Classic Art Ware - Debateable origins

[islandretro]

I have been thinking about and discussing with various collectors the origins of Classic Art Ware pottery for quite some time now, and since the publication of the 2nd People's Potteries book and the attribution of the label to John Barnard Knight, and subsequently the attribution of some CAW pieces to JBK in an upcoming Australian Pottery auction, I have decided to "go public" in the hope of flushing some information, or at least informative debate out of the woodwork 🙂

As I have said else where, I don't agree with Dorothy Johnstons attribution of this label to John Barnard Knight, a Melbourne potter associated with the label Janet Grey. I, (and others, not having come to this conclusion in isolation, I have talked to various collectors), believe there is a connection with Delamere Art Pottery from Sydney; whether this was a label attached to their wares sold through a certain outlet or a range they sold themselves similarly to Diana's Hollywood or Pate's Regent labels no one is sure.







Anyway - here are some photos for you to see labels on various CAW pieces that have always been attributed to Delamere (except the Koalas which are attributed only to CAW and the frog in the 1st pic which has a Delamere sticker). Aside from this there is continuity of glaze colour, and various motifs common over CAW and Delamere attributed pieces I can post pics of as well if anyone is interested, to support this theory.

Hoping there are some other CAW/Delamere collectors reading who might have info to share

cheers
Rae

[esseco46]

This little tip pis not specifically related to lakeland's post but one a bit further back on the forum.

While looking at the posts and pictures, one of them showed the base of the bowl - which was hard to read. A friend told me she uses her scanner to create the image of the bases of some things. She has a black cloth she puts over the object before scanning it and the pics come out very well.

Hope this helps someone.

Cheers,

Di

[2chappies]

Hi Di  

That's a great tip!!

[hynes-sight]

BUMP   Keeping this topic active.

[2chappies]

Good one hynes, we need to keep some of these posts alive for buyers and sellers to reference. 

[kitty-kat1234]

Thank-you so much for bumping this. I was looking for this topic the other day & could not find it, cheers

[christij1cat]

Hello. My name is Christine James. My maiden name was Christine Johnson. My grandmother was Emma Maude Johnson. Clyde Johnson was my father and Robert was my uncle. I grew up in Leichhardt Sydney and dad ran the pottery factory at the bottom of our backyard. I just wanted to clarify a few things. The business was known as Johnson Bros as well as Delamere art. Not to be confused with the Japanese brand of course. The koala at the bottom of the page was one of their creations. Unfortunately I only have a couple of pieces of their work left. Denis Johnson who was Robert's son has quite a few pieces left. If you have any further queries please let me know. I was only very young when the business folded, but still remember many of their designs.

[kooriflag]

Hello Christine,

I am a friend of the originator of this topic and I contributed to it myself. Do you agree or disagree that Classic Art Ware was in some way connected to your family pottery ?  It might have been a brand name or the pottery might have been sold on and renamed. Either way there are indisputable links between the two. Can you give us any further information about this ?

Regards,

Pip

[islandretro]

Hi Christine - how wonderful that you have found this old thread. Did you see the blog I put up all those years ago now 🙂 http://dandcaw.blogspot.com.au/2010/11/delamere-art-pottery-and-classic-art.html

cheers

Rae

[islandretro]

Just posting to this thread again as we are still discussing this and in the hope that christij1cat is still about to see our posts and can maybe offer us some more information, thanks, Rae

[poosterz]

Why not message her and ask?  She's still active on eBay.