Rockingham Pottery - Rockingham Pottery and Porcelain

Rockingham Pottery and Porcelain

Rockingham porcelain was produced in two distinct periods: 1826-1830, the so-called red-mark period, and 1831–1842, the puce-mark period. As their names suggest, these periods are defined by the backstamps found on porcelain.

Porcelain products included tea and coffee services, dinner and dessert services, writing sets and ink pots, scent jars and pots, baskets, bed posts, porcelain plaques, figurines, animals, cabinet plates and cups. Patterns varied from regular geometric designs featuring brightly coloured reserves and simple gilding, through intricate neo-rococo designs of scrolls and acanthus leaves, to ornate encrusted decorative wares. Many of the more decorative pieces feature landscapes, floral and botanical specimens. Royal and aristocratic commissions often feature the family's arms. There is some evidence to show that the most decorative pieces were produced towards the end of the red-mark period and the early puce-mark periods: earlier pieces often feature the more geometric shapes, while later pieces, though retaining the neo-rococo shapes of the early puce-mark period, feature less extravagant decoration that was possibly more fitting of the first years of the Victorian age.

Amongst its other products, the factory was also famous for producing a deep brown, almost iridescent brown-glazed earthenware. In these wares, it was most famous for producing an ingenious style of pot that is filled from a hole in the bottom via a vacuum lock, known as a Cadogan. Examples of these in many sizes are often found, sometimes featuring gilding. The Brown Betty is an example of this kind of earthenware.

Amongst its more standard products were blue and green transfer-printed creamware and pearlware services and other items featuring a variety of scenes: the "Returning Woodman" or "Peasant" (often on octagonal plates) is possibly the most recognisable of these.