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| Commorative plate for the Spanish General Arsenio Martinez de Campos. |
The plate came from test pit
59, on the site of an old farm near Sandra's Convenience Store. This was a plate with a
design commemorating General Arsenio Martinez de Campos and, in
addition to a portrait of the general, also carried a registration mark on the
underside indicating that the design had been registered on 17th
July 1878 and the plate was made by a firm named ADAMS. Unfortunately the name Adams was a common one
amongst pottery firms making a definite attribution
difficult. The most likely candidate may be the firm of William Adams &
Sons of Tunstall and Stoke-on-Trent. The absence of
'England' after the maker's name suggests a date prior to 1891 but, as noted
above, after 1878. In spite of this
uncertainty, the registration mark and the maker's name confirm that the plate
was of British manufacture and was not of Spanish origin. General Arsenio Martinez de Campos (1831 –
1900) was a significant figure in late 19th century Spanish politics
and his career is summarised in the Encyclopedia
Britannica as follows:
Arsenio
Martínez Campos, (born
December 14, 1831, Segovia, Spain—died September 23, 1900, Zarauz), general
and politician whose pronunciamento
(military revolution) on December 29, 1874, restored Spain’s Bourbon dynasty.
Martínez Campos received a military education and after
1852 served on Spain’s general staff. A competent soldier, he took part in the
international expedition of General Juan Prim to Mexico (1861) and fought Cuban
rebels (until 1872). On his return to Spain, he briefly taught military science
and then was sent to put down rebellions in Valencia (1872), Alicante and
Cartagena.
After Alfonso XII, the son of the deposed Isabella II,
had declared Spain a constitutional monarchy (November 24, 1874), and other
generals disillusioned with the republic had rallied to him, Alfonso took the
throne following Martínez Campos’s pronunciamiento. Martínez Campos
then took command of Alfonso’s forces against the Carlists, made the fighting
less brutal by signing agreements protecting the lives of the wounded and
prisoners, and brought about the end of the civil war (February 1876). His
humane policy, which he then applied in Cuba, ended the 10-year rebellion there
on February 10, 1878, with the Peace of Zanjón.
On his return from Cuba, Martínez Campos served briefly
as prime minister in 1879 and two years later as minister of war. After war
broke out in Morocco (September 1893), he was put in command and succeeded in
negotiating the Treaty of Marrakech (January 29, 1894).
The following year he was sent to Cuba again but failed to win over the rebels.
He resigned and returned to Spain (1896).
(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/367040/Arsenio-Martinez-Campos)
English
potteries produced a large number of commemorative wares, including examples
for export and, as the evidence from Sheffield shows, such export
pottery was sometimes sold locally, usually because of over-production. It is unclear whether this was the reason for
a plate, presumably intended for the Spanish market, appearing in Barnsley or
whether there was some local interest in the career of the general. Further research into this subject might
prove interesting.
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| The underside of the plate indicating that the design had been registered on 17th July 1878 and the plate was made by a firm named ADAMS. |
