John Ridgway & Co






 

Location and period of operation:

John Ridgway (& Co)

Shelton

c. 1830

1855

 

Porcelain and Earthenware manufacturer at Cauldon Place, Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, England

  • Since 1813 (when their father Job Ridgway died) John and William were partners at this business at Cauldon Place.  In 1830 the two brothers inherited the Bell Works from their uncle George. The brothers then ended their partnership with John taking the Cauldon Works and William retaining the Bell works.

  • The new partners at the Cauldon Works included John Ridgway, Thomas Sanders Bale, John Ridgway Bale and Robert Brown. 

  • In 1846 the partnership was dissolved, John Ridgway Bale having died and Robert Brown leaving the business. The business then continued with John Ridgway and Thomas Sanders Bale as partners.

  • John Ridgway and Thomas Sanders Bale were also partners at the Castlefields, Architectural Pottery Works
    in Shelton under the name of Ridgway & Bale. 

  • Both partnerships were dissolved in August 1854


John Ridgway (1785-1860) was a member of the famous Ridgway family of potters

  • In 1810 John Ridgway married Sophia Bale of Bristol and presumably Thomas Sanders Bale was 
    some relation of Sophia Bale.  


Formerly: J & W Ridgway

Subsequently: Ridgway, Bates & Co

 


London Gazette, November 16, 1830


notice of the dissolution of the partnerships 
between John and William Ridgway

the business then continued as John Ridgway & Co 

 


London Gazette, 13 February 1846

 
notice of the dissolution of the partnership of John Ridgway,
Thomas Sanders Bale, John Ridgway Bale (deceased) and Robert Brown

the business then continued with John Ridgway and
Thomas Sanders Bale.


 

London Gazette, 19 September 1854 

notice of the dissolution of the partnerships between
John Ridgway and Thomas Sanders Bale

 


Selected by the Committee for the Staffordshire Potteries 
to exhibit at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1855

 



sugar bowl
the pattern number is given as 6912


 


raised serving dish 

c.1830-37




soup bowl in the Imari style
the pattern number is given as 5302




Soup bowl in the Blue Bell pattern
sometimes this pattern was produced in blue monochrome 



 

John Ridgway produced ware in a wide range of Imari style patterns

Wikipedia article on Imari ware 

 


 

 
platter in the Byzantium pattern 

 


 


platter in the Souvenir pattern 

No 692 10th May 1841
Jn Ridgway & Co 
SOUVENIR

The National Archives at Kew has the following information for this design design.   

Registered design number: 692.
Proprietor: John Ridgway.
Address: Cauldon Place, Potteries, [Hanley, Staffordshire].
Subject: Plate.
Note: 1 year copyright.
Date: 1841 May 10

 


 Souvenir pattern mark with impressed CAULDON England

The Souvenir pattern was registered on the 10th May 1841, by this date the Royal Arms should have been updated to reflect Queen Victoria's accession to the throne in 1837 - the escutcheon (centre shield) should have been removed. more on the Royal Arms

 

 


 


Porcelaine a la Francais
Ridgway 

'Porcelaine a la Francais' was not porcelain nor French but a name used by Ridgway on some of their ironstone earthenware.

Around the mid ninteenth century British manufacturers found their markets being eroded by inexpensive French porcelain - adopting French sounding names was one way of meeting the competition. 

Hexagonal white ironstone tureen  in the "Classic Gothic" shape
registered 19th September 1844

- more information on Ironstone -

In 1844, John Ridgway & Co. patented a design called "Classic Gothic," a hexagonal shape with crown finials and scrolled arches. Other potteries offered variations on the "gothic" design during the 1840s. (reference)

 

  


details from the National Archives, Kew, London for the design registration 21700 

photos courtesy: Denise Schine
- White Ironstone China Association

WICA assigned the name Primary Gothic Hexagon to this tureen

 


 

Star & Garter pattern

 

 


platter in the Star & Garter pattern 

Stone Ware 
J R
Star & Garter

Edward Walley also made a pattern called Star & Garter

 


 

 


blue transferware plate in the CANDIA pattern 

CANDIA 
J R & Co
Cauldon
England

the potworks were at Cauldon Place

 

 


 


serving bowl in a polychrome CANDIA pattern 

 


CANDIA 
J R & Co


the registration diamond gives a date of 19th September 1844 for the registration of the pattern 

photos courtesy: Deborah Barbera


 

 

Marks and initials used on ware for identification:

John Ridgway & Co used a variety of marks, sometimes the pattern name or number or company name or intitials are included in the mark.

Some marks inclue CAULDON, either as a printed or impressed mark. 

 

 

JR

JOHN RIDGWAY

JHN RIDGWAY

I RIDGWAY

J RIDGWAY

marks c.1830-41

later marks (c.1841-55) often have "& Co" 


 


Imperial Stone
J-R

NAPIER is the pattern name 


J R

PERSIAN Sun Flower is the pattern name

marks c.1830-41

 


 


Stone Ware
J.R.

REGINA is the pattern name 


Iron Stone China

sometimes no pattern number or intitials are included in the mark

marks c.1830-41

 



J R


J R

c.1830-37

the initials 'JR' appear in the centre of the ribbon along the bottom


Imperial Stone China
J R

c.1830-37

sometime the mark was used without the initials JR or JR & Co

 NOTE: The Royal Arms with the escutcheon overall (centre shield) is
dated pre-1837 when Victoria became queen

- see more on the Royal Arms -


 


J Ridgway & Compy

c.1847-55

The registration diamond gives the date of 2nd October 1847
for the pattern registration 

BLUE BELL is the pattern name



J R & Co
Cauldon England 

c.1841-55

BYZANTIUM is the pattern name

CAULDON is the name of the location of the factory



Imperial Stone
JR - CP

Water Lilly is the pattern name

this mark is attributed to John Ridgway
- the meaning of the initials 'CP' are unknown
they may belong to an agent or distributor -


 


The Cauldon Place works 

- click picture for more -

 


questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks