Snow always looks wonderful against a bright blue sky. Alas, however, snowy days might also be dour. This English Arts & Crafts vase is finished with a wonderfully sophisticated, dappled white and grey glazing—reminiscent of a cloudy winter day. It was hand-thrown by Edward Thomas Radford for Pilkington Royal Lancastrian in the 1920's or 1930's. One can still see (and feel) the potter's fingermarks which encircle the vase—permanently impressed within the soft clay as it spun-about on a potter's wheel. Click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome, handcrafted piece.
Edward Thomas Radford began his career training at Wedgwood in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. In 1903, he was hired to throw pottery (by hand, on a wheel) for Pilkington Royal Lancastrian in Manchester. He was the chief thrower at Pilkington until he retired in 1936. By and large, Pilkington cast the majority of its ceramic wares in moulds. But a small percentage of their pieces were hand-thrown, one at a time, by Radford—and are marked with his initials E.T.R. He threw pieces with amazing consistency, though, of course, any hand-crafted item will show slight variation from piece-to-piece. Radford also designed the shapes of certain pieces (which he then threw, fired and sent-out for hand-painted decoration).
Radford's son, Edward Thomas Brown Radford, followed in his father's ceramics-making footsteps. After service in World War One, Edward Jr. opened his own pottery studio called Radford Handcraft Pottery in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. Because of the times, much of Edward Jr.'s works reflect the Art Deco movement.
Please click on the photo above to learn more about this handsome and special piece.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
To arrange a visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only), please call 917-446-4248.