The Majolica of the Chesapeake Pottery

The Chesapeake Pottery of Baltimore was founded in 1880 by brothers Henry and Isaac Brougham and partner John Tunstall. A small, single kiln operation of two buildings, the partners operated the business for two years before selling the company in 1882 to David Frances Haynes.

D. F. Haynes was born in Brookfield Massachusetts in 1835. An ambitious young man he was apprenticed in the sale of pottery. He was familiar with the Baltimore pottery trade and joined the firm of Ammidon & Co. in 1871, a wholesaler of pottery and related items. By 1877 he become proprietor and changed the name to D.F. Haynes & Co. Determined to bring locally produced quality ceramics to the American market. He purchased the Chesapeake Pottery from the Broughams and Tunstall and he hired two experienced potters from England to oversee the production  of new lines of pottery at his new factory: Frederick Hackney and Lewis Taft. Taft had previously worked at Brownfield at Stoke-on-Trent and Hackney had experience at Wedgwood and at Fielding. Hackney was also a specialist in majolica. It is he who is credited with bringing majolica-type wares to the Chesapeake Pottery.

The pottery operations expanded quickly, offering nine different lines of ceramics across the next five years. In 1882 Haynes introduced Baltimore majolica. These included the majolica inspired lines of Avalon Faience, and Haynes Ware and a third, Clifton Decor, which is in the only line offered by the company that is glazed in the tradition of true Victorian majolica.

Haynes catalog page for their Bramble pattern

Haynes catalog page for their Japonica series

The Avalon Faience line was decorated in simple over-the-glaze monochromatic decoration trimmed in gold, similar to the decorated earthenware coming out of England and the Venicene line produced at the Phoenix Pottery. (Note: The term "faience" was used in the late Nineteenth Century to denote any pottery of decorative nature.)

Haynes Bramble platter

Trade card promoting Hayes Avalon

Haynes Ware is usually covered in decal decoration with sections of color sprayed onto the pieces in a manner similar to some Continental ware. It was then finished with gold trim.

Clifton Decor followed the lead of Wedgwood and their Argenta line of majolica. The basic ground of ivory was maintained and the ware was decorated with colored glazes before firing. It is the most conventional of the three Haynes lines and the one that most purists would say is the only "true" Victorian majolica made by the company. It included some solid colored wares as well.

Haynes majolica Japonica plate

Haynes majolica Bramble cake tray

Chesapeake Pottery parian plaque

Chesapeake Pottery Severn Ware

Chesapeake Pottery Alsatian jug

Chesapeake Pottery Pilgrim vase

Chesapeake Pottery Pilgrim vase

Chesapeake Porrey majolica vase

Haynes majolica Oak Calvert ware clock

Haynes majolica Bramble vases

Haynes majolica Bramble series

Clifton Decor copy of a George Jones design

By 1887 financial strain forced Haynes to sell the pottery to Edwin Bennett, an English transplant and his main competitor in Baltimore, and the Chesapeake Pottery became a subsidiary of the Edwin Bennett Pottery Company.

Edwin Bennett 1818-1908

In 1890, Haynes returned as general manager of the pottery, and entered into a limited partnership with Bennett. The Chesapeake Pottery operated under Haynes' supervision with the name of Haynes, Bennett and Company.

Haynes Bennett & Co mark 1890-1895

In 1895 Haynes bought out Bennett’s share and the company changed names once again to D.F. Haynes and Son. The company prospered for the next 14 years, winning ceramic awards at both the 1901 Buffalo Pan-American Exposition and at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair.

David Haynes’ genius was his sales and marketing acumen. His death in 1908 was the beginning of the end for the Chesapeake Pottery. Son Frank assumed proprietorship of the company after his father's passing but within two years sales began to decline. In 1914 the company entered liquidation proceedings and Haynes closed the pottery permanently. The pottery property was sold for demolition. Today the Domino Sugar factory occupies the site.

Haynes's pottery is not very popular today among traditional majolica collectors. Like the Wedgwood "Argenta" wares the white ground puts many people off. Collectors are usually attracted to majolica by the bright colors and Haynes majolica is the least colorful of them all. This shouldn't discourage you from buying it however if you find it attractive. As you can see by some of the photos, large groups can be quite stunning in their sophisticated beauty.

