Wilton Ware, a brand of English

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

, was the brand name of A.G.Harley-Jones factory. Wilton Ware was produced in Fenton,

Stoke on Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1904 to 1934. Horace Wain left

Carlton Ware Carlton Ware was a pottery manufacturer based in Stoke-on-Trent. The company is known for its tableware, often in the form of highly decorated leaves or fruit, and the ceramic toucans it made as promotional items for Guinness. It produced hand- ...

and became the designer for the factory in the early 1920s.

Trade marks

A.G. Harley Jones's pottery was sold under the trade names "Wilton Ware" and "Fentonia Ware", among others. The pottery is usually marked with the initials "HJ" or "AGHJ".

Designs

The following registered designs are recorded at UK Public Records Office. 1925 711819 711820 711821 1926 723362 723363 723364 1927 726366 726367 726368 726369 726366 726367 Mikado (1927)

History

The firm of A. G. Harley Jones was founded in 1901 by Arthur George Harley Jones. The company manufactured ornamental pottery. William Percival Jervis, a contemporary potter in the arts and crafts movement, noted Harley Jones's expertise in using

underglaze Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely ...

colors. Jervis also lauded the firm's work in

transfer printing Transfer printing is a method of decorating pottery or other materials using an engraved copper or steel plate from which a monochrome print on paper is taken which is then transferred by pressing onto the ceramic piece. Fleming, John & Hugh H ...

of photographs onto pottery. Around 1920, Harley Jones's firm began to manufacture practical

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids by coating it with a ce ...

in addition to ornamental pieces. The firm went bankrupt in 1934, having switched its focus to manufacturing fireplace tiles a year earlier.

References

Staffordshire pottery {{Ceramics-stub