well for only two years, "Mode" for about four, but "Eve" sold very well for about thirteen years, well beyond the actual deco period. Designs such as "Sunray," `J pattern," "Blocks," "Butterfly Wing" as well as straight lines, such as "Lines and Bands" and "Lines and Shades" were very much in demand, as some of the more traditional patterns, such as "Gladiolas," "Laburnham," "Horn of Plenty" and "Iris," which were all florals.
The deco shapes continued to sell beyond WWII. However, when I started to visit the antique shops, antique shows and auctions, I found very few of Shelley deco pieces. It wasn't until one of my trips to England that I was enlightened.
Shelley's art deco period, when it was producing and shipping the "Vogue," "Mode" and "Eve" shapes, 1928-1932, coincided in part with the years of the economic depression in the United States. As a result, Shelley exported most of its goods to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, etc., mostly their empire members, skipping the United States. I believe that almost all of the Shelley art deco goods that were discovered here today originally filtered in from Canada, or has been brought in by the American dealers and collectors who frequent England. That certainly is true for me.
Then along came the "Regent" shape, which was a slim, modern shape, but with lines more soft and curved. The cup handles, called "ring" handles, were round and well-balanced, making them easy to hold. New patterns were introduced for "Regent," and deco designs turned to more lightly colored geometrics and florals, such as "Polka Dot," "Swirls" and "Phlox."
"Swirls" was of particular interest to Queen Mary, who regularly attended the British Fair and always visited the Shelley exhibit to purchase or select goods. At the fair in >-934 she ordered certain pieces in the "Swirls" design and she eventually bought two dinner services.
Imagine picking up the "Swirls" dinner service just like the Queens. As an avid collector of "Shelley Potteries" I highly suggest a quick trip to England. If that's not an option right now, a great reference for collectors is the book Shelley Potteries - The History and Production of a Staffordshire Family of Potters by Chris Watkins, William Harvey and Robert Senft. As the title suggests, this book documents, in chronological order, the rise and demise of the Shelley factory, its production and those members of the family who worked at the pottery. It also gives details about other events which had an effect on the company. For additional information on Shelley Pottery check out The Shelley Group, the leading club for Shelley collectors on the web at www.shelley.co.uk.
