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porcelain production at the
Cambrian Pottery, where Walker and Billingsley were based from late 1814. The recipe was modified and improved, but was still wasteful enough for Dillwyn to abandon the project in 1817, when the pair returned to Nantgarw. Royal Worcester's attempts to sue Dillwyn, Billingsley & Walker for breach of contract was a further reason for Dillwyn to cease porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery. The contract signed at
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In the second phase of production at
Nantgarw, Young invested a further £1,100 in the pottery as well as mustering a further £1,000 from "ten gentlemen of the county". Billingsley and Walker continued to fire their porcelain, which by this stage was of the finest quality Billingsley had ever attained
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of high quality, mostly in London or elsewhere rather than at the factory. The wares were expensive, and mostly distributed through the London dealers. Plates were much the most common shapes made, and the decoration was typically of garlands of flowers in a profusion of colours, the speciality of
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Dillwyn made the inspection, observing that 90% of the porcelain was ruined in the firing, but was so impressed with the quality of the surviving pieces that he invited
Billingsley and Walker to use his facilities at the Cambrian Pottery to improve their recipe and process. An annexe was built for
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in
October 1820, enabling him to buy out his minor partners, become sole proprietor and manage the completion and sale of the stock; effectively salvaging the business. He invited his friend and former co-working artist from the Cambrian Pottery, Thomas Pardoe, to aid him with the completion and
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The history of the ownership and management of the factory is complicated. The first formula, used in 1813–14, gave excellent results, but had an unacceptably high wastage rate, being very prone to deform ("slump") during firing. This formula was also being used at
Swansea, and pieces can be
244:. The high temperature needed to produce perfect pieces made Billingsley soft paste method difficult to fire. The vast majority of the pieces warped or shattered in the firing process. The resources of the three associates soon ran out and the group approached the British Government's
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porcelain was made to
Billingsley's secret formula. Bones, burnt and mixed with clay, were ground by miller David Jones in a mill adjoining the Cross Keys public house, in the village. The water wheel was powered by a leat running from the canal to the
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council, the
Nantgarw Chinaworks Museum was reopened during the week in November 2010 by two artists. The museum is currently (February 2016) used for artists' studios, exhibitions, art classes and special events, and the restoration of the
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decoration of the salvaged porcelain. Young and Pardoe experimented to perfect a glaze for the biscuit ware, but were unable to add to
Billingsley's stockpile of porcelain, having no access to his recipe. The final sales of the finished
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175:, he and Walker, had signed an agreement not to disclose their new porcelain recipe to a third party, but there was no clause preventing them from using that recipe themselves. They had left
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had replaced pipes. The site is now a museum, and also a working pottery. In 2017 a limited quantity of porcelain was made there, using the original formula, as reconstructed.
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In 1833 William Henry Pardoe, son of Thomas Pardoe, took over the vacant
Nantgarw Pottery and began manufacturing stoneware bottles and brown glazed earthenware known as
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leaving behind them the lease to the pottery and several thousand pieces of undecorated porcelain in various stages of production ("in the biscuit and the white").
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William Weston Young (1776–1847) of
Bristol, Aberdulais and Neath: Journals, 1801-1843 (D/D Xch); Fact Books & Plans, 1787–1840; Fact Book, 1807 (D/D Xls)
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214:, while seeking employment in 1807. Young's work across Glamorganshire as a surveyor may have put him in the position to advise Billingsley whilst still at
327:(sold between 1821 and 1822), paid Pardoe and his staff's salaries in arrears, but failed to recoup Young's total losses, leaving Young narrowly avoiding
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had already become the major share-holder in their venture, having invested £630 into the first production period at Nantgarw, as his diaries at the
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impossible to allocate between the two with confidence. After a period of experimentation, in 1817-1820 the original paste formula was used again.
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Porcelain Factory by the French Government. They were not successful, but one member of the committee, porcelain enthusiast Sir
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After ceasing to make or decorate porcelain in the 1820s, and a period of closure, the pottery reopened in 1833, making
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excavation and restoration of its kilns and buildings, the site opened it to the public two years later as the
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It is assumed Young was acquainted with Billingsley through a mutual friend, and fellow earthenware decorator
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331:. Besides the porcelain decorated by Young, but predominantly by Pardoe at Nantgarw, many pieces were sold
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and his son-in-law Samuel Walker, a skilled technician, rented "Nantgarw House" on the eastern bank of the
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Some Nantgarw porcelain is identified with the mark "NANTGARW" impressed, often with the initials C.W.
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248:(The Board of Trade), requesting a grant of £500, referring to the subsidy afforded to the famous
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underneath. The word "NANTGARW" in red script is also seen on some of the finer specimens.
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A jigger-and-jolley machine demonstrated by the curator of the Nantgarw pottery museum
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in 1920; Bilingsley's recipe was found, but had never used in Billingsley's absence.
