1882-1969
Picture from The Potteries Museum
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Edward Thomas Brown Radford was born in 1882, the son of Edward Thomas Radford,
who trained at Wedgwood and would later become one of the leading potters at Pilkingtons (Royal Lancastrian). Edward Radford senior worked at Pilkingtons in
Manchester from 1903 until his retirement in 1936, marking his pots with an
incised ETR mark. Contemporay accounts at the time describe his prowess at
throwing pots of any size. Radford junior joined his father at Pilkingtons around
1905. In 1907 he married Jenny Harris, however like many of his
generation, the Great War was to interrupt both his home life and career.
As a Captain in the 19th Middlesex regiment, Edward was awarded the Military
Cross for his actions at Passchendaele (the third battle of Ypres) in 1917.
"I died in hell. They
called it Passchendaele" - Siegfried Sassoon After the war Edward Radford moved to Stoke-on-Trent and returned to the pottery trade, spending some time as an independent agent representing various manufacturers and merchants, as confirmed by an advertisement in the Pottery Gazette in 1920. Around 1930, perhaps earlier, he established the Radford Handcraft Pottery, under the umbrella of H J Wood Ltd at the Alexandra pottery in Burslem. The main output at this time consisted of vases, jugs and bowls, in a range of floral and art deco designs, as well as stylised landscapes (the "Trees") and incised "scraffiato" designs. The pottery was hand thrown and finished with a matt glaze. These are the "early" pieces most sought after by collectors. Later in the thirties the range was expanded to include animal figurines. Around 15 paintresses were employed at any one time, although the Trees patterns were all painted by one man, James Harrison. |
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During this period it seems
Mr Radford spent much of his time travelling to gain orders. Many of the
designs were conceived by Mabel Hadgkiss NRD, who had been trained by Gordon
Forsyth at the Burslem School of Art. Some patterns were designed by the
paintresses themselves (his "artists" as Mr Radford liked to describe them).
Production continued during World War 2, with Mr Harrison still painting his
Woodland scenes. Mr Radford was by now a successful and prominent member
of the local community, serving as an independent City Councillor from 1940 to
1945, and was also a leading figure in the Church of Christ, as well as being a
Scout Leader. He owned a
large house in High Lane Burslem (pictured below) in the cellar of which, it is
reputed, he stored much of his and Susie Cooper's stock during the war as a
precaution against air raids.
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In 1948 Mr Radford retired, and
he and his wife moved to Derbyshire as wardens of a home owned by the Church of
Christ. In 1954 the Radfords returned to Manchester, however pottery was
still in the blood and Mr Radford ran pottery classes at Cheetham Hill College for a
number of years. Edward Radford died in 1969, no grave exists, the final
act of a noble gentleman was to donate his body to medical science. After 1948 Woods continued making pottery using the Radford trademark for many years, although by now all the wares were moulded rather than handthrown. A few patterns were similar or identical to those used on the earlier wares, although over time many new designs were added. These are the typical "later" Radford design with (usually) handpainted flowers and often just a subtle colourwash over the white clay. The base is usually marked with a two-letter pattern number, identifying the design. For example, the popular anemone pattern is labelled JN. As well as jugs and vases, the company produced a range of items in the same patterns, including plates, condiment sets and toast racks. The 1954 HJ Wood catalogue includes a large selection of Radford Handcraft wares. |
| It can be difficult to date Radford pottery accurately, however the earlier wares are easily identified by collectors. These are generally marked "E Radford Made in Great Britain", "E Radford Burslem" or just "E Radford". These pieces, almost always handthrown, typically have a sponged background in shades of blue, brown, green or fawn, usually decorated with floral designs or landscape scenes under a matt glaze. Certainly these earlier pieces are the most sought after, with prices for the more desirable patterns now fetching high prices. The more common "Woods" pieces, with the "E Radford England, Hand painted" mark are just as collectable, however, given that an attractive collection can be started for just a few pounds. These are often described by dealers as "dating from the 1930's"; quite possibly some of them are, but many will be much later. Does that matter? I don't think so - whenever they were made they still look great. |
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Note that the pottery of
Edward Radford has no connection with that of Samuel Radford of Fenton, who
mainly produced china table wares.
Also there was no Elizabeth, Eric or Eleanor Radford - which are the names sometimes given by dealers when describing E Radford. |
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