Thomas Toft

Infobox Person
name = Thomas Toft
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death_date = November, 1698
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resting_place = Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, England
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residence = Burslem, Staffordshire, England
nationality = English
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known_for = Pottery work
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occupation = Potter
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spouse = Ellena Bucknall (1663-1689)
children = Matthias, John, Thomas, James, Cornelius
parents = Ralph Toft & Margery Turner
relations = Ralph Toft (brother)


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Thomas Toft (d.November, 1698) was an English potter working in the Staffordshire Potteries during the 17th century.

Pottery Work

It is thought that Toft operated in the Burslem district during at least 1671-1689. The Staffordshire potters were at that time known for the excellence of their slipware; a kind of coarse earthenware decorated with a coloured clay and water mixture of creamlike consistency called slip. Sometimes a red slip was trailed on to a lighter background, sometimes vice-versa. Black and green slips were also used. According to the common practice of the time, these earthenware's were glazed with a galena lead oxide glaze, giving them their characteristic yellow tinge.

Designs attributed to Thomas Toft include mermaids, unicorns, pelicans, but also King Charles II and his wife Queen Catherine of Braganza, and numerous coats of arms. A cross-hatched rim was fairly typical of the style.

The Toft style, combined with the slip trailing technique, was firmly established in the Staffordshire area by the middle of the seventeenth century.

Over thirty signed dishes have been recorded but a few of them may have been made by his son, also called Thomas Toft.

Three tiny fragments of Toft pottery including a shard inscribed '...OFT' were found three feet below ground at the corner of Stafford Street and Trinity Street, Hanley in 1953. [Evening Sentinel, 25 November, 1953]

urviving Work

Examples of his work can be found in:

* Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK
* Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK
* Temple Newsam, Leeds, UK
* Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester, UK
* Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
* Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA
* British Museum, London, UK
* Grosvenor Museum, Chester, UK
* Yorkshire Museum, York, UK
* Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK
* National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Personal Life and Family

Very little is known about Toft's life. His father died in 1669. He married to Ellena Bucknall on 21 April 1663. Toft died a pauper in 1689 and was buried at Stoke-upon-Trent- now one of the six towns making up the city of Stoke-on-Trent, on 3 December 1689. His wife Ellena died two years later in 1691. They had five children: Matthias (b.1663), John (b.1664), Thomas (1670-1723), James (b.1673) and Cornelius (1677-1728).

Toft became the grandfather to seven children although he didn't live long enough to witness any of their births. Two, Maria (1701-1703) and Matthew (b.1698) were the children of James. Whilst Carol (b.1706), Cornelius (b.1703), Edward (1698-1701) and Standley (b.1700) were all the children of Matthias and his wife Dorothy Dickinson (d.1713).

Ralph Toft

Ralph Toft (b.1683) was probably Thomas' elder brother, he shared the name of their father. Ralph's name appears on many typical Toft-style dishes decorated with a double-headed eagle, cavaliers and ladies, or with a mermaid, two being dated 1676 and 1766.

Ralph married Christabell Hatton (d.1693), the couple had no known children.

James Toft

James Toft (b.1673) was Thomas' fourth son, it is believed that he is the maker of a number of Toft dishes that bear his name.

Cornelius Toft

Cornelius Toft (1677-1728) was the youngest son of Thomas. A two-handled incised white salt-glazed loving cup is inscribed thusly:

cquote|W B Marthar Barber C T

Cornelius Toft 1727/8 hand

C Martha Barber T

1727/8 [Catalogue, Burlington Fine Arts Club (1914)]

References

* cite book
date = 1957
title = The Concise Encyclopedia of English Pottery and Porcelain
coauthors = W. Mankowitz
last = Haggar
first = R. G.
id = ISBN M2959-2802

External Links

* [http://www.thepotteries.org/potters/toft.htm thepotteries.org profile]