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One of the kilns at the Nantgarw Pottery undergoing restoration in September 2006
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prevented the recipe being disclosed to a third party, which superficially,
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to be decorated in London. These wares are known to have been decorated by
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with only £250 to invest in the project between them. By January 1814, the
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County Borough Council, who still today own the site. After the start of
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but still at a loss until one day in April 1820, while Young was away in
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Collections of the historic wares can be seen at museums including the
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Young put the Nantgarw Pottery and its contents up for sale via public
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could not prove. However, when Dilwyn's notebooks were interred at the
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222:. Its proximity to the Glamorganshire Canal enabled heavy shipments of
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BBC Wales: "Nantgarw China Works porcelain produced after 200 years"
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510:"Nantgarw China Works - Name - V&A Search the Collections"
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With the pottery established, Billingsley sought to produce a
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Billingsley had been instrumental in the development of the
554:"BBC - Nantgarw pottery museum reopens to the public"
199:an alias Billingsley travelled under since leaving
94:, and continental and Asian ones continued to make
666:The Pottery and Porcelain of Swansea and Nantgarw.
413:. Closed at the end of 2008 due to budget cuts at
86:, Nantgarw was one of the last factories to make
572:"Nantgarw pottery museum reopens to the public"
210:, whom Billingsley had approached at Swansea's
774:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1920
129:Established in November 1813, when artist and
401:In 1989 the semi-derelict site was bought by
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724:Manufacturing companies established in 1813
652:Sotheby's Concise Encyclopedia of Porcelain
195:testify, where payments are recorded to a
381:in Cardiff, the Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw,
90:, when English factories had switched to
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729:Design companies disestablished in 1920
671:Jenkins, Elis. "William Weston Young."
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117:, before finally closing in 1920, when
749:Ceramics museums in the United Kingdom
33:Nantgarw porcelain plate, c. 1813-1822
759:British companies established in 1813
179:in secret and started the venture at
45:factory, later making other types of
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764:Design companies established in 1813
734:Companies based in Rhondda Cynon Taf
636:, 1977 (3rd edn.), Faber and Faber,
530:. Rhondda Cynon Taff. Archived from
218:, of the suitability of the site at
673:The Glamorgan Historian, Volume 5.
594:"Gareth Nash, Artist in Residence"
246:Committee of Trade and Plantations
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612:"Art Classes/Dosbarthiadau Celf"
492:"Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelain"
57:, 8 miles (13 km) north of
769:1920 disestablishments in Wales
719:Ceramics manufacturers of Wales
411:Nantgarw China Works and Museum
616:nantgarwchinaworksmuseum.co.uk
598:nantgarwchinaworksmuseum.co.uk
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675:Stewart Williams Publishers;
474:"Welsh Pottery and Porcelain"
744:1813 establishments in Wales
739:Museums in Rhondda Cynon Taf
574:. BBC Wales. 4 November 2010
704:Nantgarw China Works Museum
451:Honey, 314-316; Battie, 147
442:Battie, 147; Honey, 314-323
256:, suggested his friend and
53:on the eastern bank of the
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422:is being completed by the
391:Victoria and Albert Museum
754:Industry museums in Wales
654:, 1990, Conran Octopus.
379:National Museum of Wales
311:, the pair absconded to
281:Flight, Barr & Barr
193:Glamorgan Record Office
169:Flight, Barr & Barr
140:, eight miles north of
668:London: Batsford. 1943
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634:Old English Porcelain
478:National Museum Wales
337:Thomas Martin Randall
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261:Lewis Weston Dillwyn
189:William Weston Young
144:in the Taff Valley,
138:Glamorganshire Canal
96:hard-paste porcelain
88:soft-paste porcelain
75:overglaze decoration
55:Glamorganshire Canal
39:Nantgarw China Works
463:, 10 December 2017.
134:William Billingsley
80:William Billingsley
415:Rhondda Cynon Taff
397:China Works Museum
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18:Nantgarw porcelain
779:British porcelain
664:Morton-Nance, E.
360:(for China Works)
353:Matthew Colclough
84:Swansea porcelain
16:(Redirected from
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646:Jones, Jimmy in
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333:in the white
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197:Mr "Bealey;"
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393:in London.
373:Collections
349:William Peg
345:John Latham
235:porcelain.
167:recipe for
107:earthenware
713:Categories
660:1850292515
642:0571049028
627:References
578:1 December
538:1 December
528:"Nantgarw"
389:, and the
383:Llanbedrog
329:bankruptcy
242:River Taff
232:soft paste
224:china clay
119:cigarettes
115:clay pipes
92:bone china
63:River Taff
558:bbc.co.uk
514:vam.ac.uk
325:porcelain
177:Worcester
165:porcelain
111:stoneware
43:porcelain
403:Taff-Ely
387:Pwllheli
313:Coalport
237:Nantgarw
220:Nantgarw
181:Nantgarw
82:. With
65:valley,
51:Nantgarw
650:, ed.,
320:auction
309:Bristol
269:Swansea
263:of the
142:Cardiff
125:History
61:in the
59:Cardiff
47:pottery
679:
658:
640:
293:London
258:potter
250:Sèvres
185:Quaker
131:potter
41:was a
430:Notes
420:kilns
150:Wales
71:Wales
677:ISBN
656:ISBN
638:ISBN
580:2010
540:2010
109:and
37:The
267:of
171:at
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