Westminster

Designer
Maker
Marks	Stamped “Westminster Oven to table ware Korea
Description	Heavy clay ramekin, Brown gloss glaze to exterior. Pale grey gloss glaze to interior and lip. Knobbed lid with matching colour and glaze.
Condition	Good condition, no chips, cracks or crazing. Slight flaw in clay to base and side near handle of one.
Number
Production Date	Late 1970s
Width	110mm
Depth	47mm
Length (with handle)	178mm
Weight	475gm Ramekin 165gm Lid
Volume	300ml
Acquisition	Salvo Stores Mt Waverley
Rameking Reference Number	WES 001 to 002

Back in the dark ages, the Rameking began a Batchelor of Arts Degree. Above the toilet roll holder in the Mens toilets, someone had written “Arts Degree, Please Take One.” This is a good example of meaning, or perhaps perceived meaning. At the centre of meaning is form and substance. Form is that which can be described. The shape, size, colour of the ramekin. Stoic philosophy separates the object from its mental representation. (With apologies to Roland Barthes) This is what happens when you give a common object a posh name. These are 1970s onion soup dishes made in Korea and stamped with the name “Westminster”. It is designed to create a certain impression. Connotation and denotation. (look it up, I can't do everything for you.)

Remember the old saying “like a bull in a china shop”? The original saying is referred to in a book by Sir Henry Lucy where he refers to”Bulls in the (Westminster) china shop”. He was talking about the House of Commons in the British Parliament at the Palace of Westminster. This has about as much to do with these ramekins as does Westminster Pottery Ltd Hanley, Staffordshire, England that operated from 1948-1956. They were makers of earthenware, chinaware, whiteware, dinnerware and decorative porcelain. (They produced Cottageware, those pottery cottages that you sometimes see in peoples display cabinets.) The London Gazette 27^th June 1969, shows that Westminster Pottery Ltd company was dissolved. (pp6700-6701)

Westminster as a name for pottery manufacture has been used often, there are several of them in the US still operating. These, I think may be from Westminster China Pty Ltd of 7 Arnold Street Cheltenham, Victoria trading as Westminster China Australia. The premises are now empty and up for sale, having last been a food distribution company. In a display of great modesty, Westminster advertized their products as being “The most exquisite china in the world.” They operated in various guises from 1955 until 2003.

These ramekins were made in Korea. The print for the stamp on the base is similar to those made by Haeng Nam for Jepcor. Korea made lots of earthenware and stoneware for European and American companies. These are simply marked as “Westminster” . Like many others made around the late 1970s, these are heavier and designed as soup bowls. They are well made heavy stoneware and covered with a brown gloss glaze. One indication of quality is that the handles do not have a hole in them. This means that the handles were better made and designed to cool at the same rate as the bowl without cracking.

Peter Fergusson

Designer	Peter Fergusson
Maker	Peter Fergusson
Marks	Stamped “Peter Fergusson Hand Made Australia”
Description	Earthenware bowl, Off-white high gloss glaze to interior and top of exterior rim and underside of handle. Circular base also has glaze
Condition	Good, some age related crazing to glaze on interior of bowl.
Number
Production Date	Early 1950s (1953-1954)
Width	90mm
Depth	30mm
Length (with handle)	125mm
Weight	105gm
Volume	115ml
Acquisition	Mt Waverley Antique Market 19 March 2012
Rameking Reference Number	PPF 001-005

I cannot find much about Peter. What I have found is that Peter Paul Fergusson was an artist and potter from New South Wales in Australia. In 1958 he was living in the Sydney suburb of Hornsby with wife Judith, also a potter and son Christpopher James. Their home is long gone at 27 Hunter Street and is now a large shopping centre. In 1968, Judith was living and working as a potter at 1a Clarke Road Waitara, just next door to Hornsby. Peter was born in Paris on 3rd September 1903 but is said to have been English and come to Australia before the second world war because Peter served in the Australian forces during the war.   He enlisted in May 1941 and was discharged in March 1944 with the rank of Captain, having served in an armored unit.

He was believed to be self taught and began making pottery in Sydney in 1946, firstly Ford says that he started in 1946 in Turramurra, now a well to do northern suburb of Sydney. Interestingly his son Christopher became an accountant and later returned to Turramurra. Ford says that Peter moved to Horsby in 1950. This is where these ramekins were made. It appears that Peter stopped making around 1956 and went on to painting. 

