James Macintyre & Co Ltd






 

Location and period of operation:

Macintyre (& Co) (Ltd)

Burslem

1854 

1966+

 

China and Earthenware manufacturer at the Washington Works, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England

  • Throughout the history of the Washington Works the main output of  was industrial ware and architectural fittings. In the directories Macintyre are variously listed as manufacturers of "china, porcelain, mortice-lock and bell lever furniture, finger-plates, shutter, draw, and hall-door knobs, mortars & pestles, metal covered jugs, letters for signs, garden labels, artists' palettes, slabs, colour tiles, &c". 

  • Also produced were "Electrical Porcelains for lighting, power, telegraph and telephone work, heating and cooking apparatus" 

  • c.1894 MacIntyre produced a series of art ware designs by Wildig under the name "Washington Faience" 

    This was followed by the "Gesso Faience" line developed by Harry Barnard who had come to Macintyre from Doulton's and left them in 1897 for Wedgwood. 

    William Moorcroft's earliest pieces at Macintyre were the Aurelian Ware transfer pieces that eventually evolved into the 1902 Florian Ware designs. 

     


 

  • James Macintyre was previously in business with his brother-in-law William Sadler Kennedy at the Washington Works, in March 1854 the partnership was dissolved when Kennedy left the business and Macintyre continued the works on his own. 

  • Around 1865 Macintyre took his Commercial Manager, Mr. Thomas Hulme, and his son-in-law, Mr. William Woodall into partnership with him.

  • James Macintyre died in December 1868 leaving Thomas Hulme and William Woodall as the remaining partners.

  • The partnership was dissolved on the 31st December 1878 when Hulme left the business. William Woodall continued - the name James Macintyre and Company was retained for the business.  

  • Around 1894 the business was incorporated as a Limited Company.

  • c.1894 MacIntyre produced a series of designs by Wildig under the name "Washington Faience" This was followed by the "Gesso Faience" line developed by Harry Barnard who had come to Macintyre from Doulton's and left them in 1897 for Wedgwood. 

  • In 1897 Macintyre & Co. Ltd employed the 26 year old William Moorcroft as a designer, and within a year he was put in full charge of the company's art pottery studio as Chief Designer. 

  • In 1913 William Moorcroft left Macintyre & Co. and set up his own manufacturing company in Sandbach Road, Cobridge, Burslem. 

  • From 1928 only industrial porcelain, primarily for electrical insulation, was produced. 

  • In 1966 Macintyre was merged with T. Arrowsmith and Sons - Macintyre "producers of high and low-tension electrical porcelain" continued to trade under their own name. At that time Macintyre were recorded as having 350 workers.

 

Previously: W S Kennedy & Co

Also see: William Moorcroft

 



The London Gazette
16 July 1880
 

 

 

notice of the dissolution of the partnership between
Thomas Hulme and William Woodall on 31st December 1878
 

 

 


 


Washington Works 

"In 1852 Mr. Kennedy was joined in partnership by his brother-in-law, Mr. James Macintyre, who shortly afterwards became sole proprietor of the works.

In 1863, Mr. Macintyre patented methods of producing oval, reeded, octagon, and other forms, by the lathe; and he was ever alert to devise and apply improvements in mechanism, &c. He succeeded in the production of a rich cream-coloured body, which, under the name of "Ivory China," has held in. high reputation, and will always be honourably associated with the "Washington" Works. 

In 1867 Mr. Macintyre produced backs for hair-brushes, hand-mirrors, &c., which were patented by Mr. J. J. Hicks, and in numerous other instances, especially for France, the "body" has been used as an ivory substitute. 

So far as can be ascertained, the successful application to door furniture of the earlier invention of the beautiful black, which is produced by dipping the brownish red bisque in a rich cobalt glaze, also originated at these works. This "jet," produced in great perfection, 
has been applied in plain, and also with richly gilt and enamelled ornamentation, not only to door furniture, but more recently to ink-stands and similar goods. 

