Artist: Lemuel Francis Abbott (1760–1802)

Object type: Painting

Genre: portrait

Medium: Oil on canvas

Original Dimensions: 29 1/2 in. x 24 1/2 in.

Collection : National Portrait Gallery

Source/Photographer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Navy

National Portrait Gallery: NPG 1260

About Thomas Turner

Turner became born in 1749, turned into the eldest son of Richard Turner (1724?–1791), vicar of elmley fort, Worcestershire, by using his wife Sarah. Richard Turner (1753–1788) become his more youthful brother. It's been meant that Thomas turned into delivered up as a silversmith. He turned into, but, most effectively officially apprenticed to his father, to qualify him for the liberty of the town of Worcester. It's far likely that he changed into early related with the Worcester china works. He became a splendid chemist, changed into an intensive master of the numerous techniques linked with porcelain manufacture, was a skillful draughtsman, fashion designer, and engraver, and become also a smart musician. He turned into a justice of the peace for Shropshire and Staffordshire, and a freeman of Worcester, much Wenlock, and Bridgnorth.

in 1772 turner succeeded ambrose gallimore (brother-in-regulation of josiah spode) as lessee of the porcelain manufactory at caughley in shropshire.[3] gallimore had received the rent to the works, styled ‘the Salopian china warehouse,’ in 1754, and below his control they had swiftly received in fame. "inside the early years of the caughley manufactory, the ware become now not many ranges removed from earthenware; however it progressively assumed a finer and extra obvious man or woman. Like the early worcester examples, the styles were mainly constrained to blue flowers, etc., on a white ground; and on this style and coloration the caughley works excelled, in lots of respects, their competitors."

on succeeding Gallimore, turner set about enlarging the manufactory. He completed his improvements in 1775, and in 1780 visited France, so as to analyze the methods employed inside the porcelain manufactories at paris. He added again numerous skilled workmen, who substantially aided him in his next innovations. On his return he developed an early or predecessor form of the ‘willow pattern’, and approximately the identical time produced the ‘brosely blue dragon sample.’ this "willow" pattern becomes no longer, however, the later popular willow sample with bridge and fence inside the foreground - which the caughley factory never produced, (an imitation in transferware of a pattern popular in hand-painted chinese imported wares), nor become it the sample referred to as "turner's willow", which turned into advanced through john and william turner of lane quit, Staffordshire in the direction of the stop of the 18th century. In 1783 turner married dorothy gallimore, daughter of william and niece of ambrose gallimore.[6] but she died in 1794 without surviving trouble, and he made a 2nd marriage, in 1796, to mary, daughter of thomas milner and widow of henry alsop. In 1798 or 1799 he retired from the commercial enterprise, which handed into the palms of john rose, a former apprentice, who carried it on together together with his own works at coalport underneath the title rose & co. The works have been sooner or later abandoned in 1814 or 1815, mainly as a result of difficulties of delivery and to the failure of the coal supply. Turner died in february 1809, and changed into buried within the own family vault at barrow, shropshire. Mary turner his widow died at bridgnorth on 20 november 1816, leaving a son and daughter.

• L. Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times down to the Present Day, 2 Vols (Virtue & Co., London 1878), I, 'Caughley', pp. 264-273. The Old D.N.B. article was strongly indebted to this source, which should be read with caution

• R. Copeland, Spode (Osprey Publishing, 1998), p. 4.

• Shearman, J.; Shearman, N. "Turner, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2787. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

• Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain from Pre-historic Times down to the Present Day, I, at pp. 266-67.

• G.A. Godden, 'The Willow Pattern', The Antique Collector June 1972, pp. 148-50.

• Shearman, J.; Shearman, N. "Turner, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2787. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.). Thomas Turner married Dorothy Gallimore at Barrow, Shropshire on 3 October 1783: she died in 1794.