Category:Johnson Brothers

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Revision as of 05:27, 23 December 2023

Caption

Johnson Brothers was 19th and 20th century pottery company with offices and plants in North America and Australia. It was founded in 1882 by the brothers Alfred Johnson and Frederick Johnson, with the purchase of the Charles Street Works of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England at a bankruptcy sale. There were four Johnson Brothers in all, and their older brother Henry Johnson soon joined the firm, followed in 1888 by Robert Johnson, who opened a branch office in New York around 1896. Although theirs was a new company, the Johnson Brothers had previous experience in the manufacture of tableware, for they came from a long line of manufacturing potters, being descendants of James Meakin Sr., and therefore relatives of Alfred Meakin and the brothers James Meakin Jr. and George Meakin of the J. and G. Meakin pottery. By 1900 the Johnson Brothers were operating five potteries -- the Charles Street Works, Imperial Works, Hanley Works, Trent Works, and Scotia Road Works in Tunstall.

The Johnson Brothers dinnerware lines were excellent in quality, very durable, and moderate in price. "White Granite" was their first line, and was marketed as "Semi Porcelain." They later used the term "Ironstone" to mark their semi-vitreous lines. Their pottery shapes were fairly simple, but they reached the heart of the middle-class market when they branched out into transfer decorations featuring landscapes and architecture, such as Historic America, Old Britain Castles, Coaching Scenes, Olde English Countryside, Friendly Village, and the like. They also made floral patterns, including Summer Chintz, Hop, and Willow.

As time went on, the sons and grandsons of the original Johnson Brothers joined the firm. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the original factory on Charles Street was closed, and production slowed, but as soon as they were able, the directors of the firm modernized their factories, and electric tunnel kilns replaced the old coal-fired bottle kilns. Sales to America continued strong, through World War Two and after, especially with the introduction of the Friendly Village and Christmas Plates lines. Due to the setback in English production as a result of the damage caused by the war, they began manufacturing blanks in England and shipped them to Canada and Australia for decoration.

They would manufacture the blanks in England in this case the shape is Snow white Regency, shipped the blanks to Canada where the Manor House decorating and firing was done.

During the 1950s, Johnson Brothers was granted Royal Warrants from Queen Elizabeth II and the Queen Mother. Their popular and ward winning designs, such as Old Britain Castles and Historic America, were so popular that the company was twice honoured with the Queen's Award to Industry.

One departure from their practice of using elaborate transfers to ornament plain shapes was XXX Snowhite Regency, an elaborately swirled shape often seen in undecorated white, first produced in 1960.

Fortune Tea Cup

In 1968, as multinational consolidation and the rise of melamine plastic table ware was changing the pottery trades, Johnson Brothers, along with Adams, Crown Staffordshire, Coalport, Mason's, Midwinter, and Meakin, all joined the Wedgwood Group. One new pattern from this era which proved popular was 1981's Eternal Beau, but the general trend in tableware was downward, and the Hanley Pottery was closed and demolished in 1995. After this, the Johnson Brothers patterns were reduced in number and the lines were cut back. By 2000 the Johnson Brothers tableware division was moved into the old J. & G. Meakin Eagle Pottery Works, but in 2003, all Johnson Brothers products were made in China, and the Eagle Pottery Works were demolished in 2005.