Title | Shelley Pottery The Later Years | |||
Author | Chris Davenport | |||
Publisher | Heather Publications Limited | |||
PO Box 4 Congleton Cheshire CW12 3AS United Kingdom |
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Date | April 1997 | |||
ISBN | 0 9530242 0 2 |
This book outlines the post-war history of the Shelley factory and documents the post-war cup shapes and backstamps. The majority of the book lists the best and second ware and Ideal China china patterns. Sections on nursery and gift ware are also included.
This hard back book is slightly over A4 size and its 240 pages are illustrated with colour pictures. The publication is a must for any Shelley collector specialising in the post-war period.
Book Review
Shelley Pottery The Later Years - A Review by Gerry Pearce
(This review first appeared in The Shelley Group Magazine,
Issue 45, September1997)
Without even
reading a page, the immediate impression of this book is
one of high quality. The hard backed cover is cloth bound
in blue with the title gold blocked and the pages are of
a substantial gloss paper. The presentation is completed
with a blue dust wrapped picturing Eric Slater mugs on
the front and Mabel Lucie Attwell figurines on the back.
The first edition is limited to one thousand copies and
these are numbered and signed - a nice touch.
For the majority of
Shelley collectors it has been a strange anomaly that the
most recent years of production from the factory have
been the least documented. Chris has been working of this
collectors guide for some years, to fill the gap,
whetting our appetites from time to time with snippets
of information from his researches. There will obviously
be comparisons made with the earlier Shelley and Wileman
books but this volume complements the others and seeks to
complete the story of the output from this family company
until its closure in 1966.
The author had the
benefit of personal contact with members of the Shelley
family and staff who had worked in the factory, adding
personal details to official records. The book opens with
the story of the Shelley Potteries, restricted during the
austere war years of 1939-1945 but subsequently able to
grow and develop home and foreign markets with a widening
range of patterns and designs.
The guide concentrates
on tea and coffee ware and details information on best
ware, Ideal China and second ware from 1939-1966. Cup
shapes are illustrated by excellent black and white
photographs accompanied by the name, additional
information and dates where known. Although old
favourites such as Dainty, Queen Anne, Regent and
Gainsborough are shown, there are also new shapes - such
as Athol, Ludlow and Warwick to search for. Cups lead on
to a useful illustrated page of tea and coffee pot shapes
and a list of the composition of sets.
Before the major
listing of patterns is a guide to colour numbers and a
glossary of terms used in the pattern books. Another
section gives information on nursery ware artists
employed by Shelley, and gift ware with many colour plate
illustrations of these ranges. The war years caused the
cessation of all but practical tea, coffee and dinner
ware. The luxury goods, with a very few exceptions, were
not made again. Only Mabel Lucie Attwell figurines and a
few possibly sample or trial vases are shown.
The real meat of the
book is in the huge list of pattern numbers with
accompanying descriptions offering a wealth of information
on the output of twenty-seven years. Unfortunately the
pattern books did not consistently record dates against
the numbers until 1955 but some earlier dates are noted.
To illustrate patterns and shapes, the listings are
generously interspersed with colour pictures of the fine
bone china ware. Each colour plate has a listing of the
pattern numbers illustrated but not the individual
shapes.
For the statistically
minded the book as a total of two-hundred and
seventy-seven pages of which thirty-three are full colour
and a further twenty-four have monochrome plates. There
is little to be critical of in this splendid guide but I
would have liked to see some dinner ware information and
illustrations. Although of minor importance compared with
the tea and coffee ranges some delightful sets were
produced post-war and these must have contributed to the
factory output over the years.
The Later Years will
be an indispensable aid to all post-war Shelley
collectors. Chris Davenport-with valuable assistance from
his partner Heather-is to be congratulated on filling the
gap in the Shelley collectors' source of information and
completing the picture of the Wileman/Shelley later years.
The guide is well researched and beautifully presented.
If you have any interest in Shelley fine bone china
1939-1966 this book is a must.