Plate

Dateca. 1760

Maker Delftfield Pottery

Mediumearthenware, tin-glazed

DimensionsDiam.: 9"

Credit LinePurchased with funding from Betty Leviner and Barbara McRitchie

Object number2003-16

DescriptionShallow circular plate painted in blue with a geometric pattern of a central stylized flower head within four radiating petals and scrolling foliage. The rim is painted with five shaped panels of cell-diaper trelliswork divided by stylized buds with scrolling tendrils.
Label TextDid potteries in Scotland make white salt-glazed stoneware for export to the American colonies during the eighteenth century? Advertisements
placed in Scottish newspapers by the Delftfield pottery of Glasgow raise this intriguing question. Brothers Lawrence and Robert Dinwiddie in partnership with Robert Finlay and Patrick Nisbet founded Delftfield as an economic venture to produce tin-glazed earthenware, popularly known as delft, for export to the British colonies in America and the Caribbean. Established in 1748 on the River Clyde, the factory
continued in operation until 1826. Today, the pottery is best known for its delft, although creamware and pearlware were also produced there. The large numbers of delft shards from the factory found at colonial sites along the eastern seaboard attest to Delftfield’s success in marketing
wares to America.
Because vast quantities of tobacco were being shipped from the southern colonies to the west coast of Scotland, Delftfield was able to capitalize upon a well-established sea trade. Commerce between Glasgow and the colonies grew steadily following the Act of Union in 1707, and by the 1750s the city was the leading tobacco port in all of Britain. The greater speed of shipping along a northern route that skirted Ireland allowed vessels to travel from Glasgow to Maryland, Virginia,
and North Carolina in two to three weeks less than comparable voyages from London. By midcentury, a system of “factories,” or stores owned by Scottish tobacco barons in the mother country, was firmly established throughout the Chesapeake and Piedmont. From such bases, factors—agents for the merchants in Scotland—purchased tobacco and tobacco futures. They offered better terms when colonial planters accepted payment in store credit with which to acquire imported goods. The same Glasgow merchants readily supplied manufactured products
from the west coast of Scotland along with English and European wares.
In such a favorable business environment, the Delftfield pottery seemed destined for success. Initially, the endeavor was beset with labor problems and the local clay deposits ultimately were deemed unfit, but these obstacles were overcome by importing potters from England and clay from Carrickfergus, Ireland. The successful production of delft began in 1749. A further boon to business occurred when partner Robert Dinwiddie, an ambitious Scottish tobacco merchant with business and political connections in London and Bermuda, arrived in Williamsburg
in 1752 as lieutenant governor of Virginia.
Given the extent of the Dinwiddies’ involvement in the tobacco trade and factory system, it is not surprising that tin-glazed earthenware from the Delftfield factory is present in notable quantities in archaeological sites within and around Williamsburg.***
ProvenanceVendor: Garry Atkins, London