c
caneware
Stoneware made from clays that fire a range of shades from buff color to a pale yellowy-brown. One of the earliest of the stonewares made to produce wares in the classical taste, it was introduced in the 1770s becoming less popular in the 19th century. Pieces were usually unglazed except for the interior of tablewares, and occasionally were decorated with painted enamel colors.
china clay
Also known as Kaolin, the purest form of decomposed granite, a white-firing clay which is an essential ingredient of porcelain and bone china. It is white, has low shrinkage during firing, and vitrifies or fuses at a range of high temperature firings.
china stone
A white felspathic mineral formed from decomposed granite which is an essential ingredient of porcelain and bone china, and lowers the fusion point for the clay mixture during firing.
chinese porcelain
The Chinese were the first to make porcelain, using the china clay (kaolin) and china stone (petuntse), porcelains emerged and developed from the 6th century AD.
chromium
Chromium is a hard metallic ore discovered in 1797. It can be used in the preparation of a range of colors for ceramics decoration including green, pink, and yellow.
colored glazes
Colored glaze decoration was introduced by 1760 and was popular until about 1780. The biscuit creamware was painted with glazes tinted in green, and yellow. They were particularly suited to decorating teaware made in the form of fruit and vegetables.
Cookworthy/Champion patent
William Cookworthy, was a chemist and devout Quaker. By 1748 he had discovered English deposits of china clay and china stone and begun experiments in making true or hard-paste porcelain in his home town of Plymouth. In 1768 he successfully took out a patent for the use of china clay and china stone in porcelain. In about 1770 Cookworthy transferred production to Bristol, a city with a long established ceramic industry, where he found a number of shareholders to invest in his porcelain venture. Richard Champion was one the shareholders and in 1773/74 the patent was assigned to him, and he took over and expanded the business. Champion was a Bristol merchant who traded with the American colonies and the West Indies. His finances suffered during the American Revolution and by 1778 his funds were exhausted. In hope of selling the patent he journeyed to Staffordshire where he eventually found a consortium of potters willing to invest, and in about 1781 Hollins, Warburton & Co. began to make porcelain at the New Hall in Shelton Staffordshire, eventually becoming the New hall porcelain company. The patent expired in 1796.
Copeland & Garrett
Thomas Garrett is an enigmatic figure; it is likely he worked in Spode and Copeland’s London retail business. It seems he was appointed by W.T. Copeland to oversee the Spode Works which was under the daily management of the experienced senior workman William Outrim. Garrett left the Spode partnership in 1847 and retired to live in Ealing, Middlesex.
creamware
Cream colored earthenware, creamware, was developed in the 1740s. It was made principally from white firing ball clays found in Devon and Dorset. The lead used for the glaze was naturally contaminated with iron which imparted a golden tint to the glaze in shades. Creamware was refined and improved until by the 1760s it was suitable for making fashionable, elegant tableware. See also tortoiseshell and colored glazes.