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Beswick: A

Special Breed

of Porcelain

Animals

by Maxine Carter Lome, Publisher

Beswick Girl on Jumping Horse is a classic model designed by Arthur Gredington.
rom 1896 when James Wright Beswick and his sons John and The model shows a girl on horse jumping a small fence. Interestingly the horse and jump
Gilbert first established their earthenware pottery business, “J. W. part of the model is also used in the Beswick model 982 of a Huntswoman Jumping.
FBeswick,” at the Gold Street works in Longton, England, until The model was first introduced in 1941 and discontinued in 1962.
the early 1970s, when it became part of Royal Doulton, Beswick (pro- It was his son, John Ewart Beswick, who then assumed control of
nounced BESS-ick – Beswick is a surname in the North West of the company in 1934. John Ewart, along with his Uncle Gilbert as Sales
England and the letter W is not pronounced) produced a vast assort- Director, looked to change the direction of the company as a way to
ment of affordable, decorative pottery. Although cheap and cheerful compete with the mass-produced pottery coming from China at that
table and ornamental time. It was what they did next that all these years later continues to
wares were its stock- define and value the Beswick brand.
in-trade for decades, In the year of his father’s death, John Ewart introduced a line of
the Company is per- high fired bone china figurines in the forms of famous horses and
haps best known by champion dogs. These high-quality reproduction forms proved popular
collectors for its with collectors, and in 1936 the company incorporated as John Beswick
porcelain animal fig- Ltd. for the production of a new product line of high quality, collectible
urines, and in partic- animal figurines.
ular, for its stable of The popularity of these animal figures led the company to hire 32-
Beswick horses. year old Arthur Gredington as the company’s first full-time modeler in
Critics of the time 1939. It was this team of John Ewart Beswick, Uncle Gilbert Beswick,
described their mod-
els, known for their
detail and realism, This Huntsman, model 1501, stamped “Beswick England” appeared at Batemans of
Stamford in August 2019 and sold to a collector for $1,300 (with a few condition
“to be of a higher issues). Designed by Arthur Gredington, the standard chestnut version of this model
quality than those of
Beswick Potteries Gold Street works is not hard to find but this dappled grey, issued
their precursors.” from 1958-62, is one of the rarer
Beswick models. In 2006, a similar model in
The Beswicks good condition sold
James Wright Beswick began earthenware manufacture in about for $4,600.
1890 at the Albion works, Longton, moving to the Britannia Pottery,
High St, Longton in 1892, and finally, in 1896, with his sons John and
Gilbert to the Gold Street works, Longton, now firmly associated with
the Beswick name. In 1918, Beswick purchased the neighboring
Warwick China works in Chadwick St, Longton, allowing the compa-
ny to now manufacture bone chinaware and fancy items in addition to
its extensive line of domestic earthenware.
When James died in May 1920, the business fell to his eldest son
John to manage, with his brother Gilbert in charge of sales. During this
period until his death in 1934 after a prolonged illness, the Beswick
factory under John Beswick produced, in the Staffordshire traditional
form, a combination of tableware, decorative porcelain, majolica, and a
range of figures and animals such as generals, milkmaids, mantle dogs,
cattle and horses.

26 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles