Pilkington Royal Lancastrian employed several notable ceramics designers and decorators including Charles Voysey, Walter Crane, Richard Joyce, Gordon Forsyth and Gwladys Rodgers. The artist with the longest career at Pilkington was William Salter Mycock. In fact, his years at Pilkington spanned the lifetime of art pottery production for the company.
William Mycock was born in 1872. His earliest working years were as a freelance "jobber" decorating pottery for various firms in the region. He also painted ceramics at Wedgwood while taking art courses at night. Mycock joined Pilkington in 1894, two short years after the company was founded. At this point, he was decorating Pilkington's ceramic tiles (the company's first product).
In 1906, Mycock was transferred to the brand new art pottery division where he remained until 1938. This was the year that Pilkington stopped making art pottery, though it continued to produce ceramic tiles, its first business. Mycock retired himself when art pottery was retired at Pilkington.
I have been unable to find very much personal information about this talented artist. He was known to love music, pursue watercolor painting, and could quote Ruskin at length. As for his work, his original sketches (often on tissue paper—allowing them to be transferred to the ceramics pieces) are held in the archives of the Swinton and Pendlebury Public Library. Otherwise, we only have his beautiful work to define his legacy.
Shown above, a handsome incised trumpet-form vase by William Mycock. The pattern is hand-incised and painted with aqua and cornflower blue glazes. Although it has its own character, it was inspired by Medieval Persian ceramics—one of the guiding stars of English Arts & Crafts ceramics design, especially at Pilkington. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome piece.
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