Coffee Time
Blue Cup Tams. Uncredited White Cup, Plate Island Art Ware J.B.S England
BACKSTAMP The maker's mark,
name or trademark which identifies their work. Usually found on the underside
of ware. In the early days some potters never thought of backstamping their wares,
but others copied marks of their more successful competitors. Backstamps may be
printed or impressed and since designs of backstamps were, and are, regularly
changed we are helped in the dating of their wares today. Sometimes pattern
name and designer also appear. https://potbankdictionary.blogspot.com/p/b.html
I have coffee on a weekday about 11am and on a weekend my husband and I have coffee after lunch and I always use the same crockery, this is my choice (see image above). I like my coffee in a small cup and more coffee than water. I am a bit of a fan of simple modernist designs, although I am beginning to see the charm of floral designs. The blue coffee cup and plate were given to me by my uncle and the white coffee cup by a friend. The blue coffee cup has Tams England, which is John Tams of Longton, with no initials on its underside. The plate has an Island Art Ware J.B.S England Tobago backstamp no initials. The white cup I think had a designer attribute but someone like John Rocha, but there is no backstamp or brand.
I have just finished reading Ceramics and Globalization: Staffordshire Ceramics, Made in China By: Neil Ewins. This book discusses the impact of globalisation on the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent, specifically in the areas of design and branding. Outsourcing began in the 80s, to cut production costs and to satisfy shareholders. In the 90s it was a reaction to the strong pound and the competition resulting from cheap imports. For example, Royal Doulton set-up its own factory in Indonesia where production was almost a carbon copy of their Burslem factory and by 2002 they were employing more people overseas. With outsourcing the line of distinction between brand and place is extremely vague, a pot may be designed in Stoke-on-Trent, but produced outside of the UK, but will retain the brand backstamp. Some pots may be produced overseas and finished in the UK by firms that focus on design, that use a local backstamp. Ewins in his research found that place of production is less important to consumers than design and brand, although place is used by some companies as part of their marketing by integrating it into the imagery of their products. With consumer focus on design, attitudes towards Far East production have changed, and it is no longer associated with poor quality. Ironically most of the large pottery manufacturers that chose to outsource collapsed, one of the reasons could have been the potteries inability to embrace modernity (Terrence Conran 2002).
Both the Tams and JBS pieces have England on their backstamp. According to Ewins there can be the perception that purchasing something made in England is purchasing a piece of English history, and that outsourcing, which I think the white cup is, is a betrayal of heritage. This is the general feeling locally, and I think I am part of this consensus, although I realise now the production process and its link to place is far more complex. I love the white cup, its simple sleek design, and the design and the created prototype could have taken place in Stoke-on-Trent.
I think my feelings about these pieces encapsulates the challenging relationship we have with objects, and in my case ceramics. With the reduction of the ceramics industry in Stoke-on-Trent and the move to production in the Far East over the last 40 years, Ewins through his discussions with manufacturers and his personal research presents a hierarchy of consumer preference, design, price, country of origin. The backstamping has become confusing during this period, for ceramics the brand and place and origin were inseparable at one time, more generally Stoke-on-Trent more specifically one of the 6 towns. With outsourcing, this is no longer the case, but it could be argued with established brands that have survived or have not survived place is always implicit, even when companies outsource. There is also a risk that objects can lose their meaning with greater levels of production and this undermines the skills of those involved in that production. Furthermore, there is a challenge to authenticity if an object is outsourced, Ewins claims that this is particularly poignant in the ceramics industry where the symbolism of the object, is undermined if the pot is made in the Far East.
With new brands and less well-known manufacturers place is less implicit, although the material object's origin is within an industry that was central to a place, Stoke-on-Trent, therefore it could be argued there is an abstract link with its heritage. Ewins contests that it is challenging curating ceramics that are outsourced; however, it could be contested that tracing the lifecycle of the object and establishing attribution would be a way to address this.