British pottery is the broad term for earthenware and stoneware made in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, as distinct from porcelain. It ranges from medieval jugs and slipwares to factory tablewares, ornamental figures and twentieth-century studio pottery.
The industry grew rapidly in the eighteenth century, centred on the Staffordshire Potteries around Stoke-on-Trent, where Josiah Wedgwood and his contemporaries developed refined creamware, pearlware, black basalt and jasperware and exported them across the world. Other important centres included Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Swansea, Sunderland and Glasgow, each with its own specialities such as tin-glazed delftware, lustreware and transfer-printed blue and white. The Victorian period brought mass production alongside the art pottery movement, with firms such as Doulton, Minton, Burmantofts and Moorcroft, while the twentieth century saw both Art Deco tablewares and the studio pottery tradition. Collectors look for factory marks, pattern numbers, quality of potting and decoration, and condition, as cracks, chips and restoration all reduce value. British pottery remains one of the most accessible collecting fields, offering everything from inexpensive kitchen wares to rare early pieces of museum quality.
