Groovy. Westminster vases 1960 1961

Here are a couple of vases by Hornsea pottery that I've always found quite pleasing to the eye. The range is Westminster (I don't know why) and it was produced in 1960 or 1961.

Hornsea seem to have perfected the technique of vertical grooving filled with colour, they used it on the beautiful Summit range, the Summertime range, and others. On this example the grooves are tapered and are very fine by the time they reach the bottom. As far as I know, there were only two sizes of Westminster vases made and only three colours were used. The colours are similar to some of those used on the Summit range so this range displays well with Summit. The pointed arch-shape at the top of the grooves is an elegant feature and the gently flared top is a nice touch too.

One of my favourites.

Hornsea Summit 1960 - 1965

Slip-decorated dishes from the 1950s. More butterflies.

The butterfly plaque featured in the last blog-post reminded me of these colourful butterfly pin dishes.

These small dishes are only about 4 inches (10cm) wide but they are really nicely decorated with hand-applied butterfly illustrations. The image of the butterfly is made up of a series of dots and trails in coloured slip that must have taken great skill and accuracy to apply.

The colour combinations are fabulous and so typical of the 1950s.

The dishes are by Hornsea pottery and were made in or around 1956. There's quite a range of similar Hornsea slip-decorated items from this era. Remember the fish dish posted a while ago: Hornsea fish dish 

Looking after the pennies, 1950s style.

If, like me, you're a bit low on funds at this time of year, you may have made a resolution to do some saving up. And to save up, you'll be needing a suitable piggy bank. Luckily for me I have not one but two and they're a couple of beauties.

I can think of no finer way to store-up the surplus small change than with one of these Hornsea Pottery penny piggy banks. Designed in the mid 1950s, almost certainly by John Clappison, they are in a simplified, stylised shape with short legs and long snouts. I particularly like the cylinder-shaped bodies that end in a curly tail.

You can see some more good-looking pottery piggy banks here: The Piggy bank page

Rainbow cruets from the 1960s.

I recently did a couple of blogposts featuring Hornsea Rainbow pottery from the early 1960s. One of the items was a rather smart cruet set. Remember this: Rainbow cruet

The salt and pepper pots shown in that blogpost were in the Roulette shape – one from a range of five different shapes. So just to complete the Rainbow cruet story, here are the other four shapes made. I think the names are, from left to right:

Top row, Cone, Crinoline
Bottom row, Globe, Parasol

And just to remind you, the set shown below is in the Roulette shape.

Fishy Fellas from the Fifties

And now, as they say, for something completely different.

Admittedly not something you might expect to see on a blogsite like Potshots: I suppose I've been trying to steer away from showing too much 'cute' pottery. Even so, I think these fishy fellas deserve a mention. Not least because in my view, they do have an element of style about them.

Made in the mid-1950s, they are in the form of small posy vases, the tall one has a hole in the back and is designed to be used as a wall pocket. The green one is made from a slightly coarser red clay rather than the usual white. Each one has a stylised fish sitting in front of a wave shape. They were made by Hornsea Pottery and are part of the Fauna range.

I quite like the shape of the fish, and the wave does have some nice flowing curves in it. In fact, the tall vase has such elegant lines that it almost has an Art Deco quality about it.

Multicoloured slipware from 1961

More slip decorated pottery, and more Hornsea Pottery. (I promise to find some non- Hornsea pottery to show you after these).

These funky vases feature a whirly, swirly design in bands of contrasting colours. Known (for obvious reasons) as multicoloured slipware vases, they were made by Hornsea in 1961.

I think there were four vases produced in this range with slight variations in size and shape. I like them because as a result of the hand-made application of the design, each pot is unique, an individual creation, and no two pots are alike.

OK, no more Hornsea for a while.

Studio slipware pin dishes from the 1950s

I don't really have much need for a handy supply of pins but if I did, I'd keep them in a dish like this.

These Stripe-tastic pin dishes were made between 1954 and 1957. Known as studio slipware the dishes were made by (you've guessed it) Hornsea Pottery.

