Meakin Ironstone

This article first appeared in the January-February 2020 issue of The Tea Life Style newsletter.

Meakin pottery shard

I’m not entirely certain when I first became aware of the existence of JG Meakin Ironstone.  While my favorite blogger has been collecting ironstone* for years (and I have drooled over her gorgeous collection), I don’t recall her ever writing about manufacturers.  I know that I’ve purchased a pieces here and there while out thrifting, but I was generally just interested in the fact that I liked it, it was in fact ironstone, and I could afford it.  I never paid too much attention to hallmarks beyond confirming that the pieces were ironstone.

That changed in the fall of 2018.  While digging post holes in the back yard of the house that would become my tea room, my husband found a pottery shard.  After rubbing the dirt off it, we read:

Ironstone_____

J & G Meakin

Hanley

England

 I had already decided that the tea room would be called the Ironstone Cottage, because I love ironstone*, and planned to serve our guests on ironstone dishes.  This little discovery just confirmed that I’d chosen the right name.  It also made me curious about the manufacturer.

J & G Meakin was an English company that produced earthenware pottery.  The initials J & G refer to James and George Meakin, who took over their father’s company in 1851.  They produced an array of pottery items including dinnerware, chamber pots (given the age of the house, and the size of the hallmark, I suspect my pottery shard came from one of these), kitchenware and of course, teaware.  The company exported a great deal of their products for sale in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Most of the early wares were solid white, some pieces were quite simple in design, while others featured scallops, beaded rims or other raised designs.  Later patterns include single-color transfer designs such as “Blue Nordic”, “Avondale”, “Americana” and “Romantic England”.

Meakin sugar jar

Production of ironstone and earthenware bearing the J & G Meakin name continued even after the company was acquired by Wedgwood in 1970, right up until the year 2000. 

brown transferware canister

*What is Ironstone?  Ironstone is a type of glazed stoneware that was manufactured primarily in England, beginning in the early 1800s.  It is generally lighter than stoneware, and was marketed as a sturdier, more affordable alternative to porcelain.  Ironstone generally is white or cream in color, and can either be solid white/cream or may have a single color transfer pattern (similar to toile) or be hand-painted.  Some antique ironstone even features beautiful flow blue designs or gold detailing.

There are a number of books dedicated to the subject of collecting antique ironstone. While the prices they contain may be decades out of date, the information they contain is still valuable.