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Burmantofts Pottery was the common trading name of a manufacturer of ceramic pipes and construction materials, named after the Burmantofts district of Leeds, England.
The business began in 1859 when fire clay was discovered in a coal mine owned by William Wilcock and John Lassey. In 1863 Lassey's share was bought by John Holroyd and the company then named Wilcock & Co.
In 1879, after a period of expansion, the firm made decorative bricks and tiles in orange or buff-coloured architectural terracotta, glazed bricks, and glazed terracotta (faience). Architect Alfred Waterhouse used their materials in his Yorkshire College (1883) in Leeds, and his National Liberal Club (1884) in London. From 1880 they also made art pottery such as vases and decorative domestic items.
In 1888 the company was renamed The Burmantofts Company but in 1889 it merged with other Yorkshire companies to found The Leeds Fireclay Co. Ltd., the largest in the country.
The firm closed in 1957, at which time it comprised ninety kilns on 16 acres (65,000 m2) of land.
This was produced between 1880 and 1904 at the instigation of James Holroyd, the works manager, as an addition to industrial glazed ceramic products. Companies such as Mintons, Royal Doulton and William De Morgan had established a market for middle-class home decorative objects. The company was fortunate in having both coal and four sorts of high-purity clay on the same site. The plasticity gave good reproduction of shape and the low iron content meant there was not discoloration by oxidation when fired at high temperature, giving glazes of high clarity and brilliance.
Early examples were individual works of art, notably in barbotine style where a plain base had a design worked in relief with slip and painted, but the company soon developed production lines for decoration of individual shapes, either in a single glaze or painted with flowers and so on (signed by the decorator), for sale at a lower price to a larger market, but still of high quality. Over 2000 different shapes are recorded, including pots, vases, bottles and table items. The base usually had 'Burmantofts Faience' or later 'BF' on the base, along with the shape number. Influences included Art Nouveau, Persian, Chinese and Japanese. French artist Pierre Mallet (who also designed for Minton's) contributed a number of designs. Decorative tiles were also produced.
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