Although the dense, high-fired earthenware for which "ironstone china" has become the generic term might have sponged, painted, or printed decoration, many examples in Canadian homes were all white. lronstone had its place in both town and country. When Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine put in a claim for goods missing or destroyed after political rioters had attacked his MontrÄal house on the night of April 26, 1849, he included ú2 10s. for a toilet set of white ironstone.
This tureen was made by John Ridgway (illustration 7) and is dated within the brief period of his partnership with a financier named Bates (1856-1858). Ridgway, Bates & Co. had an agent in MontrÄal who advertised in the Gazette that he would seek orders throughout British North America.
Ironstone of this type is a reminder that not all Victorian tablewares were ornate. At the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, the critic from the Art Journal, viewing John Ridgway's display, praised not only his attention to "the wants of every day", but lauded all potters turning out well-made wares at prices which did not "confine them exclusively to the rich." The critic added: "even for expensive works it is not elaboration of ornament which gives dignity to design."
This same sort of ware, the forerunner of modern hotel wares, is still being made, although its use in private homes is not so prevalent as in Victorian days.
Courtesy: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (S81-26)
