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Brothers Samuel and Edwin Collier set up a
factory in Waterloo Road Reading c1861 to produce architectural ceramics, bricks
and tiles. As their business expanded they moved in 1871 to Grovelands in the
north east of Reading, with the company becoming Limited in 1901. Later they
operated from various premises around Reading and finally ceased trading.
Various dates are recorded for there final closure from 1957 to 1967.
The Art Pottery was produced from c1906 and
marketed as Silchester Ware. A name taken from the nearby Roman town Calleva
Atrebatum or Silchester. This site was being excavated from 1890 until
1909.
Many of the Silchester wares were based on
ancient shapes including Roman and Medieval. They were made using the local
clays from the Reading beds giving a bright red terracotta body and were often
glazed in either a bright transluscent green or a heavy black lustrous glaze.
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