2009/54

Cottage Ware,

Keele Street Pottery Co Ltd. (Manufacturer)

This is the milk jug from a 3 piece Cottage Ware tea set, which also includes a sugar bowl and teapot. The milk jug is in the shape of a cottage, with the door and window features in the glaze. It has marks on the base reading: 'Keele St. Pottery Co. Ltd. // Manufactured in Staffordshire, England. // Handpainted.' It was made in the 1940s.

1 jug: earthenware, glaze

MERL 'Handwritten accession' form (Museum of English Rural Life) – 'Cottage Ware Milk Jug, thatched cottage design. // Made by Keele St Pottery, Longton, Stoke // 1940s // Circular stamp on base reads 'Keele St Pottery Co. Ltd. // England // Handpainted. // ... Purchased as part of the Collecting 20thc Rural Culture project.', Collecting 20thc Rural Culture blog [Thursday, 10 December 2009] – ''Cottage Ware' tea sets, 1940s // Kitsch is probably the word that would now most immediately come to mind here. But there is a lot of cottage ware still around from a variety of makers which suggests that it must have been widely popular at the time. It's those cosy cultural associations of the thatched cottage working their magic again. This set was made by Price Bros (Burslem) Ltd, a firm that began in 1896 and continued after 1962 as Price and Kensington Potteries Ltd. The design, number 845007, was registered in 1945. // This was a present for your auntie in the era of post-war austerity, with the old design imagery of the '30s still holding sway before '50s fashion found its feet. There is no sign of these sets actually having been used so I suspect they went into the glass cabinet in the front room, for show, which helps to explain why so many have survived. // The other set in this genre is by the Keele Street Pottery of Stoke whose origins go back to 1915. After being closed during World War Two, production resumed in 1946 and cottage ware was added to the range shortly after. As a way of rebuilding the nation's finances, there was much emphasis at the time on the export trade and the connection here of tea drinking with rustic imagery from the old country found much customer interest overseas.', MERL label - Belonging Exhibtion - Trying to move on? // This three-piece pottery set is from Keele Street Pottery of Stoke. Established 1915, production was stopped during the Second World war. This set was brought out in1946 when production resumed. They were designed to evoke feelings of the English countryside, and to assist with the stimulation of the economy and overseas trade. // These pieces belonged to someone who did not use them, but displayed them in a glass cabinet. Do you have any items which were made to be used, but aren’t? // Teapot 2009/52/1-2 // Sugar Bowl 2009/53/1-2 // Milk Jug 2009/54

Longton [Stoke-on-Trent [unitary authority]]

1947 - 1950

Ceramic, earthenware, Glaze

Fired, Glazed