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

Friday, January 27, 2012

Etruscan Majolica: Fact and Fiction


About six months ago. I received an email from a writer at Main Line Today magazine.
He was writing an article on Etruscan Majolica and asked if I could send him copies of my two books on Etruscan Majolica for review purposes. I debated the idea for a couple of weeks before being persuaded by people I trust to send them to him.
Working in the magazine industry myself I know that it isn't always easy to get accurate reference material when working against a deadline so I felt pretty good about my decision to contribute to the article.

Well, I finally got a look at the finished article today.  It is in the February issue of Main Line Today magazine.

It's a nice, overview account of the history of Etruscan Majolica.

I would very much like to thank author J.F. Pierro for including a mention of my Etruscan Majolica Web site in the article. He was also nice enough to quote my book near the end of the article. I can tell that he clearly read my book by the structure of the article. Yet, his article still has some of the same misinformation that has circulated about the Etruscan Works for years. It is these old wives' tales that I wrote the book to dispel, but they have surfaced once again.

I can't say I totally blame Mr. Pierro. He obviously interviewed a number of people instead of just relying on my book and an author's story is only as good as his sources. Some of these stories are harder to kill than a vampire in a blood bank. Still, he did have my book which is accurate and specifically addresses these issues.

Old Wives' tale # 1: William Hill was not involved in the production of Etruscan Majolica.
This one is easy to dispel. There are newspaper articles that date the production of Phoenixville majolica to April of 1879. Hill was actively involved in the Phoenixville pottery from January 1879 to May 1880. That would mean that majolica was in production during his tenure there. 

Old Wives' tale # 2: The 1890 fire ended the production of Etruscan Majolica.
The plant fire in December of 1890 had nothing to do with the end of Etruscan Majolica.
By 1890 the Etruscan brand had been out of production for almost two years. After David Smith left the Phoenixville Pottery in 1889, the Etruscan name was retired and the pottery took on the mark of Griffen, Love and Co. and later the Griffen China Company. Monochromatic majolica production did continue on a limited scale until around 1895 under the name of the Chester Pottery, but never again under the Etruscan banner.

Old Wives' tale # 3: President Grant bought Etruscan Majolica for his daughter.
This is a total fabrication. President Grant's daughter did own pottery made at the Phoenixville Pottery but it was a solid cobalt display set with over painted decoration given to her by W.H. Schribner as a wedding gift in 1874 from the people of Pennsylvania. This was five years before production of majolica began at the plant.

I am always happy to see Etruscan Majolica receive such a nice write up from a local publication, but I would hope that the article would be totally accurate.

If you would like to read the article for yourself go to the Main Line Today Web site.

5 comments:

  1. As one of many direct descendants of William Hill, we especially appreciate your clarifying that he WAS involved at Griffen, Smith & Hill during the time when Etruscan Majolica was being created! (My mother inherited Etruscan Majolica that was passed down from him.)

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    1. Glad to hear from you. In my book, "Etruscan Majolica: The Complete Reference" I have a complete biography of William Hill from his birth in Longton, England to his death in Roslindale, Boston at the age of 76. The only thing I could not find was a photo of him. Should you have one could you please email it to me at: jimbo.b@aol.com. I will include it in a future edition of the book and will be happy to credit you.

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  2. If you will send me your email address, I can send you a family photo of William and his wife Jemima Freckelton Hill, Their three sons, William, Tom, and John (all have the middle name Freckelton), the son's wives and children. The photo was taken in Malden or Boston. As an aside, My grandmother, Amy Hill Duncan (a child in the photo), was one of Tom's daughters and was the Founder and first President of the Abigail (nee Smith) Adams Historical Society, having saved Mrs. Adams Weymouth birthplace from demolition. The Hills have served their country long and well. They also have numerous artists following in William Hill's footsteps.

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  3. So sorry, If I had just looked up I would have seen your email address. As soon as I find the photo I will email it.

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