The Majolica of Joseph Roth, London

The impressed mark of JRL for Joseph Roth London is one of the rarest and most mysterious in the English pottery collecting world. Very little is known about the concern. It has not been verified if this is a successor to Whitman & Roth which potted some majolica in the early 1870s.  It's even been theorized by Bergeson that Roth was not a potter but a retailer who commissioned work from another pottery. What we do know about Roth is that he was in business a scant six years from 1877 to 1882. In that brief time he registered seven original majolica designs, two of which went on to be among the most copied Majolica designs during the Victorian period thanks, no doubt, to the Forester Pottery who purchased the company’s molds after the company failed.

The best known of the Roth registered designs is the flat sided teapot. This pot has roots in Japanese design  and is very similar to one made by George Jones. The Roth version is decorated with wild roses. The design has been copied and elaborated on by many different potteries so unless the piece has the JRL logo on the base there is no guarantee that Roth is the manufacturer.

Another well known design is the Fern and Rope cheese bell. This is a common pattern due to the large number of copies made by Forester who purchased the Roth molds after the close of Roth's London concern. I have also seen this design on pitchers though I suspect that is not a Roth original.

Mark on the underside of the cheese bell stand

One of the most whimsical pieces potted by Roth is their monkey and coconut tea set.

Roth three piece monkey and coconut tea set

An unusual design made by Roth is a pattern reproduced extensively by Choisy-Le-Roi and Villeroy & Boch. The Roth examples have exceptionally fine workmanship as opposed to the continental examples whose workmanship varies from excellent to poor.

 Other designs made by Roth include a whimsical pair of wall pockets in the form of bird nests, overlapping begonia leaf plate and small leaf trays.

Roth majolica wall pockets

Roth majolica leaf plate

Underside mark of JRL on leaf trays

Small JRL majolica card tray

Roth majolica sardine box

JRL shell and coral toast rack

Roth apostle/astrology majolica jug

Roth copy of a Brownhills design

Roth overlapping begonia leaf plate 

Roth marked plate was probably intended as an underplate

Acanthus leaf tray

Joseph Roth majolica sardine box

Much copied plate, the rim was copied from Wedgwood 

and used by numerous companies including Etruscan Pandora

 

Roth doesn’t have an established market value but as with most majolica, marked pieces are preferred over those without marks.