Queen's Ware

Southwest Virginia Project

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Description of Creamware and Queens Ware

From Wikipedia:

An example of Creamware, dating to 1780-1790

Creamware is a cream-coloured earthenware created about 1750 by the potters of Staffordshire, England, which proved ideal for domestic ware. It was popular until the 1820s. It was also known as tortoiseshellware or Prattware depending on the color of glaze used. The most notable producer of creamware was Josiah Wedgwood. Around 1779, he was able to lighten the cream color to a bluish white and sold this more desirable product under the name pearl ware. Wedgwood supplied his creamware to Queen Charlotte and Catherine the Great and used the trade name Queen's ware.

Occurrence in Southwest Virginia

"Prior to 1770, many types of ceramics were imported into the American colonies but by the 1780s creamware and pearlware had displaced most of them...Creamware quickly became a popular tableware and was found in most households throughout England and the British colonies. ^[1]

Queen's ware, the version of creamware popularized by Josiah Wedgewood, was present in the inventory of at least two merchants in southwest Virginia. In particular, it was one item among many in the estate records of Merchant Thomas Stuart, who operated out of Glade Springs in modern Washington County, dying there in 1789. The example shown above, dating to 1780-1790, could easily have been sold at his store. While it seems unlikely that the majority of the settlers in the area would have wanted something like this, it may well have been coveted by the wealthy. General William Russell, whose wife was the sister of Patrick Henry, lived just a few miles up the road at Seven Mile Ford and Queens Ware table settings would undoubtedly been attractive to their taste and pocketbook.

Notes

1. ↑ From: Diagnostic Artifacts in Maryland. Creamware citing Miller et al. 1994:223.