Mr. Macintyre, who was a man of public spirit and great enterprise, was much beloved by his workpeople, and the annual festive gatherings in which he, his family and friends, met his employees, obtained a well-merited celebrity. 

He died in December, 1868, having a few years previously taken into partnership his confidential (commercial?) manager, Mr. Thomas Hulme, and his son-in-law, Mr. William Woodall. By these two gentlemen the business is still carried on under the old title of "James Macintyre and Co." 

'Ceramic Art of Great Britain' - Llewellyn Jewitt - 1878

 

 

 

Macintyre & Moorcroft:

In 1897 Macintyre & Co. Ltd employed William Moorcroft as a designer, and within a year he was put in full charge of the company's art pottery studio as Chief Designer. 

Moorcroft's first innovative range of pottery, called Florian Ware, was a great success and won him a gold medal at the St. Louis International Exhibition in 1904. Unusually at that time, he adopted the practice of signing his name, or his initials, on nearly all the pottery he designed, the production of which he personally oversaw. 

In due course the extent to which his success had overshadowed Macintyre's other manufacturing activities resulted in resentment on the part of his employers, culminating in their decision in 1912 to close down his studio. He then set up his own company and the following year production of his pottery was transferred to a brand new factory nearby.

Wikipedia

 

 


 


James Macintyre & Co Ltd
High Class Specially Designed Ceramics
for the Breakfast Room,.. Dining Room, Drawing Room
Dura Ware
Aurelian Ware
Washington China Works, Burslem, Staffs

The Pottery Gazette - January 1906

 


 


James Macintyre & Co Ltd
High Class Ceramics
Dainty Table Accessories
Coat of Arms Ware
Novelties for Advertisers
also of
Porcelain Specialities for all Trades
Washington China Works, Burslem, Staffs

The Pottery Gazette - 1st January 1913

 


 

 


Waterloo Road / Macintyre Street

Macintyre, Jas., & Co Ltd.,
Gesso, Florian, Aurelian ware and china manufacturers,
Washington Works

 

from..... 1907 Staffordshire Sentinel 
'Business Reference Guide to The Potteries, Newcastle & District'

 


 


1907 advert for James Macintyre & Co. Ltd.

 

from..... 1907 Staffordshire Sentinel 
'Business Reference Guide to The Potteries, Newcastle & District'

 


 

"James Macintyre & Co., Ltd., Washington China Works, Burslem, are extensive manufacturers of a number of specialities in pottery, one of their many departments being devoted exclusively to the production of electrical accessories.

This is a very interesting branch of pottery, but one with which glass and china dealers are not directly associated.

To our readers Messrs. Macintyre & Co., are better known as manufacturers of specially designed high class ceramics, and even in this capacity many persons are better acquainted with their purely ornamental then their useful productions.

Those who go down to the Potteries will do well to call at the works in the Waterloo-road. I called their recently, and had an instructive interview with their Mr. William Moorcroft, who is responsible for the marvellous development of the artistic features of the company's productions. He is a potter with a strong artistic individuality, and he most unmistakably impresses that individuality on every piece of ware produced by his company. Mr. Moorcroft is director of the Art section of Messrs. Macintyre's works, and, as I have before explained in the Pottery Gazette, not only are the graceful and beautiful forms produced from his own designs, but the added ornamentations are in accordance with his original conceptions. What I mean is that the finished piece we see - whether a vase or a teapot - is just what the artist-potter in the beginning intended it to be. The end has been steadily kept in view from the commencement, and this explains the perfect harmony between form and decoration, which is observable in every piece.

Each design is the work of Mr. Moorcroft's own hands. The ornamental detail is carried out in accordance with his instructions by artists who work under his supervision, and he passes each piece before it is fired. 

