Carlton Ware Wellington
This very space age looking design is from 1971. It is a design called “Wellington”, and is by Carlton Ware, Stoke-on-Trent, England – a maker normally associated with quite traditional wares.
It was released in a very large range of colours and often with floral patterns, as both dinnerware items and decor items.
The frequent use of floral patterns and “earthy” colours with this smart design seems a quite an incongruous pairing, as florals are not normally something you would associate with “space age design”…… these days anyway.
However this sort of combination could often be seen in the early 1970s – A period that saw simultaneously the revival of studio based craft practices, the “flower power” movement, and the emergence of cutting edge futuristic “space age” design. You can often see this often odd combination of styles in the home magazines of the 1970s.
The intense red glaze on the photo below via the NGV Melbourne is my pick of the best colour-way in this interesting series.
Wellington, coffee service (c. 1965)
earthenware
(a-b) 32.2 × 18.8 × 10.5 cm (coffee pot)
(c) 10.2 × 12.0 × 7.6 cm (milk jug)
(d-e) 10.6 × 13.7 cm diameter (coffee cup and saucer)
(f-g) 10.7 × 13.8 cm diameter (coffee cup and saucer)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Gift of John Hinds, 2017
Photo: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
