Description:Large cylindrical vase with bulbous base. Green, blue and orange matt glaze on the outside, mottled green finish on the inside. Stamped on base: 'Ruskin', 'England' and '1930'. Signed 'W. Howson Taylor'. A few cracks extending from rim. Made by William Howson Taylor at the Ruskin Pottery, Smethwick.
Dimensions: height 366mm, top diameter 139mm.
Edward R. Taylor and his son William Howson Taylor founded the Birmingham Tile and Pottery Works in 1898. The factory was located at 173-174 Oldbury Road, Smethwick. In 1904 the company was renamed after the artist and writer, John Ruskin. The factory produced small amounts of very high quality and expensive ceramics with chracteristic glazes.
The factory never recovered from the Depression of the 1920s and closed in December 1933. William Howson Taylor died in September 1935, aged 59. Neither he nor his workforce ever shared the secrets of his glazes, and the recipes died with him.
From the Staffordshire County Museum Collection.