Last week we introduced #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton, our attempt to break down the history of Minton into a series of Twitter-friendly snippets, and brought together the first seven days of tweets for those of you who aren’t following us there. Now, quick as a flash, we’re at the end of week two and it’s time for another round-up…
With the first week’s worth of tweets we covered the majority of the first chapter of the Minton manuscript, “Thomas Minton – Birth and Early Life”, but don’t assume we’ll be rattling through the others in such a timely manner – subsequent chapters are significantly more substantial! You can refresh your memory by hopping back to Part 1, or read on below. (Oh, and we should also mention that can view all our tweets via RSS feed too!)
On New Year’s Day 1789 Thomas married Sarah Webb and together they travelled to Stoke where Thomas established himself as a master engraver, renting a house next to another family of potters named Poulson. (More on that name later!) [12/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 8, 2020
For the next four years Thomas lived and worked in this house – “on the south side of the Church Street bridge, on the east bank of the river Trent” – designing and engraving patterns for pottery manufacturers as he had been in London.[13/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 8, 2020
In 1793 Thomas purchased a plot of land on the west side of the Newcastle-under-Lyme canal and began to build a house and small factory – consisting of a slip house, biscuit oven, and glost kiln – marking the foundation of the Minton company.[14/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton pic.twitter.com/CQXq5cgNcP
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 9, 2020
To supervise the making of the ware in this new factory Thomas employed two brothers named Poulson (remember that surname from a few tweets ago?) as managers, while he took charge of the decorating side of the business.[15/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 10, 2020
“From 1796 Joseph Poulson was his partner and this association laid the foundation of the firm’s high standard of craftsmanship and design. For some years the style of the firm was Minton and Poulson”. [16/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 10, 2020
1796 was also the year that production “at first on a very modest scale” began. Wadsworth writes of a “first account book” showing this date, which we think was later catalogued as Sales Book SD 1705/MS1322: https://t.co/6hY3P34hXl [17/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 11, 2020
Around this time blue printed ware was becoming popular and, with his early experience as an engraver, Thomas Minton turned his attention to these types of patterns, creating his own version of the Willow pattern amongst others.[18/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 11, 2020
By the end of 1797 – only 1 year after production had begun – factory output had increased hugely; Wadsworth notes that an entry in the earliest account book shows that “three more ovens & one ‘enamel’s kiln'” had been added to the site. [19/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 12, 2020
According to Wadsworth the same account book also includes an entry for the supply of china (as well as earthenware) to Arthur Minton, Thomas’s younger brother and agent in London, showing china was now being commercially produced.[20/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 12, 2020
Minton also supplied undecorated ware to other companies – “It was a quite common practice at this time for a manufacturer who was short of biscuit for decorating to make up the deficiency by buying ware from another firm.”[21/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 13, 2020
(And if you’re wondering what’s meant by “biscuit” in the context of pottery manufacture check out this illuminating entry from the ever-helpful @PotbankDictnry: https://t.co/EWsUXhBoEc) [22/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 13, 2020
This swift and early expansion of the business coincided with an injection of capital from William Pownall, a merchant from Liverpool, and the business was styled as Minton, Poulson & Pownall for about 2 years until Pownall withdrew in 1799.[23/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) April 14, 2020