Rockingham Pottery

[2] The factory was located in Swinton, near Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and for the later part of its lifetime existed under the patronage of the Earls Fitzwilliam, indirect descendants of the Marquesses of Rockingham,[3] who were the major landowners in the area, and whose stately home and extensive park was located several miles away in Wentworth.

What is often called "Rockingham-glazed" pottery or "Rockingham ware" was widely produced in Britain and the United States in the 19th century, earthenware with a thick brown ceramic glaze, in a style associated with the earlier 18th-century production.

[3] Production of fine porcelain services and ornamental wares commenced rapidly, which through the connections of the Earl brought the factory to the attention of the aristocracy.

[5] The pinnacle of the factory's output was the two intricately decorated "Rhinoceros" vases which were advertised by the works as being the largest single-piece porcelain objects in existence (one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the other of which is in the Clifton Park Museum in Rotherham) and a large exquisite dessert service commissioned for King William IV, which took eight years to complete, was eventually delivered to his successor Queen Victoria and can be seen at Windsor Castle.

Unfortunately the Brameld family were more ceramic artists than businessmen: even though they were bailed out by the Earl they were regularly short of capital and struggled to make a profit.

[6] At this time it was relatively common for large but cash-strapped companies to pay their employees in IOU notes which would circulate in local economy as a form of cash: the Bramelds frequently resorted to issuing these.

Eventually in the face of mounting debts, and with a new less interested Earl in residence at Wentworth, no further financial support was extended and the bankrupt pottery closed in 1842.

In these wares, it was most famous for producing an ingenious style of pot that is filled from a hole in the bottom via a vacuum lock, known as a Cadogan.

Amongst its more standard products were blue and green transfer-printed creamware and pearlware services and other items featuring a variety of scenes: the "Returning Woodman" or "Peasant" (often on octagonal plates) is possibly the most recognisable of these.

The classic brown Rockingham glaze was used, the rights to which Baguley had acquired after the closure of the pottery, with much use of gilding and occasional enamelling.

[10] Use of these marks together with the brown glaze and gilding on non-Rockingham shapes makes Baguley pieces easy to identify.

Jabez Vodrey and his family are notable for having made Rockingham-style ware in East Liverpool, Ohio in the mid-19th century, while Edwin Bennett was also producing it in Baltimore.