Chelsea Pottery (London)

John Drummond is a new name added to my Chelsea decorators list

Elizabeth, then aged 26, ascended the thrones of these countries upon the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952, and was proclaimed queen by her various privy and executive councils shortly afterwards. The coronation was held more than a year after the accession, on 2 June 1953. This followed the tradition that a festival such as a coronation was inappropriate during the period of mourning that followed the death of the preceding sovereign.

Bistowboy this is the Wiki entry which succinctly explains the 52/53 disparity. I didn't know this...you learn something new every day.....but it was before my time..

Still researching the dish.

This Chelsea dish epitomizes why I love ceramics; It is beautiful but it is also interesting.

Every now and then something a little different, something a little special comes your way and this time providence sought me out and it was my turn. It came to me cheaply so it was even more of a surprise as it slowly dawned on me what I had. It is an earthenware 1953 E II R Chelsea Angel Fish Dish, and a very pretty thing. It is not normal quality Chelsea, it's a special piece which is why someone must have sworn rather loudly and for some time when this was warm out of the kiln as it unfortunately has a large firing crack centre which runs through from the base and is visible on the front of the dish as a recognizable ragged line approximately 70mm long. But to me it matters not, without the crack the dish would not have come my way and I would not be describing it to you now.

Three tropical fish swim from right to left, (Angel Fish ~ Pterophyllum altum) one on the left and two on the right of a 300mm wide x 100mm high, large footed earthenware bowl. The base and underside have been left unglazed in red clay. It is marked "E II R / Chelsea Pottery / 1953" on the foot. It carries no other monogram or signature to identify who made it. The fish swim on a pale green speckled ground decorated with underwater plants and seaweed.

The overall effect is mesmerising. The fish seem to swim through the centre of the dish because of the steep 'V' shape, and the dish draws you into itself. I particularity like the way the rim has been left unglazed framing the decoration and the speckled ground slightly darkens towards the upper edge. The surface of the glaze is by no means flat and light reflects off the detail making the fish and plants sparkle. The V&A mentions 'inlay and overlay technique', can anyone explain this please?. The dish itself is quite light and finely thrown which may have contributed to the firing damage, this would have been caused by tensions building up in he clay either through inconsistent firing or drying and from what I've read online base cracks are not uncommon.

It has plenty of finger marks on the unglazed underside and I like the way the previous owners have left many marks whilst handling it over the last nearly sixty years. I enjoy seeing the finger marks and it's nice to think that each owner adds a little to the plate (ahh, yes... that is mashed potato stuck to the foot on the photograph, sorry, I was eating dinner).

Origin. There are apparently four other Chelsea Pottery dishes in the V&A collection. All were donated by David Rawnsley. For a while I pondered on when they were donated, but their Museum number seems to hold the clue C.73-1953, CIRC.406-1953, CIRC.407-1953, C.74-1953, I think it's OK to assume 1953. All four are 200mm in diamater and range from 35mm to 77mm in height. There is a Bird plate by Joyce Morgan, a Fossel Fish by Daphne Cork and also a Crab dish by the same maker and lastly a beautiful Fish (Barracuda?) Dish by John Drummond. All are described as inscribed "E II R / Chelsea Pottery / 1953". The fat bird is singed 'jem' which makes me conclude that the Angel Fish Dish is not by Joyce as it probably would have been monogrammed. There may well be other makers of this series not represented. I have not a clue where any of the other plates are. I'm thinking they were not sold, or that they were not made to be sold. Apart from the Barracuda dish by John Drummond, the other three are technically great but not in my mind anyway very pretty. There is an ugly gawking fossil fish that would probably scare little children at least as well as a Martins Brothers tobacco jar, a fat JM bird and a spindly crab. Could I be right in saying that David did not donate the best in the series?

I don't know who made the Angel Fish dish, but certainly it has similarities to all the V&A dishes and is almost certainly part of the same series made in 1953. How many dishes were made in the series? Did they make others of 300mm diameter? How may series were there? Fish, Birds? I don't know. A trawl of the internet pulls up nothing except at the V&A - All of the 1953 pieces available are not of this ilk. Checking my photographs from my summer visit to the V&A ceramics gallery, I can see that three of the dishes are on the storage shelves and the fat bird is on display in room 140 Factory Ceramics. All the others in the series must be locked in someone's cupboard somewhere. I assume they stayed in the possession of the potters and their families and those connected with Chelsea pottery. Currently I think the Angel Fish dish is also by Daphne Cork. The only reason for this is that I think the grounds look very similar. Weak I know. I need to take a peek at them. Matching the handwriting 'Chelsea Pottery' on the base would conclude the matter.

