Editing Tunbridge ware (section)

==History==
The famous makers of Tunbridge ware were in the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent; their most notable work was from about 1830 to 1900.

Early makers of Tunbridge ware, in Tunbridge Wells in the mid 18th century, were the Burrows family, and Fenner and Co. In the 19th century, around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden [[tessera]]e. Henry Hollamby, apprenticed to the Burrows family, set up on his own in 1842 and became an important manufacturer of Tunbridge ware, employing about 40 people.<ref name=collector>{{cite web|url=http://www.antiquecollector.uk.com/articles/tunbridgeware.htm |title=Antique Collector: an Introduction to Tunbridge Ware |accessdate= 2016-12-24}}</ref>
[[File:Home of Nye and Barton, Bishop's Down - geograph.org.uk - 799788.jpg|thumb|"The Chalet": home and workshop of Edmund Nye and Thomas Barton, Tunbridge Wells]]
[[File:Edmund Nye and Thomas Barton Plaques - geograph.org.uk - 1731817.jpg|thumb|The plaque commemorating Edmund Nye and Thomas Barton]]
Edmund Nye (1797–1863) and his father took over the Fenner company when William Fenner retired in 1840, after 30 years in partnership with him. Thomas Barton (1819–1903), previously apprenticed at the Wise factory, joined the Nyes in 1836, and worked as Nye's designer; he took over the business in 1863 and continued there until his death.<ref name=tunbridgemuseum/><ref name=collector/>

In Tonbridge (near to Tunbridge Wells), George Wise (1703–1779) is known to have had a business in 1746. It continued with his son Thomas, and Thomas's nephew George (1779–1869), who took over in 1806. In its early years the company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views; later items had pictures created from mosaics. Their workshop in Tonbridge, ''Wise's Tunbridge Ware Manufactory'', was next to the [[Big Bridge over the Medway]]; the building was demolished in 1886 to widen the approach to the bridge.<ref name=tonbridge>{{cite web|url= http://www.tonbridgehistory.org.uk/made-in-tonbridge/tunbridge-ware.htm|title=Tonbridge Historical Society: Tunbridge Ware|accessdate= 2016-12-24}}</ref>

Tunbridge ware became popular with visitors to the [[spa]] town of Tunbridge Wells, who bought them as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, [[snuff (tobacco)|snuff]] boxes and glove boxes.<ref name=collector/>

At the [[Great Exhibition]] of 1851, Tunbridge ware by Edmund Nye, Robert Russell and Henry Hollamby was shown; Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for his work. He exhibited a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea; 110,800 tesserae were used in making the picture. <ref name=tunbridgemuseum/><ref name=favourite>{{cite web|url=  http://www.favouritecollectables.com/tunbridge-ware/|title=Favourite Collectables: an Introduction to Tunbridge Ware|accessdate= 2016-12-24}}</ref>

The manufacturers of Tunbridge ware were cottage industries, and they were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s; competent craftsmen were hard to find, and public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903 the only surviving firm was [[Boyce, Brown and Kemp]], which closed in 1927.<ref name=tunbridgemuseum/><ref name=collector/><ref name=favourite/>