William Ridgway
(& Co) |
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Location and period of operation:
William Ridgway & Co |
Shelton |
1830 |
1854 |
Manufacturer of earthenware the Bell Works, Albion Street and Church Works, Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent, England
|
Formerly: John & William Ridgway [1814-30]
Concurrently: William Ridgway, Son & Co [1841-48]
Also see: The Ridgway family of potters
jug in light blue stoneware by
William Ridgway
with hand painted flowers and guilded accents
relief moulded stoneware jug dated October 1, 1835
The jug
is decorated with relief moulded designs and figures, |
similar style jugs were also made by William Ridgway, Son & Co
![]() William Ridgway & Co plate in the Marmora pattern Marmora, Greece - is a village on the island of Paros, South Aegean |
a printed mark
with an urn and anchor the inclusion of '& Co'
indicates |
|
![]() W R & Co FLOSCULOUS 1834-54
|
![]() William Ridgway & Co plate in the Tyrolean pattern Tyrolean was a series of Alpine scenes
with mountains, |
![]() Tyrolean W R & Co 1834-54 |
Marks and Initials used on ware for identification:
W. R.
WILLIAM RIDGWAY
without '& Co'
indicates
a date 1830 - 34
W. R. & Co.
WILLIAM RIDGWAY & Co.
the inclusion of '& Co'
indicates
a date 1834-54
![]() W R ENGLAND without '& Co'
indicates |
![]() Ridgways W. R. England |
![]() W. R. England Ridgways |
marks with W.R. & Co were produced in the 1834-1854 period |
A number of patterns and printed marks were reissued at later periods by a subsequent company:- Ridgways at the Bedford Works.
|
a printed mark
with an urn and beehive
ORIENTAL is the pattern name
raised pad on the base of the
jug shown above
the backstamp is on and applied
pad of clay
the mark displays an urn and anchor in relief along with
W. Ridgway & Co. impressed along a ribbon banner at the bottom.
published by
W. RIDGWAY & Co
HANLEY
October 1, 1835
impressed mark
W R & Co
Marmora
a printed mark
with an urn and anchor
MARMORA is the pattern name
the inclusion of '& Co'
indicates
a date 1834-54
The Bell works
In
1830 the two brothers, John & William Ridgway,
inherited the Bell Works from their uncle
George.
John stayed at the Cauldon Works and William took the Bell Works.
- click for more -
- click for more -
Imported ware - passing off as William Ridgway & Co
Although marked W R & Co - William Ridgway was
not known for making this type of ware
this a modern day import, probably from China
There was a company called ‘Staffordshire Figure Company Ltd’ who imported
this type of ware around the 1990’s
the drawing of the mark on the back is very poor
compared with a genuine Ridgway mark,
the lettering is unclear and the wrong style - also the ‘O’ in ‘& Co’
should be smaller than the other letters,
early Ridgway ware did not have ‘STAFFORDSHIRE’ in the mark - probably the
’98’ is for 1998
Questions, comments, contributions? email: Steve Birks