Denby pottery "Tigo ware" Tibor Reich designs

Tibor Reich (1916 - 1996) born in Hungary.

Tibor Reich designed a highly collectable black & white range for Denby in the 1950s. He's also famous for his designs in other fields such as textiles.

When I first became a professional dealer I sold this dish on eBay - I didn't know what it was then but it sold for a lot more than I was expecting so had a feeling it might be special! I now know that it was a 'Pusta' (star) dish from the Tigo Range and is the same shape as the 'T' he used in his Tigor logo. See here for logo http://www.retroselect.com/Denby/tibor%20design%20large%20march%201959.gif

Tigo Ware vase with original label to base

Adam20 wrote:Tigo Ware vase with original label to base

Not technically a vase, this is the "TOK" (marrow) pourer. Nice shape I have one myself. How you were supposed to fill it I
don't know!

Been looking for one of these for ages. Terrible for hairlines, and those white blobs
can drop off, so a perfect one in a charity yesterday for 99p makes it all worthwile!

A Tigo ware RAK (Lobster) sugar bowl. Unmarked, as the paper "Tigo" sticker is
often gone.

Today's pick-up, a Tigo ware Halas (Fish) bon-bon dish. Never seen one before.

Hi,

I picked up this small, quite unusual black vase yesterday but alas google/internet has drawn a blank.
It is stamped ‘Made In England’ and has the remnants of a label attached.
The vase/pot is a matt Black with a fine texture with random little whote raised dots or hobnails all over.

I just wondered if anyone maybe knows anything about it?

Thank you in advance,
Stacey.

I think it's a RAK (lobster) sugar bowl  made in  1955

Yes I’ve just been looking. I’ve seen the other, more linear examples but not the dotty ones before.
I thought it may have been Denby but google didn’t bring anything up for me so very grateful for your input.
I picked it up yesterday from a nearby council skip shop...pleased with my find!

Some collated information from the Denby book, and my own musings.

Tigo ware was first produced at a small pottery, set up by Tibor Reich near
to his Stratford-on-Avon base. This pottery couldn't meet the demand, so in
1953, he approached Denby pottery to produce his designs, eventually
his Tigo pottery company was merged with Denby.
They would use an imported white earthenware clay, apart from a few
items made using the more usual Denby stoneware.
The association was "short lived", but the book doesn't say any date.
The designs were exhibited at the London tea centre in 1956, alongside
Glyn College's Cheviot ware.

There doesn't seem to be any information on which were the "original"
designs, and which, if any, were developed while at Denby.

The item on the right here may be original (No Denby mark), and I have
seen at least a "Lobster" pot with a full black "Tigo" pottery back-stamp,
with no mention of Denby.
https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t25529-tibor-reich-and-sunfield

Otherwise earthenware items seem to be all marked "made in england"
in black, and a Tigo/Denby sticker, which of course is often missing.

There are a variety of techniques used: Sgraffito, spraying, stencilling,
printing and hand-painting.
The Sgraffito was not popular with the workers due to the gritty dust.
I do wonder about the quality control, using an unfamiliar clay, glazes
and some different processes.
There are lots of inconsistencies in the sgaffito work even on little cruet
items, applied slip decoration can drop off, and the pieces are notorious
for hairline cracks, and crazing.
The black can vary from a dark brown (underfired?), to a grey (overfired?).
Some of these variations are inconclusively discussed here:
https://www.20thcenturyforum.com/t4450-tigo-ware-reproduction

I have 3 pattern sheets, so a list of the pieces on them is as follows:

Items using off-the-shelf Denby stoneware tableware blanks.
Designs are printed, with some hand colouring.

BLACK MOON large platter
FIFI small platter
COCKTAILS large platter
COCKTAILS small platter
CORNWALL large platter
GUITAR dish (using a Greenwheat fish dish)

The rest are as far as I know are all using the white earthenware body.

RENDEZ-VOUS plate (using a standard Denby dinner plate mould)
SISTERS plate (using a standard Denby dinner plate mould)
KNIGHT plate (using a standard Denby dinner plate mould)
FLORENCE vase
ESPANOLA vase
DECOR wall pocket
MADAR bird model
MUSTAR plain condiment set
CLOWNS clowns condiment set
PRAIRIE tall jug
TEGLA (brick) sweet dish
DRAPE (fabric) sweet dish
HALAS (fish) bon bon dish
SUN (hedgehog) marmalade jar
FOGAS (whiting) jam pot
SZALKA (fish bone) honey jar
DUNA (danube) sweet dish
VAROS (homes) sweet dish
BALATON (lake) fruit dish
RETEK (radish) pourer
TOK (marrow) pourer (though also marketed as a vase)
RAK (lobster) sugar bowl
KAVE (coffee) coffee jug
CSESZE (mug) coffee mug
TISZA (river) syrup jug (though also marketed as a cream jug)
WUZU (bird) dish
WUZU (bird) bowl
TINTA (ink) sweet dish
HULLAM (waves) sweet dish
PUSTA (star) large salt dish
PUSTA (star) small salt dish (there are many colourways)
PAPRIKA (pimento) sweet dish (there is also a red version)
HAJO (boat) fruit dish (there is also a yellow version)
EGG SET 4 sgraffito egg cups on a base
COCOA MUG sgraffito with a face
SUGAR BOWL small bowl with 3 vertical lines

In addition, there are some items shown in a photograph in the Denby book.
CANDLE HOLDER a conical double holder with sgraffito
CANDLE HOLDER small stand-alone with sgraffito
TEABOWL black outer, with inners in various colourways
NUT DISH small black leaf-shaped dish

The above nut dish is also seen in various all-over colours. This was part
of the "Boutique" giftware and tableware accessory range, jointly developed
with Glyn College.

A TEGLA (brick) sweet dish

A DUNA (danube) sweet dish with original sticker.

A HULLAM (waves) sweet dish. This is a trial piece with 3 different slips.

A HAJO (boat) fruit dish, 17 in long.

A MUSTAR plain condiment part set. I have made these up in the past, though it can be
problematic to match up the individual pieces. Still looking for more spares!

A COCKTAILS (large size) platter. Printed design with colouring,
using a standard Denby Greenwheat stoneware blank.

A FIFI small platter. Printed design with colouring,
using a standard Denby Greenwheat stoneware blank.

This is one of my favourite pieces of pottery. Would like to collect some more but struggle to find it.

A "RETEK" (radish) pourer, slightly smaller than the "TOK" one.

DD he's one designer that I did not appreciate for a long time, too quirky, strange but now I've seen 1,000,000 bits of pottery then the strange stands out and it good but...to see this at it's best you need to see it in a group - together and how do I do that? Where is he's work on display in the UK? or a website

There's probably as much on here as anywhere.
The Denby pottery museum has. or had, some pieces, most of which are
shown in the Denby book.

There was a proposed book on Tibor being done by his descendents, but I'd
heard something about family squabbles, which were holding it up.

Here is an example of one of his plate designs.

Yeah supa quirky again, strange even. You look at it and wonder what the hell it is - what's going on? which is a good thing, as it grabs you attention. How big is it? I can't tell

It’s 10.25” which was a standard size for a Denby dinner plate of the period 1950s…..

Yes, a fine example, not too grey, not too brown, one of the set of 3 plate designs,
correctly stated as using the standard denby dinner plate shape, but made using
the tigo white clay to get the sgraffito effect.