He was probably the Thomas Toft who married in 1663 and was buried at Stoke on 3 December 1689.

Over thirty signed dishes have been recorded but a few of them may have been made by his son, also Thomas Toft.

It was here that Thomas Toft made his slipware dishes, of which about 30-40 are still known to exist. Another famous slipware maker of the 'Toft' family, was Ralph Toft, possibly Thomas Toft's brother or son, who is thought to have worked around 1675. There was also a Cornelius Toft and James Toft.

Designs attributed to Thomas Toft include mermaids, unicorns, pelicans, but also King Charles II and his wife Queen Catherine of Braganza, and numerous coats of arms. A cross-hatched rim was fairly typical of the style.

The Toft style, combined with the slip trailing technique, was firmly established in the Staffordshire area by the middle of the 17th C. Other potters working in that style were Ralph Turner, William Taylor, Ralph Simpson and Richard Meir.

Sometimes a red slip was trailed on to a lighter background, sometimes vice-versa. Black and green slips were also used. According to the common practice of the time, these earthenware's were glazed with a galena lead oxide glaze, giving them their characteristic yellow tinge.

"Burslem was by 1670 full of potters; making no doubt butter-pots or the commonest of ware.

A little further off, in the valley of Tinkersclough, Thomas Toft was actually attempting decoration. The Toft dishes are well known. They are signed with the name, Thomas Toft or Ralph Toft, written in liquid slip clay upon the plate. They are made of red, buff or yellow clay, and other coloured slip-clays are dribbled over them through a quill, so as to make pictures of Charles II, or Queen Anne, or a pelican picking its breast to feed its young. Then the whole is dusted over with powdered lead ore, and fired till the lead fuses into the plate and forms a rich yellowish glaze. 

Some of these productions, of what has come to be called the Toft school, are dated. There is a candlestick, very elaborate, dated 1649, and claimed for Staffordshire. 

Shaw mentions two dishes marked, one "Thos. Sans," and the other "Thos. Toft," each dated 1650. (1)

M. Solon had seen a slip dish, in a cottage in Hanley, bearing this inscription scratched on its back, "Thomas Toft, Tinkers Clough, I made it 166-. (2) [NOTE]

A dish with the picture of a soldier bearing a sword in each hand, and inscribed in slip "Ralph Toft, 1677" is also mentioned by M. Solon. (3) 

Another, marked Ralph Toft, and bearing the image of a very wasp-waisted lady is in the Salford Museum, dated "1676". (4) 

Other makers of this school were Thomas and William Sans, Ralph Simson and William Taylor. They made two-handled drinking mugs called "tygs" with similar decoration; and small model cradles made in clay and slip — presents for young married couples, according to their local custom.

Wedgwood, Josiah C (1913) Staffordshire pottery & its history, S. Low, Marston & Co. Ltd, London. pp 10-12. 

 

(1) Shaw "Staffordshire Potteries" p.103

(2) Solon "Art of the Old English Potters" p.34

(3) ibid p.35

(4) Burton "Hist. and Descrip. English Earthenware" p.31

 

NOTE: "This is now generally regarded as a fake foisted upon Solan by hoxers." 
     Makowitz W & Haggar R G (1957) Concise Encyclopedia of English Pottery and Porcelain, André Deutsch Ltd, London p 223

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