Workers in the Glasgow Pottery's pressing and jolly shop, 1901. Some of the women have bare feet.
The Glasgow Pottery was founded in Port Dundas in the 1840s by John and Matthew Bell and closed around 1911. "Pressing" and "jollying" were methods used to make standardised pieces of pottery. Pressing is a process for making flat or shallow pottery using a press. Jollying is a process of making hollow pottery (for example vases, bowls or tankards) inside a revolving mould so that the mould shapes the exterior of the ceramic form and the profile tool makes the interior. The man in the foreground is demonstrating this process. A number of different moulds are piled on the tables beside him, and there are finished items on shelves around the room.
Reference: 1022.86.85
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
ceramics, Glasgow Pottery, J & M P Bell & Co, jollying, potteries, potters, pottery manufacturers, pottery moulds, pressing, pressing and jolly shops, women