The Pottery Gazette and Glass Trade Review
March 1, 1924 Page 435
John Steventon & Sons Ltd, (late Brown & Steventon), Royal Pottery, Burslem, present to the trade a capital all round show of domestic earthenware at their London showrooms, 59 Shoe Lane, EC1 in charge of Mr J.E.Holt. This firm is specially reputed in the trade for their inexpensive dinner, toilet, and suite ware, and of these lines they have a big variety, both of patterns and shapes. They have recently brought out a new decoration, consisting of a printed and enameled new decoration, consisting of a printed and enameled border depicting the hunt. It is the sort of thing that one would have expected to see turned out by means of lithographic transfers, for the sake of cheapness of production, but one has only to pick up a piece of this ware to see at once that it is printed and enameled, in other words, that the outline is merely faintly printed from a copper plate, the colourings being filled with the brush by hand.
To the man in the street this extra amount of hand labour, assimilating hand painting, is always an attraction, and particularly in this case when one has to deal with a pattern such as this, which has a lively theme and touches the affairs of life. This new pattern, which has been christened "Tally Ho !", is available in quite a big variety of pieces, from dinner to toilet ware, and it is offered in conjunction with a partly shaded ground of primrose or orange.
A full suite of engravings has apparently been arranged for, in order that the perfect fitting of the design will be assured whatever may be the article it is called for. The pattern looks very well on toiletware, and the "Aden" shape is particularly suited to it.
Another interesting pattern that has recently been brought out by this house consists of silhouette scheme achieved by printing and enameling. The design shows up principally as a black frieze placed over a ground of primrose, topped with blue. One of the best selling dinner patterns that has yet been produced by this firm is the "Ye Olde Roger". as may almost be inferred from the name, it is a replica of an Old English printed design.
Everyone who has interested himself in the history of pottery will know that some of the cobalt blue printed patterns of seventy or eighty years ago, which were engraved at a time when labour was less expensive, and when there was far less commercial hustle, have hardly been excelled for their minuteness and wealth of engraving, and to reproduce some of these patterns, cutting a full series of engravings for the purpose, is no small undertaking nowadays; and the cost is naturally serious. But there is a quality about a design of this sort which is at once impressive, and we do not wonder that the volume of orders that John Steventon & Sons Ltd, are experiencing for such a pattern as this is proving well worth the experiment.
Applied to antique looking square shaped coverdish, this pattern is a sure seller, particularly in these days when Jacobean furnishings are so much in favour. In a full range of suite ware, the firm in question is showing several patterns of a more than ordinary interest.
They have a new chintz design, for example, which prints up even better than their earlier Blue Chintz, though this, it will be remembered, met with a wonderful sale. They have also an enameled suite pattern depicting an orange tree with fruit and leafage in something like the natural colours. For ordinary everyday selling lines, such as sets of jugs, they also cater rather specially, and they seem to supply everything that is necessary both for the home and the export markets, from prints and enamels down to plain white granite.
They also offer an inexpensive "Blue Willow" pattern, which is always much in demand. Our illustration shows a couple of the firm's newest designs in toiletware, which are sure to interest rather specially the buyer who is identified with a middle class type of trade.
