Visited with Gibbo, Fluxxy, Nexus, Over and Bigjobs.


First some lengthy but interesting historical spiel, as usual shamelessly stolen from another source:

The availability of local clays and coal saw the development of industrial pottery making in many parts of Derbyshire in the late 18th century, one of these areas being Church Gresley, where some ten potteries were in operation by the 19th century. In 1851, the pottery originally set up by a Mr. Leedham in the 1790s and continued by William and Joseph Bourne, was bought by Henry Wileman, who owned the Foley Works in The Potteries. The pottery was bought from Wileman by Thomas Goodwin Green in 1864, after the two had met during the latter's honeymoon in Scarborough.

Although he had absolutely no experience of the pottery business, Green was an astute and successful businessman, returning from Australia to marry Mary, his wife, after having made a fortune in the building industry. The Church Gresley factory was a large, well equipped pottery, self sufficient in terms of local coal and clay, which produced a wide range of yellow and red domestic earthenwares, and Green soon began to turn a profit. By the 1880s Green expanded into the white earthenware and tableware business following the construction of a brand new factory in the valley below the old buildings - the site and building itself requiring the development of innovative building techniques developed by Green. The new factory was always kept up-to-date and continued to rival any similar establishment in The Potteries, producing a wide product range including yellow ware, Rockingham ware, buff, green and mazarine-glazed wares, and a wide range of kitchen and institutional wares. The pottery became a limited company in the mid 1880s, with two of Green's four sones, Stanley and Roger joining head clerk, Henry King. The latter became first company secretary, then partner to Green Senior; when the latter retired in 1897 King and Roger Green took over the running of the company. The Green and King families were to run the company until 1964.

Employing some 700 employees in the 1920s, the factory continued the self-sufficient ethos, grinding their own materials (frits, glazes, colours), digging their own clay, producing their own stilts and spurs and saggars, and had mechanics, blacksmiths, fitters, joiners to do all the 'mechanical' work. In the first three decades of the 20th century the factory was producing a vast range of wares: yellow and white kitchen wares, government stamped wares, white hospital wares, domestic stonewares, black lustre, Rockingham, Samian, appliqué, mocha and banded wares. These finishes were applied to an equally impressive array of different shapes, from footwarmers, measures and spittoons, cheese stands, foot baths, colanders, bulb bowls and a variety of kitchen wares, such as mixing bowls, jelly moulds and the novelty Cube teapot. It was perhaps not until the 1920s that their extensive blue and white range was joined by possibly the factory's most famous product, Cornish Ware.

It has been suggested that this blue and white turned banded ware was introduced to keep the pottery busy during the difficult years of the 1920s - but it rapidly gained enormous popularity. The Second World War saw major restrictions on the ceramics industry, but T.G. Green continued to produce decorated pottery for export, such as their Cornish, Domino, Polo and Streamline ranges, but only white and yellow wares for the home market. When the wartime restrictions were finally relaxed, the 1950s saw the introduction of a variety of new shapes (e.g. Patio) and designs (e.g. Samba, Central Park and Safari), but by 1955, new taxes on pottery pre-empted the difficulties that eventually led to the company entering voluntary receivership in 1965.

The distinctively banded Cornish Ware, usually white banded with blue, but also with yellow and rarely red, is perhaps the most famous line produced at T.G. Green's, and was also produced in a buff-bodied form known as Cornish Gold. Many household items bear transfer-printed lettered names, and rare names are much sought after. The white-spotted Blue Domino Ware was introduced around 1933, perhaps based on the green-spotted Polka Dot range. The 1950s and 60s saw the introduction of dramatic new designs, such as Flaire, Safari and Gingham.



Welcome to TG Greens (it does say that i swear, damn that bush)


The home of Cornishware











Some nice hand drawn designs















Finally thanks to Mendo and sal who went last week but held off on the pics til i got down there,

[Fluxxyyy]

Loved this one, certainly one of the best ones I've ever done. Thanks to Si and Gibbo for letting me come along, had a fantastic day. Here are some of mine.

The brambles and branches clawed both face and feet, each step forward a struggle; the cuts and bruises may hurt for a while, but the memories last. Through a window, building, window. Standing. Jumping. We throw ourselves outward, into the yard - some stacks, outbuildings and sheds.

Founded by Thomas Goodwin Green, son to Henry Green, a shrewd, Boston born businessman who had spent his time in Oz making his way as a builder. He purchased the pottery from Henry Wileman, in 1864, following an earlier acquaintance. After an acquisition by a rival factory, Mason Cash, the two companies were bought out by The Tabletop Company, forming The Tabletop Group. Unfortunately, in 2007, The Tabletop Company went into liquidation and T.G. Green closed.
























Made a change from teh cranes. G'night y'all.

[Gibbo]

I've tagged this onto R1's thread as he was the first to discover this little gem.


Had a nice email today that I thought I'd share with you

Thank you so much for posting pictures of the T. G. Green factory. I ran across your site when "google-ing" T. G. Green "Samba" pottery which I purchased a few weeks ago. I am now more interested in the company and its history. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to purchase more pottery by T. G. Green. I do find, however, the photos so saddening, but also very enlightening.

I have been correponding by email with T. G. Green's great-grandson in order to find out the name of the pattern of the dishes, but still have not seen anything like on the internet or in books.

I do hope this email gets to the people that took the photos so they know there is someone in Texas that appreciates it.

If anyone has a photo to scan and send me by email of Samba pottery, I would so appreciate it!

Joanne Bransford
San Antonio, Texas