A look at the design, market and legacy of Victorian pottery

Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Majolica of Thomas Forester & Sons

Forester is one of the best known names in majolica yet most people couldn't identify a piece if it fell in their lap. One of the reasons for this is that Forester marked few of their majolica wares. In fact, much of what we now recognize as Forester is from ads advertising the company. That's unfortunate because their output was prodigious and they deserve recognition for creating many of the wares we see for sale today.

Thomas Forester 1832-1907

Thomas Forester was born in 1832 in Lancashire, England into a pottery family. His father worked at Mintons where Thomas joined his father working as a young man as a presser. In time, he honed his skill by moving to the Victoria Works before eventually joining Wardle & Co. By this time he had gained sufficient experience to be offered a management position. He then left England and gained employment as a manager at Peterinck & Son in Belgium. 

In 1877 he returned home with sufficient capital to establish his own pottery, the Church Street Majolica Works. After modest early success he demolished the facility after two years to build a significantly larger pottery which he named the Phoenix Works. 

At the age of fifty, he brought his two youngest sons Herbert and Victor into the business and further expanded his facility into an adjoining factory, nearly doubling his space. Forester & Sons was now one of the largest potteries in Stoke-on-Trent. 

Thomas Forester

The company specialized in majolica ware but potted utilitarian and other decorative earthenware as well. As styles shifted so did the company's output.

Forester showroom 1890

Thomas Forester & Sons invoice letterhead


Most Forester majolica is unmarked but fortunately for their vigorous advertising in trade journals we can identify some of their patterns today. Forrester also purchased other failed potteries such as Samuel Lear's pottery and the Victoria Pottery Company and continued issuing their lines of majolica patterns.


Forester advertisement from the Pottery Gazette

Forester advertisement from the Pottery Gazette




Forester advertisement from the Pottery Gazette

Advertisement from the July 2,1883 issue of The Pottery Gazette

Forester cheese bell was designed by Joseph Roth from who 
they purchased the molds

Forester majolica cheese bell

Forester majolica crown cheese bell designed for Victoria's 1897 Jubilee 
Forester butterfly lip pitcher later copied by the Etruscan Works

Forester majolica overlapping leaf plate

Thomas Forester majolica overlapping begonia leaf bowl

Forester majolica overlapping leaf dessert stand

Forester majolica overlapping leaf dessert stand

Forester majolica bamboo cuspidor
Forester majolica pug dog humidor
Forester garden seat
Forester majolica garden seat

Forester majolica fish plate


Forester majolica sardine box

Forester majolica sardine box


Forester majolica sardine box

Forester majolica sardine box



Forester majolica bird & basketweave jug

Forester majolica owl pitcher

Forester demonic pitcher

Forester majolica elephant pitcher

Forester majolica cat basket

Forester majolica drinking pig jug

Forester majolica woman holding pig jug
Forester majolica Father Christmas jug. 
Also made by Shorter & Sons

Forester majolica squatting monkey jug

Forester majolica toby jug

Forester majolica devil jug

Forester majolica dog jug

Forester majolica cat decanter
Forester four part shell server
Forester majolica poppy tray

Forester majolica bread platter

Forester majolica leaf plate
Forester monumental majolica floor vase or umbrella stand.

Forester copy of a Minton majolica design


Forester majolica elephant teapot
Forester majolica tea ware

Forester majolica rose tea set

Forester majolica tea ware

Forester majolica tea ware

Rustic tea set attributed to Forester

Forester majolica tea ware

Forester majolica wild rose & rope tea ware. For more on this pattern go here.

Forester majolica tea set, copied without feet by Etruscan Works
Forester majolica basket
Forester majolica basket
Forester majolica basket
Forester majolica basket
Forester barbotine charger
Forester barbotine charger
Forester barbotine vase

Forester & Son vase marked Arbor Florescent

Reverse of Forester leaf plate

Forester impressed mark

Forester impressed mark

Forester majolica is erratic in its quality with few pieces ever reaching the level of sophistication or quality of the larger potteries but some of it is still quite clever. Their designs often exhibit many of the same influences as other ceramics of their day, but simpler and more rustic in execution. They were also relentless in copying the work of other potteries. Still, many of their wares are beautiful and will be recognizable to most collectors.  

Because of their prolific output, most Forester majolica is relatively easy to find. It was inexpensive when it was new and mostly remains inexpensive today. If you're lucky enough to find a marked piece expect to pay about 50% more than for an unmarked example..
Thomas Forester by Latham & Bott

Thomas Forester with his wife Mary Ann Forester

Thomas Forester and his wife both died in 1907. Although the company continued potting majolica under the management of their sons well into the 20th Century, they expanded their line to include fine china and art pottery. These eventually became the mainstay of the pottery and remained so until the pottery closed in 1959.

To quote from his obituary:

“It has been Mr. Forester's mis­fortune to be greatly and frequently misunderstood. Per­haps no incident in his remarkable business career has been so misrepresented as the manner in which he completely revolutionized the majolica flower vase industry in England. Mr. Forester, with his practical knowledge of Continental ware, and his keen foresight, manufactured flower vases cheaper than English manufacturers were producing, but better value than the Continental makers were sending. The result was just what he expected: he got hundreds of orders that would have gone abroad under the old conditions”

Forester family gravestone, Staffordshire, England




1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the great information on Forrester pottery. I have a pair of the garden seats and they are marked SS or 55 but no names.

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