The displays at the Commissariat Store Museum Norfolk ’s British settlement began within months of Sydney ’s in 1788 yet the level of disruption that we have had to our landscape since then is minimal in comparison to Sydney
The museum produced a book on the collection in 2003 called “Kingston Ceramics”. Written by Nigel Erskine it is a dictionary of the ceramic wares held in the museum and while on sale at the REO Café and Bookshop to our visitors, is also regularly sold to academics and researchers who are aware of the importance of the collection.A unique feature of ceramics from the Kingston Pitcairn Island . These scratched markings were used to denote ownership of a wide range of property - including trees, bottles, crockery, cutlery and tools. At first a single letter may have been used, however as the population increased the use of more complex marks evolved. These personal scratch marks were inherited down through the generations of families and a register of 150 personal marks dating to about 1893 still survives on Pitcairn Island . While personal marks are still commonly used on Pitcairn today, the custom appears to have declined amongst the Pitcairn Islanders on Norfolk Island during the second half of the nineteenth century and is no longer in practice.
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| Pitcairner Scratch Marks |
The history of ceramics is fascinating. In the 18th century, most inexpensive earthenware came to In the 1820s pearlware was replaced by the stronger earthenware 'Ironstone' developed by James Mason, and by bone china developed by Josiah Spode. Ironstone was given a variety of names emphasizing either brilliant whiteness or immense strength. The use of 'China' in some of the more creative earthenware names, such as Ironstone China', 'Granite China', 'Opaque China' and 'Stone China' conveyed a sense of strength associated in the public mind with Chinese ceramics. An invoice from Josiah Spode to William Tatton in 1796 contains the first reference to 'English China' as a general term to cover ironstone ware. The best ironstone wares rivaled porcelain and were quickly in use for everything from tea services to chamber pots.
The Copyright Act of 1842 meant that English decorative art designs had to be registered at the British Patent Office. This seriously limited the range of subjects available for reproduction, which in turn inspired many 'romantic' patterns and artistic designs. From 1842 to 1883 registered designs were marked with a diamond-shaped stamp that indicated the day, month and year the patent took effect. Patents were initially for periods of three years. After 1883 registered designs were marked with an identifying number.
Blue and white continued to be the cheapest process with the most favoured patterns being Willow England