Midwinter Pottery: A Revolution in British Tableware

by Steven Jenkins, Paul Atterbury

The 1950s was one of the most distinctive and appealing decades in recent history and produced names that now arouse great interest and enthusiasm among collectors and design historians.Today, one of the most popular of these is Midwinter, a Staffordshire pottery that first made tablewares in 1910. However, it was not until the 1950s that Midwinter became well known and it was then because of dynamic leadership and modernist attitudes of Roy Midwinter, the founder's son, and his chief designer Jessie Tait who, together, changed the face of British tableware. Midwinter created their Stylecraft ranges from 1953. Designs by Jessie Tait, Terence Conran, John Russell, Hugh Casson and others catered for a wide public, and success was achieved by modern marketing aimed at younger and more informal buyers.With a comprehensive pattern index and shape guide, this book is essential reading for the Midwinter collector, the 1950s enthusiast and for anyone interested in twentieth-century design history.

Genres: Design

92 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Steven Jenkins is a cultural critic.

Reviews

[Bodil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book for the serious collector. As a student in the 1970:s I bought some plates with the Stonehenge Sun pattern, and I still both use and love them. I have since bought many other plates, bowls, jugs etc in other Stonehenge patterns. However I hadn’t realized how many different Midwinter shapes and pattern there are (were) (and how few of the others I like). Anyhow, the book is an interesting read, but not an easy read if you don’t already know about different shapes and patterns. At the end are tables with the various shapes and patterns, and they would be a help if you discover them at the start of reading! There are also a great number of photos, mainly of various pieces from the production.
This is the third edition of the book, but as far as I can see there is no editing or rewriting of the original text, just two “introductions” added towards the end, detailing what has happened (mainly in the world of the collectors) since the previous edition.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute bible on Midwinter Pottery. Colour plates bring the rarer designs to life and set hearts a flutter for those who enjoy collecting these 1950s/60s designs.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting content! It would be more valuable to update the entire edition rather than break into three parts. Separating the colour plates from the text would be less of an issue if there were clear references to page numbers.