The flared black and white stripe design is hand-applied in coloured slip. The softly-curved rectangular dishes are nice, they stand on a base with four small feet.

There's more Hornsea studio slipware on Potshots here: Studio slipware

Hornsea Rainbow salt and peper set. 1960s

More Hornsea Pottery from the Rainbow range. Again made between 1961 and 1963, this is a salt and pepper set. I think there were five different shapes of Rainbow salt and pepper sets and I have a feeling that this shape was called Roulette. If I find any more of the shapes, I'll let you know.

A Rainbow for Summer, 1960s style.

Although only small - the largest is only three and a half inches (9cm) high - these mini vases are certainly big on 1960s style.

Made by Hornsea Pottery between 1961 and 1963, these colourful little pots are from the Rainbow range. The fluted yellow bodies are decorated in hand applied horizontal bands in black, red, grey and pale blue.

I particularly like the shape of the two vases shown in the close-up photos, they seem to have a sort of Japanese feel about them.

Perhaps the bright yellow colour would be a bit tricky to fit into today's colour schemes, but a display of Rainbow pots wouldn't half add a splash of colour to a room.

Kitty number two. The Hornsea Marion Campbell cat.

Kitty number two.

Again a stylised cat with an elongated neck and nicely painted features.

This time, I can give some background information. This cat (is it a Siamese?) was designed by Marion Campbell for Hornsea Pottery. It was made in 1961 or 1962 and is one of a set of five similar cats in different sizes. This version is the second-largest of the series and is about seven and a half inches (19cm) high.

Aren't those exaggerated cat eyes fabulous?

Hornsea Impact vases 1964 1965. Part two.

It was almost a year ago when I did a blogpost on Hornsea Impact vases.

Remember this: Hornsea Impact vases

The vases shown back in April 2011 were all based on a square shaped body. At the time, I promised to show the other versions from the range – the round shaped bodies. Well, sorry for the wait but here they are.

The vases are from 1964 and 1965 and have a raised graphic decoration and coloured narrow fluting. I hope you agree that it was worth the wait.

Bird cruet. John Clappison. 1966.

What could be nicer than having breakfast with this delightful salt and pepper set sitting on the table? The intense blue colour, the stylish, modern shape, and the graphic illustrated bird design – it's a real joy.

This is the work of designer John Clappison and believe-it-or-not, this bird cruet set dates from 1966. The set is from a range produced at the time by Hornsea pottery. Other animal cruets in the range are owls, cats and fish. One of the birds (the salt) has a single hole at the front of its beak, the other (the pepper) has three small holes. The sets were all printed in black onto either brown, green or blue backgrounds. I like the blue.

Some time ago, I did a blog-post on the owl cruets from this range. Remember this: Owl cruets.

The more I look at these pieces, the more I can't help thinking that, in a way, the work has a Scandinavian feel to it. I wasn't surprised, therefore, to learn that John Clappison had been to Sweden in 1962. He visited the Gustavberg factory where he met Stig Lindberg at his studio. John also met Gunnar Nylund during this period. In earlier years, John Clappison had met Nils Thorsson at the Royal Copenhagen factory. John had also discovered the work of Nils Kähler at Kähler Keramic. John says that Kähler's work had a big influence on him at the time.

Who knows? perhaps some of that Scandinavian freedom of expression was in the back of the mind of John Clappison when he produced these little gems.

Hornsea Summit for La momes

A quick blogpost to answer a question from La momes Old fashioned

This fluted striped tableware with inlay colour is called Summit. It was made by Hornsea Pottery, England between 1960 and 1965. Some time ago I did a blogpost on the Crafty Cruet. I promised then to do a blogpost on Summit, which I will do soon. You can see an example of Summit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, here: Summit at the V&A

True 1950s style. Elegance by name, elegant by...

If ever a range of pottery typified the design style of the 1950s, to me, this would be it.

Designed in the mid 1950s by a young John Clappison for Hornsea Pottery, this is Elegance. The range was in production between 1955 and 1959. The asymmetrical shapes incorporate deep curves. The outers are decorated with clean white unglazed stripes against a glossy black background. The interiors and details are in yellow, sometimes in golden yellow, sometimes in paler lemon yellow. Shown here (middle picture) is a smart salt and pepper set with a tall tapering form, and a vase (bottom picture) which has a hole on its flat back side to allow for hanging on a wall.

