I am always drawn to the Art Deco period of the 1920-30’s and love the bright colours used on ceramics at this time.

Burleigh Ware is one of my favourite factories especially their novelty jugs so I thought I would tell you about the history of the factory.

It was founded in 1851 by Hulme and Booth in Burslem, Staffordshire, the heart of British ceramic manufacturing.  Fine quality earthenware was what was originally made and this continued until 1862 when the business was taken over by William Leigh and Frederick Burgess and the name changed to ‘Burgess and Leigh’.  In 1868 the operation moved to the larger premises of Hill Pottery but continued to make a range of utility, toilet and dinner ware.  Slowly as the Pottery grew and production increased, new ranges of tableware began to be made with more complex patterns cementing its reputation for fine craftsmanship.

The period of the 1920s and 30s is generally known as the golden era of Burleigh Ware with the pottery being in its most productive period and employing over 500 workers with some of the most highly skilled potters and artists of the time working for them. They expanded into brightly coloured tableware during this time with probably their most recognisable pieces today being the yellow jugs with sculptural handles in the form of animals and humans.  The jugs were all hand-painted so each one was slightly different, with the most attractive generally being the most sought after.

Designers Charles Wilkes and Ernest Bailey are credited with much of the designs of these iconic pieces. They made a huge variety of animals from parrots and kingfishers to butterflies and squirrels and even dragons.  Most of the animals can be picked up for very reasonable prices at auction.  The human characters tend to be more sought after with the examples such as the rare guardsmen and the sporting designs of the golfer and cricketer particularly popular. Our fortnightly sales of Antiques and Collectables usually always have some Burleigh ware jugs offered for sale. Prices range from as little as £20-40 for the animal handled jugs to around £200 for the more unusual examples.

Burleigh ware continues to be made today and is part of Denby Pottery. They do tours and it has a factory shop if you are ever in the area!. They are the last English pottery company to use the traditional skill of underglaze tissue printing, a process dating back over 200 years. Today they mainly produce table wares in timeless traditional designs such as Blue Calico, Asiatic Pheasant and Peacock. They even produce a range of wares for the famous American fashion designer Ralph Lauren.