{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|A "mottoware" teapot made at Aller Vale, using the "Scandy" pattern |alt=A round earthenware teapot, inscribed 'You may get better cheer, but not with a better heart'
'''Torquay pottery''' or '''Torquay ware''' is pottery made in Torquay, Devon, England, using local clay, at one of fifteen or so local potteries chiefly serving the tourist trade,<ref name="TPCS">{{cite web |title=Website for collectors of Torquay Pottery |url=https://torquaypottery.info/ |accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="SP">{{cite web |title=Torquay Potteries |url=http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=91 |website=Studio Pottery |accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="AS">{{cite web |title=Torquay Pottery |url=https://antiqueshoppefl.com/archives/gkline/torquay.htm |website=The Antique Shoppe |accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="BH">{{Cite episode |title=Westpoint 32 |series=Bargain Hunt |series-link=Bargain Hunt |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b3psyr |accessdate=24 March 2020 |network= BBC Television |date=24 March 2020 |series-no=50 |number=8 }}</ref> but also supplying high-end retailers such as Liberty of London.<ref name="AS" />
The most common form was mottoware - pottery such as plates or jugs decorated with inspirational or humorous text,<ref name= "BH" /> often written in a Devon dialect,<ref name="SP" /> and thus known as '''Devon mottoware'''.<ref name="SV">{{cite web |title=Torquay Devon Mottoware |url=http://studiovaluations.co.uk/torquay-devon-mottoware/ |website=Studio Valuations |accessdate=24 March 2020 |date=11 September 2016}}</ref> Some items were produced in Cornish dialect, for "export" to, and sale in, Cornwall.<ref name="SV" /> Novelty items with no functional use were also produced, but are rarer.<ref name= "BH" />
The first pottery, the "Watcombe Terra Cotta Clay Company"<ref name="AS"/> (later Watcombe Pottery; acquired in 1901 by the nearby Aller Vale Pottery), was established in 1875 by G. J. Allen, after he discovered a particularly fine clay in the grounds of Watcombe House.<ref name="AS" /><ref name="BH" /><ref name="TPCS-2">{{cite web |title=Potteries in Torquay area |url=https://torquaypottery.info/about/potteries-in-torquay-area |publisher=Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society |accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref>
thumb|Plaque marking the site of Longpark Pottery
Other potteries included the Longpark Pottery (1883; originally the "Longpark China and Terracotta Works"<ref name="TPCS-2" />), in the Long Park district, which closed in 1957;<ref name="Gunns">{{cite web |title=Longpark Torquay Ware |url=http://www.gunnsgallery.co.uk/artists/357/longpark-torquay-ware |website=Gunns Gallery |accessdate=24 March 2020 }}</ref> Lemon & Crute; Torquay Terra-Cotta Company; and the St. Marychurch Pottery.<ref name="AS" />
Notable potters included Blanche Georgiana Vulliamy.
thumb|Earthenware mug inscribed "For A Good Boy"
A Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society, established in 1976, encourages the study and collection of such wares.<ref name="TPCS" /> The society organised an exhibition, "Torquay Pottery: A Local Story" at Newton Abbot Town Museum in 2001.<ref>{{cite book |title=Torquay Pottery: A Local Story: An Exhibition At The Newton Abbot Town Museum Opened Jointly By Mr Ian Green |publisher=Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society |date=2001}}</ref> a North American Torquay Society was formed in 1990, for the same purpose.<ref name="NATS">{{cite web |title=Torquay Pottery |url=https://torquaypottery.org/ |publisher=The North American Torquay Society |accessdate=24 March 2020}}</ref>
== References == {{Commons category}} {{Reflist}}
=== Further reading ===
* {{cite book |title=The Old Torquay Potteries, from Castle to Cottage |first1=David |last1=Lloyd Thomas |first2=E. |last2=Lloyd Thomas |publisher=Stockwell |date=1978 |asin=B004WYQW9I }} * {{cite book |title=Artisans of the Torquay Potteries |first1=Andy |last1=Violet |publisher=Torquay Pottery Collectors' Society |date=2004 |edition=revised, 2nd |isbn= 978-0951508978}}
Category:English pottery Category:Ceramics manufacturers of England Category:Art pottery Category:History of Devon Category:Torquay