The only other piece of his work listed is a pin dish held by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. In 1953 and 1954, Peter advertised for staff to work at his pottery as glazers and dippers. Sydney in those days was home to numerous small potteries that operated for a short time then rocketed to obscurity. Newspaper articles in 1953 show his square shaped tea cups and saucers, check out the Essexware ramekins on my site and this may be where Gordon and Rudy got their idea from. 

 No other information on him is available, so if anyone knows more, please let me know.

Villeroy & Boch

Designer
Maker	Villeroy and Boch
Marks	Impressed “A” “VilleroyeBoch Made in Luxembourg”
Description	Plain slipware bowl with flared lip flat unglazed base with notched edge. Plain harlequin gloss glaze to exterior with plain white gloss glazed interior. Stem handle attaced to lower third of bowl, angled upwards.
Condition	Very Good
Number	No number but capital “A” impressed on base
Production Date	1960s
Width	92mm
Depth	43mm
Length (with handle)	146mm
Weight	140gm
Volume	180ml
Acquisition	1 at Taupo in NZ, 3 at Oakleigh Charity shop
Rameking Reference Number	VAB 001-004

In a way, Luxembourg is a bit like one of the characters from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy that never made it to the films. For those who may not have read the books, there is a character in them named Tom Bombadil. Tom is ancient and existed before the time of the rings who have no power over him. He exists in his own land while the affairs of men and history swirl around him. I think a lot of people may see the Duchy of Luxembourg in that light. It has existed long before most of its neighbours and for the most part has been able to avoid the vicissitudes of much of European history.

Because of its location, the Duchy of Luxembourg has been unable to completely avoid the tide of history, despite existing for around a thousand years. Banking, finance and insurance are now the main industries. The only thing that I can say with certainty is that on the day I was there a few years ago now, the country was closed. It was a Sunday and because Luxemburgers are mostly Roman Catholic, the old ways still endure. One of the old ways that sadly no longer endures is the Villaroy and Boch factory. They ceased production there in 2010 and now produce everything in Germany. There is still a factory outlet shop and education centre there.

Faiencerie Septfontaines
Visitor’s Centre
330, rue de Rollingergrund
L-1018 Luxembourg
Telephone: (352) 46821359
Fax: (352) 461553
Web Site: www.villeroy-boch.com/en/

In 1746 Jean Francois Boch, (1695-1754) the owner of an ironworks decided to branch out and began a tableware pottery , lead glazed earthenware, “Jean Francois Boch et Freres” with his three sons in Audun Le Tiche, Lorraine, France, near the German border. Nicholas Villeroy (1759-1843) founded an earthenware pottery in Vaudrevange, known today as Wallerfangen near Frauenberg ain Saarland Germany round 1785. Nicholas produced his wares under the direction of English potter John Leigh. Jean Francois Boch Jnr (1735-1817) learned transfer printing and other ceramic techniques in England. Jean Francois employed six of the local villagers as well and was later elected mayor.

Nicolas-Henri and Augustin Jacobi together with Joseph Fabry began a faience and majolica factory at Sarrguemines in 1790. Revolutionary troops destroyed it in 1794 but Pierre -Joseph Boch (1737-1818) rebuilt using borrowed money. Nicolas and Augustin sold their interest to Francois Paul Utzschneider. Paul had worked for Josiah Wedewood and was an excellent potter and capable businessman. He introduced English techniques to the works, hence the imitation jasper ware.

In 1798, Charles Regnier started the Longy Faience Factory in an old convent. In 1815 he sells to Jean-Antoine de Northomb and his wife Christine Boch, daughter of Pierre Joseph Boch. Pierre Joseph was married to Antoinette Northom, a Luxemburger.

In 1836 Baron Alexandre de Geiger, Paul's son in law took over management and a new company was formed between the Baron, Paul, Auguste Jaunez and Villeroy and Boch. This company is known as Utzschneider et Cie (and company). Jean francois leaves in 1841 to spend more time at the other works in Belgium and Luxembourg.

For years the two potteries competed in the same markets until the 14^th of April 1836 when Eugene, son of Pierre Joseph Boch merged with Villeroy. Villeroy got 60%, Boch 40%. Even though both companies were doing well, the merger created a larger company that could compete with British Imports. Together their production quickly grew, in range quality and material.

