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Two books on Carlton Ware were published in 2012. See our Publications page for details.
Previous Articles 13
Below are selected articles published on this site August to December 2012. We hope you will find some of interest.
Friday 21 December 2012
Seeing Red
Red and Ruby are topical here the UK. On my way back home after a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum, I walked past a well-known shop to see that everything inside was red and all by famous designers.
Thank you to The Conran Shop in the Fulham Road for allowing me to take the pictures above.
For a bit of fun, click on the slippers and see
the Wicked Witch of the West covet them!
The Ruby Slippers
Red, of a different kind, featured too at the V&A in an exhibition of Hollywood Costume, where Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz take a staring role. Coincidently, the film was made in 1939, about the time that Carlton Ware was developing its Rouge Royale, a variation on its earlier ruby lustre that Horace Wain had devised in the early 1920s. An example of Rouge Royale is shown on the vase on the right.
Another example of the use of this flamboyant ground colour is shown on the RITA shape coffee set opposite.
It is curious that a Gothic typeface was chosen for the special mark mostly used on ware with this ground colour.
Notice that one of the defining features of Rouge Royale is black shading applied to rims, bases and edges of ware. It is also more lustrous than the earlier ruby ground. Compare it with the ruby lustres from the 1920s and 30s in the examples below. Spot which one of this group is Rouge Royale.
Top row - FLOWER & FALLING LEAF 3949 vase S443, Kingfisher & Vine 4391 vase S1693, Hedgerow 3862 vase S406.
Bottom row - Eden 4241 tray S1608, JAZZ 3352 bowl.
Bottom row - Eden 4241 tray S1608, JAZZ 3352 bowl.
The formula for the Carlton Ware ruby lustre was a closely guarded secret but it was revealed to other potteries when Horace Wain left Copeland Street in the early 1920s and when Enoch Boulton left for Fieldings, makers of Crown Devon, in 1930. The addition of rare metals, in this case gold, gave the sparkle to these fine finishes. Perhaps this is why the ruby and Rouge grounds provide a perfect foil for the gold prints and gold edge work that Carlton Ware used to perfection.
Red and gold are festive colours and what better example can there be than with Christmas decorations, especially at this time of year.
And finally, again topical and coincidental, we show another Ruby, the new arrival in the Broom's household. Sara and John will have their hands full! ❑
Harvey Pettit © 2012
And finally, again topical and coincidental, we show another Ruby, the new arrival in the Broom's household. Sara and John will have their hands full! ❑
Harvey Pettit © 2012
Answer - Kingfisher &Vine 4391.
Scroll down for other articles.
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Listening In
Dame Nellie Melba
Carlton Ware Radio Operator.
Today the BBC is 90 years old. In 1922, here in the UK, regular wireless broadcasts for entertainment began from the Marconi Research Centre near Chelmsford.
The Carlton Ware's Model of a radio operator "Listening In" on the right must be of a similar age. He could be listening to Dame Nellie Melba, shown on the left holding a rope suspended microphone, no doubt with some nervousness and fear of electric shock!
Notice the thermionic valves or vacuum tubes glowing yellow on the operator's set. This must all have seemed very futuristic at the time. I wonder what the operator would have made of today's iPod? ❑
The Carlton Ware's Model of a radio operator "Listening In" on the right must be of a similar age. He could be listening to Dame Nellie Melba, shown on the left holding a rope suspended microphone, no doubt with some nervousness and fear of electric shock!
Notice the thermionic valves or vacuum tubes glowing yellow on the operator's set. This must all have seemed very futuristic at the time. I wonder what the operator would have made of today's iPod? ❑
Scroll down for other articles.
Thursday 8 November 2012
Our 2012 Get-together
in The Potteries.
in The Potteries.
Read Angela Wood's account of our Annual Get-together in Stoke that we held last month by clicking on the picture on the right.
Our Guest speaker was Will Farmer of The Antiques Road Show fame, the first of many treats.
Fans of 1960s and 70s pottery would have enjoyed Harvey Pettit's talk on Carlton Ware and other pottery from this exciting and innovative period.
In the way that Carlton Ware made its mark on ceramics from the Victorian and Art Deco periods, it made a significant contribution to what was new and exciting in the post war years. These relatively unexplored times are at last beginning to be appreciated and are coming into their own.
We are delighted to report that at our 'do' Cuthbert Wiltshaw's grandchildren, Vanessa Barnish and Paul Waylen, have accepted our invitation to become our patrons. Vanessa lives near Cheadle in Staffordshire and Paul on Phillip Island, near Melbourne in Australia. Yet again Paul had made the long trip to be with us, via Italy for his daughter's wedding. This does make us feel even more International! ❑
Our Guest speaker was Will Farmer of The Antiques Road Show fame, the first of many treats.
Fans of 1960s and 70s pottery would have enjoyed Harvey Pettit's talk on Carlton Ware and other pottery from this exciting and innovative period.
In the way that Carlton Ware made its mark on ceramics from the Victorian and Art Deco periods, it made a significant contribution to what was new and exciting in the post war years. These relatively unexplored times are at last beginning to be appreciated and are coming into their own.
We are delighted to report that at our 'do' Cuthbert Wiltshaw's grandchildren, Vanessa Barnish and Paul Waylen, have accepted our invitation to become our patrons. Vanessa lives near Cheadle in Staffordshire and Paul on Phillip Island, near Melbourne in Australia. Yet again Paul had made the long trip to be with us, via Italy for his daughter's wedding. This does make us feel even more International! ❑
Carlton China book launched
Last month we announced the launch of the new book on Carlton China by Arthur Puffett. The book was previewed at our Stoke get-together and all the copies available there were sold over the two days. As promised we can now tell you how to order your own copy of this excellent book.
