The Della Robbia Pottery was a ceramic factory founded in 1894 in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

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Founders

The business was started by Harold Steward Rathbone and Conrad Gustave d'Huc Dressler

Conrad Dressler

Conrad Dressler was an English sculptor and potter.Dressler was born in London and studied sculpture at the Royal College of Art. He was later influenced by the Arts & Crafts Movement...

 (1856-1940). Rathbone, son of a wealthy local business man, Philip Rathbone, had been a pupil of Ford Madox Brown

Ford Madox Brown

Ford Madox Brown was an English painter of moral and historical subjects, notable for his distinctively graphic and often Hogarthian version of the Pre-Raphaelite style. Arguably, his most notable painting was Work...

, who was one of the founders of the Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts movement

Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...

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Dressler was a sculptor, potter and also inventor of the continuous firing tunnel kiln

Kiln

A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...

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Giovanni Carlo Valentino Manzoni also joined the pottery in early 1894, leaving to establish his own pottery, the Minerva Art Ware Manufacturers in Hanley

Hanley

Hanley, in Staffordshire, England, is one of the six major towns that joined together to form the city of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910. Hanley was the only one of the six towns to be a county borough before the merger; its status was transferred to the enlarged borough...

 in July 1895. Manzoni returned to the pottery in June 1898, staying until its closure in 1906.

Products

The pottery was established as a true Arts & Crafts pottery on the lines advocated by William Morris, using local labour and raw materials such as local red clay from Moreton, Wirral

Moreton, Merseyside

Moreton is a town on the north coast of the Wirral Peninsula, England. In the 2001 Census, it had a population of 17,670 ....

. The pottery had lustrous lead glazes and often used patterns of interweaving plants, typical of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

, with heraldic and Islamic motifs.

Dressler was mainly responsible for the decorative architectural panels, many of which can still be seen in the local area of Birkenhead and Liverpool, as well as in the local museums. The brightly coloured panels, inspired by the work of the Florentine

Florence

Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 sculptor Luca della Robbia

Luca della Robbia

Luca della Robbia was an Italian sculptor from Florence, noted for his terra-cotta roundels.Luca Della Robbia developed a pottery glaze that made his creations more durable in the outdoors and thus suitable for use on the exterior of buildings. His work is noted for its charm rather than the drama...

 and his family, did not prove to be very popular on the dark brick buildings of the period, the pottery turning to large two-handled vases, presentation wares, wall chargers and plates, as well as ceramic clock cases, tiled window boxes, numerous types of vases and similar wares, as a source of income. Dressler left the pottery in 1897 to establish his own pottery, the Medmemham Pottery, in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.

The Della Robbia mark is usually handwritten on the base of pieces with a ship device, and often the initials of the designer and decorator, and sometimes the date. Example initials include:

• 'C' for Charles Collis
• 'C.A.W.' for Cassandia Annie Walker
• 'C.M.' for Carlo Manzoni
• 'L.W.' for Liza Wilkins
• 'R.B' for Ruth Bare

Later period

The costs of making the Della Robbia products was greater than the prices that could be charged. Even with the introduction of the professional services of a thrower and kiln man, as well as the use of commercial glazes and raw materials, the pottery could not make a commercial success of itself. In 1900 Marianne de Caluwé joined the pottery, injecting finance as well as bringing a new direction with her strong Art Nouveau influence. New exhibition venues in Scotland, even a renewed interest in the pottery's wares from 1900 through to 1904 could not help it survive, and so the pottery closed in 1906.

Della Robbia art pottery was widely sold by Liberty & Co. as well as in their own retail outlet in Liverpool. A large collection of Della Robbia pottery can be seen at the Williamson Art Gallery

Williamson Art Gallery

The Williamson Art Gallery and Museum is situated in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England and houses the town's collection of art.Opened on 1 December 1928, the single storey building is Neo Georgian in style. Financial support for its establishment was provided by John Williamson, a Director of the...

 in Birkenhead. Some is also at Standen

Standen

Standen is an Arts and Crafts house located near East Grinstead, West Sussex, England. The house and its surrounding gardens belong to the National Trust and are open to the public.-The house:...

 (near East Grinstead

East Grinstead

East Grinstead is a town and civil parish in the northeastern corner of Mid Sussex, West Sussex in England near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders. It lies south of London, north northeast of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester...

) owned by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

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