On a former visit I described in detail the graceful and beautiful "Florian Ware," which is now known and admired wherever art pottery is appreciated. On this occasion I had an opportunity of inspecting the company's table ware sundries in the now popular "Dura" ware and "Aurelian" ware in the company of their originator, Mr. Moorcroft. There are teapots and stands, cream-jugs, sugar-basins, teacups and saucers, marmalade and biscuit jars, jugs, coffee-pots, and chocolate-jugs in both these wares and in a number of registered designs. Each decoration was designed expressly to suit the shape to which is is applied. In the "Dura" ware the decoration is executed entirely under the glaze, so that the rich and luminous finished effect remains uninfluenced by atmospheric conditions.

In the "Aurelian" ware the decoration is also executed under the glaze, and is richly embellished in burnished gold.

In common with all true artists, Mr. Moorcroft thinks artistic beauty should be combined with utility. The presence of beautiful ware on a breakfast table cannot fail to have a refining influence on those who use it. There is no reason why artistic beauty should not be found in even cheap goods. People who cannot say off-hand what art is recognise it when they see it. It has that indescribable something that makes for harmony and elicits admiration. 

In the purely ornamental branch of the works Mr. Moorcroft showed me several new creations of his restless genius. The chief characteristic of his decorative schemes is simplicity. This simplicity in outline and in added ornament is exactly antithetic to what is called the "New Art." In the most recent of his productions the artist has not depended upon his pencil of his graver for his added ornament."


The Pottery Gazette - March 1906

 

 

 

 

 


1914 advert for James Macintyre & Co Ltd

Manufacturers of Electrical Porcelains
Washington China Works, Burslem, Staffs


 


The Pottery Gazette Diary 1917

page 42 from the Pottery Gazette showing adverts for both
James Macintyre and William Moorcroft - this was after the two parted 
company in 1912 and Moorcroft started his own business in 1913

 



The Times
18 July 1966 

 

 

notice of the merger of James Macintyre with
T. Arrowsmith and Sons

 


 

Industrial ceramics 

 

 

small electrical insulator - impressed marks
Macintyre and GPO
(GPO - General Post Office, UK telecommunications carrier)

photo: Teleramics 

 

 


 

 

small electrical insulator (120mm high)

J M & Co
Made in England


 

 

Crested ware

 


Pin dish
 Jesus College crest

Match holder / striker
Keble College crest 

Tobacco Jar
 Magdalen College crest

examples of crested ware bearing the crests of Oxford University Colleges
produced for W. E. Andrews, Oxford
  

 

  

J M & Co
Macintyre
Burslem
England

Made for W. E. Andrews Oxford 

 

 

 


 

 


"A Gentleman in Khaki"

The Absent-Minded Beggar

"The Absent-Minded Beggar" is a poem written by Rudyard Kipling in September 1899. It was set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan and often accompanied by an illustration of a wounded but defiant British soldier. The song was written as part of an appeal by the Daily Mail newspaper to raise money for soldiers fighting in the Second Boer War and their families.

fund raiser trinket produced by Macintyre around 1900 

 


 

James Macintyre & Co., Ltd., Washington China Works, Burslem, are making an important change in their business. The company are world-famous as manufacturers of porcelain specialities for all trades, and particularly of pottery for electrical purposes. 

They have also acquired a reputation for high-class ceramics, including dainty table accessories. 

The electrical branch of their business is increasing to such an extent that they have decided to direct their efforts most exclusively to its development. With this object in view they have made an arrangement with their art potter, Mr. William Moorcroft, under which he will take over the whole of their artistic business. Mr. Moorcroft has for many years had the sole control of that branch, and has been responsible for many unique artistic productions, for which Macintyre & Co., Ltd., are now so well known. "Moorcroft Faience" is highly appreciated in the trade, and by commission and under the new arrangement it will be produced even more extensively. 

Mr. Moorcroft is having new works built with the most improved modern arrangements, and he hopes in a few months to have them in perfect working order. There will be no cessation in the production of the art ware, as Macintyre & Co. will continue it until Mr. Moorcroft opens his new factory, which will be in Burslem. 

We heartily wish Mr. Moorcroft every success in a venture for which he is so especially qualified, and we congratulate Macintyre & Co., Ltd., upon the development of their electrical and general trade specialities, which has rendered the contemplated change necessary.

