Linthorpe Pottery Aesthetic Movement vase with floral decoration by Annie Umpleby c1880. Footed shoulder vase with twin handles to a flare neck. Toffee-coloured overglaze on a streaky pale-yellow and olive-green ground. Attractively decorated with floral and foliate design using a resist technique to exclude the overglaze, with ground colours showing through. Impressed Linthorpe Pottery mark and number 2215 to the base together with monogram AU for Annie Umpleby. The vase measures 29 cm in height.
 
In 1879 John Harrison (a local businessman) established Linthorpe Pottery in conjunction with Christopher Dresser, one of the most influential designers of the late 19th century. Dresser acted as artistic director at the Pottery until 1882 and continued to submit designs whilst the Pottery remained in production. Dresser recommended Henry Tooth, an artist from Buckinghamshire working at that time on the Isle of Wight, as pottery manager. Henry Tooth, with no prior experience of clay or pottery left Ryde for Linthorpe, spending time at the T.G. Green pottery in Church Gresley, Derbyshire to get a foundation in ceramics. Henry Tooth had brought Richard Patey with him from the Isle of Wight, who managed the pottery after he left in 1882 (to establish to Bretby Pottery in partnership with William Ault). For more information on Linthorpe Pottery visit our Maker's History pages.