They started a stoneware factory in Mettlach, Germany on the banks of the Saarschleiffe, the horseshoe bend of the Saar river, specializing in decorating beer steins. One process called chromolith produced in the late-19th and early-20th century involved inlaying colorful mosaic designs into the body of the steins. These are treasured by collectors today. They also later made ceramic sanitary ware. A marriage between Eugene Boch and Sophie Octavie Villeroy (1823-1899) on the 3^rd of May 1842 helped seal the business union. Mettlach is located near the borders of France Luxembourg and Germany. Eugen later became Mayor of Mettlach.

Even though production was mainly from Vaudrevanges and Mettlach. They bought a porcelain factory at Tornai, that was kept until 1971. Unglazed stonewares began in 1842 emulating Wedgewood's Jasper ware with white figures on coloured background. They also bought Schramberg in 1883 and Steingutfabrik Torgau in 1926, Steingutfabrik und Kunsttopfrei Franz Ant. Mehlem, Bonn, Mosaikfabrik Deutsch-Lissa near Bresslau in 1920. These companies in Germany were managed from Dresden.

Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/villeroy-boch#ixzz1pFUdN8K5

The name Mettlach is derived from Latin for "mid-lakes," Nicholas Villeroy and Eugene Boch, Grandson of Jean Francois joined forces and set up their stoneware factory in an abandoned Benedictine Abbey that had a tower completed in the year 1000. It was modeled after a cathedral built for Charlemagne in 786, and a representation of this edifice was later used on the company logo. After receiving a licence from the Empress of Austria in 1766, the Boch's began another factory in 1767 at Septfontaines, (seven fountaines) in the Duchy of Luxembourg where they continued production until 2010. Luxembourg was then part of the Austrian Netherlands.

The "Château de Septfontaines" dates from the 18^th century and was the residence of the Boch brothers. The castle is situated in a park in the heart of the city of Luxembourg on the outstanding site of the Villeroy & Boch porcelain manufacturing plant, only a few minutes away from the city centre.

In 1795, the Chateau is taken over during the French Revolution. Pierre Joseph Boch and his family escaped. On their return, the Chateau needed extensive renovation. It is now the site of the Villeroy and Boch museum, although between 1914 and 1870, it was not in family hands.

Mettlach is most famous for its steins, and they made some of the most highly desired of these beer containers. But Mettlach also made a wide variety of other objects including vases, ewers, tazzas, tobacco jars, beakers, punch bowls, pokals (large ceremonial drinking vessels with lids), teapots, covered dishes, jardinieres, baskets, clock cases and ink stands.

Eugen (pronounced oygn) Boch, whose hobbies included archaeology, had the revolutionary idea of creating an industrially manufactured floor tiles based on Roman floor mosaics that were both attractive and offered good value for money. These became known as the “Mettlach tiles” and fragments of these tiles that accompanied the maiden voyage of the luxury ship “Titanic” were later rescued from the depths of the ocean. 

In 1892 Eugene was the first of the family were raised to the Prussian nobilility.  From then they were known as von Boch Galhau.  However it was the products sent to the World Exhibition, held in Antwerp in 1885, that gave us the works of art we know today. Production reduced considerably around 1912, due to recession in Europe. More problems followed the Treaty of Versailles in 1918 when the re-division of Europe meant that their factories were now in several different countries. Then in 1921 a disastrous fire destroyed all the moulds, manufacturing secrets and documentation of the Mettlach factory. Stein production restarted in the 1970's.

The golden age of production at Mettlach was at the turn of the twentieth century. During this time, using guarded secret techniques, the etched, glazed, cameo and phanolith (pâte-sur-pâte) wares were at the pinnacle of their production. Pâte-sur-pâte is an elaborate and expensive method of decorating porcelain in which a translucent cameo-like image is built up by the application of many thin coats of porcelaneous slip. Johann Baptist Stahl (1860-1932), celebrated for his cameo and phanolith stoneware models, was active at Mettlach during the period 1895 to 1920.

While the company is no longer run by a family member with the present Group Chairman of Villeroy & Boch being Frank Goering, there are however various family members presently working in the company. Since 1990 the company has been listed on the German stock market, ticker symbol VIB3, but the voting capital is still in the hands of the family descendants. The company's Luxembourg factory was closed down in 2010. Acquisitions in Eastern Europe have expanded their product range and market reach.  

