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

Friday, March 8, 2024

The Majolica of Samuel Alcock & Co.

Samuel Alcock is known largely today for his finely detailed Staffordshire porcelain and earthenware pottery, parian and tea services, but the company in its final years also manufactured majolica. Alcock majolica has a distinctive look with its limited palette of brightly colored glazes, but unlike the decorated porcelain and earthenware produced during the pottery’s lifetime little has been written about their majolica work.

Samuel Alcock majolica platter

Samuel Alcock was born into a rural farm family in Kingsley, Staffordshire England in 1799, the child of Thomas Alcock and Katherine Locker. On June 21, 1823 he met and married Elizabeth Haslehurst (1800-1879) who would, in later years, take a prominent position in his pottery business. Like Eliza Wardle after her, Elizabeth Alcock would become one of the unrecognized female innovators of Victorian majolica.

At the age of twenty-five Samuel joined the firm of Stevenson & Williams in Cobridge, operated by the two Stevenson brothers, Ralph and Andrew, and Augustus Williams. Within the year the firm changed its name to Stevenson, Alcock & Williams. By 1826 the partnership fractured with Andrew Stevenson and Augustus Williams leaving the business and Ralph Stevenson partnering with Alcock at the new firm of Samuel Alcock & Co.

London Gazette, 1st May 1827

 London Gazette, 16th August 1831

Alcock & Co. proved wildly successful. Within two years Alcock rented the Hill Top pottery in Burslem. Alcock then purchased Hill Top from the owner two years later. In 1831 Ralph Stevenson left Alcock and opened Stevenson & Son. In 1839 Alcock expanded and rebuilt the Hill Top pottery in the Venetian style shown here.

Hill Top pottery, later renamed the Hill pottery

Hill Top pottery

Hill Top pottery

Hill Top front entrance

For the next seventeen years Alcock produced some of the finest porcelain and earthenware in the country along with a wide range of beautiful decorative and utilitarian ware like the pieces shown below. Pattern books also have survived for many of Alcock's wares. A large firm, it employed 600-700 workers.

Alcock porcelain side tray

Gilded hand painted porcelain Alcock charger

Alcock catalog pattern page

Alcock catalog pattern page

Alcock catalog pattern page

Alcock Staffordshire poolle

Alcock parian dogs

Alcock vase in the Neoclassical style

Alcock Portland vase

Alcock Royal Patriotic jug to benefit widows and orphans of 
soldiers killed during the Crimea War c.1855

Mark on the base of the Patriotic jug above

Alcock Love & War relief molded jug

After a prolific career and twelve children, Samuel Alcock died at the age of 49 years old on November 10, 1848, in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, leaving the management of the pottery to his widow Elizabeth and two of his sons, Samuel Jr. (1826-1883) and Thomas (1829-1883). It was after Samuel Alcock Sr.’s death that the company began production of majolica. 

A new style of pottery just introduced by Minton in 1851, it is not known precisely when Elizabeth Alcock brought her company into the majolica market. Marketed as ROYAL PALISSY, the company made a limited line of designs in the new Minton majolica style, many in imitation of Minton’s Palissy designs.*

Probably the most famous of Alcock's majolica pieces is the Palissy inspired frog and snake pitcher below.

Alcock majolica pitcher

Some designs were adaptations of Wedgwood and other pottery’s patterns while others were original to Alcock.

Alcock grape and vine plate

Alcock majolica grape and vine platter


Alcock majolica hunt jug

Alcock majolica vine jug





Alcock majolica begonia shallow bowl

Alcock majolica begonia cake plate

Alcock majolica tazza


Alcock majolica tray

The pottery operated under the supervision of Elizabeth Alcock and her sons until 1859 when it declared bankruptcy. The following year the Top Hill pottery was taken over by Sir Jame Duke & Nephews. James Duke is known to have also potted majolica, displaying both majolica and Palissy ware at the 1862 London Exhibition. It is likely they continued using the Alcock molds. Some pieces of Alcock style majolica from these molds may possibly be attributable to them but since Sir James Duke & Nephews didn’t mark their work there’s no way of knowing. Duke & Nephews remained in business for three years before closing in 1863.

S.A.&Co. bankruptcy notice, the London Gazette, October 14, 1859

A contemporary description of Sir Duke’s exhibit at the 1862 London Exhibition

Alcock’s majolica line is small and not always marked but, as stated earlier, the Alcock majolica style is unmistakable. When marked, Alcock majolica shows an impressed mark of a bee skep surrounded by bees with SA&CO either below it or S.Alcock & Co. in an arch above it. The mark sometimes includes the words ROYAL PALISSY in a semi-circle above the bee skep. I have not seen an ink mark on their majolica.

