Believe to be Beautiful

Honiton Pottery Woodland Bicton Jug

Established at Honiton in 1881 by James Webber, the pottery on the High Street was acquired in 1918 by Charles Collard. Born in 1874 at Torquay, Collard had been apprenticed to John Phillips at Aller Vale Pottery, and worked for others before setting up his own works near Poole, Dorset which was registered in 1905 as the Crown Dorset Pottery. Prior to the First World war, the pottery received much public acclaim and a number of awards, but the war changed ceramics production across the UK and Collard sold the business in 1915.

With the move to Honiton, a few years later, he set about modernising the operations and introduced handmade pieces with his signature Jacobean and Persian designs. Using the local clay with a cream or white background, elaborate floral motifs in bright colours with a hand-painted dotted border were applied to over 100 shapes which were sold worldwide. However, the outbreak of the second world war brought further disruption leading to a temporary closure until 1945 and, when Collard retired in 1947, the works was sold to Norman Hull.

This Woodland pattern jug is part of a range introduced in the 1930s. Under Hull and other, subsequent owners, local clay use was phased out and more automated production and painting techniques were introduced. Shapes were re-named using Devonshire place names and, as this jug is formed from white clay and has the name ‘Bicton’, it can be dated to the Post-Collard period. Production ceased at Honiton in the 1990s and the name was sold to Dartmouth Pottery in 1992.

You can see more pictures as well as measurements and condition details by clicking the link:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/731584423

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