History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century enamel craftsmanship by John Grayson

During the eighteenth century there was an extensive and thriving trade in the manufacture of enamelled copper-ware, e.g. snuff boxes, candlesticks, etc. These were affordable versions of the expensive porcelain equivalents that they emulated. When the trade disappeared in the nineteenth century knowledge of the way these things were created was lost. Informed by the researcher’s craft practice expertise an extensive and detailed survey of original pieces has now cast light on the nature of the skills and techniques deployed in forming the often convoluted shapes of the copper substrates, as well as illuminating some of the particularities of the enamelling process and decoration by transfer printing. Also uncovered is a greater understanding of how the network of small independent workshops, responsible for each stage in the production chain, must have interacted in order to create these marvellous items now celebrated in museums. Visual and haptic encounters with enamels in museum stores, such as those of the V&A, revealed hidden, complex and inventive copper constructions. Comparative analysis of manufacturing irregularities on enamel surfaces, taken together with the study of contemporary technical writing, yielded significant insights as to the modes of fabrication. Craft workshop experiments replicating the processes, indicated by these inquiries, confirmed the approaches that were originally used. An exhibition displaying the research process and copper manufacturing findings opened at, and was funded by, Ruthin Crafts Gallery—Wales’s main craft venue. It toured to Vittoria Street Gallery, Birmingham, and Wolverhampton Art Gallery, having in excess of 10,000 visitors. Curators acknowledge that this work fills significant gaps in enamel history. Ruthin’s Director noted the exhibition illuminated the critical and previously disregarded relationship between studio enamel craft and now defunct industries. Transfer-print findings were presented at the Print Networks Conference (2018) and published in a special edited volume of Midland History (2020).

Bibliography

Adamson, G. (2013) The invention of craft. London: Bloomsbury.

Benjamin, S. (1987) English enamel boxes : from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. London: Macdonald Orbis, 1987. Reprint, 1987.

Benton, E. (1970) The Bilston enamellers. ECC Transactions. Vol. 7, No 3. Available at: http://englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/647 (Accessed: 4th November. 2015).

Charleston, R. (1985) A document of the later Bilston enamel industry. ECC Transactions. Vol. 12, No. 2. Available at: http://www.englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/295 (Accessed: 4th November. 2015).

Cope, T. (1980) Bilston Enamels of the 18th Century. Black Country Society.

Dick, M. (2016) 'The City of a Thousand Trades, 1700-1945', in Chinn, C. and Dick, M. (eds.) Birmingham The Workshop Of The World. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, pp. 125-157.

Grayson, J. (2018) South Staffordshire Enamels: The lost craftsmanship of eighteenth-century copper substrate. PhD diss., Birmingham City University.

Grayson, J. (2020) 'Imperfect Printed Enamel Surfaces: Interpreting Marks of Eighteenth-Century Midland Craftsmanship', Midland History, 45(2), pp. 190-207.

Greenhalgh, P. (1997) 'The History of Craft', in Dormer, P. (ed.) The Culture of Craft. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Hamling, T. (2016) 'Visual and material sources.', in Sangha, L. and Willis, J. (eds.) Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources: Taylor and Francis, pp. 129-152.

Hannan, L. and Longair, S. (2017) History through material culture. IHR Research Guides Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Hughes, T. and Hughes, G. B. (1951) English Painted Enamels. London: Country Life ; New York : Charles Scribner's Sons.

Ogden, J. (1999) 'Age & Authenticity: The materials and techniques of 18th and 19th century goldsmiths', http://independent.academia.edu/OgdenJack, Available: National Association of Goldsmiths.

Prown, J., David. (1982) 'Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture Theory and Method', Winterthur Portfolio, 17(1), pp. 1-19.

Rackham, B. (1932a) Porcelain as a Sidelight on Battersea Enamels. EPC Transactions. Vol. 4, Pg. 45-57: ECC Transactions. Available at: http://www.englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/5 (Accessed: 4th November 2015).

Rackham, B. (1932b) Supplementary Notes on the Battersea Factory. EPC Transactions. Vol. 4, Pg. 69-74. Available at: http://www.englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/5 (Accessed: 4th November 2015).

Read, H. (1932) Cross-Current in English Porcelain, Glass, and Enamels. EPC Transactions. Vol. 4. Pg. 7-16: EEC Transactions. Available at: http://www.englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/5 (Accessed: 4th November. 2015).

Sennett, R. (2008) The craftsman. London: Allen Lane.

Smith, P., H. (2018) The making and knowing project. New York City: Columbia University. Available at: http://www.makingandknowing.org/ (Accessed: 7th June 2018).

South Kensington Museum (1870) A Guide to the Art Collections of the South Kensington Museum: Spottiswoode & Company. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JKifAAAAMAAJ.

Styles, J. (2004) 'What was new?', in Snodin, M., & Styles, J. (ed.) Design and The Decorative Arts: Georgian Britain, 1714-1837. London: V&A Publications.

Victoria & Albert Museum. (1924) Catalogue of English Porcelain, Earthenware, Enamels and Glass collected by Charles Schreiber ... and the Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Schreiber ... Prepared by Bernard Rackham assissted by W. B. Honey and H. Read. London: Pub. under the authority of the Board of Education 1928.

Watney, B. (1966) Petitions for patents concerning porcelain, glass and enamels Birmingham The great toyshop of Europe Part 1a. ECC Transactions. Vol. 6, No. 2. Available at: http://www.englishceramiccircle.net/index.php/ECC_Transactions/article/view/171 (Accessed: 4th November. 2015).

Wyman, C. (1979) 'The early techniques of transfer-printing', ECC Transactions, 10(4), pp. 187 - 199.

Wyman, C. (1998) 'A review of early transfer printing techniques', ECC Transactions, 16(3), pp. 307-317.

History Making: Replicating Eighteenth-Century Enamel Craftsmanship

This research exposition comprises four sections presenting a research summary (Home Page); research questions, aims and objectives; methods; and, dissemination. Each comprises a scrollable text box, photographs presented in slide-show format, video, and relevant external links.

Home Page

Research Questions
Methodology
Dissemination
Bibliography

Tip

Tip