'Be Aware My Friend’ vase No.1 (view 1 of 3)
Mishapen slip-cast vase with naive decoration incised by an unaccomplished hand.
In cutting the design, the decorator pressed a little too hard, pushing the rim slightly out of shape.
The vase has incised fern decoration, together with an incised sun, moon, star, bird, butterfly and beetle, all of which are known on Salopian incised ware. Intriguingly, there is an inscription incised around the rim which reads: BE AWARE MY FRIEND, and a series of nine symbols which, with one exception, are clearly Christian. The symbols are:
1. & 2. Alpha and omega = Jesus Christ
3. Fish = Jesus Christ
4. Open circle = eternity
5. Cross in a circle = the Cross, combined with eternity
6. Five-pointed star in a circle = the Epiphany star, combined with eternity
7. Six-pointed star in a circle = star of Creation, combined with eternity
8. Triangle within a circle = the Trinity, combined with eternity
9. Yin-yang = a Taoist symbol and the only non-Christian symbol on the vase
This intriguing vase raises many questions. Is the naive decoration the work of a child, or an unskilled adult? What is the source of the inscription? Is it scriptural, from a hymn, or neither? Clearly, whoever incised the decoration had direct knowledge of Salopian incised ware. Was he/she copying from an example piece? Did he/she have guidance from a worker at Benthall Pottery and, if so, who? The vase must have been cast at the pottery using the company’s two-part mould and slip, but was the decoration done there or was the leather-hard pot taken off-site to be decorated elsewhere, before returning to be fired in the company kiln?
One possible explanation is as follows. It’s known that James Arthur “Arty” Hartshorne was the principal decorator of Salopian incised ware. He was also a Methodist preacher, and sometime organist and choirmaster at Broseley Methodist Church. Did he supply this vase, together with vase No.2, for children at his church to decorate, following one of his pieces as an example? Could it have been a Sunday school activity? As unmarked vases, there could never have been any intention to pass them off as the work of Benthall Pottery. Instead, they’re interpreted as “play things”, with a tale to tell.
This vase has been decorated by a different hand from vase No.2.
Mark: Unmarked
Height: 100mm / 4in
Provenance: (1) Private collection Wellington, Shropshire, UK (to late 1980s); (2) R&S Edmundson Collection, UK (to 2015); (3) Private collection, UK