Wemyss Ware

The Wemyss Ware name has gone through four distinct phases of use. In the period 1882–1930, it was used by the Fife Pottery in Kirkcaldy, and then from 1930 to 1957, it was used by the Bovey Pottery in Devon. From 1985 to the present day, it is used by the Griselda Hill Pottery in Ceres, Fife which owns the Wemyss Trade Mark.{{cite web |url=http://wemysswarebook.com/wemyss-ware-a-brief-history/ |title=Wemyss Ware – a brief history |publisher=wemysswarebook.com |accessdate=18 May 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wemyss-ware.co.uk/index.php/about-us |title=About us |publisher=Wemyss Ware Studio |accessdate=31 August 2014}}

File:Karel Nekola tribute plate.JPG

One of several potteries in Kirkcaldy, the Fife Pottery or Gallatown Pottery was founded in 1817 by Archibald and Andrew Grey.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2507&dat=19701128&id=MpVAAAAAIBAJ&pg=6189,5771366 |title=Pottery with vitality |work=The Herald |date=28 November 1970 |accessdate=17 May 2014 |author=John Weyers}} It was bought ten years later by John Methven, and from there passed to Robert Heron. When his son, Robert Methven Heron (1833–1906) took over the pottery in around 1850, it became Robert Heron and Son.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R8BMW6Au7pQC&pg=PA549 |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, Volume 1 |author=Gordon Campbell |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |page=549 |isbn=9780195189483}}{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst3550.html |title=Robert Methven Heron |publisher=The Gazetteer for Scotland |accessdate=17 May 2014}}

By the 1880s, Robert Heron and Son were branding their products as "Wemyss ware" in honour of the Wemyss family who were avid and lucrative patrons.{{cite web |url=http://www.rogersderin.co.uk/InfoPages/TheWemyssStory.htm |title=The Story of Wemyss |publisher=rogersderin.co.uk |accessdate=17 June 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.millersantiquesguide.com/articles/wemysschelsea |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517115538/http://www.millersantiquesguide.com/articles/wemysschelsea/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=17 May 2014 |title=Wemyss Ware |author=Judith Miller |publisher=millersantiquesguide.com |accessdate=17 May 2014}} Karel Nekola, a native of Bohemia, was brought over to Kirkcaldy in about 1882 by Robert Heron to become head of the decorating shop there.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r4lUS8xotqoC&pg=PA32 |title=Scottish Pottery: A Brief History |author=Graeme Cruickshank |year=2005 |publisher=Osprey Publishing |pages=32–33 |isbn=9780747806394}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wemyss-ware.co.uk/ |title=Wemyss Ware |publisher=Wemyss Ware Studio |accessdate=17 May 2014}} Aged 25, he was the only one of a group of decorators to remain in Scotland, after Heron had returned from a Grand Tour of Europe with a group of Bohemian craftsmen.{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18796779.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328212006/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18796779.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 March 2015 |title=Value is not just ornamental |work=The Scotsman |date=18 August 2001 |author=Conal Gregory |accessdate=17 May 2014 }} Nekola married Heron's cook, and the couple had six children.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nFc-AQAAIAAJ |page=81 |title=Scottish Field |year=1980 |volume=126 |journal=Scottish Field |publisher=Holmes McDougall}}

Thomas Goode of London, an upmarket tableware retailer, had the exclusive right to sell Wemyss Ware in England.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M6UEAAAAYAAJ |title=Collecting: the passionate pastime |author1=Susanna Johnston |author2=Tim Beddow |publisher=Harper & Row |year=1986 |page=60 |isbn=9780060156794}}

Nekola's health began to deteriorate in 1910, and a pottery was built at his home in order to allow him to continue to work.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AtdNAAAAYAAJ |title=British art pottery, 1870-1940 |author=Arthur Wilfred Coysh |publisher=David and Charles |year=1976 |page=63 |isbn=9780715372524}} He died in 1915,{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vyiiW3uL49sC&pg=PA264 |title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2010 |author=Michael Clarke |page=264 |isbn=9780199569922}} and was succeeded by Edwin Sandland, a painter from Staffordshire that descended from a long line of master-potters, who worked at the pottery until he died in 1928, aged 55.{{cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-169584451 |title=Wacky Wemyss Still in Demand |work=Western Mail |date=6 October 2007 |accessdate= |author=Jeffery Muse |via= |url-access= }}{{dl|date=July 2021}}

The original Fife pottery closed in 1930, during the Great Depression, and the rights to Wemyss Ware were bought by the Bovey pottery in Devon.{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vvIPAQAAMAAJ |journal=Country Life |year=1966 |volume=139 |title=A Decorative Scottish Pottery}} Karel Nekola's son Joseph, himself a designer, moved to Devon, where he carried on producing Wemyss Ware and training apprentices, including Esther Weeks (née Clark).{{cite web |url=http://www.wemyss-ware.co.uk/index.php/about-us/history |title=The History of Wemyss Ware |publisher=Wemyss Ware Studio |accessdate=17 May 2014}} Joseph taught her painting techniques he had learned from his father.

A number of pieces produced during this time are marked as "Plichta." Jan Plichta was a Czech immigrant that sold and exported wholesale glass and pottery, and items he ordered from the Bovey Pottery were marked with his name.{{cite news |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1G1-331968822 |title=A Seasonal Treat for Dining Tables; Bargain Hunter |date=1 June 2013 |author=Don Rodgers |work=Western Mail |accessdate=|via= |url-access= }}{{dl|date=July 2021}} Some confusion exists between the Plichta and Wemyss names, as sometimes Wemyss decorators produced items for Plichta, but in the most part Plichta items are inferior in quality.

