Posts from the ‘Denby’ Category

May 25

Denby Harlequin

Denby Harlequin was introduced in by Denby in 1992 and produced until around 2004. Designed by Richard Eaton, Director of Design at Denby

Oct 6

Denby Arabesque – Some Rarer Items

My post from some years ago about Gill Pemberton and her Arabesque series for Denby c1962 continues to be one of the most read articles on this site. Link here

Recently I got hold of a whole lot of wonderful Denby Arabesque (or Denby Samarkand if you are in the USA). Amongst it were some pieces I haven’t seen in person before, and which seem to be very hard to find these days.

First is the large mug – often referred to as a “Grandmug” because of its size which is around 14cm tall x 7.5cm diameter with a capacity of 350ml. By todays standards this is probably a normal sized mug – but by the standards of the 1960s when this was released, very large.

Denby Arabesque Large Mug

Denby Arabesque Large Mug and Small Coffee Mug Side by Side

Denby Arabesque Large Mug

Then there is the large Hors D’Oeuvre rectangular dish – which was part of a set with 4-6 smaller rectangular dishes – and often originally sold with a teak tray.

Denby Arabesque Hors D’Oeuvre Dish – Large Size

The Celery Dish – is a much coveted item (sorry it is now SOLD), and because of its impressive angular boat shape form, it is a perfect centrepiece dish for a table or console table these days. The same Celery Dish form is also a very popular item from the Chevron series, again designed by Gill Pemberton.

Denby Arabesque Celery Dish

There is quite a wide selection of Arabesque items now for sale in my Etsy store HERE (or from the link in the right hand column). While not a rare item, one of my favourites is this large serving platter, because it shows off the pattern so well.

Denby Arabesque Platter

During the week also I discovered a Denby Arabesque piece posted on Instagram which I never knew existed – an Ice Bucket!. It seems to be very rare (and it was sold very quickly as far as I can see). Photo courtesy of The China Village UK

Denby Arabesque Ice Bucket – Photo via The China Village UK

Feb 9

Denby “Trees”, Diana Woodcock-Beckering

Denby Trees c1970.

It would be hard to find a design that screams the 1970s more than this bold and colourful design. It has influences of Pop-Art, Psychedelic Art and the bold and colourful Graphic Design of this era. The design consists of black silhouetted trees set against an op-art style dot pattern sky in white on purple with rolling hills in green, orange and ochres. These colours (and the style of graphic) defined the look of so much design in the 1970s – but you dont often see the colour combination on dinnerware.

The shapes the design is placed on you may recognise immediately as the forms Gill Pemberton designed for Denby “Chevron” in the 1960s. The “Trees” design was placed on all of the forms of Chevron including the steel handled teapot, coffee pots, lidded forms, bowls, plates and dishes.

The design of Trees is by Diana Woodcock-Beckering who was trained at the Croydon College of Art and Design in 1962, which led to a Diploma at Loughborough College, before post graduate MA qualifications at the Royal College of Art, London starting in 1966.

Diana worked as a freelancer at Denby between 1969-1971, and after her time at Denby, Diana (now Diana Worthy) went on to set up Crich Pottery in Derbyshire in 1972 with her husband.

There is so much to Diana than her “Trees” design for Denby though, in both her training & education and later work.

I found a very thorough and well written 2001 article on the studio work of Diana HERE , which also has a good variety of images clearly showing the style Diana developed. Diana’s achievements during her study and post graduate study were quite stellar – from the article linked is this quote:

“Diana could usually be found in college (Royal College of Art) at all hours, seven days a week. There she met Hans Coper, David Queensberry and Eduardo Paulozzi. Diana won the RCA prize for drawing and also the Frank Denning Memorial Award to study designs in Scandinavia. Her final degree show M (Design) RCA resulted in offers of freelance pottery designing for Kilkenny Design workshops and for Denby Pottery in Derbyshire. She also took a full time lecturing post at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in the Faculty of three-dimensional design”