Biography
The Mortlake delftware pottery was founded by the Lambeth potter John Sanders in 1745. He was succeeded by his son William Sanders (1752-1784), then on William's death his son, another John Sanders (1784-1794). In 1794 it seems the pottery was given over to stoneware manufacture under Thomas Norris (1794-1801) followed by Pressick Dodd (1801-1804) possibly managed by Benjamin Kishere, Mr Prior and Mr Gurney. In 1804, William Wagstaff of Vauxhall transferred delftware manufacture to Mortlake running it until his death in 1809 when he was succeeded by his nephew John Wisker who ran the pottery up to 1823 when it was finally abandoned. Delftware products made at Mortlake include rare watchstands, pill slabs, wall tiles and plates.
Jospeh Kishere, son of Benjamin, started the second Mortlake Pottery, on the south side of Mortlake High Street opposite Sanders' pottery. One type of ware was made here, namely salt-glaze stoneware, which is a highly-fired impervious earthenware. The glaze is achieved by throwing common salt onto the kiln fires during the firing process.
