Birds of a Feather
Birds seldom featured in Carlton Ware's early designs during the Blushware period from 1890-1911. It was only around 1912, with Horace Wain joining the pottery, that birds began to emerge in the patterns, often derived from traditional 18th-century Chinese motifs or their interpretations by established British potteries like Royal Worcester, leading to Wain's WORCESTER BIRDS pattern.
By the early 1920s, Enoch Boulton succeeded Wain as the decorating manager and designer, introducing more original bird patterns. Initially depicted realistically, some birds transformed into fantastical feathered beings.
Chinese Bird
This article examines one such exotic creation, the CHINESE BIRD, and its evolution with the addition of a gold cloud background and later, more abstract, shadowy backdrops by Violet Elmer.
The inaugural design, CHINESE BIRD, believed to have been launched around 1928, features a deep blue base that provides a dramatic contrast to the gold print, although this contrast is not well represented in the accompanying image.
