Casgliadau Arlein

POWELL, Alfred Hoare (Notes from M Batkin, Wedgwood Ceramics 1846 - 1959 (1982) Trained as an architect at Slade. Joined the offices of J.D. Sedding in 1887, an early advocate of Arts & Crafts ideals. Powell developed friendships with other pupils of Sedding and Richard Norman Shaw, including Ernest Gimson, and Ernest and Sidney Barnsley. Powell was part of a movement of Sedding and Shaw pupils who 'decided to abandon the traditions of the drawing board design and put arts and crafts principles into practice' (Batkin 1982, 139). In 1901 he moved to Sapperton, Gloucestershire, to join Gimson and the Barnsley brothers who had established workshops in the area. Powell submitted his first designs to Wedgwood in 1903, which were accepted for production. In 1906 he married Ada Louise Lessore and they began to design and decorate ceramics together, signing their work jointly. During the 1920s they began to create designs for the lustre-painted line, 'Rhodian ware', with their complex designs probably adapted by John Goodwin. The Powells also trained paintresses in the workshop run by Millicent Taplin at Etruria (she had also been trained by Powell). This department was established to revive the tradition of hand-painting on table and ornamental wares. The death of Frank Wedgwood in 1930 meant that the Powell's close relationship with Wedgwood ended, though they did still produce a few designs. However, the Powells continued to source blanks from Etruria, which they painted to commission, often with views of country houses, which were glazed and fired at the factory.)