Vase

This vase was made by an English pottery that specialised in handmade ceramics often featuring unusual shapes and glaze effects. The Bretby Art Pottery was founded in 1883 by Henry Tooth and William Ault. After beginning business by sharing premises with another pottery, the pair moved to a site at Woodville in Derbyshire in 1885. The pottery closed in 1996.

Art pottery
Art pottery is a late nineteenth-century phenomenon. The term was used by the many firms, not only potteries, that sold handmade wares often designed by an inhouse designer. The rise of art potteries can be aligned with the growth in popularity of the arts and crafts style, which advocated qualities that manufactuers marketed their goods as possessing - good design with form following function, and tasteful patterns and colours.

Oriental inspiration
This vase was inspired by oriental, and in particular Chinese, ceramics. The influence can be seen in the vase's shape and the use of trickle glazes. Many English potteries - small art potteries as well as larger manufacturers such as Doulton - were inspired by the simple, elegant shapes and complicated glazes of Chinese ceramics. The Doulton factory achieved much recognition in the early twentieth century for its development of Chinese-style glazes.

The Walter Cook Collection
This particular vase is from the Walter C Cook Collection of Decorative Arts. Over a twenty-five year period, Wellington collector Walter Cook developed a significant collection of British and European decorative arts. In 1993 he gave his collection to the National Museum, now known as Te Papa.