The SWANSEA AND NANTGARW PORCELAIN

It was the result of the dream of one man, William Billingsley

Oriel Plas Glyn-y-Weddw houses a magnificent collection of Swansea and Nantgarw porcelain, which is on long term loan from the Andrews family.

This porcelain was produced between the years 1813 and 1820. It was the result of the dream of one man, William Billingsley, who trained as a decorator at the famous works at Derby, graduating to the position of chief decorator. His dream was to produce the finest porcelain in the world, an achievement generally accepted at that time as being held by the factory at Sevres in France.

After a short but unsuccessful attempt to run a porcelain works at Pinxton, he spent a few years working as a decorator on his own account, first at Mansfield and then at Torksey. His wife did not move with him to Torksey, but returned to live with her mother at Derby.

Then in 1807, when his wife refused to accompany him, he went with his two daughters and his partner, Samuel Walker to seek work. Apart from the Staffordshire Pottery district, the only other ceramic centres where employment might be available were at Coalport, Worcester, Bristol and Swansea, and this was the route they took, crossing the Severn by boat. They were unsuccessful at each place and when they reached Swansea were in great poverty. Whilst there, news came that there was an opening for Billingsley at the Worcester factory of Barr, Flight and Barr.

They probably travelled overland to Worcester through Nantgarw and Caerphilly. Eventually not only Billingsley, but also Samuel Walker, who married Sarah Billingsley in 1812 and who was a first class pottery technician, and Lavinia Billingsley, were employed by Barr, Flight and Barr. Here Billingsley and Walker spent time both at the factory and in their home experimenting with a new design of kiln and in producing pastes. By November 1812 they had succeeded in producing samples and entered into an agreement with Barr, Flight And Barr, whereby they undertook not to disclose their secret process to anyone else.

However, no production was undertaken, and so in November 1813 they all left Worcester and went to Nantgarw (which means 'rough brook') where they leased a house and land alongside the Glamorganshire canal. Here they started their China Works, there being nothing in the agreement to prevent them using the process themselves. Their capital was £250 and in contrast the factory at Sevres was state backed and nearly denuded the Royal Exchequer of Louis XV. They soon used up their capital and breakages were excessive.

They received help from William Weston Young, a Surveyor living in Newton, Porthcawl. In 1814 they applied unsuccessfully for a Government grant. However, Sir Joseph Banks, President of The Royal Society heard of the application and informed a member of the R.S., Lewis Weston Dillwyn who was running the Cambrian Pottery at Swansea. Dillwyn had been planning the production of Porcelain and visited the Nantgarw works, where he reached the conclusion that the breakages were due to the kiln. He arranged to set up new kilns at Swansea with Samuel Walker.

In 1815 experiments were made to strengthen Billingsley and Walker's porcelain without reducing the whiteness and translucency. Both mixed and fritted bodies were produced from 1815. The former was similar to Bone China at that time becoming the standard recipe in Britain, though mixed with Blue Clay or Lime. The most common form of this is called Duck Egg from its slight green tinge. A hand fritted body is described as 'Glassy' while a variant with a higher soapstone content and a yellowish translucency is known as 'Trident' from the impressed mark it often bears. This proved unpopular with the London Decorators and persuaded Dillwyn to abandon the project in 1817.

Billingsley and his family then returned to Nantgarw again supported by Young, where they operated until 1820 when they abandoned the project and went to Coalport where they were welcomed by John Rose whose sales had been badly hit by the Welsh Porcelain.

Following the departure of Billingsley and Walker (both of Billingsley's daughters having died by this time), Young employed a well known decorator, Thomas Pardoe, who had been working in Bristol, to decorate the large quantity of white porcelain which was in stock. This work continued for about three years.

Thomas Pardoe died in 1823 and in 1832 the Nantgarw Works were leased by his son and developed as an earthenware pottery where clay pipes, stoneware bottles and red and brown earthenware were made until the early 20th Century. The family continued to live at the house until c1972 when it was burgled. The factory site and house have been taken over by the Rhondda Cynon Taff County Borough Council, and are now open to the public.

Many people believe that Billingsley achieved his ambition and despite enormous losses through breakage (sometimes as high as 90%) a considerable quantity of very fine porcelain was produced. Indeed, almost as soon as Nantgarw closed it was recognised that the porcelain had been exceptionally beautiful. "The Cabinet of useful Arts" noted in 1832: "Since the discontinuance of this establishment, the exceptional quality of its ware has been more justly estimated and the prices now given by amateurs and collectors for pieces of "Nungarrow" porcelain are out of all proportion greater than originally demanded by the makers".