Luckington Pottery

Hi,

I'm really hoping someone can help me with this lovely vase/jug I bought at a car boot sale. The backstamp is very smudged but I think I can make out that it says 'fired at/by Luckington Pottery at Luckington Wilts.

I've done all the googling I can and there is reference to a pottery existing in Luckington, Wilts from the late 17th century through to 1922.

Apart from the fact that one of the potters was called James Tanner and that the pottery began by making bricks, tiles & pottery garden ornaments I can find no other reference.

It appears nothing exists on the web that I can find as an example of their pottery and nothing has sold on eBay or been listed on eBay from there either.

I have no idea as to age except within an approx 130 years, or value of the item, if any.

Thank you so much in advance

From what I can see you have pretty much everything you need for a firm attribute. You have the maker Luckington Pottery, the location Luckington Wilts and you know they existed until 1922. So based on the style of the painting and jug shape you have something made within the last 20 years of the factories life. The jug is similar in shape to some of the Clarice cliff designs of the 1920's but the colour is similar to some Moorcroft from a bit earlier. If you say about a 100 years old your not far out.

Mordeep wrote:From what I can see you have pretty much everything you need for a firm attribute. You have the maker Luckington Pottery, the location Luckington Wilts and you know they existed until 1922. So based on the style of the painting and jug shape you have something made within the last 20 years of the factories life. The jug is similar in shape to some of the Clarice cliff designs of the 1920's but the colour is similar to some Moorcroft from a bit earlier. If you say about a 100 years old your not far out.

Thank you very much for your reply. You think it is actually a jug rather than a vase? I wondered about that as it has no spout so I assumed it was actually a handled vase.

I'm slightly frustrated that I cannot find any idea as to value on the internet since this pottery when it existed seems to have been so obscure that I cannot find a single other item by them having come up for sale or any more comprehensive information about the pottery while it existed.

I hoped to be able to date it, which you've now helped me with thank you so much, and to know that my £6 was well spent since I'm collecting for the benefit of my children after I'm gone as well as for my pleasure to look at while I'm alive.

Moorcroft is absolutely my love when it comes to pottery and it was definitely the colours and subject choice that drew me to it.

(My goal is to leave things for my children that as well as being beautiful and make them smile when they look at them knowing I loved them, also have a financial value should they wish to sell them)

There's a book extract here, according to which the pottery continued until 1950, and that a new kiln was built in 1937 but never used, Apparently the main product was pots for use on graves, which might help explain the rarity of their ouput today.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=X9gOXnKxdCoC&pg=PA118&dq=luckington+pottery&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0rYT70vzTAhXEIMAKHZ05CTwQ6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=luckington%20pottery&f=false

And here's a photo of the bottle kiln:
http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/326894

That's really interesting, thank you.

It is different to a piece I read on the history of Luckington which said that around 1922 after the death of the potter James Tanner the pottery was sold to Lady Blanche Scott Douglas who attempted to make the potteries a success again, however she hadn't realised that the clay she was importing from Cornwall wasn't suitable for the China jugs, mugs and tableware she was hoping to make and the end product was unstable so it closed for good.

I guess that could also explain the scarcity of these items if the product was unstable if it's as young as 1940's/1950's. It certainly is extremely crazed and the glazing to the bottom of the jug feels as though you can push it in slightly

MillyJackIsaac wrote:

Mordeep wrote:From what I can see you have pretty much everything you need for a firm attribute. You have the maker Luckington Pottery, the location Luckington Wilts and you know they existed until 1922. So based on the style of the painting and jug shape you have something made within the last 20 years of the factories life. The jug is similar in shape to some of the Clarice cliff designs of the 1920's but the colour is similar to some Moorcroft from a bit earlier. If you say about a 100 years old your not far out.

Thank you very much for your reply. You think it is actually a jug rather than a vase? I wondered about that as it has no spout so I assumed it was actually a handled vase.

I'm slightly frustrated that I cannot find any idea as to value on the internet since this pottery when it existed seems to have been so obscure that I cannot find a single other item by them having come up for sale or any more comprehensive information about the pottery while it existed.

I hoped to be able to date it, which you've now helped me with thank you so much, and to know that my £6 was well spent since I'm collecting for the benefit of my children after I'm gone as well as for my pleasure to look at while I'm alive.

Moorcroft is absolutely my love when it comes to pottery and it was definitely the colours and subject choice that drew me to it.

(My goal is to leave things for my children that as well as being beautiful and make them smile when they look at them knowing I loved them, also have a financial value should they wish to sell them)

It's a jug. They came in various forms some with spouts some without. There is a lot of social history around ceramics from around the 1st world war. Women got involved in industries they had previously not been involved in. Coupled with the fact that the traditional transfer printed decoration applied to ceramics came as stencils from Germany, WW1 stopped both the availability and demand for that decoration. That is why Clarice cliff got so popular in the 20's and why so many items got decorated free hand over white bodies during that period.

If I have any advise about collecting and legacies, It is to buy quality versions of what you like with as much hand decoration as you can find. That any for god sake use it.
As long as you avoid the dishwasher and temperature extremes (very hot liquids normally). that jug will hold a summer punch as well today as it did a 100 years ago. It will bring a lot more smiles being used at your next party than it will in a box or shelf. As long as you treat it with respect you will never know it got used apart from the pictures. It will make no difference to the value (sorry we don't give values here but it would not be tea at the Ritz item, I think more a Nando's chicken feast with a cheeky bottle of vino Collapso).

Best wishes Sean/Mordeep

Actually, if you mean this article, it says it closed in 1945.
http://www.sherston.org.uk/minutes/sherstoncliffhanger/cliffhanger_july2010.pdf

Decorated ware could only be produced for export during the Second World War, which, if the article is right, would mean your jug is 1930s at the latest.

Thank you for all your replies. I'm not a tea at the ritz type of lady anyway and I'm very proud of my beautiful jug regardless of any financial value as it has 'smile value' to me.

I planned to use it for flowers rather than drink and it'll look far nicer with a bunch of cornflowers or yellow tulips in than my mass produced ikea glass vase!