ell
as of the Hispano-Moresque pieces, and the religious wars as well as the
constant intercourse with the Low Countries brought over to the eastern
counties not only the stonewares of the Rhineland and the "Delft" wares
of Holland, but also emigrant potters from those countries who tried to
practise their native crafts amongst us. The Civil War appears to have
been unable to check this new spirit, for we have the evidence of dated
examples to show that various immigrants went on quietly practising
their trade along the Thames side, in what were then the outskirts of
London, and probably in the eastern counties and Kent as well. It seems
probable that the earliest influence was an Italian one, but before this
was firmly domiciled it was supplanted by that of the Dutch and Germans.
The first wares of an improved kind that were made in England are so
closely related to the German stonewares and the "Delft" wares that it
is often difficult to determine whether actual specimens are of English
or foreign origin. The first, and in some senses the greatest, of
English potters was John Dwight, an educated man, who had held the
office of secretary to three successive bishops of Chester, and who
obtained a patent in 1671 for the manufacture of certain improved kinds
of pottery. We have no knowledge where Dwight acquired his skill in the
potter's art, for when he obtained his patent he was residing at Wigan
(Lancashire), far removed from the districts where foreign potters had
settled. About 1672-1673 Dwight set up a factory at Fulham, where he
resided till his death in 1703. He was always an eager experimenter, and
from his diaries it seems certain that he was searching after the, then,
mysterious Chinese porcelain. We have no grounds for believing that he
ever attained success in this search, for his known productions may be
grouped into two main classes: (1) Hard-fired red stoneware--mostly
small vessels, teapots, mugs, &c., in imitation of the Chinese
buccaros.[23] (2) Whitish, grey, or drab salt-glazed stoneware made in
imitation of, and often not to be distinguished from, the wares of the
Rhineland. But Dwight produced a considerable number of modelled
portrait-busts, statuettes, &c., all in stoneware of various tints,
which entitle him to a place in the very first rank of potters. The
portrait-bust of Prince Rupert (British Museum), the statuettes of
Meleager (British Museum), of Jupiter (Liverpool), &c., are worthy of a
scu