Featured Genuine Stanfordshire Hand Painted set - help identify year please?

Discussion in 'Pottery, Glass, and Porcelain' started by JP Canada, May 14, 2021.

  1. JP Canada

    JP Canada Member

    All I know about this set is that it was rumoured to be a wedding gift to my great grandparents. It was given to me by my grandmother after my wedding and as far as I know, it’s never been used. I am assuming it’s a serving set, but don’t know for sure.
    The plates measure 12” 9” and roughly 6”. They all have similar designs and marks on the back. In addition to the mark, they all also seem to have a handmade “X”. They are in almost perfect condition. I am looking for some starting points for finding the style/year and function of these plates. Thank you in advance! Everyone has been so helpful so far and I am very appreciative 69E22707-3AC0-4856-8B3E-1D792F38E356.jpeg

    F0FA4DAC-2363-482D-BA81-4EF14C84CA74.jpeg 95E655DA-1F01-4D79-BADA-A1482BA8B565.jpeg
    E2F85F17-EBAD-4D56-94BF-CE1A0BE6A807.jpeg
    A55DA8CC-BF05-44EC-A8B0-EC71CCACE064.jpeg

    6EA81FE1-6E59-4AE2-A601-B4E9E3395464.jpeg
     

    Attached Files:

  2. SBSVC

    SBSVC Well-Known Member

    JP, here's a bit of info about Shorter & Son LTD, which was just one (1933-1963) iteration of the Shorters' Staffordshire businesses:

    In 1933 the business was incorporated as Shorter and Son Ltd . . .

    In 1963 part of the Copeland Street factory was demolished for the A500 road development scheme. This, plus the expense of conversion to smokeless firing, led the directors to accept an offer for the business from S. Fielding and Co. the owners of the Crown Devon name.

    quoted from: Shorter and Son Ltd (thepotteries.org)
    (note that there is additional info about the Shorters there)

    Also, check out additional detail here:
    Shorter and Son - Graces Guide
     
  3. wiscbirddog

    wiscbirddog Well-Known Member

  4. SBSVC

    SBSVC Well-Known Member

  5. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    1930s but made up till the 50s. It's the factory Clarice Cliff started at.
     
  6. SBSVC

    SBSVC Well-Known Member

    Yes, indeed. This is from the first site I referenced/linked to above:

    Shorter and Clarice Cliff

    "The pottery firm which later became Shorter and Son was first set up by Arthur Shorter in 1878 with a partner James Boulton in Stoke on Trent. Their products were solidly in the main-stream of Victorian taste - majolica wares of all types: jugs, bowls, flower pots and tableware, predominated.

    In 1891 Arthur’s brother-in-law A. J. Wilkinson died in an accident. Arthur Shorter was asked to manage the pottery Wilkinson had established in Burslem in 1885. A few years later he bought the firm and in 1898 Arthur’s son Colley joined him. His younger son Guy, who became manager at Shorter's in 1900, joined his father and Colley at Wilkinson's in 1905. The two factories worked in close co-operation, advertising and exhibiting jointly.

    Colley and Guy were made directors of Wilkinsons in 1916, the same year that Clarice Cliff, aged 17, started work there as a decorator. In 1920 the family acquired the Newport Pottery, also in Burslem, later famous for its production of Clarice Cliff’s "Bizarre" ware.

    In 1925 Colley Shorter, much impressed by Clarice’s work, provided her with her own studio next to his office. He also sent her on a modern design course at the Royal College of Art and a trip to Paris to observe the arts scene there. Allowed to experiment with old Newport Pottery shapes, she produced her new bold geometric designs, so expressive of the Art Deco age. Colley was a consummate salesman and it was he who conceived the idea of personalising her designs with her signature, thus launching one of the 20th century’s design legends.

    In 1926 Arthur Shorter died and over the next few years his sons felt freer to develop their firms’ products along more adventurous lines. The Shorter factory itself, still the most traditional in its output, felt the wind of change. In their book ‘The Shorter Connection’, Gordon and Irene Hopwood explore in detail the extent to which the creativity of Clarice Cliff was channelled into Shorter products in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s.

    Shorter’s received a further creative boost in the 1930’s from the employment of the designer Mabel Leigh, who in two short years with them produced an extensive and exciting range of ‘ Period Pottery’. This was based on ethnic designs from around the Mediterranean, Africa and Central America. Even though she left the firm in 1935, the designs had such appeal they continued to be produced for years afterwards.

    In 1940, after the death of his first wife, Colley married Clarice Cliff who became Artistic Director of the group of potteries. Shorter’s flourished through the following two decades, producing popular new lines and re-producing some of their old ones. Running into stiffer competition in the 1960’s and with the loss of Colley’s participation, retiring due to ill-health in 1961, to die in 1963, the firm began to falter.

    Clarice Cliff-Shorter disposed of the family shares in Wilkinson and Newport and so control passed to the Midwinter Company. Shorter’s were effectively taken over by Crown Devon in 1964 and their distinctive identity was finally lost with the retirement of the last family member John, Guy’s son in 1972."


    Ref: ‘The Shorter Connection’ by Gordon & Irene Hopwood, published by Richard Dennis

    quoted from: Shorter and Son Ltd (thepotteries.org)
     
  7. JP Canada

    JP Canada Member

    Thank you again @wiscbirddog @SBSVC @Ownedbybear. I love reading the history behind the companies and these pieces. I’m finding that, like stamps, so many of them have amazing stories! My grandfathers stamp collection (largely very early European, Canada, and GB) dates between 1667 - 1940, so I am not surprised that some of the China and pottery are early 1900s. He ran the western development museum in a local town here and his own antique shop. I will keep taking notes so that I can start to better narrow my own searches. Thanks for your help with all my posts and questions.
     
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