Beech & Hancock






 

Location and period of operation:

Beech & Hancock

Tunstall

1857

1876

 

Earthenware manufacturer at Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England.  
  • In 1857 (1860 according to Jewitt) Beech & Hancock took over the Church Bank Works from R. Beswick and continued there until 1861. 

  • In 1861/2 they then moved to the Swan Bank Works, Tunstall. 

  • In 1876/7 the partnership was dissolved and James Beech continued on his own account. 

 

Subsequently: James Beech 

 

 

Church Bank Works. 

The Church Bank Works were built in 1842 by Mr. Robert Beswick (of Chell, the present owner), by whom they were carried on till 1860, and afterwards successively by the firms of Beech & Hancock, Eardley & Hammersley, and Ralph Hammersley alone. 



Swan Bank Works. 

This is one of the oldest manufactories in Tunstall. In the beginning of the present century it belonged to and was worked by Mr. Ralph Hall, and is still the property of his descendants, his sole executor being Mr. Frederick J. Bowers, by whom (as successor to his father, Mr. George F. Bowers) the Brownhills Pottery was carried on until that concern was formed into a company. Mr. Ralph Hall was succeeded in the manufactory by Messrs. Podmore Walker & Co., by whom it was carried on until about 1862, when it passed into the hands of Messrs. Beech & Hancock, by whom it was much improved, and from them to its present occupier, James Beech. 

The productions of the firm are the ordinary classes of earthenware and stoneware for the home trade. In these wares dinner, tea, toilet, and all the usual services are largely produced in every variety of style and of various degrees of ornamentation, both in "sponged," printed, painted, enamelled, gilt and lustred styles. Stoneware jugs and other articles are also largely made and are of excellent quality, as are also black ware and other jardinieres flower vases, &c. 

 

Llewellyn Jewitt, Ceramic Art of Great Britain, 1878

 

 


 


 Salt glazed stoneware jug with a pewter lid

the registration diamond shows that the design
was first registered on the 5th July 1861


Beech & Hancock
Swan Bank
Tunstall
 



 


syrup jug with a pewter lid in the JEDDO patten

other companies, notably J &M P Bell & Co and William Adams & Sons produced ware in a pattern called Jeddo 

Jeddo was an anglicised name for the Japanese port of Edo, Tokyo which was first opened to foreigners in 1869


JEDDO
BEECH & HANCOCK 

the Victorians had a fascination for oriental places and as Asia started to open up many potters used names which they thought represented the Far East

photos courtesy: Angela Kennelly

 



 Beech and Hancock plate in the SIAM pattern  
Beech and Hancock plate in the SIAM pattern

[during the 1862-76 period a swan device was often included]

 


 

 Beech and Hancock jugs in the POMONA pattern 
Beech and Hancock jugs in the POMONA pattern

 


 


plate in a romantic 'Asian' pattern

NOTE: it is sometimes assumed that this pattern was produced by Bednall & Heath 
- this is incorrect as shown by the example below 


PEKIN
B & H 

 

 


this hand coloured tea set in the Pekin pattern has some items marked 
with B & H , some with J B while other items are not marked

James Beech was the successor company to Beech & Hancock - the use of 
both sets of initials in the same style mark shows that the manufacturer was 
Beech and not Bednall & Heath 
    


PEKIN
B & H 

 


PEKIN
J B 

 


 

Initials and marks used on ware for identification:

 

BEECH & HANCOCK

B & H

[The name of the pattern is sometimes included]

 


Beech & Hancock
Swan Bank
Tunstall
 

 


TRADE MARK
B & H

'Siam' is the pattern name 

[during the 1862-76 period a swan device was often included]

 



- click for more information on the Swan Bank Works, Tunstall

 


Questions, comments, contributions?: Steve Birks