Details

Name

The Della Robbia Pottery & Marble Company Ltd

Brief Biography

1893-1906, English

Occupation

Pottery

Description

The Della Robbia Pottery was founded in Birkenhead, Merseyside in 1893 by Harold Rathbone (1858-1929) and Conrad Dressler (1856-1940), inventor of the revolutionary tunnel kiln. Prominent supporters of the initiative included William Holman Hunt, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Walter Crane, William Morris and Lord Leighton. Amongst those on the controlling council were the painters Holman Hunt and George Fredrick Watts. Using local red clay from Moreton in Merseyside, Rathbone attempted to emulate the architectural ornament of the 15th century Florentine sculptor Luca Della Robbia, whom he so greatly admired. Thus a strong Renaissance influence is apparent in the pottery that Rathbone produced. The lustrous glazes, patterns of interweaving stems, symbolic plant and organic forms of Art Nouveau are combined with heraldic and Islamic motifs. Rathbone used coloured lead glazes rather than the tin-glazed earthenware or faience of the early Italians and Della Robbia pottery is often recognisable by its blue-green, yellow and brown colouring. Another distinguishing feature is its distinctive "scraffito" decoration, the term given to the technique of carving decoration into the wet clay before firing. Numerous, ever-changing potters and painters were associated with the firm, and every piece bears a plethora of marks; representing each person involved in its production, including the Della Robbia factory mark - an incised ship flanked by the initials DR. Major names associated with the firm include the Italian sculptor Giovanni Carlo Manzoni (1855 - 1910), who became chief artistic director, the poet sculptor Ellen Rope and one of the most talented decorators associated with the firm, Miss Cassandia Annie Walker. The pottery’s productions were retailed by Liberty & Co. In 1900 it became The Della Robbia Pottery & Marble Company Ltd. It had a shop at 7 Berry Street, Liverpool and works in Price Street, Birkenhead.