When Joseph died in 1952, Esther became head decorator and continued to paint Wemyss Ware until the Bovey Pottery closed in 1957 after a protracted strike by the workforce.{{cite web |url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MDV8963&resourceID=104 |title=Devon & Dartmoor HER |publisher=Heritage Gateway |accessdate=18 May 2014}} The rights to the Wemyss name were assumed to be acquired by Royal Doulton, but they produced one piece of Wemyss, a commemorative goblet for the Queen Mother's 80th birthday.{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23509296.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629070927/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-23509296.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2014 |title=Simply potty about pottery |work=The Herald |author=Jennifer Harper |date=24 August 2002 |accessdate=17 May 2014 }} This piece also commemorated the centenary of Wemyss Ware, but was two years early, celebrating the production of Wemyss from 1880, when it had commenced in 1882.{{cite web |url=http://wemysswarebook.com/the-void-years-1957-1985/ |title=The void years (1957–1985) |publisher=wemysswarebook.com |accessdate=17 May 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21870/lot/331/ |title=Lot 331: A Wemyss Victoria Goblet and a Limited Edition Centenary Goblet |publisher=Bonhams |accessdate=31 August 2014}}

File:Wemyss Ware workshop, Ceres (2013).JPG

The Wemyss name was resurrected in the 1980s when Griselda Hill became interested in pottery while teaching art in London.{{cite web |url=http://wemysswarebook.com/the-wemyss-revival-1985-present/ |title=The Wemyss Revival (1985 – present) |publisher=wemysswarebook.com |accessdate=17 May 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.wemyss-ware.co.uk/index.php/about-us/meet-the-staff |title=Meet the staff |publisher=Wemyss Ware Studio |accessdate=1 September 2014}} She moved to Fife in 1984, and after seeing Wemyss Ware in the Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, she decided to create Wemyss Ware-inspired pottery. Since the first figure, a cat modelled on an original displayed in the museum, was produced, the line has grown. In 1994, the Wemyss Ware trademark was acquired by the Griselda Hill Pottery in Ceres, Fife. Esther Weeks taught the painters at Ceres techniques she learned from Joseph Nekola at Bovey.{{cite web |url=http://www.piggybankpage.co.uk/wemyss_plichta.htm |title=Piggy Banks and Famous Potteries |publisher=piggybankpage.co.uk |accessdate=18 December 2012}}{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12935823.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629084254/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12935823.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2014 |title=120-year-old Wemyss Ware pottery keeps improving with age |work=Scotland on Sunday |date=14 July 2002 |accessdate=18 May 2014 |author=Sharon Ward }}

File:Wemyss Ware pig (2013).jpg

After moulding, the pottery was first fired at a low temperature to produce a porous biscuit body onto which paint could be applied.{{cite web |author=Christopher Proudlove |title=Piggies can fly |url=http://writeantiques.com/piggies-can-fly/ |publisher=WriteAntiques |accessdate=29 May 2014}} The colours were then applied, followed by a lead ceramic glaze, a technique known as underglazing. The pottery was then fired again at a low temperature in order to preserve the colour, making the product soft and fragile and contributing to the scarcity of original Wemyss.{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/out-to-hog-tile-market-1.761635 |title=Out to hog tile market |author=Kennedy Wilson |work=The Herald |date=1 May 1993 |accessdate=18 May 2014}} Pottery produced by the Griselda Hill pottery uses a different technique, and is much more robust.

Wemyss was decorated with natural subjects, such as fruit and flowers, in particular the cabbage rose, and British wildlife.{{cite web |url=http://www.periodliving.co.uk/antiques-vintage/antiques/collecting-wemyss-ware |title=Judith Miller on Wemyss Ware |publisher=Period Living |accessdate=19 May 2014}}

After being desirable in its own day, the pottery subsequently became extremely popular with collectors. The Queen Mother was a great fan of Wemyss, and is said to have amassed one of the largest private collections of the pottery.{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj2y/features/wemyss |title=Wemyss umbrella stand |publisher=BBC |accessdate=17 May 2014}}

The high value of Wemyss Ware has led to a proliferation of fakes, in particular of pigs.{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/how-fake-pigs-are-flying-from-the-east-to-put-wemyss-ware-at-risk-fife-pottery-victim-of-copies-from-thailand-1.17192 |title=How fake pigs are flying from the East to put Wemyss Ware at risk Fife pottery victim of copies from Thailand |author=Martyn McLaughlin |work=The Herald |date=17 June 2006 |accessdate=17 May 2014}} In 2004, a pair of sleeping piglets were sold for {{GBP|34,800}} each at the Sotheby's annual Scottish Sale.{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-13050218.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140629084250/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-13050218.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 June 2014 |title=Pottery piglets break record |date=1 September 2004 |work=The Scotsman |author=William Lyons |accessdate=18 May 2014 }}

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• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69oHHc8xhww Video tour of the Griselda Hill Pottery (Youtube)]

Category:Companies based in Fife

Category:1985 establishments in Scotland

Category:Ceramics manufacturers of Scotland

Category:Companies established in 1985

Category:Scottish pottery

Category:Scottish brands