Leeds

Leeds pottery was made at Leeds, Yorkshire, England, from 1774 to 1878. Most Leeds ware was not marked. Early Leeds pieces had distinctive twisted handles with a greenish glaze on part of the creamy ware. Later ware often had blue borders on the creamy pottery. The mark Leeds impressed on the bottom of a piece is rarely found.

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Leeds Pottery was founded in 1770 by Richard Humble and the brothers John and Joshua Green. The Greens’ cousin Savile Green and an entrepreneur William Hartley joined soon after. It was as Humble, Hartley, Greens & Company that they were to become known for decorative table ware. Their best years for art pottery started around 1780, and then spanning barely half a century. The ongoing series of mergers, closures and bankruptcies continued until the company closed for good in 1881. By that time they had become focused on producing less decorative utilitarian ware. They were by far the largest of the thirty-five potteries in Leeds, with only five of those recorded as having produced similar wares. The bulk of Leeds Pottery’s production was and remained creamware, with a translucent lead glaze and hardly ever decorated. But they also made highly decorative examples of what might today be called folk art, not the finest bone china, but honest and expressive everyday pieces of art pottery. Like French faience,

it was the poor man’s porcelain of the time. And, like its French counterpart, it is highly prized today.

Leeds Pottery also produced stoneware (similar to Doulton Lambeth), blackware (rivalling Wedgwood) and transfer ware (similar to Sunderland and Derby). The fact that there is still debate on the question of whether porcelain was ever manufactured on a commercial basis means that it probably never was. It appears that Leeds Pottery’s diversions from Leedsware and other creamware were speculative rather than sustained.

http://www.antiques-info.co.uk/new/pdf/Sep08/6.pdf