Staffordshire dogs with glass eyes

2 large Staffordshire china dogs,  sometimes called pot dogs - mantelpiece dogs, or Wullie dogs (in Scotland).  They come in many shapes and sizes, sometimes painted in black or rust on white, and are based on the King Charles Cavalier spaniel.  Queen Victoria popularised these spaniels, particularly with her famous dog called 'Dash'. They were made from c1840 to about 1900.  The dogs above have glass eyes which is unusual, and  have a haughty expression. They were made in the latter part of the 19th century.

Delftware tiles, blue and white and manganese, Dutch and English

1.  2 Dutch Delftware tiles, 18th century (could be earlier), painted in blue and white depicting tulips

 2.   2 18th century Delftware tiles probably made in England, one with painted manganese rural river scene, the other in blue and white and manganese, with house and castle design.

Delftware (tin glazed pottery) was made in the Netherlands between the 16th and the 18th centuries.  Due to lively trade with the East,  millions of pieces of Chinese porcelain were imported into Holland in the early 17th century, and  when this supply was interrupted in c1620 Dutch imitations started.  Tiles were made in vast numbers possibly as many as 8 hundred million over 200 years!
By the end of the 18th century the delftware potteries started to go out of business  mainly due to the growing British market in porcelain and earthenware.
English delftware is a tin glazed pottery made between c1550 and the late 18th century mainly in London, Bristol, and Liverpool,   it had almost died out by the beginning of the 19th century.

Black basalt teapot, English c1800.

Large black basalt teapot made in England c1800, with replaced 19th century toleware strap handle, chinoiserie figures, and architectural and floral detail. Black basalt was introduced by Josiah Wedgwood in 1768 and was immediately a huge commercial success.

Beauty of the human hand, part 3 of 3, James Montgomery, poet

James Montgomery the poet was born in Ayrshire, Scotland in 1771. He was brought up by the Moravians near Leeds after his parents left for America,  never to return. He went into journalism acquiring a newspaper - the Isis  that advocated reformist causes at an unpopular time, and was imprisoned for a while. He brought out poems and hymns from 1797. He died in 1854, throughout his life he worked for humanitarian causes.

This poem, The Blank Leaf,  was written by James Montgomery into the personal album of Agnes Appleby, Sheffield, England, Nov 21.  1829.

English mochaware mustard pot 1830-50

English mochaware  mustard pot c1830 with 'seaweed' designs on pale blue band.


Mocha decorated pottery was made in England between  c1770 and c1930. It is a utilitarian earthenware, slip-decorated, lathe-turned, and in addition to coloured slip bands on white and buff-coloured bodies is sometimes adorned with geological markings. An unknown potter discovered that by dripping a coloured acidic solution into a wet alkaline slip on a pot body the colour would instantly spread into dendritic/seaweed markings. Mocha is highly valued and collected in America where it was exported in the 19th century.