Turner (potters)

The Turner family of potters was active in Staffordshire, England 1756-1829. Their manufactures have been compared favourably with, and sometimes confused with, those of Josiah Wedgwood and Sons. Josiah Wedgwood was both a friend and a commercial rival of John Turner the elder, the first notable potter in the family.

The Turner factory, like Wedgwood, mostly made fine earthenwares and stonewares but, briefly and not very successfully, made hard-paste porcelain themselves. John Turner the Elder was also an original partner in the New Hall porcelain factory, though not associated with the factory for long. Many of the most interesting wares from the Turner factory are unglazed, in caneware, jasperware and basalt ware. Geoffrey Godden uses the term "Turner stoneware" for "a refined earthenware being a cross between caneware and stoneware" (bearing in mind that many classify caneware as stoneware). The Turner factory was the leading and best maker, but many others also made this body, mainly for items like tankards and jugs, decorated with scenes in relief.^[1] The family operated the first factory, at Lane End, now part of Longton, Staffordshire, from the early 1760s (or possibly c. 1759) to 1806, when John Junior and William went bankrupt, although William Turner, son of John, continued potting until 1829, and members of the family worked for other factories.^[2]