The Pottery Gazette - March 1913

 

 


Washington Faience
from c.1894 MacIntyre produced a series of designs 
by Wildig under the name "Washington Faience" 



Washington Faience Vase with a Deer & Hound design.

 


 simple tube-lined design
Washington Faience teapot 

James Macintryre & Co Limited
Washington Faience
Burslem, England

The registration number 224474 shows the pattern was first registered on 
23 December 1893
 

from c.1894 MacIntyre produced a series of designs by Wildig under the name "Washington Faience" 

 



Gesso Faience

The "Gesso Faience" line developed by Harry Barnard who had come
 to Macintyre from Doulton's and left them in 1897 for Wedgwood. 

 


 tube-lined vase 
from the 'Gesso Faience' range

Jug with tube-lined decoration 
one of the 'Gesso Faience' range

 


James Macintyre & Co Ltd
Burslem, England
 Gesso Faience

c.1894-1928

 

The "Gesso Faience" line developed by Harry Barnard who had come
 to Macintyre from Doulton's and left them in 1897 for Wedgwood. 

 


 

Aurelian Ware 
William Moorcroft's earliest pieces at Macintyre were the Aurelian Ware which were partly decorated with transfers and partly painted by hand. Moorcroft developed highly lustred glazes and used oriental shapes and decorations.

 

  
a pair of vases in Aurelian Ware
the registration number 314901 dates to 1898  

 


Aurelian Ware cup & saucer
this later decoration shows the development of the Aurelian style


 

Florian Ware 
William Moorcroft evolved the Aurelian Ware style into the Florian Ware designs with tubelining, heavy slip and translucent glaze to produce brilliance of colour.

Moorcroft examined each item produced and he started to mark each piece with his own signature or initials. 

Later Green and Gold Florian designs represent a combination of the earlier and later concepts. There were many variations on the Florian theme from the original flower patterns to scenic designs.

 

 


Florian Ware vase


FLORIAN WARE
Jas Macintyre & Co Ld
Burslem, England

the registration number 326471 shows that the pattern was registered on the 
30 September 1898

- more on registration numbers - 

 

 

 


Florian Ware vase with metal rim


FLORIAN WARE
Jas Macintyre & Co Ld
Burslem, England

with William Moorcroft signed initials 

 

 


 

Marks used on ware for identification:

Industrial ware and architectural fittings such as door furniture, finger-plates, draw-knobs, mortars & pestles were unmarked. 

Early domestic ware - bowls, jugs, salt & pepper shakers had an impressed mark (c.1854-67).

Around 1865 Macintyre took his Commercial Manager, Mr. Thomas Hulme, and his son-in-law, Mr. William Woodall into partnership with him and the style was changed to Macintyre & Co. The mark was the familiar circle with JM & Co inside.

Around 1894 the business was incorporated as a Limited Company and so any marks with "Ltd" or "Ld" are after 1894. 

However Macintyre continued to extensively use the "& Co" mark without "Ltd" 

 

 

MACINTYRE
c.1854-67

J MACINTYRE
c.1854-67

J M & Co
c.1867+

J MACINTYRE & Co
c.1867+

J MACINTYRE & Co Ltd
c.1894+




Impressed mark

MACINTYRE

c.1854-67


 


Macintyre
JM & Co
BURSLEM
ENGLAND

typical mark used from c.1867 and continued throught 
the whole period of operation


Washington Works

 


1879 map showing the Washington Works on Waterloo Road, Burslem

 

courtesy: old-maps.co.uk


 


the Washington Works of James Macintyre & Co. Ltd. in 1946

the street to the left of the works in Macintyre Street

 


 

Waterloo Road, Burslem (puple line) in the foreground 

Red box - Washington Works
Blue box - Blue Bell Inn
Green box - former Bethel Methodist Church

in the centre and backround is the Sneyd Colliery & Brick Works

 

photo courtesy: Britain from Above

 


Questions, comments, contributions? email: Steve Birks