In order to keep publishing costs at bay a rather novel approach has been adopted where each book is printed specifically to order, professionally bound and mailed directly to the person ordering the book. The printing and management is carried out through a web-site called Blurb. www.blurb.com or www.blurb.co.uk. To find Arthur’s book simply click here. We've also added a link to the sidebar, (where you can also find details on Cast Aside the Shadows - Violet Elmer and the Carlton Works).
From there you will be able to order and pay for the book online at Blurb’s secure site either with a credit card or using Paypal. You can select from a paperback, Hardback with dust cover or Hardback with image wrap cover. Prices are £30, £35 or £37 accordingly.
In order to keep publishing costs at bay a rather novel approach has been adopted where each book is printed specifically to order, professionally bound and mailed directly to the person ordering the book. The printing and management is carried out through a web-site called Blurb. www.blurb.com or www.blurb.co.uk. To find Arthur’s book simply click here. We've also added a link to the sidebar, (where you can also find details on Cast Aside the Shadows - Violet Elmer and the Carlton Works).
From there you will be able to order and pay for the book online at Blurb’s secure site either with a credit card or using Paypal. You can select from a paperback, Hardback with dust cover or Hardback with image wrap cover. Prices are £30, £35 or £37 accordingly.
Compiled by Arthur J. Puffett, Carlton China a guide to the history and patterns of this unique Carlton Ware range. Arthur has collected Carlton China for some twenty years and knowing that few factory records survived relating to Carlton China embarked on recording as many china patterns as possible. With the help of other collectors, especially Derek and Jane Towns, who run www.carltonchina.info, the new book is the most comprehensive list of known china patterns, most of which will be by the much acclaimed designer Violet Elmer, who began at Copeland Street in 1928. ❑
Scroll down for other articles.
Friday 17 Aug 2012
Clock this one!
Fakers go to extraordinary lengths in their attempts to fool the collector with a 'rare' item. This old wall clock, probably of German origin and dating from the 1930s, is a good example. It has four W&R/Carlton Ware additions!
- The first is on the face of the clock telling us it is Carlton Ware Time much like the fake Guinness Time pieces
- The second, again on the face, is the use of the early W&R swallow mark used between 1890-93.
- The third is the use of the later crown backstamp printed in green, an unknown colour for a backstamp.
- Finally, as if by now we are unsure, a Carlton ware paper label with the pattern number 4769 has been removed from a 1970s piece and stuck on the back.
Below we show the attempts at deception!
CARLTONWARE TIME with
fake early W&R Ribbon mark.
Fake later Crown mark
printed in an unknown green!
Reused, paper label with 4769,
for 1970s RIO pattern.
The seller may well be genuine and could be the one who has been caught out.
The starting price is £45 plus £8.80 p&p. You can view the sale here.
Whilst we are on the subject of fakes guess which is the real McCoy from the two LANGOUSTE plates below?
The fake has been cast from an original mould. The seller tells us it is in a colourway I've never seen before. ❑
The starting price is £45 plus £8.80 p&p. You can view the sale here.
Whilst we are on the subject of fakes guess which is the real McCoy from the two LANGOUSTE plates below?
The fake has been cast from an original mould. The seller tells us it is in a colourway I've never seen before. ❑
Scroll down for another article.
Wednesday 15 August 2012
Upcyclying? A Carlton Ware
MAGNOLIA plate sandwiched
between an Eichwald plate and a
Japanese preserve pot.
International Upcyclying!
Margaret and Margot from Oz told us about this 'special' piece of Carlton Ware that they had spotted on eBay last month!
The seller tells us that
This beautiful plate stand is a one of a kind, the top being a sugar bowl that can be used for dips, chocolates or just to add to the quirky look. Just perfect for your high tea or as display. The two bottom plates do have some chips but this would be expected for their age, this does not take away from the stand at all....
The chipped plate in the centre is indeed Carlton Ware from the MAGNOLIA range, the one on the bottom is Austrian and the sugar bowl or preserve at the top is probably Japanese. All have had a central hole drilled through.
Full marks for the seller's promotional skills, as well as ingenuity for giving the pots a new life, but perhaps it's not life as we know it!
Such acts of rescue are part of a recent trend called "upcycling" where potentially useful materials or items are converted into products of better quality or higher environmental value! Below are some more examples. I wouldn't want to be on the sun lounger in the boxer shorts! There is bound to be a short circuit. ❑
The seller tells us that
This beautiful plate stand is a one of a kind, the top being a sugar bowl that can be used for dips, chocolates or just to add to the quirky look. Just perfect for your high tea or as display. The two bottom plates do have some chips but this would be expected for their age, this does not take away from the stand at all....
The chipped plate in the centre is indeed Carlton Ware from the MAGNOLIA range, the one on the bottom is Austrian and the sugar bowl or preserve at the top is probably Japanese. All have had a central hole drilled through.
Full marks for the seller's promotional skills, as well as ingenuity for giving the pots a new life, but perhaps it's not life as we know it!
Such acts of rescue are part of a recent trend called "upcycling" where potentially useful materials or items are converted into products of better quality or higher environmental value! Below are some more examples. I wouldn't want to be on the sun lounger in the boxer shorts! There is bound to be a short circuit. ❑
Sun Lounger.
Upcycled shopping trolley.
Boxer shorts.
Upcycled circuit boards. OUCH!
Pet bed.
Upcycled suitcase.
Suitcase.
Upcycled jerry can.
Articles here have been moved from the Recent Articles & Announcements page and are in reverse chronological order.
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