Blue Leeds Fireclay Company bowl

c. 1900

Mellor Collection, Otago Museum (Image copyright, Otago Museum, Dunedin)

Unpublished

This blue Leeds Fireclay Company bowl was owned by Mellor and gifted to the Otago Museum by his wife, Emma, in 1945. The possession of it is understandable given Mellor’s interest in refractory materials in furnaces and kilns. Fireclay (hydrous silicates of aluminium; Al2O3.2SiO2.2H2O) was discovered in a coal mine by William Wilcox and John Lassey in 1859. It can withstand very high temperatures.