Introduction to Club
The
club's aims are to promote the interest and study of the life and
works of E.T.B.Radford, and to publish a quarterly magazine for club members.
The club was formed in 2000
and an AGM is held in May in Stoke on Trent, the heart of the potteries. It is often attended by painters and paintresses
of the Woods factory. Please see the Magazine page to review a typical Annual
Report
and some sample pages to whet your appetite.
Introduction
to E.T.B.Radford
In the 1920s Edward Thomas Brown
Radford, who came from a family of
established potters, (his father was a thrower at Pilkington's with a fine reputation)
joined the H.J.Wood factory in Burslem. Here he had his own studio and developed
his own designs. In about 1930 he set up his own independent pottery which carried on until 1948 when he
retired. H.J.Wood then continued making pots to his designs, and marked them
with the 'E
Radford' backstamp.
This fine 8" vase is the
quintessential pre-war E. Radford piece,
probably produced at the height of pottery production, between 1936-39.
The body is hand
thrown earthenware. The shape is a rare one: P80
from a special series ( highest known number is P 97),
some of which were produced for Susie Cooper ( 1932-4 ) who gave her own
numbers to these; other shapes for this series were produced for H J Wood
and the Ellgreave pottery ( a branch of H J Wood ).
The pattern is hand
painted underglaze on a hand-sponged background
of 'Fawn' / yellow ochre ( also found on pink and green, and an
earlier version/similar pattern can be found on blue).
The backstamp is: E
Radford, England. This dates it to 1936-44. The vase was painted
by / . We haven't been able to
identify this paintress with any certainty, but she was probably painting for
Mr Radford from 1930 throughout the 1930's.
This particular pattern
is coded JN ( anemone ) and is a favourite with many
collectors. Note: the JN pattern
continued to be used for many years after the war. In 1947/8, Mr
Radford retired and H J Wood took over production but continued to
use the E Radford, England, Handpainted backstamp. Soon
after, the earthenware body was changed to semi-china, which is impervious and
always cast. The sponged background effect in such post-war
ware is very much paler - green, blue or pink - with white also
being used.
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