Author: Learn Antiques Team

WILLIAM HAWKINS: Animating Porcelains with Paintings

William Hawkins started working at the Royal Worcester when he was 16 years old. Like the other Royal Worcester artists, William had his own speciality. In his case, it was portraits, figures and still life work. Many important changes took place during the times William worked at the Worcester factory. These years also saw many changes in the British way of life. The Royal Worcester Company has been renowned for the skill of its artists and none were more respected than William Hawkins. He worked during a time of great change, and his unique, wonderfully decorated items are a collector’s dream, though not easy to find now.

FRED WARD: Visionary Modernist Designer

Fred Ward was considered a pioneer by fellow designers. He was creating furniture that took ergonomics into consideration way before it became a fad. He demonstrated the beauty of unstained native Australian timber when others were imitating the look of European wood. His designs have been described as having a simple beauty, pleasing to look at yet streamlined and functional, which seemed to have reflected him. After the war, Fred applied his innovative mind to meeting the needs of the era. Australians could have affordable yet stylish furniture. Two decades after Ward’s death, collectors and antique lovers are rediscovering his work.

CARLTON WARE: The Pottery Company with a Flair

Carlton Ware was a pottery manufacturing company that manufactured hand-painted household pottery in lofty Art Deco styles throughout the 1920s and 1930s. It produced promotional items for Guinness. Carlton Ware focused on the ornamental giftware end of the household pottery market for the major part of its career. As part of innovation and development, the company introduced new production methods where the decal and hand-painting work was incorporated into high-glaze substrates in the 1920s. The necessity to pass on increasing labour and fuel costs critically affected the aptitude of Carlton Ware to keep manufacturing sophisticated hand-painted items. It was on this note that the company then focused more on novelty items until its downfall.