Other maritime

For an overview of maritime plaques, click on the Maritime heading above. Click on images to enlarge.

Other maritime subjects

Crimean War

The Crimean War drove a boom in pottery production. Plaques on the wall and figures on the mantlepiece, helped the still largely illiterate populous to make sense of events many miles away. Crimean War-related plaques were made post 1855. The transfers were used over a long period, the ships appearing on orange wares perhaps until the turn of the 20th century.

Staffordshire figures of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Napier (left) and Rear-Admiral Richard Dundas (right) with a plaque depicting their flagship, 'DUKE OF WELLINGTON - 131 GUNS'.

Figure of French soldier and English sailor with flags (left). A two-sided figure with an English sailor on one side, and a French soldier on the other (right).

May they ever be united

The top row all have the impressed mark 'Dixon Co'. Top left, French and English sailors carrying flags. Top centre, a plaque with Emperor Napoleon and Queen Victoria, surmounted by a lion and a unicorn. Top right, a variation of the first transfer but with two soldiers. Bottom row, two plaques with an eagle and a lion, and French and British flags, around the title 'CRIMEA'. The text on the plaques reads: 'MAY THEY EVER BE UNITED.', 'CRIMEA', 'VIVE L'EMPEREUR' and 'GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.' The top row have the impressed mark 'Dixon Co'. The plaques on the bottom row are unmarked, but the left is attributed to Moore & Co and the right to Scott of Southwick.

The two plaques above, although unmarked, are attributed to Adams Pottery, Staffordshire. They are copies/imitations of Sunderland plaques, and were likely made c 1900–1930.

Always Ready

Red, White, and Blue

Incidents of the War

Underneath the picture is the subtitle 'FORAGING PARTY IN THE CRIMEA'. These plaques have been recorded with the C T Maling impress.

The Sailor's Farewell

SAILORS' FAREWELL
Sweet, oh sweet is that sensation,
Where two hearts in union meet;
But the pain of separation,
Mingles bitter with the sweet.

THE SAILOR'S FAREWELL
Far from Home across the Sea
To Foreign climes I go.
While far away O think of me
And I'll remember you.

The unmarked jug above has flower decoration typical of Scott of Southwick. It shows another version of the sailor's farewell and return. The 'return' appears on rectangular plaques with straight edges (see last image in the section below). The 'farewell' is yet to be recorded on a plaque.

The Sailor's Return

THE SAILOR'S RETURN
Now safe returned from dangers past
With joy I hail the shore.
And fear no more the tempests blast
Nor Oceans angry roar.

The Token or Jack's Safe Return to his True Love

The text on the plaque reads:

The TOKEN or JACKS safe return to his TRUE LOVE.
If YOU love's I. as I. love's YOU.
No PAIR so happy as WE. TWO.

I was unsure what Jack was holding in his left hand until I found the above print. The sailor has the word 'PRIZE' on his bag of money and 'ALBION' on the inside of his hat. The caption reads:

MR. T.P. COOKE as BEN BACKSTAY.
London. Published April 9th 1832. by Orlando Hodgson. 10. Cloth Fair.