#19 - Dark Blue Davenport

The Davenport pottery was first documented in a 1974 book by Terry Lockett then later by Terry Lockett and Geoffrey Godden (1989). The authors tell much about the ninety-three years of operation and the wide range of ceramics and glass produced. The pottery became a limited company on 23rd April 1881, trading as Davenport’s Ltd but ceased manufacturing and declared bankruptcy in March six years later. The land, buildings, equipment, molds and copper plates were all sold and Davenport’s pattern books have not been seen since. Auction notices reproduced by Lockett and Godden mention eleven tons of copper plates for auction, representing more than 300 of the most salable patterns, of which Lockett and Godden name nearly 100. Whilst some of the pattern names have extant examples, many do not and without the pattern books it is difficult to match new finds to the original pattern names.