- Jessie Tait
Jessie Tait (born
March 6 ,1928 ) was a prolific ceramic designer working in theStoke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1940s to the 1980s.Life and work
Born in Stoke-of-Trent, she studied at the
Burslem School of Art . She first worked as a junior designer toCharlotte Rhead , and then as designer for theMidwinter Pottery between 1946 and 1974. The Midwinter Pottery was taken over byJ. & G. Meakin in 1968, and again byWedgwood in 1970. Jessie Tait moved from Midwinter to Johnson Brothers, another part of the Wedgwood group, and retired in the early 1990's.Many of her designs were mass produced by the Midwinter Pottery on dinner services, and tea and coffee sets. In the 1950's these were hand painted, and well known designs included 'Red Domino' and 'Zambesi'. Her style was often detailed and geometric, making an effective transition to transfer printed wares, with 'Spanish Garden' and a range of designs on the Stonehenge shape in the 1970's continuing her success.
Midwinter produced a series of Jessie Tait vases and beakers with tube-lined decoration. Jessie Tait also worked at home in the evenings, making intricate tube-lined wares on terra cotta bodies for friends and family. She also designed for the
Clayburn Pottery .Like other
Potteries based ceramic designers such asClarice Cliff ,Susie Cooper andCharlotte Rhead , her work has become highly sought after and valued by pottery collectors.Bibliography
"Midwinter Pottery" - Steven Jenkins, Richard Dennis, 2003, ISBN 0-903685-90-6
See also
*
Clarice Cliff
*Charlotte Rhead
*Susie Cooper
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