The colourings here bear all the hallmarks of the ‘majolica’ pieces produced by various English pottery manufacturers in the second half of the nineteenth century. Far removed from the tin glazed Italian majolica pieces from which they took their name, these English majolica wares enjoyed immense popularity in their day and are eagerly sought after now. While not marked as such, this teapot can be attributed to the firm Thomas Forester and Sons, prolific manufacturers of a wide range of majolica wares employing a staff of 700 at the end of the nineteenth century.

Thomas Forester, born in 1832, (see image 13) was the son of a manager at Mintons. After a wide ranging career in the potteries industry, he set up his own firm at Longton, Staffordshire, in 1879 to be joined by his sons in 1883. Thomas Forester and Sons Ltd operated from the celebrated Phoenix works, whose premises still exist today, and were the last of the Staffordshire manufacturers to produce majolica. Their early pieces were not marked and there is little documentation of their designs which have to be deduced from adverts in the ‘Pottery Gazette’. This teapot comes from a tea service decorated in the same style and the design is closely modelled on similar ware produced by the American firm Griffen, Smith and Hill, indeed sometimes confused with it. Forester captures the Victorian vogue for ‘Chinoiserie’ with almost rustic charm and this piece is an amusing souvenir of a style once so fashionable.