Celtic pottery (Newlyn & Mousehole)

an early Celtic mug with monogram

I have been told they did a range of Kings and Queens and a seahorse?

They certainly did. I'll show some pic's of 'queen' and seahorses, but I've not yet managed to get any kings - but I do have an amazing 'aztec' style design!

I probably don't know any more about the time lines than you guy's & gals. Certainly that early link is a laod of Bull. It is basically a tribute to Eve, who had just died and not intended as a factual record of Celtic Pottery - read that and you'd think Bill never existed. Eve wasn't involved in the design of the Folk range (the wonderful heraldic images), this was Bill (and poss Maggi ?) when at Mousehole. It may have been when he joined Maggi and brought his 'Medalion' range with him that the term Folk was coined, but that is it.
However, it was interesting to read he'd been her companion for 42 years, this would put it at 1968.

I don't know how many painters they had over the years. Some were either better than others or there was a Monday morning and Friday afternoon style of painting. One who I know was with them for a while was Ian Box

The best site for info on Celtic Pottery is here http://www.studiopottery.com/cgi-bin/mp.cgi?item=10 with a load of pic's including different labels.

Although this site does have pic's (large enough to read) of the best magazine article I've seen on the pottery http://fired-specialists-of-carn-pottery.com/CELTIC-POTTERY-ARTICLE-BY-GRAHAM-GOWER-1998-PUBLICATION
But go back a page and see what you think of that horse/unicorn sculpture. I've seen on eBay where they still claimed it was by Bill Fisher - but no label to prove it!! So I'm not sure, it has a certain Celtic(ish) style to it, but is it by Bill or just similar style ? I certainly didn't put my money on it! But it is nice.

A slightly less battered Celtic Pottery, Mousehole Cornwall sticker

Here's one you won't see often, Designed and made by William fisher

The Studio at Wharf Cottage sticker

Forgot to say - I've also seen a fantastic Clown dish - but someone else got that one

OK, here is a few of mine for starters
a dinner set I purchased several years ago.

'Queen'

A chicken if ever I saw one.

Some Fish.

2 small made & designed by Bill fisher dishes.



That's it for now. More with my thoughts on the bird design another time.

Dan - you tease, you know full well they did a 'king' range. I've just seen one in the pic's of your cabinets! But it's not the same mug that I didn't get (I store all the pic's I see on eBay). So now that's 2 mugs and 1 small slender vase I've seen in the king design.

I was told there was a queen range but yours is the first one I have seen (she's superb!)

and the seahorse pics....

Seahorse will have to wait until I can take some pic's.

But, I would like to run my thoughts on the bird designs by you collectors. It's been bugging me for several years. So, I'd be interested in your thought on my views.

For some reason, the bird design seems to have gained the name Phoenix - but where did this name come from ??

As far as I have been able to find out, it actually represents a fighting cockerel.

Now allowing for variations in painting ability, there seem to be three basic bird designs and a few rare extras.

DESIGN ONE - the most common design, I would say clearly shows a fighting cockerel. Wings flapping, legs and claws raised in attack. Claws are always raised in this design.


DESIGN TWO - less common, but to my eye, if anything is, this could be considered a phoenix. More of a squat / plump design bird with legs allways splayed either side of body.


DESIGN THREE - again less common, I think this is a particularly nice example of it - note the water drops comming off the wings.
To me this looks like it could represent a Shag. They are a seaside bird, which does sit with it's wings spread like this - I believe it is something to do with warmth to aid digestion. The legs are allways on the ground and not raised in this design.


So fellow collectors, what do you think. Am I right, wrong or a bit of both ?? Your views will be greatly appreciated. It would be nice to try and get some standard names for what are 3 different designs, but currently all called the same.

we often get this sort of theorising on the Poole collector's forum but 99% of the time it turns out to be whatever the paintress fancied when she was decorating a particular pot and with no reason behind it.
the last of the three birds looks to have feathers flying rather than water drops and is unlike any shag I have seen (I had one nesting outside my lounge window for years)

I fully realise that the actual design varies depending on the particular artist, as well as the adapting to fit a particular shape.

But there are still these 3 distinct bird designs - they are not just a variation of the main design. Have (and seeing) many different examples of each design, I am in no doubt about this and they always follow the basic format that I have suggested. Have a good look through your collection and you'll see what I'm saying.

The are several others that at first sight look like they 'might' be a different design - but are nearly always just a variant of the cockrel. I have some you'd swear was a parrot.

