It will come as no surprise to
collectors of Charlotte Rhead pottery that it is easy to identify the inspiration
for so many of her designs. Coming from a family of artists and a home full of
art there would be no shortage of ideas.
It has been fascinating to follow
the Rhead Cronin Collection sales at Bearnes Hampton and Littlewood where some
tube-lined tiles are accompanied by pictures of the same subject painted by her
father. It is wonderful to see the association of these artworks.
With regard to her Crown Ducal
tube-lined portfolio there are several patterns where one can be reasonably confident of her inspiration source. Here are a few:
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| Primroses drawn by George Woolliscroft Rhead |
- Primula could have been modelled so easily on her grandfather’s work at Copeland. Search with Google images for CF Hurten Copeland primroses and you should find what I mean. Or perhaps from George Woolliscroft Rhead's "Studies in Plant Form" drawings.
- Manchu, the dragon was previously interpreted by her father when he was at Woods & Sons, but of course the Chinese version is yet much older still.
- Blossom uses a floral style crafted in slip clay very similar to a pattern that her father Frederick designed for Liberty & Co whilst he was working at Wardles.
- Omar, I’ll wager would have been inspired by her uncles George Woolliscroft and Louis who worked together on a project to illustrate the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.
In the first tranche of the Rhead
Cronin Collection sale on 17/12/2013, there were two lots that provided me with
new insight into the design origins of Charlotte’s
Crown Ducal designs, Stitch, (3274) and Aztec, 2800).
Stitch, (3274), design influence
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| Crown Ducal Stitch (3274) and Ditmar Urbach ewers. |
Picture reproduced with kind permission of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
Lot
2 comprised of two Stitch, (3274), items and two ewers in a similar pattern by
the Czech company, Ditmar Urbach. Bernard Bumpus notes the design connection
between the two in the 1987 edition of his book and I have tried in vain to get
definitive evidence of which design is the older. But with the
Ditmar Urbach ewers in the possession of the Rhead family I feel that Charlotte probably based her
design on the Czech pattern.
Ditmar Urbach ceased to exist in its pre-war form
after Germany
took over the factory in 1938. This is well after 1933 when Stitch was
designed, but I have been unable to determine the design date for their
“version” of Stitch. Although this is all rather inconclusive the decider for
me is that after Charlotte
adapted the design for Crown Ducal she then adapted the shape of the
ewer for her patterns at HJ Woods Bursleyware after WW2. The coincidences are
too extraordinary to ignore.
If someone does have design date
information for Ditmar Urbach patterns please let me know.
It should be emphasised that
there is no mistaking the two productions. The glazes, shapes, backstamps,
design details are obviously different when viewed side by side. Also the Czech
version is not tube-lined, the stitches are thickly applied brown paint.
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| Ditmar Urbach style, left and Crown Ducal, right |
Aztec, (2800), design influence
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| Watercolours by Charlotte Rhead |
Picture reproduced with kind permission of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
Lot
38 in the same sale were two watercolours by Charlotte Rhead of native North
American women. One of the women’s clothes incorporates the stepped pyramid
symbol similar to that used in her Aztec pattern pottery.
I do not know of any period
references to Crown Ducal pattern 2800 and the design predates the start of the
numbered surviving pattern books. Collectors prefer names rather than pattern numbers,
and so the descriptions in the Bumpus books of the contemporary interest in
Aztec architecture have lent the name Aztec to the design.
Although the name Aztec is quite appropriate for the familiar design motif from the Latin
American pyramids, I now believe that Charlotte
was looking at North American culture and symbols rather than those from
further south. Not only does Charlotte
use the stepped pyramid for “Aztec”, but there is also the rare, unnumbered
design with wavy lines in exactly the same colour palette and from around the
same time as pattern 2800. My amateurish, quick look research on the internet
finds that the stepped pyramid means “snow cloud” and the wavy line symbol
means “running water”.
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| Charlotte Rhead Crown Ducal 12" charger Aztec, (2800) with Snow Cloud motif |
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| Charlotte Rhead Crown Ducal shape 148 unnumbered design with Running Water motif |
If further evidence is required
that Charlotte
was thinking about native North American culture. Then study of the Crown Ducal
pattern books reveals that pattern 3594 is a 17” Cotswold shape supper tray,
(17” charger), enamelled with the profile of a native North American chief. And there’s that stepped pyramid
symbol again in the feathered headdress band.
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| Central design for Crown Ducal pattern 3594 |