Student Travel Award Report - Emma O'Toole

3 March 2015 -

IRC Government of Ireland Doctoral Scholar, National College of Art & Design Dublin, Ireland.

As pioneering Staffordshire ceramic manufacturers, several detailed studies have been conducted into Wedgwood's (est.1759) and Spode's (est.1776, succeeded by Copeland & Garrett in 1833) production and marketing methods during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however very little is yet understood about the extent to which children's goods were produced at their firms throughout this period. In April this year, thanks to the support of the Design History Society, I was given the opportunity to visit archives in Stoke‒on‒Trent to carry out research into the surviving records of these ceramic manufactories. The records which comprise of pattern books, letters, shape books, and order books are now held at the Wedgwood Museum, Keele University and Stoke-on-Trent City Archives. The study of these collections has provided crucial primary evidence for my doctoral dissertation titled 'The Material Culture of Pregnancy & Infancy in Ireland, c.1680‒c.1830'.

With the intention of building on the current historiography of the History of the Family, History of Childhood, Medical History and Material Culture my dissertation addresses such areas as the objects, spaces and related ideologies surrounding maternity and infancy, together with the increasing range of commodities marketed to parents. The research argues that from the period 1680 onwards there was an increase in the range of commodities used by families to manage their children's health, diet and well‒being. It represented a key area within consumer culture and one that manufacturers and retailers were acutely aware of.

A context that deserves special attention in this enquiry is the development of new types of feeding instruments that were used to administer pap mixtures. Pap was a breast milk substitute that was made from a wide variety of ingredients which depended mainly upon the wealth of the mother and the personal preferences of the midwife and her attendants. Despite continuous protests by medical practitioners, feeding infants with prepared recipes administered in infant feeding vessels became an increasingly prevalent practice throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. My research to date has focused on examining collections of infantile feeding vessels held in museum collections across Ireland, England and Canada. However this type of research has its limitations and in order to provide a broader picture into the industrial and commercial market for such goods, it was necessary to examine ceramic manufacturing and retail records from the period.

Scrutiny of the early nineteenth century production books held at both the Wedgwood and Spode archives quickly revealed the assortment of infantile feeding vessels produced at both these North Staffordshire pottery manufactories. Drawings found in the Wedgwood shape books dating to 1802, 1803 and 1804 include a wide range of infant feeding vessels, including bubby pots, sick boats (also known as pap boats), sick basins, and nursery food warmers. The shape books indicate that these goods were available in various sizes and could be ordered with a limited range of patterns. The design of these varied from simple scoops, to bowls with curved spouts in the shape of animals. Drawings and measurements found in the Spode archives also act as evidence that Spode was producing infantile goods in the same style found in the products produced at Wedgwood's manufactory. Perhaps most important in the Spode collection was a shape book compiled by one of the firms managers, Mr. Shaw, in 1817, whose compilation contained a variety of drawings and measurements for making bubby pots, nursery chamber lamps, and pap bowls.

Examination of the surviving order book from Wedgwood and Byerley's Dublin showroom located on Sackville Street (now O'Connell Street) during the period 1808‒1811, helped to shed light on the commercial sale of infantile ceramic wares in Ireland during the early nineteenth century. Alongside the sale of pap feeding vessels the Dublin order book details the sale of an extensive range of children's feeding vessels, or nursery wares, at the showroom. These wares spanned a range of broth bowls, oblong dishes, square dishes, slop bowls, butter tubs, egg cups, and ewers. The considerable quantity of ceramic food dishes designed for the nursery room, from square terrine plates to oblong broth bowls, indicates that a high level of formality surrounded children's meals in the nursery room. The order book also suggests that when purchasing goods for children Wedgwood offered customers the option of transfer printed labels, and many shoppers at the Wedgwood showroom requested that the word 'nursery' or their child's name was transfer printed onto their ceramic ware purchases.

Wedgwood's Dublin order book also provides lists of the names and addresses of each of the Irish families that purchased infantile goods from the showroom, allowing for the development of specific case studies. Of particular interest is the extent to which men purchased goods from Wedgwood's Dublin showroom. Written details of men from the upper echelons of middling society and the aristocracy are recorded as visiting Wedgwood's Dublin showroom, examining, ordering, and returning infantile wares. Such evidence will help to challenge current research that focuses on the purchase of infantile goods as a world more closely linked with women.

At the Wedgwood archive, the collection of letters written by Mr Randall, the Dublin showroom manager and Mr Fannin, Wedgwood's travelling salesman highlight how new types of infantile goods may have been introduced and marketed to Irish consumers. The letters provide vivid descriptions of Fannin's use of trade cards and circulars to promote Wedgwood's wares. Descriptions are also given of Fannin's advice to regional retailers on the display of ceramic wares in shop windows. The importance of dialogue and communication between sales assistants and customers is further described in the surviving letters found between Mr. Randall and consumers. When consumers were unable to visit the showroom and personally pick out the infantile wares they desired, Randall corresponded with them, providing extensive amounts of information on the sizes, decoration and range of wares available. Such vivid details will be invaluable to my research on shopping practices and the display of infantile goods in shop windows and showrooms.

I am extremely grateful to the Design History Society for providing me with funding for this research trip. I would also like to thank the staff at the Wedgwood Museum, Stoke‒on‒Trent City Archives and Keele University for kindly allowing me to view this archival material. This research trip and the study of the rich archival material held at the Stoke-on-Trent archives has helped to shed light on the design, production and consumption of infantile ceramic feeding wares in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Research into these archives collections has added substantial depth to my doctoral research, which offers a new study of the material culture of infancy during the long eighteenth century in Ireland.