William Billingsley (artist)
| William Billingsley | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1758 Derby |
| Died | 1828 |
| Nationality | British |
| Known for | painting porcelain |
William Billingsley (1758–1828) was an influential painter of porcelain in Derby, and Mansfield and porcelain producer at Pinxton and Brampton in Torksey. He later (1813) found the [[Nantgarw Pottery] with his son-in-law].
Billingsley was born in Derby in 1758. He was apprenticed at William Duesbury's Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Works where he learnt to be an outstanding painter of porcelain. Billingsley developed a distinctive style of flower painting, which involved using a loaded brush and then removing the colour using a dry brush. He was particularly associated with borders of roses with the prime example of the Prentice Plate. This plate was used in the Derby factories to show trainees the standard that was expected. The name of The Prentice Plate is a shortening of Apprentice Plate.
Billingsley decided to leave Derby in 1795 despite protestations that he was too valuable to lose. He appears to have moved constantly and worked at a number of different potteries. First he went to Pinxton, a small village in Derbyshirein October 1795 and superintended the erection of the Pinxton manufactory, with John Coke. He stayed in where he stayed until June 1796. The factory itself continued until Lady Day 1813 under the direction of a local decorator John Cutts who obtained employment as a decorator at the Wedgwood factory. Its products are scarce and well sought after commanding good prices. Billingsley's further moves took him to Mansfield and later at Torksey, Lincolnshire, where it's thought he first came into contact with potter Samuel Walker, who later married Billingsley's daughter Sarah in 1812, when the group moved to Worcester. Before settling at Worcester, Billingsley approached a number of potteries in search of employment, including the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea, Glamorganshire in 1807.
Billingsley started at Royal Worcester in 1808 where he was instrumental in the firm's refinements of its porcelain recipe. While at Royal Worcester under Flight, Barr & Barr, Billingsley signed a contract preventing him from disclosing porcelain recipes, however no clause prohibited him from producing porcelain himself. In 1813 Billingsley took his porcelain recipes and lifetime's experience in the industry, along with his daughters Levinia, Sarah and son-in-law Samuel Walker to Nantgarw, Glamorganshire, Wales, where he established the Nantgarw Pottery.
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