MID CENTURY TERENCE CONRAN “NATURE STUDY” MIDWINTER COFFEE SERVICE

MID CENTURY COFFEE SERVICE FROM THE STAFFORDSHIRE BASED ENGLISH STUDIO MIDWINTER

FEATURING A YOUNG TERENCE CONRAN’S “NATURE STUDY” DESIGN IN BLACK AND WHITE

THE BASE SHAPE BEING MIDWINTERS STYLECRAFT “FASHION” RANGE AS DESIGNED BY JESSIE TAIT IN 1954

THE SERVICE INCLUDES

ONE COFFEE POT WITH LID (190MM TALL)

ONE SUGAR BASIN (140MM WIDE BY 65MM HIGH)

ONE MILK JUG (80MM HIGH TO TOP OF HANDLE BY 120MM WIDE)

FIVE SIDE PLATES (155MM IN DIAMETER) SLIGHTLY SQUARE IN FORM

FIVE CUPS (70MM HIGH BY 90MM ACROSS AT UPPER DIAMETER PLUS HANDLES)

FIVE SAUCERS (145MM IN DIAMETER) SLIGHTLY SQUARE IN FORM

ALL PIECES STAMPED AS SHOWN AND PRESENTING IN CONRAN’S WONDERFUL MID CENTURY PATTERN OF DRAGONFLIES, LEAVES, SEED PODS ETC…

CONDITION

THE COFFEE POT AND LID PRESENT BEAUTIFULLY WITH JUST SOME LIGHT SPOTTING WITHIN THE GLAZE FROM MANUFACTURE…. PICTURE 10

THE PLATES AND SAUCERS ALL PRESENT BEAUTIFULLY WITH LIGHT GLAZE CRAZING ONLY

THE FIVE CUPS ALSO PRESENT BEAUTIFULLY WITH A COUPLE OF GLAZE SKIPS NEAR THEIR BASE RIMS FROM MANUFACTURE…. PICTURE 44  (NOT CHIPS) AND UNSEEN BENEATH

THE MILK JUG PRESENTS BEAUTIFULLY

THE FREEFORM SUGAR BASIN HAS A TINY AREA OF EXTRA CLAY WHERE IT WOULD HAVE TOUCHED THE NEXT BOWL IN THE KILN WHILE BEING FIRED…. PICTURE 43  (UNSEEN FROM ABOVE)

ALTOGETHER A BEAUTIFUL AND HARD TO FIND MID CENTURY SERVICE BY ONE OF ENGLAND’S FINEST DESIGNERS AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER WHO WENT ON TO FORM “HABITAT”

CIRCA 1955

STYLECRAFT WAS INTRODUCED IN 1953 AND WAS THE FIRST OF THE ‘MODERN’ MIDWINTER WARES

IN SUMMER 1952 ROY MIDWINTER HAD RETURNED FROM A SALES TRIP TO CANADA DISAPPOINTED IN THE RECEPTION OF THE COMPANY’S OFFERING, BUT WITH ADVICE TO EXAMINE THE SHAPES AND PATTERNS BEING PRODUCED BY NEW, YOUNG DESIGNERS IN CALIFORNIA

ON A SUBSEQUENT VISIT TO CALIFORNIA MIDWINTER SAW AND EMBRACED THE WORK OF DESIGNERS SUCH AS EVA ZEISEL, RUSSEL WRIGHT AND RAYMOND LOEWY THAT WERE DESIGNING NEW FLUID ORGANIC FORMS VERY DIFFERENT TO THE TABLEWARE OF THE PRE-WAR ERA

THE RESULT WAS “STYLECRAFT”, A MODERN SHAPE THAT DIFFERENTIATED ITSELF IN THE MARKET

THE RANGE WAS RELEASED IN FEBRUARY 1953 WITH 40 SHAPES AND 36 CONTEMPORARY PATTERNS

THE PLATES AND OTHER FLATWARE WERE ‘SQUARED’ WITH A NARROW RIM WITH JESSIE TAIT PRODUCING THE GREAT MAJORITY OF PATTERNS FOR THE NEW RANGE

THE STYLECRAFT RANGE CONTINUED IN PRODUCTION INTO THE EARLY 1960S

“FASHION”

THE FASHION SHAPE, RELEASED IN 1954, TOOK THE MIDWINTER LOOK TO ANOTHER LEVEL

THE SHAPE FULLY EMBODIED THE ORGANIC MODERNISM OF THE AMERICAN DESIGNERS WITH FLATWARE NOW RIMLESS – REGARDED AS A BOLD STEP AT THE TIME – AND THE POTS AND BOWLS WITH FREE FLOWING, FLUID LINES

THERE WERE MANY PATTERNS RECORDED ON THE FASHION SHAPE INCLUDING MANY STYLECRAFT ORIGINALS

WELL KNOWN WERE THE SIR HUGH CASSON’S “CANNES” DESIGN, A REWORKING OF THE POPULAR ‘RIVIERA’ PATTERN INTRODUCED ON THE STYLECRAFT SHAPE OF 1954, “NATURE STUDY” (1954) AND “PLANT LIFE” BY TERENCE CONRAN, AS WELL AS “PIERRO” AND “ZAMBESI” BY JESSIE TAIT

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