There's a fine example from the Elegance range in the collection of the V&A museum, London. You can see it here: Elegance vase

If, like me, you have a fondness for mid-century design, you'll probably agree that this range could be truly described as Elegance by name, and elegant by nature.

Pisces fish vase Hornsea, 1961.

And last, but not least, in the mini fish series, are two extraordinary vases (or should that be works of art?) known as Pisces.

To me, this is an example of how an item of pottery, in this case a vase, can be elevated, through its design, to a level where it can justly be regarded as a work of art.

In other words, I like these vases.

This is Pisces, designed by Ron Mitchell in 1961 for Hornsea Pottery. Stylised fish are carved into, and sculpted onto, the surface of the vases, and an abstract surface pattern in earthy neutral colours provides the perfect background to the white fish shapes.

As these vases were made in very small numbers, they are now difficult to find. There were three different shapes made. As well as these two, there's a third, taller vase, an example of which is in the V&A Museum, London – you can see that one here: Hornsea Fish Vase at the V&A , and there's another example on the excellent pottery website Retroselect: Pisces at Retroselect

Graphic, sculptural and pleasing to the eye, these vases really are a pleasure to display.

A shoal of fishy dishes from the 1950s.

Pottery fish are a bit of a favourite of mine, and fish seem to have been a bit of a favourite at Hornsea Pottery too.

Remember this Hornsea slip fish dish and this Hornsea fish wall plaque

These fine examples are from a range made in the mid 1950s by Hornsea Pottery. They are made in the form of small, shallow dishes and they come in various sizes and colours. One nice feature of these little fishy dishes is that they all have a hole on the reverse so that are that they can be hung on a wall – a bit like pottery flying ducks, I suppose. The decoration was formed by using trails of liquid slip and dragging the spike shapes with a fine tool.

These little dishes look so good, I feel inspired to go on a fish-based blog-run. So stand by for a couple more fish themed pots over the next couple of days.

Fish wall plaque from 1972.

I like the dark, cool colours on this circular wall plaque. The stylised fish in the illustration looks as if it's moving through deep water.

The circular plaque is made from dark brown clay and the glazes have a subtle textured look. I have an idea that there were several versions of this plaque, each with a different coloured background and different illustration.

The plaque was made in 1972 by Hornsea Pottery. It's described by Hornsea as a wall plaque but I suppose it could also be used as a teapot stand.

Either way, it's a stylish bit of retro design.

Hornsea slipware vases. Smart zig-zags from 1963

Elegant shapes, cool pastel colours, and simple zig-zag designs combine to make these vases so distinctive - and so stylish.

They were all made in 1963. Known as Slipware vases, they were made by Hornsea Pottery. Each has a painted grey band which is hand-decorated with those fabulous zig-zags in white slip clay. It's nice to display a single vase on its own but they look even nicer when displayed in groups. I can't decide if groups of mixed colours look better or groups of vases all in the same colour. I suppose it would depend on the decor of the room. Either way, I love these vases. In my opinion, this Slipware range is one of the best looking designs ever to come out of Hornsea Pottery.

Hornsea Pocket Wall Vase 1955. Shades of Barbara Hepworth.

One of my personal favourites.

This wonderfully shaped pot is by Hornsea Pottery. It was made in 1955 and is described by Hornsea simply as a pocket wall vase. I'm not sure exactly how it was supposed to hang on a wall, its base seems to be designed to stand flat on a surface.

The beauty of this vase, in my opinion, lies in its elegant and sculptural form. The pierced circular holes and asymmetrical shape are so reminiscent of the work of British sculptor Barbara Hepworth.

Even though the vase may have been originally designed to hold a spray of flowers, to me, the object is a pleasure displayed just as it is.

I suspect this vase is quite a rare one. During the time that I've been collecting Hornsea pottery, I've only ever seen one or two examples.

Barbara Hepworth

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Barbara Hepworth photo:
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