Gallery 12 - Art Deco

Around Art Deco

Bold, geometric designs and bright colours are typical of the ceramics created in the 1920s and 30s. The period is characterised by the Art Deco movement which influenced all manner of artistic impression – notably design, architecture and music.

Studio pottery was created by individual makers who carried out every process in the formation of the pot. Other items were mass-produced in factories, often associated with particular designers, such as the prolific Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper.

Local ceramic output is illustrated by small Scottish potteries, such as Gushetneuk and Bough, where painting by hand brings the products to life. The glass on display explores the distinctive Monart vases and bowls designed by the talented Ysart family in Perth.

Clarice Cliff

Known for her fantastic and often outrageous designs, Clarice Cliff has become synonymous with the Art Deco style. On leaving school she was apprenticed in a local pottery and learned to paint free-hand. In 1916, she moved to A J Wilkinson’s factory in Burslem where she was promoted to the design studio. The Bizarre range, which was to make her name, was launched in 1928.

Susie Cooper

In 1922 Susie Cooper started work as a paintress (female painter of ceramics) at A E Gray & Co in Stoke-on-Trent. Although the company produced stylish, modern designs, she was not content to remain with the firm as she wanted full control of design and production – both shape and surface pattern. The Susie Cooper Pottery was established in 1929 – a bold move for a woman at that time.

Keith Murray

Keith Murray qualified as an architect in 1921 but during the economic slump of the 1930s he began designing silver, ceramics and glass. From 1932 he worked on a freelance basis for Wedgwood, producing sleek, modernist designs that were very different from that factory’s usual output. An innovative designer, he advocated a new approach to shape and decoration, emphasising that good design should be based on simplicity and structure.

Gordon Mitchell Forsyth

Born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Forsyth studied at Gray’s School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art. In 1905, he became Art Director for Pilkington’s Tile and Pottery Company in Manchester, making his name with the production of lustre ware. Forsyth was appointed Superintendent of Art Education in Stoke-on-Trent in 1920, acting as a mentor for aspiring designers and publishing widely on ceramics and industrial practices.

Eric Ravilious

Trained at the Royal College of Art, Ravilious is known as a water-colourist and wood-engraver. In 1935 he was contacted by Wedgwood who were keen to engage new designers for both economic and artistic reasons. Ravilious was deliberately chosen as an artist who had not previously worked with ceramics. The garden pattern for a range of dinnerware was launched in 1939, featuring ten different scenes – a selection is displayed here. Though Ravilious died on an Air Sea Rescue mission in 1942, production of the pattern continued in the 1950s.

Designers & Studio Potters

Several well-known artists such as Dame Laura Knight were employed in the 1930s by pottery manufacturers to bring new design ideas to their wares.

Charles and Nell Vyse were key figures in the development of British studio pottery.

Art Deco Pottery

Art Deco designs continued throughout the late 1920s and 1930s. As well as ceramics and glass, Art Deco also influenced architecture, fashion and interior design.

Ruskin Pottery

The Ruskin Pottery was founded in 1898 in Smethwick, Birmingham by Edward Taylor and managed by his son, William Howson Taylor. The pottery was named after the artist and critic, John Ruskin, and developed from the Arts and Crafts movement.

Inspired by Chinese wares, the glazes were lead free and the decoration was hand painted. The method of firing caused the unique and random glaze effects, creating pottery which is still highly prized by collectors. The factory closed in 1935.

Art Deco Pottery

Influenced by the Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, held in Paris in 1925, factories began to make ceramics in the Art Deco style. In attempting to identify more profitable areas of production, these manufacturers placed original design and craftsmanship at the core of their output.

Gushetneuk Pottery

Gushetneuk Pottery was run by Majel Davidson at Bieldside just outside Aberdeen from 1927 to 1935. The location of the pottery was a triangular piece of land: a gushet. The pottery mark is based on this shape. Davidson was an accomplished artist and produced practical tableware and more decorative ceramics with geometric designs, typical of the Art Deco period.

Monart

In 1909 master craftsman Salvardo Ysart, originally from Barcelona, moved to Perth to join the firm of John Moncrieff Ltd (manufacturer of laboratory wares) with his son, Paul, as apprentice. In his space time Salvador made decorative glass vases and, when he donated one to a local church raffle, it was spotted by John Moncrieff’s wife who persuaded her husband to market the new style of glass. It was launched in 1924 and named ‘Monart’: a simple combination of Moncrieff and Ysart.

Monart glassware was made by rolling coloured glass powder and glass canes (long, thin rods of glass) onto a clear or coloured glass form. The surface decoration was then pulled into interesting shapes before being covered with another layer of clear glass. Some of the early pieces do not have this casing and therefore have a rough surface. Bubbles were created by sprinkling on crushed charcoal before the outer layer was added. Gold powder and aventurine (a mineral containing shiny particles) were also used and mica flakes gave a silver effect.

Monart Ware, which was initially made to order, included a variety of objects such as lamp shades, candlesticks and decanters. It was extremely successful, with the various items and shapes illustrated in two pattern books. Salvador Ysart’s four sons worked as his apprentices and the main period of production was from the mid-1920s until the start of the Second World War. Monart Glass continued to be made until about 1961, although only Paul Ysart remained at Moncrieff’s after the war. In the 1930s ‘Monart Glass’ replaced ‘Monart Ware’ on labels.

The Monart glass pieces have developed a problem. As the glass has aged its chemical composition has become unstable. This causes weeping, crizzling (tiny hairline cracks), cracking, fragmenting and even disintegration.

Weeping glass has a cloudy, slippery and wet surface – you might notice droplets or small pools of moisture. The process cannot be stopped but it can be slowed by lowering the humidity levels and cleaning regularly.