Having double checked (I'm not a birder), it seems to be a Cormorant that has that 'drying' posture not a shag. But the images are just that, images not studies - the cockrel doesn't look particularly like a cockrel either. This does seem to be less common than the other two, but is still a definite seperate design.

The outspread wings are always distinct wings rather than the usual round wing of the cockrel. 'My phoenix' always has a distinctly chubby / fat bottom look.

Dan - if you want to send me your email address, I can send you quite a few pic's to clearly show that these are infact 3 different designs. Most I can't post on here, because I've just captured them from eBay sales and don't have copy right of them. I can also show you the only other 'queen' dish I know of, as well as the clown.

Ah, those ones. Yep, I saw them when he first posted them one ebay over a year ago - asking about £100 each. They have popped up a couple of times. I think the middle one went, but I think the other 2 were still for sale last time I saw them. These are the only examples I've seen of this shape. I like the middle yellow one and the blue one is OK, but to me the other one looks like a reject - the image has burnt away in the kiln.

No, I haven't seen that scratched in tree design before - didn't actually notice it when I first looked at them the other day. Clearly early Mousehole mugs - which do seem to carry all sorts of 'experimental' images. I guess Bill just did however he felt at the time ? Lucky you!

Dave (and everyone else) here is what you've been waiting for.

What I call 'Aztec' design. I paid crazy money for it (on ebay)- but does that make me crazy, or would I have been crazy not to paid whatever it took ?




So, anyone seen anything even remotely similar before ? because I haven't.

I took pic's of several other really nice bits, which I'll add later on.

a Newlyn bowl

Unicorn in terracotta - is there some question over this being a Bill Fisher piece now? Unicorn 12 3/4" tall, total piece 17 3/4" tall.
Can't find a sig at the mo and no label. Bought in a shop in Cornwall in the 60's or 70's according to the owner who bought it.
Enjoy.
m

I don't think they do 'know', I believe they have just taken the view that it is so similar it 'must be'.

Can you tell is it actually a sculpture/original or is it molded from an original. I had assumed the 'fired' one was a sculptured 'one off'. But as there are now more of different sizes, I'm guessing they are probably molds - Like the wonderful figures Andrew Hull did for Cobridge and now himself.

OK, here are my Bill Fisher singers.





Got these a few years ago off eBay for a ridiculous amount of money - under £20 (I think) Not perfect, but even so, I expected a lot more than that. As you may be able to see - the tallest has been badly broken and glued back together. The next has a small chip missing from his hat. The next is perfect and the last has tips missing from his tash.

But they are some of the pride of my collection.

Well I wouldn't say there are 'now more'. As far as I know there is now 'one more' of a different size, unless you have seen others? also, yes I am pretty sure that mine is a hand built piece. It is clearly by the same 'hand' as the Fired... site one, but the detail is actually very different as well. My uncle made a series of large wizards and witches. They were all a similar theme but they most definitely were not moulds, they were all hand built and I'm pretty sure this is in the same vein.
Like your pieces! they are lovely, I can understand why they have a special place in your collection
m

The Unicorn on the Fired site was sold by David Lay auctions in Penzance about six years ago.It was listed as Bill Fisher and sold for approx £300 to £350. About 3 weeks later the Fired site had it for sale on e.bay. Think they were asking about £1000 to £1500 for it.

Dan, that's fab. Looking forward to hearing what you may learn.
I have tracked down that apparently Bill also made a table lampbase which was a 'sculptural knight on horseback height 20''' Couldn't find a pic though.

And I've managed to find a self portrait oil painting of him.
I'm going to have another search on my unicorn to see if I can find any markings. BTW it weighs 10lb!! so a pretty hefty piece. I'm always amazed large pieces don't crack during the firing.
m

I just spoke to Ian Box, he and his brother joined Maggie at her tiny cottage pottery in April 1967 shortly after Bill's departure,Ian's job was to make the vases and tableware which were all slipcast,he was only taught this aspect of the production as Maggie alone would decorate the pottery with birds in either blue and black or yellow and black.
"Maggie was tight lipped about the glazes and firing details, she definitely was not a teacher".Ian was paid £3.50 per week,when he asked for a raise it was doubled but the money wasn't enough to keep him there and so he left for Australia where he lived for 2 years before returning to Cornwall where he was taught by Bill Marshall,this led to an Introduction to Janet leach and lad to a 5 year job at Leach pottery.

I got the distinct impression that Maggie was a hard taskmaster and paid as little as possible which would lead to a mutiny some years later instigated by Anthony Frost who worked at the Celtic pottery Newlyn