A Bernard Moore Vase in the "oriental" style 1905

Fish as a decorative theme clearly connect this and the last vase posted below. They are very different in style and execution however.

The Moore piece is a stunning example of the Aesthetic style or "Japonisme" taste; the west's growing awareness, obsession and take on oriental design which was prevalent in all the arts around the turn of the 19th Century. Woodcuts from Japan were hugely influential on the post impressionists painters and Chinese glazes and techniques in the decorative arts were studied intensely by potters in Europe.

This flambé vase with various degrees of oxidation enhanced with gilt and enamelled decoration of carp is signed and dated 1905 and would have required several firings - a very expensive piece of the highest quality.

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A Wilkinson's "Oriflamme" vase painted by John Butler

John Butler was a very talented art director and painter working at the A J Wilkinson's pottery at the turn of the 20th Century. This miniature 9 cm high vase is a tour de force, demonstrating the highest quality of his work. Decorated with an all-over marbled gold and red lustre ground and highlighted with a finely painted fish; it dates from the early 1900's and represents the end of an era - Wilkinson's was Clarice Cliff's first employer.

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Carlo Manzoni, Granville Pottery (1895 - 1898)

The connection between Carlo Manzoni and the Della Robbia Pottery (see post below) is well documented. He was a friend of Harold Rathbone and Conrad Dressler who founded the Della Robbia Pottery in Birkenhead in 1894 - not only that, when Dressler left in 1894, Manzoni joined Rathone and closed his own pottery in 1898.

This jug dated 1897 is typical of the wonderfully naive style he produced, almost single-handed, at his short lived pottery; not surprisingly his work is extremely scarce and sought after.

This jug is illustrated on page 54 of John Bartlett's book "English Decorative Ceramics".

Della Robbia Pottery (1894 - 1906)

Probably the finest pottery to emerge from the Arts and Crafts movement in England. In fact the "Jewel in the Crown" considering pieces were purchased  by King George V, Queen Victoria and Edward VII.

This huge vase and cover , nearly 12 inches high and 30 inches in circumference, would probably have been an exhibition piece. Painted by Liza Wilkins and with the throwers mark incised- usually a sign of a high quality piece - this is a stunning example of a short-lived pottery from "Great Britain".

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An Exquisite Martin Brothers Miniature Vase 1893

This finely carved and modelled stoneware miniature demonstrates the exceptional skills of the Martin Brothers' individual style. It is decorated with incised and raised foliage, picked out in blue on four light brown panels against a darker body. In the Gothic style, the scrolling foliage is different in each panel and epitomises the emphasis the Arts and Crafts movement placed on hand worked craftsmanship.

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Bernard Moore and the Development of Copper-red glazes

I don't want to stir up a storm about who won the race to re-create ancient Chinese "Sang de Boeuf" glazes in England  - was it Bernard Moore or the Taylors at the Ruskin Pottery? But this small  Bernard Moore vase  must be of great interest to the debate.

The quest was the holy grail of potters in the Western world in the 19th Century. The glaze, technically a high temperature reduction fired process using copper oxide on a hard paste porcelain body (which could survive the firing) results in a highly attractive scratch resistant, rich red glaze with purple streaks or spotting.

This vase could have been produced as early as 1902 - see Aileen Dawson's book on Bernard Moore p.28 Plate II for a photograph of a very similar example.

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A Ruskin Pottery High Fired Sang de Boeuf Vase

The connection between this vase and the previous Leach pot may not be immediately apparent but Leach was a friend of the Ruskin proprietors and a frequent visitor to their pottery. They shared a love of “oriental” shapes and glazes but stylistically they were very different.

Edward Richard Taylor and his son William Howson Taylor are often credited with being the first potters to successfully re-create ancient Chinese high fired glazes in this country. This simple and beautiful vase was made in 1933 just before the pottery closed although they had mastered the technique in the early 1900s - but were they the first in England to do so?

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