Upper part of soap dish
Alfred Powell (1865-1960)
Category
Ceramics
Date
circa 1932
Materials
Ceramic
Measurements
7.25 ins (dia)
Order this imageCollection
Shaw's Corner, Hertfordshire
NT 1274527
Summary
A ceramic soap or sponge dish drainer, (upper part of soap dish only) hand-painted by Alfred Powell (1865-1960). Marked on the base with the numbers 3614(329). Decorated in green, brown and black on an off-white ground, in a design of four trees, with four storks flying between them. A band off green leaves around the rim. The centre pierced with 36 holes.
Full description
A soap dish (upper part only), decorated by Alfred Powell (1865-1960). Powell was an Arts and Crafts architect, designer, and painter of pottery. His wife, Louise Powell (1882-1956), studied Arts and Crafts embroidery, and calligraphy. Together Alfred and Louise Powell became celebrated as pottery designers for Wedgwood, particularly for their achievements in the revival of the art of hand-painting on pottery. The Shaws purchased numerous pieces of their work throughout their marriage, and regarded the couple as close friends. The Powells and their assistants decorated mass-produced blanks with William Morris-inspired motifs of stylised flowers and animals, which would be sent back to the Wedgwood factory for firing after decoration. The pieces owned by the Shaws were the expensive ceramics hand-painted by either Alfred or Louise Powell themselves (not those produced commercially by their studio assistants). Shaw had first become acquainted with Alfred Powell in the 1890s through his connections to the Art Workers’ Guild, and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB). In 1899 Shaw had commissioned him in his role as architect (before he began working as a ceramicist) to remodel and modernize his mother’s house in Fitzroy Square. Shaw described Powell as “an architect, a potter, a cabinet maker and a good craftsman generally”. (Shaw to Helen Haiman Joseph, 25 January 1918, quoted in Henderson, George Bernard Shaw: Man of the Century, p.720). Shaw took a number of photographs of Alfred Powell around 1900. Shaw became interested in Louise’s artistic background given that she had worked as a calligrapher on two of William Morris’s illuminated manuscripts. Charlotte’s diaries reveal the two couples meeting regularly at Adelphi Terrace, and the Shaws visiting the Powells in Gloucestershire. Shaw maintained an interest in ceramics and the firm of Wedgwood throughout his life, and in 1930 he visited Stoke to attend the Wedgwood Bicentenary Pageant. (Alice McEwan, 2020)
Provenance
The Shaw Collection. The house and contents were bequeathed to the National Trust by George Bernard Shaw in 1950, together with Shaw's photographic archive.
Marks and inscriptions
Maker's mark (Wedgwood) on base and serial numbers 3614(329)
Makers and roles
Alfred Powell (1865-1960), designer