Chapter XXIII — The Export Wares. - Bells Glasgow Pottery

fig 23.34
Chapter 23A
5. A very small number of purely hand-painted plates has also been reported trom Malaysia.
Curiously these include the use of amber lustre, the famous iron lustre which had been so
popular in Britain and particularly in Scotland in the 1860s and l870s. It is possible that many of
the humble products painted in this colour and now attributed to an early period could date from
rather later than was thought.
c) A magnificent collection of spongeware has been brought back to Britain from Sri Lanka.
(133) This Sri Lanka material displays a wide source of origin. The most commonly represented
potteries are Bells’ (figs 23.36 & 37) , Methven’s and the Societe Ceramique of Maastricht but
Cochran’s Britannia and Verreville potterles are both represented as well as the Sphinx Pottery of
Petrus Regout and Adams of Stoke. The style and colouring of all of these makers are
Indistinguishable apart from the backstamps and the vast majority of the pieces are unmarked,
fig. 23.36 Bells- Sponged & painted from Sri Lanka
fig 23.35
fig.23.37 Bells spongeware from Sri Lanka
109 © Henry E. Kelly