byname ASTBURY OF SHELTON (b. 1688, England--d. 1743, Shelton, Staffordshire),
pioneer of English potting technology and earliest of the great Staffordshire potters.
| Astbury, John | |
byname ASTBURY OF SHELTON (b. 1688, England--d. 1743, Shelton, Staffordshire), pioneer of English potting technology and earliest of the great Staffordshire potters. |
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| Although from 1720 several Astburys were
working in Staffordshire, it is John who is credited with
the important Astbury discoveries and creations. He
allegedly masqueraded as an idiot in order to learn the
craft from the potting brothers John Philip
and David Elers, who in 1688 had
emigrated from Holland. |
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| Establishing a factory at Shelton in the early 18th
century, he succeeded in producing yellowish-glazed red
earthenware decorated with bits of white pipe clay (which
he was the first to import from Devonshire); his mode of
decorating with such appliqus is called sprigging.
Thus, some of the earliest Staffordshire figures in brown
and white clay covered with a lead glaze have been
attributed to him (a surviving example depicting the
victory of Admiral Vernon at Porto Bello is dated 1739;
Victoria and Albert Museum, London). |
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Astbury is credited with being the first
(1720) Staffordshire potter to use flint
for improving the quality of earthenware mixture by
making it whiter. Figures now attributed to him reveal variously toned clays, as well as colours clouded to enrich them. He quite possibly originated the popular pew groups; i.e., two or more rigidly posed, salt-glazed stoneware figures, some engaged in such activities as playing bagpipes, wearing stylized costumes and seated on stiff pews. Similar groups of musicians only have also been attributed to him. His other typical figure groups are soldiers and equestrians, rather crude in appearance, modelled by hand after being cast in simple molds. His utilitarian products include mugs, variously shaped bowls, and teapots. He also made agate and marbled wares. |
Astbury's son Thomas experimented with the lead-glazed earthenware that was later called creamware and, improved by the great Josiah Wedgwood, eventually renamed Queen's ware. It was developed from the earlier white stoneware body and covered with a lead glaze. Astbury
ware is now found primarily in museums and in renowned
private collections. During the mid-20th-century
renaissance of Staffordshire pottery, Astbury figures,
particularly the pew groups, brought premium prices, some
in the thousands of pounds. |
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| Astbury ware, | |
English earthenware produced by John Astbury and his son Thomas from about 1725; later a term for fine 18th-century Staffordshire earthenware until c. 1760. John Astbury (1688-1743) established a single-kiln pottery at Shelton in 1725; to him are ascribed productions that were markedly in advance of other potters' work. His ware was better formed, being finished on a lathe; better surfaced, with a coating of white pipe clay; and harder and lighter because of the introduction of calcined flint into the body. Astbury's red or buff earthenware was ornamented by white relief ships, figures, and fortifications. |
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| Astbury products include agateware and
tortoiseshell ware; black earthenware with relief
ornament in white; glazed earthenware in various brown,
fawn, and buff shades stamp-decorated with white pipe
clay; salt-glazed stoneware; white and cream earthenware;
terra-cotta, which was a hard red unglazed earthenware
with geometric incised lathe-cut decoration; sgraffito
(scratch-decorated) earthenware; and figures. The distinctive Astbury figures consisted of men, animals, and birds, singly or grouped, modelled in clay, slip-coated, and decorated in a coloured slip--later to be superseded by metallic oxide colours. Arbour groups (couples beneath a tree), musical groups of individual performers, equestrian figures, and Chinese figures are all represented. |
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| Astbury-Whieldon ware, | |
English pottery, principally earthenware, with applied decoration, produced from about 1730 to 1745 by two Staffordshire potters, John Astbury and Thomas Whieldon. Instead of the more common stamped relief decoration, the ornament was achieved by applying pre-molded relief motifs to the surface of the pottery object and connecting them by curled stems formed of threads of thinly rolled clay. The process was known as sprigging. |
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