English: Vase, 1874, Doulton Ceramic Factory V&A Museum no. 352-1874

Techniques - Salt-glazed stoneware with incised decoration

Artist/designer - Doulton Ceramic Factory, Hannah Barlow, born 1851 - died 1916 (decorator), Miss Middlemiss (probably assistant)

Place - Lambeth, England

Dimensions - Height 22.3 cm, Width 12.4 cm

Object Type - Doulton's commercial production was of salt-glazed utilitarian wares, which were strong and waterproof. Their art ware production, begun in the early 1860s, capitalised on this technical expertise. The artwares, such as this vase, were made on the back of the utilitarian ware using the same material but more decoratively. Doulton was among the first to rediscover the qualities which made stoneware appropriate for art wares. Although perfectly functional as a water-container, stoneware's strength and ability to retain a crisp decorative outline recommended it to collectors in Britain and abroad.

People -

Hannah Barlow was one of a family of decorators. She studied at Lambeth School of Art and joined Doulton's art studio nearby in 1871, her brother Arthur and sisters Florence and Lucy joining her thereafter. She was the first female artist to work there. She specialised in incised decoration of countryside subjects of farmhands, and animals in a fresh and natural manner, almost as though she was using the clay as a sketchbook.