Pilkington's lustre pottery was produced from 1906 until 1934. However, it is the years between 1906 and 1914 that feature the most
outstanding artists, decoration and quality. By 1908 the Royal Society of Arts considered Pilkington's to be the 'pre-eminent' firm of its type. In recognition of its status and international repute
Lancastrian pottery was awarded a Royal Warrant and became 'Royal Lancastrian' in 1913.
In this article we explore what to look for, what to expect, what defines good and bad lustre and what it might cost to collect lustre pottery from the 1906-14 period.
 Figure
12. Relief modelled vase by Richard Joyce, 10in. high. (Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University)
A Representative Collection
William Burton, Director of the Pilkington's Tile and Pottery Company, Clifton Junction, near Manchester, gathered around him what he termed 'a school of young English artists' aspiring to produce
'artistic and beautiful' lustre pottery. These were: Annie Burton, Charles Cundall, Dorothy Dacre, Gordon Forsyth, Jessie Jones, Richard Joyce, William Salter Mycock and Gwladys Rodgers.
In his book Pilkington's Royal Lancastrian Pottery and Tiles (Dennis, 1980), A.J. Cross estimated that in the period 1906-14 Pilkington's sold 11,500 decorated Experiments with lustre began prior to
1906, but in that year Gordon Forsyth arrived at Pilking-ton's as head of the artists and, in the words of the works' chemist, 'set forth lustre's glory'. By 1910 Pilkington's had perfected a full
colour palette.
Forsyth produced a complete range of decorated items, but favoured the Hispano-Moresque style, particularly heraldic devices and gothic lettering (figure 1). He did not impose his ideas and the
artists were free to indulge their creativity.
Our photographic record of 1,000 lustres, recorded in galleries and private collections, indicates that lustres by Dacre and Jones, who had both left Pilkington's by 1910, are scarce. Annie Burton
worked part-time; she too produced only a small number of works. Pieces by the other artists are more abundant. The 'lady artists' (as they were known) generally decorated smaller delicate pieces,
particularly lidded trinket boxes of various sizes and scent bottles, with floral motifs, which sometimes incorporated a heraldic device (figure 2). Mycock was at his best with flowers and heraldic
devices, especially on wall plaques and chargers (figure 3). Joyce was comfortable with all subjects but excelled in designs of sinuous fish in aquatic backgrounds and other animal subjects,
occasionally modelled in low relief (figure 4). Cundall, who started as a young apprentice, quickly mastered intricate designs, many of which included animal subjects (figure 5).
A good representative collection might include the various subjects of the artists mentioned, or at least one piece by each artist. In this case a pecking order might be applied. Of the men, Forsyth,
Cundall, Joyce and Mycock are desirable in that order and buyers may pay a premium for the first two. The ladies' pieces by Dacre and Jones tend to be more costly, ahead of Burton (figure 6) and
Rodgers. This is not entirely due to scarcity. Some Rodgers pots are unimaginative and Burton pots do not always seem to have been fired well, although the small sample size may be distorting
this.
|
