BRISTOL EARTHENWARE. Records show an active pottery existed at Bristol, Eng land, late in the 13th and another in the 16th century. The oldest known piece of Bristol pottery existing is dated 1703. Richard Frank ran a delft works, at Redcliffe Bank, till 1777, and Joseph Ring (from 1784) continued the factory till (early in the 19th century), Wedgwood ware killed the delft demand. By 1786 Ring had started making (cream color( or Queen's ware and other Staffordshire kinds. Joseph Flower started a delft factory in Frank's time. A very interesting feature concerning Bristol delft is that great quantities were shipped to America and the United States pos sesses most of the extant Bristol pieces, though many admiring owners do not know its origin. Common stone-ware was also made in Bristol.
Flower's pieces are said to have better paste, glaze and color than those of Frank or Ring. Bristol blue is darker than
most English wares. Bristol cream-color ware has yellow color( than the Stafford shire.
Plates, dishes, tiles for fireplaces and walls, teapots, punch-bowls, etc.
Blue-and-white decoration is usual. Simple patterns painted in white, more opaque than the greenish-blue surface white ground (bianco sopra bianco), on dish and plate borders was confined to Bristol ware in England. The pictures are usually "Chinese No transfer prints till 1797. Favored motifs were wreaths of flowers and leaves, Chinese pictures, landscapes, etc.
Specimens show an unpleasant or blueish-green tone comparing unfavor ably with true delft of good quality° and also °thicker, muddier and less than Lam beth or Liverpool (Burton).
Dark and coarse.