Not Sweating the Small Stuff

Jessie Tait Ceramics

I'm sure it's far far too early to do another 50s ceramics post ... but couldn't we just say we're following through on a very important theme?

Cos I've just googled across Jessie Tait (1928-2010) ...


... and been bowled over by the output I've seen.

She died in January, so it could also be seen as a memoriam kinda thing, if further justification is needed.

Some of the designs that really grabbed my attention were ...

Left 'Quartic' shaped plate 'Nature Study' by Terence Conran. Right, a vase by Jessie Tait

If you feel like having your hair blown right back at the table as I do on occasion, how bout the aptly named Zambesi ...






Or for when you're feeling just a bit more restrained ...



For me and when I'm not Zambesi-ing my head off, it's Homemaker to start the day ...



... as I luckily discovered a large cache in a local second hand shop not so long ago. Not long after my Zambesi haul.

Jessie Tait's designs seem a bit less adventurous when compared with her Italian counter-parts. More controlled and regular. More conventionally elegant and with a higher production 'finish'.

The bio-bit is that Tait was a ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industry. She studied at the Burslem School of Art and initially assisted Charlotte Rhead as a junior designer. Spending most of her time with the Midwinter Pottery, which was taken over by J and G Meakin in 1968 and then by Wedgwood in 1970. She retired in the early 1990s.