Harold Holdway: 20th Century Ceramic Designer (Landmark Collector's Library)

by R.Holdway (Author), H.Holdway (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2006

  $11.66

  Harold Holdway: 20th Century Ceramic Designer charts the life of the successful Copeland Spode designer from art school to directorship. The autobiography/biography written by Harold and completed by his granddaughter, Ruth, is as much a social history of the factory as an insight into the designer's life. The book explores what it took for Harold to become a successful designer - determination, skill, opportunity, adaptability and a keen business sense. The reader is taken from Harold's humble beginnings in Stoke, to the Burslem Art School that bred many of the country's greatest ceramic designers, and right through the journey of Harold's 44 years at Copeland Spode including stories from his war service with the Fleet Air Arm. Along the way, the book covers the successful designs of 1940s, 50s and the commemoratives of the 1960s and 70s. The story of how Harold's most popular designs still in production today came into fruition, Christmas Tree and Queens Bird, are recorded firsthand. The book focuses on the human aspect of the Copeland Spode factory - and the pottery industry as a whole - rather than simply concentrate on the ceramics themselves - although there are plenty of pots for the collector. The story of Harold's life in the ceramics industry is full of interesting anecdotes from the shop floor and management. The lives of the painters and paintresses, engravers, designers, and other factory workers, who would otherwise probably be forgotten, are celebrated along with the leaders and specialists. Harold presided over a very prolific art department that saw many changes over five decades and this is a central theme to the book. The book will appeal to collectors, ceramic and local historians and anyone with a connection with the Copeland Spode or the pottery industry over the last 80 years. There are over 300 photographs of designs, pots, the factory and its characters.