To me the four Chelsea plates in the V&A collection say something about post war Britain. They don't just represent the wares of Chelsea Pottery or the potters who made them but more of a era, a time, someone was showing off, they we the finest pottery they could make, the finest Pottery London could make. It was just after the war and Chelsea Pottery was new, founded in 1952 it was unfurling it's wings in time for the 1953 Coronation.

How much does the damage put you all off this plate? Opinions please? I see firing damage as less significant than human damage. To me a large chunk taken out of the rim would spoil the plate more than the firing crack. In all other respects it's fine, no chips, no hairlines, just the finger marks and mash potato on the underside.

What to do with it? I could keep it locked away in a cupboard for another 40 years or sell it to someone else who could lock it away their cupboard for 40 years. Perhaps it's not worth much because of the damage? I'm unhappy about selling it for a profit as it came to me cheaply. Perhaps the dish was meant to come to me? It just seems a shame that it can't be seen or enjoyed by more people. I'll try to keep you informed and I 'll try to make another V&A visit and photograph the other dishes as best as I can.

Anyway, I think it is really interesting. What do you think?

Links:

x4 V&A dishes as posted previously.

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O19230/fossil-fish-series-dish-corke-daphne/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O19231/bowl-corke-daphne/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O19232/dish-drummond-john/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O19233/dish-morgan-joyce/

Pterophyllum altum

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Pterophyllum+altum&rlz=1C1ASUM_en-GBGB471GB471&aq=f&sugexp=chrome,mod%3D13&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=_cJoUJNNqJzRBZ2ZgRA&biw=1400&bih=963&sei=_8JoUMuyHcfX0QXK-oGwCA

Cracking and Warping:by John Hesselberth

http://www.frogpondpottery.com/articles/crackwrp.html

Bird dish on display and the other three in storage.

what a lovely and unusual example! How big is it please and is it signed?

Wondering if anyone here is familiar with any of the many Chelsea potters creating room settings - handbuilt work. The one I have is a pub scene with barmaid behind a counter - keg and bottles on counter, customer sitting at a round table in the corner - sign in back of bar says "The Queen's Arms."
An inked, square stamp on unglazed bottom says CHELSEA POTTERY, 15 Radnor Walk, London, S.W.S. ENGLAND.

The "room" measures about 7 inches wide and 5 inches tall. Standing barmaid is about 4 inches tall.

Can't determine signature on one of side outer walls - first name looks to be 4 letters starting with C or G - last name looks to be 5-6 letters starting with T and ending in n.
At bottom edge below signature is inscribed Chelsea Pottery Made in England

Will post pictures as soon as I get a few made.

Piece was given to me by friend who bought it in London, probably in 1970s/80s.

Many thanks

(Also posted in Studio Pottery) Wondering if anyone here is familiar with any of the many Chelsea potters creating room settings - handbuilt work. The one I have is a pub scene with barmaid behind a counter - keg and bottles on counter, male customer sitting at a round table in the corner - sign in back of bar says "The Queen's Arms."
An inked, square stamp on unglazed bottom says CHELSEA POTTERY, 15 Radnor Walk, London, S.W.S. ENGLAND.

The "room" measures about 7 inches wide and 5 inches tall. Standing barmaid is about 4 inches tall.

Can't determine signature on one of side outer walls - first name looks to be 4 letters starting with C or G - last name looks to be 5-6 letters starting with T and ending in n.
At bottom edge below signature is inscribed Chelsea Pottery Made in England

Will post pictures as soon as I get a few made.

Piece was given to me by friend who bought it in London, probably in 1970s/80s.

Many thanks

sounds inrigueing!
We need to see the photo's really

Hi, I'm new to this fantastic site!

I stumbled across this beautiful plate by Chelsea Pottery's Joyce Morgan. I wanted to share it with you and also find out a little more about this design. I notice that there are several pieces in the V&A museum.

Mei :)

Greetings fellow pottery lovers! I'm new to this site. I wanted to share this find with you.
Such a beautiful design by Joyce Morgan. Does anyone know any more info on this particular fish design?