Harry & May Davis

Designer	Harry and May Davis
Maker	Harry and May Davis
Marks	Stamped “P” inside “C” to base
Description	Small wheel thrown clay bowl with pale brown glaze to interior of bowl. Flat circular base and slight indent to rim. Flat knife blade handle rising upwards and fixed to upper third of bowl
Condition	Very Good
Number
Production Date	1946-1968
Width	77mm
Depth	40mm
Length (with handle)	115mm
Weight	140gm
Volume	120ml
Acquisition	Antiques Bazaar Prahran Victoria
Rameking Reference Number	HMD 001-00

The Rameking has just returned from a Royal progress / Grand Tour of the North Island of New Zealand. In the language of the locals, “Choice Bro.” Don't laugh, but Harry first learned throwing pottery from Mr Bean. Enough of the levity. You can find heaps about the Davis' on the Internet, particularly at;

( http://www.philoliver.com/pottery/harryintro.htm )

Every so often, someone comes along that is head and shoulders above just about everyone else in their chosen profession or craft. Such a person was Harry Clemens Davis (1907-1986). Not to be confused with the more famous and exceptionally collectable Harry Davis from Royal Worcester, Harry was blessed with seemingly boundless energy, a ferocious intellect and prodigious talent, Harry flew through life like a shooting star, amazing just about everyone who saw him work. These ramekins do not really do justice to him as an example of his work. Made after his return from Africa from clay better suited to brickmaking, they are beautifully hand crafted and are a precursor to the one by Peter Stichbury who later worked with Michael Cardew in Africa that is on display at Te Papa Museum in Wellington. They only have one, the Rameking has this set of four.

Rameking Rule. Don't just collect the man, collect from the man who learned from the master. Old proverb, Nothing is taught, everything is learned. What follows is just a brief outline of the life and work of a couple to whom no brief outline can do justice. I would love to put much more in about them but I will leave it up to you to chase up more.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the standard and quality of production of English pottery was at its height. Into this world came young Harry Clemens Davis, firstly at Poole Pottery, in Dorset originally “Carters Industrial Tile Manufactory”. Poole just outside Bournemouth is relatively near to Harry's birthplace of Glamorgan in Wales. Harry was the son of Harry James Davis, a typewriter salesman and his wife Annie Marie Davis.  Jesse Carter, the founder of Poole, Harold and Phoebie Stabler, together with John and Truda Adams began producing the well known popular and highly collectible art deco art pottery there in 1921. The thirties were the heyday of Poole. Into this environment came enthusiastic young Harry Davis. He learned much from Poole, particularly the Stablers who had long experience in most facets of pottery and its decoration. He also worked at the Broadstone Potters, a short lived company (1928-1934) who produced a range called “Joyous”. Harry was a decorator and all round general hand..

After learning quickly, Harry moved on to work with Bernard Leach in 1933 at the Leach Pottery in the Cornish town of St Ives, that still operates today. (Both the pottery and the town). Bernard is considered to be the doyen of studio art pottery, although it is unlikely that he was at the pottery during Harry's time there as Bernard was touring Europe at the time and Harry was running the pottery. It was at the Leach Pottery that Harry met May Scott, a student. They married in 1938 on his returning to England after moving to the Achimota School, where in 1937 Harry had taken a position as Head of the Art School. Founded in 1924 it was formerly Prince of Wales College and still operates in Accra, Ghana.

Harry remained there, separated from May until 1942 when Michael Cardew replaced him as Head of the Art Department. May had moved to Peru and Harry went there briefly until philosophical differences with the group May was with led to their return to Cornwall. It was during Michael's tenure in Africa that Peter Stichbury went to Africa to learn local techniques. When the war finished, Harry and May bought an ancient mill in the Cornish town of Praze an Beeble near Crowan, Cornwall, hence their stamp of the letter “P” inside the letter “C” for Crowan Pottery. Praze is the largest village in the parish.

For the next twenty years they ran the Crowan Pottery succesfully until Harry decided to move to New Zealand. Having survived World War II, Harry was fearful of a nuclear war and wanted to get as far away from it as possible. NZ was that place. Harry, May and their children arrived with fifteen tons of Luggage following by boat. He picked Nelson as the place to be because of its pottery industry and availability of raw materials needed to make pottery. He became a naturalized New Zealander shortly afterwards. They started a new pottery that they called “Crewenna”. St Crewenna's is the Parish Church in Crowan, Cornwall. Just as an aside, Cornwall is full of places names after saints that no-one else has ever heard of. Harry rigged up the waterwheel to generate the electricity needed to operate the pottery. He could turn his hand to just about anything.

