Coalport, Shropshire, England was a centre of porcelain and pottery production between about 1795 ("inaccurately" claimed as 1750 by the company)[1] and 1926, with the Coalport porcelain brand continuing to be used up to the present. The opening in 1792 of the Coalport Canal, which joins the River Severn at Coalport, had increased the attractiveness of the site, and from 1800 until a merger in 1814 there were two factories operating, one on each side of the canal, making rather similar wares which are now often difficult to tell apart.[2]
Both factories made mostly tablewares that had elaborate overglaze decoration, mostly with floral subjects. A further round of mergers in 1819 brought moulds and skilled staff from Nantgarw porcelain and Swansea porcelain to Coalbrookdale, which continued to thrive through the rest of the century. The Coalport factory was founded by John Rose in 1795; he continued to run it successfully until his death in 1841. The company often sold its wares as Coalbrookdale porcelain, especially the pieces with flowers modelled in three dimensions, and they may be called Coalport China.
- ^ Modern forms (since 1875) of the factory mark include this date, which evidently relates to the founding of Caughley, which Coalport later took over. But it is not correct for Caughley either; Battie, 179 ("inaccurately" quoted); the start at Caughley was "soon after 1750" according to Honey, 286.
- ^ Honey, 324-325; Battie, 140