Overview
Anderston (also called Lancefield) Pottery was situated in Lancefield Street, Anderston near the north bank of the Clyde to the west of Glasgow and one block away from the long established Verreville Glassworks and Pottery owned by John Geddes.
John’s son, Archibald, had fallen out with his father and constructed a glassworks and earthenware pottery which started to compete with Verreville in the early 1820s as a partnership with Robert Alexander Kidston, titled “Geddes, Kidston & Company”. They also opened retail premises in the city centre selling locally and exporting their own products and those of major English producers.
That partnership ended in 1834 and a local businessman, Hugh Price, joined Kidston operating as “Robert Alexander Kidston & Co”. This company bought the Verreville pottery and glass works at auction in 1835 and rented the glass furnace to the Clyde Flint Glass Company.
They continued to operate both potteries but the partnership dissolved in 1838 and Kidston took control. He then closed Anderston and concentrated production at Verreville but ran into financial difficulties in 1841.
Production had continued at Verreville, but Anderston closed permanently.
Main Products
The glassworks and pottery were adjoined and therefore glass was produced at the site. Stoneware is also known to be made along with a few examples of finely potted creamware.
An advertisement of 1826 lists dinner, tea and dessert services, plates, tureens and covered dishes.
Likely made only for the domestic market.
Articles in SPHR
- 8 - The Elusive James Couper Snr - Brian Blench
- 15 - The Kidston Connection with Anderston and Verreville Potteries - John K Tait
- 15 - A Pair of Jugs from the Anderston Pottery - Roger Kemp
- 18 - The Anderston and Verreville Potteries and Glass Works 1842 - Douglas Leishman
- 22 - Four Kidson designs from the early 1840s - Jill Turnbull
- 25 - The Watson, Purvis, Thomson Pottery Dynasty - Robin M. Jones
Typical Backstamps & Marks
“Anderston Pottery”, “Geddes, Kidston & Co”
Pattern Names
- Tudor
Public Collections
- None known
Other information
Comparatively little research has been done on this pottery and it is omitted from Henry Kelly’s “Scottish Ceramics”. Having lasted such a short time, there are few representative examples.