No Speed Bumps

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.