It may be mid-summer but I love Midwinter…
No, not the rain and drizzle of June, it’s the innovative and exciting designs of 1950’s, including ceramics by Midwinter that I crave. In the 1950’s English potteries left behind the traditional utilitarian expectations of the previous decade dictated by the war years, and experimented with young, fun new shapes, style, designs and colours.
Leading designers such as Susie Cooper, Hugh Casson, Conran and Jessie Tait championed modern designs which were favoured especially by the increasingly wealthy young, who wanted a less austere and more informal look. The introduction of new processes, silk screen and lithographic decoration coped with all over designs, curved sides and deep bowls.
A graduate of the Royal College of Art, Enid Seeney at Ridgways, was the designer behind the now sought after design, ‘Homemaker’. Her use of ‘modern’ furnishings and symbols in a simple palette is an ideal image of the period. Designs featuring fruit and vegetables, French street scenes, boats, leaves, dancers, spots, lines and stars are found in abundance on the new rimless, rounded and coupe shapes.
Made and priced for the general population, 1950’s ceramics can still be bought at a reasonable price and are great items to display or use.
