Torquay pottery

Torquay pottery or Torquay ware refers to pottery made in Torquay, Devon, England, using local clay, at one of fifteen or so local potteries chiefly serving the tourist trade,[1][2][3][4] but also supplying high-end retailers such as Liberty of London.[3]

A "mottoware" teapot made at Aller Vale, using the "Scandy" pattern

The commonest form was mottoware - pottery such as plates or jugs decorated with inspirational or humorous text,[4] often written in a Devon dialect,[2] and thus known as Devon mottoware.[5] Some items were produced in Cornish dialect, for "export" to, and sale in, Cornwall.[5] Novelty items with no functional use were also produced, but are rarer,[4]

The first pottery, the "Watcombe Terra Cotta Clay Company"[3] (later Watcombe Pottery; acquired in 1901 by the nearby Aller Vale Pottery), was established in 1875 by G. J. Allen, after he discovered a particularly fine clay in the grounds of Watcombe House.[3][4][6]

Plaque marking the site of Longpark Pottery

Other potteries included the Longpark Pottery (1883; originally the "Longpark China and Terracotta Works"[6]), in the Long Park district, which closed in 1957;[7] Lemon & Crute; Torquay Terra-Cotta Company; and the St. Marychurch Pottery.[3]

Notable potters included Blanche Georgiana Vulliamy.

Earthenware mug inscribed "For A Good Boy"

A Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society, established in 1976, encourages the study and collection of such wares.[1] The society organised an exhibition, "Torquay Pottery: A Local Story" at Newton Abbot Town Museum in 2001.[8] a North American Torquay Society was formed in 1990, for the same purpose.[9]

References
  1. "Website for collectors of Torquay Pottery". Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  2. "Torquay Potteries". Studio Pottery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  3. "Torquay Pottery". The Antique Shoppe. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  4. "Westpoint 32". Bargain Hunt. Series 50. Episode 8. 24 March 2020. BBC Television. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  5. "Torquay Devon Mottoware". Studio Valuations. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  6. "Potteries in Torquay area". Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  7. "Longpark Torquay Ware". Gunns Gallery. Retrieved 24 March 2020.
  8. Torquay Pottery: A Local Story: An Exhibition At The Newton Abbot Town Museum Opened Jointly By Mr Ian Green. Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. 2001.
  9. "Torquay Pottery". The North American Torquay Society. Retrieved 24 March 2020.

Further reading
  • Lloyd Thomas, David; Lloyd Thomas, E. (1978). The Old Torquay Potteries, from Castle to Cottage. Stockwell. ASIN B004WYQW9I.
  • Violet, Andy (2004). Artisans of the Torquay Potteries (revised, 2nd ed.). Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society. ISBN 978-0951508978.
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