Vintage W H Grindley Tunstall Art Pottery Bowl Hand Painted Floral 1950s
£23.00
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Vintage W H Grindley Tunstall Art Pottery Bowl Hand Painted Floral 1950s
£23.00
Item Overview
- Type: Vintage Ceramic Fruit Bowl / Large Serving Dish / Art Pottery Salad Bowl
- Brand: W.H. Grindley (Staffordshire)
- Manufacturer: W.H. Grindley & Co. Ltd. (Woodland Pottery, Tunstall)
- MPN: Does Not Apply
- Place of Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
- Style: Mid-Century Modern / Staffordshire Hand-Painted Art Pottery
- Colour: Deep Gloss Jet Black Background, Vibrant Poppy Red Petals, Citron Yellow Centers, Rich Olive Green Foliage, and Pale Cream Glaze Interior with Green Rim Lining
- Design Era: Mid-Century Post-War Era (c. 1950s)
- Material: Fine Semi-Vitreous Earthenware, High-Gloss Glaze Coatings, Hand-Brushed Enamels
- Set Includes: One (1) Single Hand-Painted Large Circular Serving Bowl
- Features: Official W.H. Grindley Tunstall Factory Backstamp, Complete Hand-Painted Outer Frieze, Contrast Underglaze Banding, Flared Smooth Circular Silhouette
- Condition: Excellent Vintage Condition. The pottery structure is phenomenally well preserved, showing no perimeter chips, hidden hairline cracks, glaze scaling, or deep utensil marks. The hand-painted enamel floral motifs remain exceptionally bright and scratch-free, retaining their full mid-century gloss sheen. Clean internally.
- Size and Capacity: Measures a substantial 19.0 cm in outer diameter (approx. 7.5 inches) and stands 8.0 cm tall (approx. 3.1 inches).
Dating & Historical Context
- Dating: This piece dates precisely to the post-war mid-century period, spanning the 1950s (c. 1952–1959). The backstamp diagnostics on the base ring—featuring the modern cursive printed "W.H. Grindley & Co. Ltd., Tunstall, England" layout—perfectly document this specific boutique art pottery run, produced at the Woodland Pottery kilns before later corporate restructurings in the 1960s.
- Historical Note: Established in the 19th century by William Harry Grindley in the heart of Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, W.H. Grindley was a towering name in high-end British earthenware production. While universally celebrated for their sprawling dinnerware lines, their post-war studio artists actively challenged the market by competing with the bold, expressive style of Clarice Cliff. This substantial serving bowl showcases that artistic shift. Hand-painted by a single studio technician, the piece utilizes an intense jet-black underglaze wrap that forces the hand-brushed red poppies and olive foliage to visually pop with incredible contrast. These pieces were specifically designed as high-vibrancy accent ware, intended to inject celebratory, artistic style into contemporary British dining rooms.
Description
An exceptionally visual and highly stylized treasure for curators of West Midlands art pottery or mid-century kitchenware stagers, this large circular bowl is full of classic Staffordshire character. The exterior is wrapped in a dramatic, high-gloss black field that acts as an optimal canvas for a sweeping continuous frieze of vibrant hand-painted floral blooms. The interior transitions to a soft, clean cream glaze, masterfully trimmed with an agile green band along the lip to frame the entire piece beautifully.
Expert Identification & Design Features:
- Official Grindley Tunstall Stamp: The base houses a crisp, original factory trademark layout confirming its authentic 1950s production pedigree.
- Continuous Hand-Brushed Frieze: Decorated with rich, impasto-like enamel layers that give the flowers and veined leaves a wonderfully tactile, raised dimension.
- Contrast Interior Canvas: The glossy black exterior is cleanly counterbalanced by a pristine, welcoming cream reservoir that showcases items beautifully.
- Flared Serving Footprint: Standing 8cm tall with a broad 19cm spread, it provides excellent volume as a functional fruit center-piece or dining table bowl.
Condition Report
This vintage Staffordshire bowl is in phenomenal condition, displaying an abundance of care throughout its history. The fine semi-vitreous body is completely solid, free from common rim chips, structural hairline stress fractures, or unseemly restoration work. The glossy black underglaze remains exceptionally dark and deep, entirely free from chemical clouding, heavy storage scuffing, or the wide-scale glaze crazing often seen in mid-century earthenware. The interior cream glaze is thoroughly clean, and the hand-painted flowers show zero petal paint loss. Please examine the detailed macro photos to confirm the surface finish and verify the physical scale.
Shipping & Logistics
- Domestic Shipping: FREE UK TRACKED DELIVERY.
- Packaging: This premium art pottery bowl will be wrapped in professional acid-free tissue paper, double-encased in high-density bubble cushioning, and suspended in a rigid, thick-walled postal container to safeguard the circular rim from compression during transit.
- Dispatch: Order before 12.00pm and we ship same day.
Returns & Payment Policies
We want you to be delighted with your heritage find.
- Not as Described: In the unlikely event of an error in our listing, we will provide a full refund and cover the return postage costs.
- Change of Mind: We accept returns within 30 days; however, in these instances, the buyer is responsible for the return shipping costs.