Denby Potters Wheel by David Yorath. An eye for style.

Denby is an internationally known name associated with the design and production of high-quality pottery. Over the years Denby have made countless ranges of tableware in their satisfyingly heavy, hard-wearing stoneware. And very nice it is too.

But away from the coffee cups, dinner plates and salt pots, you can occasionally find a strand of Denby pottery that deserves its own special mention. And, in my view, this is one such range.

This is Potters Wheel by Denby Pottery. Designed by David Yorath and producd in 1973 or 1974, I suppose items such as these – vases, lidded pots, small bowls – would be termed as giftware. There is a large range of Potters Wheel tableware which is perfectly fine but somehow not quite as eye-catching as these examples.

And there's certainly plenty to catch the eye. The bodies have nice contrasting finishes. Bands of matt surfaces sit next to richly coloured glossy surfaces. Rings of raised clay dots add a subtle texture and an appealing tactile element. The variable colour schemes and uncomplicated shapes work well too.

Although made by a huge company known mainly as a mass-producer, these carefully designed items seem to have a hand-crafted individuality to them. And that's one of the reasons why I'll be keeping an eye out for more.

There's a bit more information on Potters Wheel here: Potters Wheel on Retro Pottery Net

Upsala Ekeby Mari Simmulson wall tile. The art of the brave.

In a recent blog-post on Poole pottery, I referred to two little Delphis dishes as miniature works of art. Which, in a way, they are. But that got me thinking about which pottery might come into the category 'pottery as art'. Then I remembered this rather strange but beautiful wall tile.

I think you'd have to agree that this tile is pure abstract art in stoneware and glaze.

The wall tile is by the talented and creative ceramicist Mari Simmulson and was produced by Upsala Ekeby, Sweden. I would think the tile dates from the late 1960s.

The stylised flowering plant with its thick stems, fills the stoneware tile with deep rich tones of reds, greens and blues. The whole composition is then highlighted with flashes of bright white.

I have no idea how commercially successful this wall tile may have been at the time it was made, but I can imagine that it must have taken great bravery for a manufacturer to trust in such expressionistic work. So for that courage, Upsala Ekeby deserve great credit. As, of course, does Mari Simmulson.

There's information on Mari Simmulson and some examples of her work here: Mari Simmulson 

There's also more information and pictures on this excellent blog-site devoted to Upsala Ekeby: Mari Simmulson on Upsala Ekeby Samlarna

Dagny and Finn Hald stoneware pottery. A Potshot not-got.

Here are some pictures of some beautiful pots.

On this occasion, they're not my pictures and, unfortunately, not my pots.

The pots are from Norway and are by husband and wife Dagny and Finn Hald. The two ceramic artists produced these wonderful stoneware vessels in the 1950s. I like the simple shapes and earthy colours. The expressive decoration reminds me of tribal or aboriginal art.

The pictures are from an excellent book I found some time age – A Treasury of Scandinavian Design, Edited by Erik Zahle, Published by Golden Press, New York, 1961. The book covers the design work of Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden from the 1950s. I hope to show more of this book at a later date.

So far I have not been able to find a Hald pot of my own – but a lucky someone who did is here: Hald pottery at Retro Scandinavian 

And (thanks Janne) also here:  Finn Hald at What's blogging my view

Poole Delphis dish by Ros Sommerfelt.

Two colourful dishes by Poole Pottery. From the Delphis range, these small, seven-sided dishes have vibrant abstract patterns and were made in the early 1970s. Both are signed by the artist. The top dish is by Ros Sommerfelt, her signature is the one shown on the left of the two base pictures. I'm not sure who the artist was on the second dish.

Nice shapes, strong colours and expressive decoration – three factors that ensured these little dishes made their way into the Potshots collection.

If you're lucky, you can still pick up smaller items of Delphis like this at a reasonable price. And, to me, it's worth the small investment in order to be able to display these miniature works of art.

If you want to compare these Delphis items with the later Aegean range, there are some examples here: Poole Aegean range and here: more Aegean

Hornsea Pottery Studio Craft, 1960. Who needs colour?

Who needs colour?

Not if you have shape and texture like this.

I like how the shapes are nicely varied. There's a tall torpedo-shaped fluted vase, a Y-shaped jardiniere and a squat-shaped bowl. Two of the pots have a wonderful texture of carefully arranged raised dots or pimples (named as White Bud). The silky transparent glaze leaves only the colour of earthenware clay.
 
These elegant and subtle vases are by Hornsea Pottery and they were designed by John Clappison. The name of the range is Studio Craft, Home Decor and they date from 1959 - 1962.

My favourite is the small bowl. It was made in 1960 but it's another one of those well-designed items that looks as modern today as the day it was made.

Aviemore Pottery. One to watch for the future, perhaps.

These vintage vases are by Aviemore Pottery, Scotland.

And, I'm sorry to say, that's just about all I know about them. I don't know who designed, made or decorated them. I'm not even sure when they were made but would guess they are from the late 1970s. So perhaps this is a fairly useless blog-post.

Well maybe. But I did want to show these pots because they do have some style about them. For a start, they have elegant shapes (I like the very narrow necks – even though this makes them impractical for holding flowers), the glazes are silky semi-matt in subtle colour shades, and the abstract resist patterns add the feeling that they were individually hand-crafted.

There's one other interesting thing about Aviemore Pottery like this – at the moment, it seems to be a very good value buy. You can pick up a small bottle vase on Ebay for less than £5.00. A large vase, like the one in the top picture, would cost around £18.00.

One to watch for the future, perhaps.

If you do know anything about Aviemore Pottery, I would be keen to fill-in some of the blanks.