Many thanks, Mei

it's the first Chelsea fish I have seen, I would guess it's quite rare  

dantheman wrote:

21cm sweet bowl,standing on 3 legs with an impressed Chelsea pottery stamp on the back,I'm guessing the decorator's initials are DA?

Sorry, I just found this forum and would have responded earlier had I known.  It's a pleasure to see so much of my work and those with whom I worked at Chelsea Pottery.   This example (and several others) is "AD" for Audrey Durnan.  I'm sure everyone here knows of Chris Blanchett's great compendia of British art and commercial tiles.  If not, take a look at his "20th Century Decorative British Tiles: Craft & Studio Tile Makers" on page 55 for his discussion of Chelsea Pottery 1952-1997.  He shows most of the sgraffito identification marks that we used both on tiles and on pottery.  I was there from 1965 to 1972 and it was a most enjoyable time.  Presently, I have a (not pottery, I'm afraid) studio in Pasadena California.  I won't respond to each of these, but am happy to help identifying some tricky ones, if I was there.

Nice board!!

dantheman wrote:welcome ,
Do you remember any other names from your time there?

 
Yes.  Here are some:
 
Betty Dennison Hunt (mainly did the casting)
Jim Rose (mainly did the firing)
Joan ??? (mainly slab work)
Frank Spindler (sp. ?) (throwing and maker of Judge figures and the round plates of different sizes)
Joyce Morgan (decorator)
Barbara Ross (decorator)
Jenny Delange (sp. ?) (decorator/ New Zealand) [her sgraffito is a sylised "del"]
Hazel Levy (decorator)
Audrey Durnan (decorator)
Brian Hubbard (chief)
 
Blanchett has Christina Sheppard at the pottery between c1960 and c1975; her work is totally unfamiliar to me and I am not aware of having met her.  Each decorator's  work is fairly easy to identify.
 
Hope this helps,
Audrey
 
PS  As for the "amateur" thread, there were many many classes given (for a fee) the whole time.  On occasion, they would use the Chelsea pottery blanks.
PSS  We tended to buy pre-formed blank Huntington tiles for decoration -- I did the wall of sunflower tiles for the "Chelsea Potter" on the King's Road.  Is it still there?

dantheman wrote:

Might be Hazel Levy.

dantheman wrote:

I got this bowl today,the foot has a hole in it for wall mounting and someone has cleverly put an eyed split pin through that hole. I have screwed a hook into the underside of a shelf and hung the bowl which allows lots of movement the light then catches the colours in lots of different ways plus it also gives the illusion that the butterfly is airborne.
:dd1:

 
Joyce Morgan

dantheman wrote:A lovely 12cm pin dish

 
Joyce (she like doing insects and small animals).
Nice collection of the old lead glazes here.

Susan Bearder wrote:I wonder what you make of this seven and half inch footed bowl in the Chelsea style of old? I hope you can see the mark.   Susie

Photo is upside down. But it is one of mine -- Audrey Durnan.

dantheman wrote:

dantheman wrote:

21cm sweet bowl,standing on 3 legs with an impressed Chelsea pottery stamp on the back,I'm guessing the decorator's initials are DA?

#


This looks like it may have been made by a learner

Way off!! Take a look at style and form.... especially over time.

dantheman wrote:



an unglazed Barrister,possibly a prototype?

 
Frank didn't make proto-types... might be a second ... might have been sold because some punter wanted it unglazed.

Celtic_Fan wrote:(Hopefully) My first piece of Chelsea.
No stamp, but looks right to me (what do I know   ).
I'm guessing no one else spotted it, as mine was the only bid so I got it £20, which I'm happy with and certainly less than you usually see them for.

 
Made by Frank S. / Hazel decorated them.

NaomiM wrote:Hi, I came across this forum while researching a Chelsea Pottery wall plate I bought from a charity shop (I think it's wonderful - and the forum :) )

Do you think the initials are Joyce Morgan's?

 
Decidedly.

NaomiM wrote:I also have this cake or cheese cover (missing its base), and it's only just struck me - comparing it side by side with the plate - that it might also be by Chelsea Pottery.
It's made from the same red pottery as the plate, and has the same 'soft focus' decoration.
There's a decorator's name or initials on the front - which I think says Jon or Jan - but unlike the plate there's no 'chelsea pottery England' inscribed by hand on the back. (The makers mark was probably on the missing base).
I found it in a local charity shop a few years ago.

 
This is Joyce's.