October 2023

No, “Striking gold in Sunderland “ is not about panning for precious metal in the icy waters of the River Wear. It is about one of my favourite types of antique pottery. The museum where I worked before my retirement had a small collection of later post-medieval pottery, the period when ceramic production had been industrialised. I first came across it when I was checking these objects against the catalogue, making sure that all the records were complete. I ‘m not usually terribly keen on pottery unless it is at least 700 years old but I make an exception for Sunderland lustreware.  It’s the beautiful iridescent pinky-mauve glaze. I especially like the plaques with transfer-printed images of things like bridges, railways and ships, often with some kind of written text.  This one says “May Peace & Plenty on our Nation Smile, and Trade with Commerce Bless the British Isle”.

Sunderland Lustreware was first developed at the Wedgewood factory in Staffordshire around 1805. It was produced from the early 19^th century to the early 1930s in factories in north-east England, initially in Sunderland (Tyne and Wear). Plaques were one of the commonest forms, together with jugs, although there were examples of many other shapes, even rolling pins. This piece is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who made the image available.

And how does gold come into it? Lustreware is a term referring to pottery with an iridescent metallic glaze. This is produced by painting a mixture of clay and metallic oxides over a first glaze and then re-firing it at a lower temperature. The beautiful pink colour on Sunderland lustre ware comes from traces of gold in this second glaze.