| Biography/History: |
The firm of Wileman & Co. was a pottery doing business at the Foley Pottery in Fenton, Staffordshire, England. There was a pottery at Foley as early as the eighteenth century, owned by Joseph Myatt, who made wares somewhat in the style of Wedgwood. There were 5 different companies which had "Foley" in their name operating in this area. By 2010, the Foley Pottery had been demolished. In the early nineteenth century, although the Foley district was relatively poor, the manufacture of earthenware was being developed and a number of pottery companies had been established. One of these was the factory of Elkin, Knight & Bridgwood, which by 1829 had a powerful steam engine and flint Mill. Knight became sole proprietor of the business in 1853, but shortly afterwards took Henry Wileman as a partner, trading as Knight & Wileman. Three years later, Knight retired and Henry Wileman continued the business in his own name. In 1862, Henry Wileman employed Joseph Shelley as a travelling salesman. In 1864, Henry Wileman died and his two sons James F. and Charles J. took over the business. Joseph Shelley was taken into partnership with James Wileman in 1872, but only for the china factory. The company became known as Wileman & Co. and used the backstamp "Foley". Frederick Alfred Rhead (1856-1933) was employed in 1896, as the arts director director for Wileman & Co. Rhead brought his own kind of skills to the company and introduced several ranges of china and earthenware, which enhanced the company's reputation. Rhead’s most significant contribution was a range of popular decorative earthenware called “Intarsio.” Intarsio refers specifically to the pottery designed by Frederick Rhead and later Walter Slater, which used the technique of applying the painted decoration by hand to the earthenware object before it was glazed. The striking, colorful designs were painted against dark backgrounds. It is possible that as many as 388 designs were applied to a wide variety of pottery shapes, including a number of figural teapots of political figures of the day. Rhead left the company in 1905. Wileman & Co. was renamed Shelley in 1925 and it remained in the Shelley family until 1966, when it was taken over by Allied English Potteries. |