Boulton's Birds - Part two

KINGFISHER, OWL,
& PHEASANT ROSE 
By Enoch Boulton

This is the second in a series of articles on patterns by Enoch Boulton featuring birds during his tenure as designer and decorating manager at the Carlton Works between 1921/22 and 1930.

As with the previous series of articles on Horace Wain's Chinoiserie patterns, Barbara Anne Lee's work on associated borders is featured.

The first article in this series was about Boulton's SWALLOW pattern, one of the twenty-five-year-old's earliest patterns for his new employer. At the same time, two further bird patterns were introduced: KINGFISHER, and OWL, shown below. These designs were also simpler, suited to the challenging economic times that followed the end of World War One. Labour shortages caused by the heavy loss of life during the conflict had a significant impact on the pottery industry. Boulton, who had fought in France, was fortunate to have survived; it was fortunate for us too, for he soon begin to create highly original work that owed little to the past.

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According to Carlton Ware's pattern records, KINGFISHER had twenty-two variants beginning with pattern number 2530, while OWL only had four, starting at 2594.

The Carlton Ware Aviary

For two or three years, other birds avoided the Carlton Ware aviary until PHEASANT ROSE 2834 was introduced to the flock. Uncharacteristically for Boulton, the pattern was traditional in nature, reminiscent of the work of his predecessor, Horace Wain. Notice, however, the bird itself is more exotic than one might expect from Wain.

PHEASANT ROSE had fourteen variants beginning with pattern number 2832. It is related to another slightly later pattern, which you can read about in the article on CRETONNE.

The fowl's flamboyant feathers were to lead the way to more extravagant bird patterns. As the second half of the 1920s approached, the fledgling designer's work was to make a distinctive mark on twentieth-century Staffordshire pottery and in the style that, from the late 1960s onwards, would come to be termed Art Deco.

Borders

Borders were not created for KINGFISHER, OWL, or PHEASANT ROSE. As a rule of thumb, none were used with these patterns; a simple gold line sufficed. However, the pattern records note one exception: variant 2604 of OWL, which specifies the use of SWALLOW BORDER, featured in the previous article and repeated below.

Harvey

P.S. I dedicate this page to Veronica and David McIntosh because of their passion for Carlton Ware Kingfisher frogs.

V1b October 2024.
If more accurate information comes to light, I will update this page.

The next article in this series will be about Carlton Ware's MAGPIE pattern.