Description: Five pottery plates made the Wood & Sons with the title 'Yuan' meaning money in Chinese. Likely a prediction or hopefulness that the pattern would return the same.

History: When Wood and Sons was formed in 1865 by Thomas Francis Wood its pedigree was unrivalled. Thomas was the fifth generation in line to Moses Wood who was brother to Aaron and Ralph. These three giants of the 18th century potteries laid the foundation of the Woods dynasty which was to survive for over 200 years. Thomas, a prominent citizen in the potteries and later to become the Mayor of Burslem, built Wood and Sons into one of the largest companies in the area. By the early years of the 20th century the company had expanded to include a number of potteries, those included the Trent, New Wharf, Stanley and the Alexandra. The latter was run under the name of H.J. Wood and although sharing the New Wharf site, was run as a separate company. H.J. Wood was owned by Thomas's younger brother Henry J. Wood. In 1889 Thomas's son Harry Francis Wood joined the company and by the early part of the century had become its chairman. Using his ability to recognise and nurture talent, together with his undoubted skills as a businessman, he continued the growth of Woods for the next forty years. Frederick and Charlotte Rhead In 1912 Frederick Rhead was appointed as art director of Wood and Sons and was joined by his daughter Charlotte shortly afterwards. Charlotte left Woods in 1915 only to return again in 1920, the reason for her absence is unclear. Frederick produced many designs for Woods, amongst them were the tube lined Elers and Trellis patterns and it was not long before the popularity of the tube lined designs persuaded Harry Wood to acquire the Crown Pottery which was adjacent to the Stanley for the production of art wares. This new venture was set up under the name of Bursley Ltd. in 1920. The Crown Pottery was well equipped being one of the first potteries in the Stoke on Trent area with a Dressier Tunnel Kiln, until then all firing at Woods had been done using Bottle Kilns. The Ellgreave and Alexandra potteries continued to use Bottle Kilns until the late 1940's. The Dressier Kiln which was approximately 75 feet in length was gas fired and only rarely cooled for maintenance work to be carried out. The racks holding the pieces to be fired were passed through the kiln on trolleys. If a trolley became jammed or derailed workers would don asbestos suits and carry out work in the cooler ends of the tunnel whilst the kiln was still being fired. In the early 1920's Woods purchased shares in the Ellgreave Pottery to such a degree that a number of the Woods family were on the board of directors. The Ellgreave Pottery was originally sited in Ellgreave Street, but moved in the early 1960's to the Wharf site. Initially the pottery was used to produce brown Lottie Rhead Ware although later it was used to produce teapots. Charlotte was a highly skilled tube-liner as well as designer, one of her tasks was to train staff and supervise the production of tube line ware as well as create new designs. Charlotte finally left Woods in 1926, but her father continued as art director until 1929. Edward Radford Another talent which blossomed under the care of Harry Wood was Edward Thomas Brown Radford, who was initially employed in the early 1920's as a sales representative and later as a sales manager. His designs of hand painted ware were sold through H.J. Wood and although he left Woods around 1930 and set up his own pottery making hand thrown ware, Woods continued the production of Radford's designs for many years. Susie Cooper In 1931 Susie Cooper was looking for premises to house her fledgling company and once again Harry Wood showing his unerring eye for new talent, offered her space at the Crown Works. Wood and Sons became the main supplier of white ware for the Susie Cooper pottery, thus Harry combined the support of a new designer with good business. By 1933 the pottery had become an associate member of Wood and Sons, with Susie Cooper becoming a director and shareholder of Bursley Ltd. Throughout this period and up to 1959 when she purchased the factory from Woods, she retained full artistic control. 1916: Starting number 653521

Provenance: Arthur J Connolly

Dimensions: Weight (Pounds & Ounces) = 6 | Height(in) = 10 | Width(in) = 14 | Depth(in) = 14

Size of Artwork(in): .53 x 10 x 10"

Artist Name: Wood & Sons

Medium: Earthenware

Circa: 1916

Firing check in one plate 3/4" x 1/32". All very good no repairs, cracks or .