Boulton's Birds - Part Twelve

CHINESE BIRD
Designed by Enoch Boulton

This is the twelfth in a series of sixteen articles on bird patterns introduced by Enoch Boulton during his tenure as designer and decorating manager at the Carlton Works from 1921/22 to 1930.

More Flights of Fantasy

CHINESE BIRD: Exotic, exuberant, and extravagant—three fitting words for this latest addition to Enoch Boulton's aviary. After five or so years at the Carlton Works, the young designer is coming into his own. His growing confidence is mirrored by that of the Pottery, which with the acquisition of a nearby china works is beginning to expand. But that is another story.

To show more of the CHINESE BIRD pattern, below are two views of a vase with a RUBY lustre ground, pattern number 3198.

More Abstractions, More Clouds

As you can see in the two views of vase above, the bird is surrounded by assorted irregular shapes. But what are they?

In the same way that Boulton reinterpreted Chinese gongshi (rocks) on his PARADISE BIRD & TREE patterns, on CHINESE BIRD, he re-imagines abstract shapes found on Chinese dragon decorations.

The abstract shapes surrounding dragons on Chinese porcelain are often referred to as clouds or flames. These highly stylised motifs symbolize celestial and mythical realms. The clouds typically appear as swirling patterns, while the flames take on flowing, dynamic forms. The stylised shapes surrounding dragons on Chinese porcelain can also represent flaming pearls, often depicted as spherical objects surrounded by flames. In Chinese mythology, the dragon is commonly shown in pursuit of the flaming pearl, a symbol of the eternal quest for knowledge and power.

The dragon on Chinese porcelain is sometimes accompanied by a phoenix,
as seen on the plate to the right—the mythical bird appears perfectly at ease among the flames!

Boulton continues to build on the success of Carlton Ware's Chinoiserie patterns, originally introduced by his predecessor, Horace Wain, while giving them a modern twist.

The Decorations

To achieve the impressive appearance of the CHINESE BIRD pattern, various decorating techniques are employed. First, an underglaze print is applied, followed by underglaze painting in the specified colours. Once the colours have dried through a process known as "hardening on"—in a warm place—the vase is dipped into a vat of glaze, which has the appearance and consistency of double cream. Below, you can see this process being carried out at the Middleport Pottery of Burgess & Leigh in 1932.

In the photograph, notice the long ware board onto which the Dipper places the ware after immersing it in the glaze. Once full, the board is taken to the kiln for firing, either carried on a shoulder or atop the carrier's head. (Ware was taken off the boards and placed into saggars, which were then stacked inside the bottle kiln.)

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Miss Elmer, who succeeded Boulton as designer in 1930, told us how astonished she was to see the board carriers negotiating steep stairways and bending their knees to pass through a doorway. "Why don't they raise the height of the doorway?" she quizzed.

Once the glaze is fired on—becoming transparent and shiny in the process—the item is ready for its on-glaze decorations. These additional embellishments include a reprint of the pattern in gold, which must align precisely with the underglaze print, followed by the application of lustres and/or raised enamels. In the versions of CHINESE BIRD shown above, both lustres and raised enamels have been used.

CHINESE BIRD BORDER

The CHINESE BIRD BORDER consists of cloud-like forms set against circles and a crazy paving-like background, all printed in gold. The clouds were decorated in various colours to match the pattern variant. Below is the version used on 3196 and 3197, with the clouds painted in underglaze green and RUBY LUSTRE.

© Barbara Anne Lee 2025

On CHINESE BIRD 3198, which employs a RUBY LUSTRE ground—as on the vases above—the clouds are painted in underglaze green and blue.

© Barbara Anne Lee 2025

CHINESE BIRD 3299, introduced in late 1928, or early 1929, employs an underglaze PINK ground with a MATT glaze—Boulton began using matt glazes around 1928. On this variant, the CHINESE BIRD BORDER is simply printed in gold against a striking CRIMSON band as you can see on the plate below.

Here is Barb's rendition of the border, which you can enlarge by clicking on it, as with the plate.

© Barbara Anne Lee 2025

The CHINESE BIRD BORDER was also used on the contemporaneous CHINESE FIGURES pattern, the first of which was pattern number 3199, following on from CHINESE BIRD 3198. Below is an example.

The CHINESE BIRD BORDER part is decorated in yellow, green, blue and red raised enamels, as Barb illustrates below.

© Barbara Anne Lee 2025

Notice the filigree-like edges to the border not used on CHINESE BIRD patterns.

I suggest that the CHINESE BIRD BORDER and the CHINESE FIGURES BORDER were engraved onto the same metal roller and once printed cut into strips as needed. Roller printing allowed for prints of any length to be produced—a technique also used in the printing of wallpaper and textiles.

Below is an advertisement for a Roller Printing Machine, though the one used for borders was much smaller, with a roller measuring approximately six inches (150mm) in length and two and a half inches in diameter (60mm).

Date of Introduction

I estimate that the first variant of CHINESE BIRD was introduced in either late 1927 or early 1928. According to Miss Elmer, Enoch Boulton’s successor, new patterns and shapes were introduced twice yearly and promoted at trade fairs, particularly at the annual British Industries Fairs held in London and Birmingham.

Availability

Pattern records list a total of ten variants of CHINESE BIRD. The first was 3196, which appears to have been replaced by the similar 3197, shown at the top of this article. The last three and somewhat later variants, 3527, 3544, and 3545, were adaptations by Miss Elmer, incorporating one of her signature shadow backgrounds. Below is an example of her CHINESE BIRD 3527.

Instead of a shadow of the bird, as one might expect, Miss Elmer chooses to make shadows of Mr. Boulton's cloud and flame-like forms. These were freehand-painted at the discretion of the paintresses, resulting in many variations, each being unique.

I suggest that, due to their complexity, CHINESE BIRD patterns were discontinued by the late 1930s, possibly even earlier. The Second World War (1939–1945) would certainly have curtailed such elaborate decorations. In any case, a pattern would remain in production as long as demand existed and as long as it remained economically viable. Versions of MIKADO, for example, were produced for almost seventy years after its introduction in 1920!

© Harvey Pettit 2025

V1a May 2025. Explantion of placing ware added to elaborate on firing. If more accurate information comes to light, I will update this page.

The next article in this series will be about TREE & SWALLOW.