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 The
history of Fieldings Crown Devon spans more than a hundred years
from 1878 until 1982. During that period the company experienced
two very distinct peaks in terms of design and output. The first
period saw the company achieve great success with high quality
'Vellum'and hand painted wares. The second major phase of the
company's success arrived with designer, Enoch Boulton, in 1929
and lasted until the outbreak of World War Two. Boulton's influence
as an Art Deco designer of note carried the company to new heights.
One of the features of this later period was a 'neck-to-neck'
commercial race with rival Wiltshaw and Robertson for supremacy
in working and middle class markets.
In 1878 Simon Fielding, the owner of a colour mill, bankrolled
a group of potters to manufacture majolica, green-glaze wares,
toilet wares and fancies. Hackney, Kirkham & Co languished
soon after and the Fieldings family took over the pottery to preserve
their investment. From those rather shaky beginnings, Fieldings
rapidly built a business of note, greatly extending the range
of products and exploiting market gaps in fancy tablewares, toilet
wares, art vases and dinnerwares. By the turn of the century the
company was recognised in the trade press and indeed the marketplace
as a leading manufacturer of a vast range of quality products
for middle class Britain.
 The
company's expansion was underpinned by a range of labour saving
advances and design breakthroughs. Abraham Fielding, son of Simon,
is credited with the invention of a gas flow-through biscuit oven
that allowed major efficiencies and savings. He also invented
new glost oven designs, revolving dryers and implemented numerous
other improvements that placed the Fieldings factory in an enviable
commercial position. Fieldings had seven of the largest kilns
in the potteries and the practice of improving quality and efficiency,
coupled with constant release of new lines, strengthened Fielding's
position in the domestic and overseas markets.
Collectable early period wares include a broad range of Vellum
shapes in patterns such as Thames, Etna, May, Elm, Erin and Wick.
Good quality examples of Indian are also highly collectible as
is early Majolica. Fieldings also produced a range of 'Royals',
such as the eminently collectible Royal Devon, Royal Chelsea,
Royal Windsor, Royal Sussex and many others featuring extensive
hand painting of the patterns. Art vases, plaques and chargers,
similar in style to Royal Worcester, featuring hand painted roses,
peacocks, cattle, rural scenes, and dogs are highly sought after
and fetch high prices at auction. Most of these pieces are signed.
 Some
of the most sought-after Fieldings Crown Devon wares are from
the 1930s. In 1929, when Abraham Fielding was in the twilight
years of his life, he began a talent search to fill the gap that
would be left when he went into semi-retirement. His choice to
lure Enoch Boulton away from his major competitor, Carlton Ware,
to take on the role of design chief at Crown Devon was a masterstroke.
It helped create conditions for a unique combination of inspiration,
motivation and expansionary zeal that positioned Fieldings to
make the most of the economic circumstances of the time.
Soon after Boulton's arrival at Crown Devon, the company's back
stamp was changed from a somewhat tired Edwardian logo to a modern
Art Deco motif that, in hindsight, was a strong portent of what
was to come. Interestingly, one of the actions Boulton took in
the earlier stages of his role as design chief at Carlton Ware
was to redesign its back stamp, again signalling the beginning
of a new design story that ultimately changed the course of that
company's history.
 At
the Devon Pottery, Boulton presided over an extraordinary upsurge
in the development of contemporary decoration, overseeing a significant
improvement in both quality and design. The results of this burst
of activity were the subject of much trade comment. The Pottery
Gazette of April 1st, 1932 recorded that, "Many wonderfully
attractive lines of altogether fresh interest and above all at
very popular prices are continuing to pour out of this source".
One of Boulton's great successes was Mattajade, which, combined
with a rich array of sybaritic designs is one of the most collectible
of all Crown Devon patterns today. Another success was the Amazine
ground. A matt, azure tone emulating the lightest of turquoise
colouring, it provided an ideal canvass upon which to create enamelled
designs, amongst which were the Swallows and Exotic Bird patterns.
 The
Mattita, Mattasung and Mattatone series are further examples of
Boulton's genius as a designer. He was particularly prodigious
in producing designs and shapes for the Mattita range, from quirky
novelties to modernistic shapes hosting dramatic Art Deco designs.
He is also responsible for Crown Devon's highly popular musical
novelties. In fact, he can be seen as a trailblazer in the design
and manufacturer of musical novelties in the United Kingdom. His
Daisy Bell musical jug, incidentally, became a favoured possession
of the young Princess Elizabeth.
 Boulton
worked with Kathleen Parsons, Margareta (Greta) Marks, a Bauhaus
graduate, and Olga Hartzeg to produce many of the most memorable
Crown Devon figures, of which the Flapper, Rio Rita, Peasant Girl
and Russian lady with Borzoi are some of the most memorable.
Boultons lustre wares are the equal of anything that came to
market in the 1930s. The most decoratively important and collectible
Crown Devon patterns include Fairy Castle, Parrot, Spider Web
(Copied by Carlton Ware) Fantazia (More decoratively balanced
than Carlton's Fantasia), Swallows, Coral Trees, Dragonfly, Dragon
and some of the later sybaritic floral patterns. More often than
not Boulton opted for sybaritic Art Deco design for his lustre
wares, while Carlton Ware in many instances chose to follow the
path of modernism.
 There
is curious and somewhat uninformed snobbery occasionally expressed
by Carlton Ware collectors and sometimes reciprocated by Crown
Devon devotees in respect to the superiority of one factory's
lustre wares over the other's. It is more accurate, however, to
state that both Carlton and Crown Devon produced lustre and other
wares of such matching quality, brilliance and beauty that it
is churlish to enter into games of one-upmanship. There has been
some ill-informed comment in books written about Carlton Ware
that state Carlton Ware slip mouldings are sharper, lighter and
better decorated than their Crown Devon counterparts. This type
of boorish chauvinism can, in best light, be seen as a extension
of the long tradition of rivalry between the two companies, or,
in worst light, as ill-informed, self-serving and indeed technically
naïve.
 The
period 1930-39 represents a creative zenith of the Crown Devon
factory. It was during this period that Fieldings made vast improvements
in both the design and quality of surface decoration on its wares.
Having overcome foreign competition in the early 1930s, it was
yet to weather the post-war storm of cheap, inferior Japanese
and European product that impacted on England's capacity to produce
finely crafted, labour intensive wares at competitive prices,
and which, ultimately, led to the demise of many Staffordshire
potteries including Crown Devon.
Boulton left Fieldings in 1950. The company traded very successfully
until the 1970s when recession and overseas competition forced
it to finally close its doors in 1982.
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