Samuel Alcock Royal Palissy mark


S. Alcock & Co. mark

Alcock was an early adopter of the new Minton majolica process, and since the company closed eight years after its introduction it had a short production life. Quality varies from exceptional to adequate. It is relatively rare and tends to attract a premium price for exceptional marked examples.

*At the time of its introduction in 1851, the process we now refer to as Victorian majolica was initially called Palissy ware. For clarification go here.

Saturday, February 10, 2024

Finding the Real Value of Your Antiques

Without question the most common question I am asked as an antique dealer is, “How much is my antique worth?”

It has always been my practice to not discuss values in this blog because of the variables involved in pricing an individual item, but there are numerous resources one can use to give you a ballpark idea of what the value is of your particular item. 

While this post is on a pottery blog these rules can guide anyone interested in selling an item of any nature on the secondary market.

Condition, Color and Craftsmanship

Three very important criteria to consider when evaluating the value of a piece is in the 3 C’s: condition, whether it is repaired or as originally issued; its color, particularly when dealing with pottery; and its craftsmanship, or how well it was made. More than most other factors these will determine the price of a piece. 

To these we can add a fourth C–collectibility. Collectibility in not necessarily determined by rarity, though it sometimes is, but more on desirability. With many very rare antiques the price factor doesn't really come into play because there is little demand for them. 

For more on desirability go here. for more on the importance of color go here.

Price Guides

The most obvious way to find out the value of an item is through a printed price guide. Many books on antiques specialize in assigning values to particular items, however there are many limitations to printed guides like this. The market for antiques is constantly fluctuating. Reruns of the PBS show Antiques Roadshow illustrate a good example of this. Old episodes feature adjusted values at the conclusion of appraisals to allow for how the market has changed in the years between the original airing and a more recent appraisal. Intangibles like fad, desirability and the stock market can all affect the prices of antiques. This gives the printed price guide a built in obsolescence.




Certain companies that specialize in these guides like Warman’s Antiques, Miller's Antiques and Kovel’s Antiques take advantage of this to keep people interested in buying updated guides year after year. Before the invention of the internet these were the only venue for finding this type of information. This is probably the fastest way of getting a price, but to my mind not a very dependable method of finding the real value of your item. 


Leigh Keno appraises an item with a guest on Antiques Roadshow.

Appraiser Lark Mason and a guest on Antiques Roadshow

Before I move on, one word of advice when viewing programs like Antiques Roadshow. Appraisers frequently inflate the value of an item for the sake of drama. Whenever you see an appraiser offer an insurance value of an item it is often double the actual sale value of a piece. This is because insurance values are based on replacing an irreplaceable item retail, which is generally a 100% markup over its sale value. For more on my thoughts on Antiques Roadshow go here

Retail Antiques Stores and Shows

This method involves comparing your item to one found in a local antique store or at a local antiques show. This method of pricing your item is more dependable than the printed guide because it gives a good indication of more current values than a printed price guide, but there are built in limitations to this as well. Dealers of antiques have varying levels of experience in evaluating the price of any particular item. If the dealer you are consulting has only a general knowledge of antiques, their expertise in a particular field is likely limited. They may well price an item based on a price guide they bought five years ago or something similar they owned ten years ago. No one can know everything, so they do their best based on their own resources and experience. Unless you are dealing with a dealer who specializes in a particular field you are likely to get an undependable price.


Collectors and Specialty Dealers

Collectors and dealers of particular fields of antiques are usually quite attuned to the market value of the items they buy and sell. Should you find one willing to generously share this knowledge with you, you can often depend on their advice, The biggest problem here is that most collectors and dealers keep their knowledge close to the vest and are unwilling to share this information with anyone lest they miss out of a good bargain on a piece they are interested in. Many dealers’ entire livelihood is dependent on the ignorance of sellers. The advice here is if you know someone with this knowledge who is willing to share it, you can depend on it, PROVIDING they know you will not sell them the item in discussion.

Auctions and Online Resources

Considering the fluid nature of the market, auctions both in person and on the web are usually the most dependable means of finding the correct value for your item. Online auction sites like eBay and LiveAuctions are an excellent resource for finding the value of your piece. A search of past auction results will bring up a number of examples similar or identical to your item. 

The more recent the sale, the more reliable the result, If the item is sold through a general sale, the retail price is generally 50%-100% above the auction value. If it is a specialty auction, the value realized is usually closer to retail.

You should also consider the auction venue when considering prices. International premium auction houses like Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Doyle can usually command prices far above what the general value may be of a particular item. This has as much to do with their advertising resources and reputation as anything else. They usually only accept items above a certain price point and charge massive auction fees, sometimes as high as 60%, of the final auction value.

For more on eBay go here, For more on buying at auction go here.




Conclusion 

Selling anything on the secondary market is a minefield full of traps. The more educated you become in the market of the item you are selling, the more likely you will be in concluding a fair, satisfying and successful sale.