Description:Pentagonal blue and white mottled pot with lid. Pot has recessed domed base. Inside of pot is circular with blue and oatmeal coloured speckled glaze. Pentagonal lid, centre of which is raised forming pentagonal knob. Stamped inscription on base: 'Ruskin England'. Made by William Howson Taylor at the Ruskin Pottery, Smethwick.
Dimensions: height 108mm, top width 80mm, base width 98mm, lid width 90mm.
Edward R. Taylor and his son William Howson Taylor founded the Birmingham Tile and Pottery Works in 1898. The factory was located at 173-174 Oldbury Road, Smethwick. In 1904 the company was renamed after the artist and writer, John Ruskin. The factory produced small amounts of very high quality and expensive ceramics with chracteristic glazes.
The factory never recovered from the Depression of the 1920s and closed in December 1933. William Howson Taylor died in September 1935, aged 59. Neither he nor his workforce ever shared the secrets of his glazes, and the recipes died with him.
From the Staffordshire County Museum Collection