Jackfield
Jackfield is a small village on the south bank of the River Severn, in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England. According to a knowledgable webpage ( https://craftshero.com/jackfield-pottery/ ), mining and pottery manufacture were well established there as early as the mid-15th century. From what I have been able to glean from the web, Jackfield has two main claims to fame in pottery, one being that it is a noted center for decorative wall and floor tiles (there is a Jackfield Tile Museum), and the second a glossy black glaze which is what characterizes these cow creamers. The Glass and Pottery Sellers Association Newsletter of June 2005 notes:
“Jackfield wares originated in the town of Jackfield, in Shropshire, England, in 1740 to 1780. The original earthenware was a thin-walled gray to purplish-black clay, and covered in a glossy black lead glaze. It was also known as jet ware, blackware, or japanned ware, after the Japanese black lacquer pieces. In addition to the goods made in Jackfield, it was also produced by Thomas Whieldon in Staffordshire, Wedgwood, and others. The pieces made by Whieldon have a more reddish colored body. Shards of this pottery found in Maryland and Florida have led historians to possible early English settlements where little other documentation exists.”
Both in the UK antique shops that I have visited and on eBay, the term Jackfield seems to be applied to earthenware cow creamers with the shiny black glaze, that are quite similar in many cases to the other ‘Staffordshire’ ones in the sense of having a lid and usually being on an oval base. They presumably date from the late 19c or early 20c, i.e., the Victorian era, or at least are sold as such. I have a feeling that some of mine are earlier (and likely some much later!), but have really no way of sorting most them either by date or by locale of manufacture. Per usual, I’d appreciate any further information anyone can provide on the ones in my collection, or on ‘Jackfield’ cow creamers in general.
While the one in the first section below seems (based on my shopping in England as well as what appears frequently on eBay) to be the 'classic' and most common version of a Jackfield cow creamer, they do come in an assortment of shapes, and a whole lot of variants within each of those themes. All however seem to have more or less oval bases, relatively simple lids, and gold decorations although those have frequently been rubbed off in whole or part through use. I should also repeat an earlier note on price: They were rather dear and somewhat scarce in (50 GBP and up) in English antique stores when I lived there in the mid 90's, once ebay kicked in the value has plummeted simply because there are so many of them. Seems like everyone's grandmother or great grandmother had one, and the modern generation has little fondness for such keepsakes. There are generally dozens for offer on ebay at any given time.
Two final notes: First, I photographed all of these against a light yellow background, but had to really fiddle with some of them in photoshop to get the gold gilding and writing to show. Thus some backgrounds look really washed out. Second, as a reminder, if you click on any of the thumbnails you will get a larger picture.
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This is an example of the classic Jackfield cow creamer form that seems to be most common: wide open mouth, large horns curved up-and-in that seem to come out of the ears, a rounded and somewhat subdued udder, and an oval base with a flat top. They usually (unless it’s been rubbed off) have gold gilding on the horns and ears, around the mouth, eyes, tail tip and rim of both base and lid; plus sets of three gold slashes (almost like the top of a fleur-de-lis) liberally around the body. As noted in the introduction, for those actually made in Jackfield the clay, which is usually visible on the bottom of the lid and occasionally under the base, is a dark brownish- or blackish- purple. |
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This is a third type - thinner, with smaller ears and horns. These are much less elegant than the previous two types and likely arose to meet growing demand at lower cost. There is much less gilding on these, though I suspect that much of it hs been rubbed off by use. There even seems to have been writing on the left sides of these, perhaps like the "Presents" shown further down the page. |
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Here are two more classic Jackfield souvenir cows: one from Penzance with faded gold, and one from Teignmouth. Per Wikipedia, Penzance is the most westerly major town as well as a civil parish and port in Cornwall, in the very far southwest of England. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn, to the north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan. ‘Pennsans’ means "holy headland" in the Cornish language and refers to the location of a chapel nowadays called St Anthony's that is said to have stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour. The first mention of the name Pensans is in the Assize Roll of 1284, and it was granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated on 9 May 1614. Teignmouth is a large seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 12 miles south of Exeter. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power. From the 1800s onwards, the town rapidly grew in size from a fishing port associated with the Newfoundland cod industry to a fashionable resort of some note in Georgian times, with further expansion after the opening of the South Devon Railway in 1846. Today its port still operates and the town remains a popular seaside holiday location. |
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On top is one from Skegness, and below it one from The Potteries. Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea. It was primarily a fishing village and small port before the arrival of the railway in 1875. In 1908, the Great Northern Railway commissioned a “Skegness is so Bracing” poster to advertise excursions to the resort, featuring the Jolly Fisherman who helped to put Skegness on the map and is now famous. The world's first Butlin's holiday resort opened in Skegness in 1936, and it remains a popular tourist venue. There are other cow creamer momentos from Skegness on the Advertising and Souvenirs page. It's very popular. You can learn all about “The Potteries” – the center of English china and earthenware production - in the introduction to the Staffordshire page and from their superb website, www.thepotteries.com. I have a souvenir ‘kent’ style creamer made for sale at the famous Stoke-on-Trent Museum and Art Gallery, and i wonder if this Jackfield version was similarly made for them – if so, it’s likely quite modern and of course would be molded, glazed, and gilded in the classic fashion. It's sort of interesting that the Potteries put the writing on the right side of their cow while all the others have it in the left; and also unlike them, it doesn't claim to be a 'Present'. ' |
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Here’s an unusual one with a textured coat and a differently shaped base, but more or less the same general body form and gold decoration (some has rubbed off over the years). I believe it is intended to represent a shaggy Scottish highland cow. There is a brown cousin along with this one on the Staffordshire page. |
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