Worked at Copelands 1869 to 1892 (possibly after)

William Yale joined Copelands in 1869 having studied at a local School of Art (it is uncertain whether he attended Hanley or Stoke.)

His early work at the factory featured high quality landscapes on china at this time he was considered to be one of the star painters at the factory.

In the 1870s he developed an unusual style in the decoration of saggar marl plaques with loosely painted named scenes and it is for this style that he is best remembered. Saggar marl is a rough clay from which saggars, or boxes, were made in which to hold wares in the ovens during firing. These plaques gave a rough textured surface. These tiles and plaques were often painted in monochrome sepia or blue and it is recorded that he was paid 10/6 per plaque for this work. Each plaque seems to be an individual work of art with no records of the scenes in the archive. We have no knowledge of the sources for the scenes produced by Yale. He may have used printed scenes from journals or made sketches on his travels.

In 1889 he is recorded as living at Birch Villa, James’ Street, Stoke upon Trent

His painting was well admired and he was awarded several gold medals in the course of his career. Upon leaving Copelands he set up a studio in London Road, Stoke-upon-Trent which had a shop window displaying his wares and his medals. It is said that he attempted to sell his ware direct to the USA in competition with Copelands export department but was unsuccessful.

After Yale left Spode he may have continued to paint these plaques on blanks obtained from the factory but we have no records to confirm this. There is no further record of him following his move to the shop.