Their daughter Nina graduated from Canterbury university and joined them at the pottery in Nelson. Having inherited her fathers inquiring mind, she went to England to work with Ray Finch (1914-2012) at Winchcombe Pottery in Gloucestershire. She also went to South America to work with her parents. After her marriage in 1978, she and new husband moved back to New Zealand where they opened the Nina Davis Pottery at Hira near Nelson.

After a few years, Harry's itchy feet got the better of him and it was off to South America again. This time in 1972 to Izcuchaca in Peru. It was an aid project to set up an industry for the indigenous people in the high Andes. Harry traveled extensively on fund raising lecture tours in Australia and the United States. The project finished in 1979 and both Harry and May returned to Nelson in poor health. Harry died in 1986 and May died in 1995.

Boyd, David and Hermia Boyd

Designer


David and Hermia Boyd



Maker


David and Hermia Boyd <>
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Marks	Incised D & H Boyd to base
Description	Bowl curving inward to footring base.  Curved handle with hole at outer end.  Sgraffito vertical stripes to exterior.  Mottled blueish glaze to interior of bowl.  Different colour to each bowl.  Clear matte glaze to interior and exterior.
Condition	Good condition with small chip to rim of one bowl.
Number	Not numbered
Production Date	1955 to 1957
Width	11.4cm
Depth	44mm
Length (with handle)	150mm
Weight	120gm
Volume	260ml
Acquisition	E-Bay 21st Feb 2011
Rameking Reference Number	DHB 001-002

There is a story that sums up these David Boyd ramekins in my opinion.  “The Emperors New Clothes.”  Of average making, roughly decorated yet functional, but still, which is a mystery to me, highly collectable.  They were made by husband and wife team David and Hermia Boyd back in the 1950s.  David was born 23^rd August 1924 at Open Country, 8 Wahrooga Cres. in Murrumbeena, he was the youngest of three sons to Merric and Doris Lucy Eleanor Boyd, David Gough Boyd is a member of the famous artistic Boyd family.  His wife was Hermia Sappo Lloyd-Jones who was born in Sydney, New South Wales in 1931 to Herman (Jonah) and Erica Lloyd Jones.  Herman was a Commercial Artist, Cartoonist and Illustrator. 

Like many successful artists of the period, Hermia first studied at the East Sydney Technical School.  She was there studying sculpture with Lyndon Dadswell between 1945 and 1947, the same time as Guy Boyd.  David was working with Guy (see Guy Boyd post) at Norma’s place in 1947.   Dadswell, unlike the Boyds, had actually seen action in Syria and been badly wounded.  He then became a war artist before later resigning his commission to become a teacher.  He was also one of the best sculptors working in Australia at the time.

David and Hermia married in 1948 and had three children; Amanda, Lucinda and Cassandra.  The couple set up a pottery in a shed in Paddington and with the help of Tom Sanders began producing their “Hermia Ware”.  Much has been written about them and many chronologies exists of theirs and various Boyd family members lives and works so it is difficult to find anything new to say, so here goes.

One website says ”The young Boyd studied painting and pottery – the two areas of art for which his is best known - as well as the piano, from his family. At the age of 17, he attended the Melba Conservatorium of Music in Melbourne for further piano.  However, in 1942, once he turned 18, Boyd was conscripted into the Australian army and was forced to give up his studies. After his discharge from the army in 1944, Boyd received an ex-serviceman’s grant to study piano at the Melbourne University Conservatorium of Music. Boyd, however, found study difficult, struggling with the formal methods of learning, and possibly still suffering from the distressing effect of war.” 

Interesting, because he never went to war.  Like his brother Guy, he worked as a draughtsman, never got past Queensland and was discharged early because the Army believed that he had a “Psychopathic personality”.  The Army also described his brother Guy as being of poor general intelligence.  Allegedly the Australian Army was not prepared to accept these two Boyd’s “eccentricities” as readily as the Australian artistic community has.   So drones, when you copy stuff of other people’s websites, at least do a modicum of research.  Also, when considering the Boyd aversion to conflict, remember that their father volunteered to serve in World War One.

Like George Bush Jnr, did they (also allegedly) lack the abilities to do anything except go into the family business.  Look up their records on the National archives website, but don’t imagine that David’s type of psychosis is anything like you see portrayed on the crime shows on tele.  That’s’s journalism 101 folks, don’t make a statement, just ask the question.  The art establishment has always been ambivalent to David.  Described as “highly individual and difficult to teach”, is this the art world’s equivalent of “First Home Buyers Opportunity.”