Haynes majolica has always been reasonably priced and remains so today.

Albino Majolica

Etruscan Ivory Ware shell dish

The very first thing I need to say is that I hate the term "albino majolica."

I don't know who coined the phrase "albino majolica". I've always attributed it to Charles Rebert - but for all I know it was a term in use before the publication of his book "American Majolica 1850-1900". One thing is certain though - his use of the term in his book was picked up by Mariann Katz-Marks in her original soft cover books on majolica which were extremely influential in the formation of the American majolica market despite glaring inaccuracies. From there it entered the collecting lexicon.

What I dislike most about it is that it is a misnomer. "Albino majolica" is not majolica at all; it is decorated earthenware. A loose case can be made for describing luster glazed earthenware as majolica but it too does not fulfill one of the simple definitions of majolica: an earthenware body covered with an opaque tin glaze; covered again with colored glazes and fired a second time at a high temperature to fuse the colored glaze to the opaque under glaze. Decorated earthenware is covered with a white slip and a transparent or opaque glaze. Lusters are applied on top of the glazed ware and fired at a low temperature. They wear off easily because they don't fuse with the glaze underneath, they sit on top of it.

The same can be said of plain decorated earthenware. This is glazed then covered with firing enamels which are heated to fix the enamel color to the body. In neither case are these true majolica.
The ware we call "albino majolica" is actually a modern tern for the decorated earthenwares made in England by companies like George Jones. Many of these used the same molds that produced majolica which may account for some of the confusion.

George Jones earthenware cheese bell

George Jones majolica cheese bell

George Jones earthenware dresser plate

George Jones majolica dresser plate

George Jones earthenware wild rose cheese bell

George Jones majolica wild rose cheese bell

George Jones earthenware strawberry server

George Jones majolica strawberry server

George Jones enamel decorated teapot

With all that said, decorated earthenware can still be very beautiful.

Probably the most famous "albino" or decorated earthenware came from the Etruscan Works of Phoenixville. The Ivory Ware line is usually placed under the umbrella of the "albino" name along with the decorated earthenware product from the company, Venecine.

Etruscan Venicine Cauliflower sugar bowl

Etruscan Majolica Cauliflower sugar bowl

Ivory Ware was the company's version of the Belleek wares so popular at this time. Made with an eye towards capturing some of this market, the ware was a blatant imitation of Belleek in both glaze and subject matter. What the company could not capture with the thick earthenware body, was the translucent quality of porcelain that made Belleek so desirable. In spite of not marking most Ivory Ware - in the hope of confusing the consumer into thinking it was fine imported ware - it proved to be an unsuccessful product and never achieved the success their majolica and creamware would achieve.

Etruscan Ivory Ware Shell compote

Etruscan Ivory Ware Maple plate

The Etruscan decorated earthenware line Venecine, was among the most beautiful pottery this or any American company was making at the time. It's well known that the "majolica girls" took great pride in work that they did on this line since it required so much more skill than the majolica wares. The results speak for themselves.

Etruscan Venicene Shell plate

Etruscan Venicene Hawthorn pitcher

Etruscan Venicene cheese bell

It's unfortunate than none of these pieces are appreciated much by majolica collectors today. The prices they bring are always just a small fraction of what a full color majolica example would bring.

Other companies whose work is often included under the term "albino majolica" is Haynes' Avalon Faïence and Clifton Decor of the Chesapeake Pottery and Edward Bennet, both of Baltimore. These too are decorated earthenware although the French term "faïence" is sometimes used to describe this type of over-the-glaze enamel decoration as well.

Like the decorated earthenware of the Etruscan Works, prices and demand for these is generally quite weak.

So where does this leave the modern collector? Like any other antique, I would suggest buying what you like. There are great bargains to be found in these types of wares if the savvy collector just keeps his eyes open. Although they'll never achieve the prices nor the popularity of true majolica, they are still beautiful and an integral part of Victorian pottery history.