The Ruskin Pottery was an English

art pottery Art pottery is a term for pottery with artistic aspirations, made in relatively small quantities, mostly between about 1870 and 1930. Typically, sets of the usual tableware items are excluded from the term; instead the objects produced are mostly ...

studio founded in 1898 by

Edward R. Taylor __NOTOC__ Edward Richard Taylor RBSA (14 June 1838 – 14 January 1911) was an English artist and educator. He painted in both oil painting, oils and watercolours. He became a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 1879. Biograph ...

, the first principal of both the Lincoln School of Art and the

Birmingham School of Art The Birmingham School of Art was a municipal art school based in the centre of Birmingham, England. Although the organisation was absorbed by Birmingham Polytechnic in 1971 and is now part of Birmingham City University's Faculty of Arts, Design a ...

, to be run by his son, William Howson Taylor, formerly a student there. It was named after the artist, writer and social thinker

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, as the Taylors agreed with, and followed the tenets of Ruskin. The pottery was situated at 173-174 Oldbury Road,

Smethwick Smethwick () is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before bei ...

, then in Staffordshire (now part of

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough ...

, in the West Midlands county). The pottery produced was notable for the innovative glazes used on a range of brightly coloured pots, vases, buttons, bowls, tea services and jewellery. The

ceramic glaze Ceramic glaze, or simply glaze, is a glassy coating on ceramics. It is used for decoration, to ensure the item is impermeable to liquids and to minimize the adherence of pollutants. Glazing renders earthenware impermeable to water, sealing th ...

s devised by William Howson Taylor included misty soufflé glazes, ice crystal effect glazes - 'crystalline', lustre glazes resembling metallic finishes, and the most highly regarded of all, ''sang-de-boeuf'' and flambé glazes which produced a blood red effect. The sang-de-boeuf glazes were created using reduction of copper and iron oxides at high temperature. This was a difficult technique, first developed in China in the 13th century and reinvented by several art potters in Europe in the late 19th century. William Howson Taylor was one of the principal exponents of 'high fired' techniques, producing a range of colours and unique 'fissured' glaze effects. Having exhibited at home and at international fine art exhibitions, the award of a "grand prize" in 1904 at the St Louis International Exhibition, gave them the recognition they needed. Further awards were gained at other international exhibitions, including Milan 1906; Christchurch, New Zealand, 1907; London 1908; Brussels 1910; Turin 1911; Ghent 1913. William Howson Taylor

When the studio closed in 1935 the formulae for the glazes and all the pottery documentation were deliberately destroyed, so that the unique Ruskin products could never be replicated. A large collection of Ruskin Pottery is on public display at

Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery is a purpose-built Victorian art gallery in Wednesbury in the West Midlands of England. It is notable for its Ruskin Pottery collection and for hosting the first public display of the Stuckism art movement. ...

Wednesbury Wednesbury ( ) is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and ...

, about north of the factory. The collection is owned by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and is managed by Sandwell Museum Service. The site of the factory is now an industrial estate, ''"Ruskin Place"''. A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

marking the site, erected by the Smethwick Local History Society, was subsequently stolen.Smethwick Local History Society newsletter

References

*''The Pottery of Edward Richard Taylor and William Howson Taylor, 1898-1935'' -

Paul Atterbury Paul Rowley Atterbury (born 8 April 1945) is a British antiques expert, known for his many appearances since 1979 on the BBC TV programme ''Antiques Roadshow.'' He specialises in the art, architecture, design and decorative arts of the 19th and ...

and John Henson, Baxendale Press, 1993, {{Coord, 52.50257, -1.99280, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Design companies established in 1898 Ceramics manufacturers of England Companies based in Smethwick Art pottery Design companies disestablished in 1935 English pottery History of Staffordshire Smethwick 1898 establishments in England 1935 disestablishments in England