Craft: Pottery Art for an Artistic home on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

There's a renewed interest in handmade crafts for interior design, as the decorative wares are instrumental in enhancing an "artistic" home and the recently held London Crafts Week put creativity and innovation at the forefront of crafted art appreciation in everyday life.

Left and centre, Leonard King's Anglo-Persian vases produced under the "Burmantofts Faience" name decorated with attractive compositions in blues, greens and purple, influenced by popular "Persian" ceramics
of William De Morgan, c1885-90.
Right, "Parti-Coloured" vase made by Burmantofts, Leeds, c1895-1904.
Earthenware, painted and glazed.

For two centuries, displaying art pottery has been key to creating a fashionable home with artistic tones in the rich and dynamic history of British art pottery, encompassing various movements, styles and individual artistic expressions.  

A group of flower vases, plates and tile from Doulton Lambeth, painted by Mary Butterton, Lizzie Shettleworth,
Matilda S. Adam and Alberta L. Green, among others.
Earthenware, painted and glazed.

Now an interesting mix of fine examples of pottery art from the late 19th and early 20th centuries showcasing an eclectic mix of British art potteries and their artists, many of them women, is currently showing at London's Victoria and Albert Museum in Kensington, until 25th September 2023.

Entitled "The Artistic Home", the impressive exhibition of British art pottery are from the private collection of Ian and Rita Smythe who generously gifted it to the V&A in 2018.  

The Smythes started collecting pottery art from the 1960s, and put them on display throughout their house, complete with wallpaper, furniture, lighting and stained glass from the period.  One can imagine a truly artistic home that the Smythes created for themselves with the beautifully hand-crafted pottery art on show.   These stunning wares will give us inspiration in our contemporary homes.

Made by Doulton Lambeth, a mermaid vase, a fairy vase and a vase with female figures all by Margaret E. Thompson about 1900.  Earthenware, painted and glazed.

In pursuing beauty during the Aesthetic Movement between 1870s and 1880s, art potteries and studios began to open, where pieces were made and decorated by hand, marking a departure from traditional ceramic production.  Artists were given the opportunity to gain recognition for their work, experiment with decoration and create novel designs. Amateurs, art students and professional artists all became engaged with what was often called "china painting".  Many of these were women who had previously been unable to enter employment or practice art professionally. 

During the ensuing Arts and Crafts Movement in late 19th century to early 20th century, influential figures such as William Morris and Charles Robert Ashbee, advocated for a return to craftsmanship and the integration of art into everyday life. In the pottery world, this led to the establishment of workshops and studios producing handcrafted, artistically designed pieces. 

Framed charger with female portrait painted by Rebecca Coleman at Monton's Art Pottery Studio, London 1871-5.  Earthenware, painted and glazed.

In the current V&A exhibition are beautiful vases, chargers, candle sticks, dishes, wall plaques, tiles, a fireplace surround and panels, in bright colours, lustrous glazing, featuring such well-known factories as the Della Robbia Pottery and Burmantofts in Northern England, and William De Morgan, Minton Art Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, and Doulton Lambeth in London. Notable artists at Doulton Lambeth were Mary Capes and Margaret E. Thompson, while at Della Robbia were Alice Louisa Jones, Alice Rathbone and Routh Bare.   With the success of artistic stoneware in companies such as Doulton Lambeth, women, many from the middle classes, were employed to carry out painterly decoration, creating a new style to suit the artistic Victorian home, according to the V&A.

A "Parti-coloured" jardiniere and stand with peacock made by Burmantofts, Leeds, C1895-1904. Earthen ware, moulded, painted and glazed.
Large decorative pots and jardinieres were created to house exotic plants brought into Britain and Europe.

There is an array of eclectic design themes as artists took inspiration from various sources, including Islamic art, Italian Renaissance, gardens and the natural world. Featured motifs range from flowers and foliage, to plants, animals, fruits, birds and peacocks, fairies and mermaids even.

Two dishes with female portraits painted by Charlotte H. Spiers, London, 1883, 81; on Minton blanks.
Earthenware, painted and glazed.

On show were also designs by independent artists.  As the fashion for painted pottery grew, artists who had trained in other fields often tried their hand at "china painting" and retailers sold factory blanks for independent artists to decorate and offered to fire them in their kilns once painted. Large chargers, dishes and tiles were the most popular objects as it was easier to design and paint onto a flat surface.

As contemporary British art pottery continued to thrive, a wide range of approaches and styles can be found today, including traditional techniques, experimental forms, and conceptual installations. Artists like Turner Prize 2003 winner Grayson Perry and renowned ceramist Edmund de Waal have achieved international acclaim, pushing the boundaries of ceramics as an art form.

Grayson Perry's "Matching Pair" vases.

Marking once of the entrances to the ceramics section of the V&A is a pair of large Vases, glazed earthenware, hand-built with incised, painted and printed decoration.  These were not part of the Artistic Home exhibition.

All photos above by Lucia Carpio.

On the White Road set of four bone china plates.
Image from Victoria and Albert Museum website.

Edmund de Waal has created a limited collection set of four bone china plates, On the White Road, as shown above, produced in collaboration with the V&A and Wedgwood in Stoke-on-Trent.