The name of a county of England, used attrib. as Staffordshire coke, slack (see quots.); Staffordshire ware, earthenware and porcelain made in Staffordshire, hence Staffordshire warehouseman. Also Staffordshire knot [? error for Stafford knot], ‘a knot used to ligature the pedicle in ovariotomy’ (Syd. Soc. Lex., 1898).
1784. H. Walpole, Descr. Strawberry H., Wks. 1798, II. 414. Four green leaves of Staffordshire-ware. Ibid., 501. A Staffordshire Etruscan vase.
1813. Examiner, 22 Feb., 119/1. J. Clarke, Tottenham-court-road, Staffordshire warehouse-man.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., iv. (1842), 99. Of this kind is the Staffordshire coke, which may be obtained at some of the wharfs on the canals near London.
1857. J. Marryat, Pottery & Porcelain (ed. 2), 149. The earliest specimens extant of the Staffordshire ware are the ‘Butter-pots,’ and the Tygs or Tiggs.
1869. Day, Puddling, 4, in Rankine, Machine & Hand-tools. The thick coal called ‘Staffordshire slack.’
b. ellipt. = Staffordshire ware. Also sb. pl. = Staffordshire bricks.
1898. Daily News, 8 Feb., 3/5. Little stacks of various kinds of bricks—from London stocks to Staffordshires.
1908. Daily Report, 25 Aug., 8/3. The ‘Fitz-Gerald’ sale of Staffordshire ware … came as a revelation, both as to the quality of old Staffordshire and the prices it now obtains.
