Earthenware memes - Staffordshire ceramics

Something fascinating was captured when the market for ceramics in 19th century England saw a shift.

Now im aware that “fascinating” and “the 19thC English ceramic market” aren’t two things many would place together, but bear with me. You see for the preceding centuries the county of Staffordshire had cemented itself at the heart of English pottery, largely thanks to its ideal geological conditions for such an industry.

Amongst the dishes and cups this industry produced, one particular type of creation grew increasingly popular, the figurine.

Initially crude, often unmarked and made by independent potters, As with many mediums and methods of crafts, the Industrial Revolution saw the production and potential for innovation in ceramic crafts, like these figures, shift and boom. Combined with Staffordshire’s complimentary geology, wealth soon flowed in. With this wealth came refinement and an elevation of the perception of Staffordshire work on the international stage.

Now you’d think this increase in quality and expansion of target market is where we would find our fascination. But it was actually a counter move to this refined and expanded production which holds our interest today. See as the figures became more refined, and the subject matter more “continental” the base appeal that had made these figures so broadly popular was lost. The refinement brought higher prices and the subject matter no longer spoke to people.

So the now large industrial produces cut back on their line of fine figures, focusing instead on tableware and such. The production of these figures then reverted back to the local potters and the cottage industries it came from, small firms would also look to fill the gap in time. They became folk art once more, affordable, unique, and with this their subject matter became one far more grounded. Instead of renditions of Greek classics there were figures of local intrigue, murderers and circus performers.

This is where they became something fascinating. They became art “of the people for the people”. For now that the average person could afford these figures, so the subject matter of them had to appeal to those people, those firms still making figures were forced to adapt to the style and price the independent crafts people set.

They were forced to represent a class of person that had for eons been marginalised. Not only that but those same people were able to represent themselves through their craft.

And now we have this record of social interest, of common tropes, humour found in repeated and varied jokes. Now we have ceramic record of the love people bore for their pets, the art & entertainment they enjoyed, and the lives they lived (or at least the parts they found worthy of elevating) in a sense what we have are ceramic memes. Moulds were often shared, poses copied and rehashed, animals of one type or the other rising and falling in popularity.

All of this captured in a delicate and unique art form, and all of it indicative of a monumental societal change. And quite frankly all of it increasingly hidden behind the cobwebs of our preconceived notions & time.