pottery marks for burslem.

[rob g]

Hi. All. I have traced back my family. Mitchell. To Thomas mitchell and his son John mitchell.  Both potters in burslem.circa 1720-1760. I have lots of history on them. But I cannot find any mention of the pottery marks. I know they made saltware. And that Thomas was for a short while working with wedgwood. John also employed one of the famous woods potters of burslem. But I cannot find any results for the makers marks if any? That they may have used. I would love to own a piece.but don't know what to look for. I know that the site is for family history. But just a shot in the dark that someone may know something about it.  Rob...

[Ruskie]

Google "burslem pottery marks", and you will get some results.

I don't know much about the use of marks, but I wonder if your Mitchell family were employed by one of the bigger companies, that they would not have had their own individual marks?

[Sam from Stoke]

Have you had a look on the Potteries site?  They have a section on pottery and makers marks:

http://www.thepotteries.org/mark/index.html

[Ruskie]

Very nice Sam.  And I see there is a Thomas Mitchell on the list, 1710-1715.

[rob g]

Hello. Ruski. Hi. Sam. Thank you for your reply. I have searched the sites you mentioned. A while back. No results? . I don't think that Thomas mitchell.  Or his son worked for others.  As they both have their own pottery works. On a map of the time. Thomas mitchell was a friend of john Wesley. In fact thomas was a benefactor who gave him land. And built a chaple for him. Thomas also exported to the American colony's. In fact it was the loss of this market. That would lead to the mitchell pottery closing. The mitchells were among the first to import fine China clay from the Europe.that was why Wedgwood worked with him. Anyway for someone who was a prominent pottery maker I cannot find any results for the marks he could have used. I would go to burslem as there is a street named after  the mitchells. And to check museums. records etc. But I have mobility problems. Anyway thanks again for your help. And reply. ..rob..

[Tittensor ONS]

Hi Rob, there are a couple of text books with pottery marks in.  I don't have copies but they should be available via your local library:

Encyclopedia of British Porcelain Manufacturers   
Godden, GA   
Barrie & Jenkins 1988

Handbook of Pottery and Porcelain Marks
Cushion, JP   
Faber & Faber, 5th edition 1996

If you want to look for pots by your ancestor it might be worth searching one of the auction web sites such as www.invaluable.com.  I found several pots by my ancestors there (further info on my web site www.tittensor.com - follow the link "Some Notable Tittensors").

Regards,
Paul

Tittensor One-Name web site: www.tittensor.com

[cms]

Hi there.
 I have looked through our extensive collection of books on pottery including the Geoffrey Godden one mentioned above, and although there are several interesting references to John Mitchell there are no marks recorded for either Mitchell. So it seems highly likely that they didn't mark the pots. John was taken to court in 1736 by another potter, Ralph Shawe, for infringing his patent, which was on the type of body used for his pots. The judge found in John's favour saying "Go home, potters, and make whatever kind of pots you like". One of the books refers to John dying in "reduced circumstances".