Photograph of female employees at Pearson's & Co. using a jolly to mould jam jars

Having placed the prepared clay on the wheel in front of them, the seven employees bring the jollies down into the clay to create the jam jar shape. An eighth employee can be seen in the foreground laying out the shaped clay.

This photograph features in 'The Production of Earthenware' reprinted from The International Industrial Review, by John Summersall.

Pottery has been manufactured at in Chesterfield and district since at least the fifteenth century. The firm that became Pearson's & Co. at Whittington Moor was established in 1810 after William Johnson bought a pottery business in Newbold. The business was bequeathed to his wife Catherine nee Pearson on his death and she left the business to her nephew, James Jervis. Around this time the business became known as Pearson's and Pearson & Co was incorporated under the Companies Act as Pearson & Co (Chesterfield) Ltd in 1922. The firm closed in 1994.