Hermia died 25^th January 2000, David Boyd died aged 87 on November 10 2011.   from complications arising from a bout of pneumonia in hospital in Sydney, New South Wales.  Hermia was a strong, talented and independent woman who deserves to be better known than just “and Hermia”.  Much of their early output was pottery with David later returning to painting.  These ramekins are of the typical primitive almost naïve style that I would describe as characterizing their work.  If you look at the Hanstan blog, notice the similarity, except Hanstan is much, much better, but made much later.

They stopped making ceramics in 1967 to concentrate on sculpture and painting, although he had begun to paint seriously in 1957.  These stoneware ramekins were probably made in the late 1950s after their return from England.   Their sell-out exhibitions were something different in the then very thin cultural fabric of 1950s Melbourne.  In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.  The colouring is interesting because David was quite obsessed with the use of Sfumato around this time and a smoky effect pervades their work.   The design on these ramekins is similar to some of the early 1940s paintings of his father Merric.  

T G Green & Co Ltd

 

Not Australian , but if it wasn't for Australian money back in the gold rush days, they may not have been made.  More accurately described as a single serve dish for butter or jam, these small ramekins were made by the T. G. Green Potteries, located in the town of Church Gresley near Swadlincote, Derbyshire famous for its Cornishware and Domino brands.  They are stamped “Haddon Hall”, a medieval manor house and now home of the Manners family, the Dukes of Rutland. Bakewell, Derbyshire Peak District.  Formerly the home of the Vernons, it is located in the Peak District by the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire. Minton and Johnson potteries also produced ranges named “Haddon Hall”. 

There were ten potteries were in operation in and around Church Gresley  in the 19^th Century.  This pottery was originally set up by a Mr. Leedham in the 1790s and continued by William and Joseph Bourne, it was then bought by Henry Wileman in 1851. The pottery was then sold by Henry to Thomas Goodwin Green in 1864.

Thomas Goodwin Green had been a sucessful builder in Austraila but when he heard his childhood sweetheart was prepared to reconcider marrage he retuned to Britain and sucessfully pursued her.  Whilst on honeymoon in 1864 at Scarborough he met Henry Wileman the owner of a small pottery in the Derbyshire village of Church Gresley.  Mr Wileman was getting old and was looking to sell his pottery and retire.  Thomas used the money from the sale of his Australian business to purchase the pottery,

Church Gresley was named from 'Gresele', the original spelling of a grassy clearing on top of a hill, surrounded by forest, at the village's creation in 1086, not to be confused with the German company of Grizelle.  Church Gresley is a village and former civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The village is very close to the town of Swadlincote, and between Swadlincote and Castle Gresley. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 4,805. Church Gresley and Castle Gresley are both parts of the region known as Gresley.

Their pottery was located about 35 miles from Stoke on Trent, the centre of pottery making in the U.K.  The factory relied on self-sufficiency by employing an entire workforce to produce its own brick clay, extracting coal from its own land and operating a lime-kiln built to manufacture its own lime mortar.  As well as the labour employed in the milling of raw materials, craftsmen such as carpenters and blacksmiths were employed to help making stilts, glazes and kiln furniture.  As the business grew, Thomas formed a partnership with Henry William King and the company remained in the hands of the Green and King families until 1965.

 The pottery then went into administration.  They were bought out by a London based finacier in 1967 who sold it on the following year to Mr Pat H Freeman who continued to run the business producing its trade mark blue and white Cornishware.

Greens were later bought out by Mason, Cash & Co. who were established in 1901 by Thomas Cash who retained the 'Mason' name of the previous owner. The business was incorporated as Mason, Cash & Co. Ltd in 1941 and continued to produce its utilitarian wares throughout the Second World War. The share capital of the company was purchased by A. B. Merriam in 1973 and in February 1986 the company acquired Cauldon Potteries Ltd and the rights to the 'Royal Cauldon' name from T. Brown & Son Ltd. of the Ferrybridge Pottery at Knottingly, Yorkshire.

   

In 2001 the company purchased T. G. Green & Co. Ltd, but by 2004 it faced receivership and in April 2004 Mason Cash & Co. Ltd (including T. G. Green & Co. Ltd) were purchased by The Tabletop Company forming the ‘Tabletop Group’. Both Mason Cash and T. G. Green continued to operate under their own names within the Group.