School of Art

Contact Details

School of Art
Aberystwyth University
Buarth Mawr
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion
SY23 1NG

Tel: +44 (0)1970 622460

Fax: +44 (0)1970 622461

Email: artschool@aber.ac.uk


Display artist/maker:

Alfred Hoare Powell

Born: 1865, UK, England, Berkshire, Reading   Died: 1960

Ceramicist, architecht and designer. Associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. Husband of the calligrapher Louise Powell (1882-1956). Son of a clergyman. Studied architecture at the Slade School of Fine Art before serving in the office of the Arts and Crafts architect J.D.Sedding, 1887-92. He then worked as a painter and furniture maker on the continent before moving to Gloucestershire in 1901 where he joined the Cotswold Group with Sidney and Ernest Barnsley and Ernest Gimson. From 1903 Alfred began designing and painting ceramic decoration for Wedgwood & Sons Ltd. In 1906 he married Louise Lessore who was from a distinguished artistic family with strong connections with Wedgwood. They had studios in London and the Cotswolds where they hand painted Wedgwood unglazed pottery blanks with designs which combined calligraphy with motifs of stylised flowers and animals. The pottery was then sent to Wedgwood for glazing and final firing. They trained paintresses in Wedgwood's Etruria factory, creating a revival in free-hand painting and Alfred also designed a selection of standard shapes. The under-glaze decoration is difficult to do correctly as, unlike over-glaze design, it cannot be wiped off if a mistake is made.

Objects in the collections associated with this artist/maker

[Jug] C312 Ceramics

[Large 'Chinese jar'] C308 Ceramics

[Large plate] C329 Ceramics

[Lidded octagonal box] C325 Ceramics

[Lidded octagonal box] C326 Ceramics

[Mug] C319 Ceramics

[Mug] C339 Ceramics

[Mug] C341 Ceramics

[Plate] C327 Ceramics

[Plate] C328 Ceramics

[Soup cup] C323 Ceramics

[Soup cup] C337 Ceramics

[Soup cup and saucer] C320 Ceramics

[Straight sided mug with painted decoration] C338 Ceramics

[Tall vase] C336 Ceramics




 
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