Guy Boyd / Martin Boyd

Guy Martin a'Beckett Boyd, born at Murrumbeena in 1923 (12 June 1923 – 26 April 1988) was the second son of Merric and Doris Boyd. Guy Boyd's first business venture was a very successful commercial pottery studio. One of the main products was ramekins. You see them everywhere. Most are in matching reverse colours. Just because they are signed "Guy Boyd", people think they are collectable. In the future they probably will be but now they are a dime a dozen. You can usually find at least one in every antique shop. They seem to breed as fast as old metal coat hangers. If there isn't one there today, there will be tomorrow. Legally, they are "Boyd", but remember that it is unlikely that any member of the Boyd family were within several hundred miles of them when they were made. The pale ones at the top (which are genuine Guy Boyd from his Melbourne studio in the mid sixties) have sgraffito (incised) along the sides before glazing, a popular design. They were sold in sets along with the soup tureen. They are 120mm wide and 45 mm deep plus 30mm for the handle. Sadly, the tureens don't survive, but the ramekins do. In the late 1950s, Guy had his works at Crosbie Park Avenue in East Bentleigh After his return from Sydney, Guy opened a shop at 247 Bridge Road Richmond. In the mid 1960s he operated from the Ray Cook premises in Carey Street, East Bentleigh. The similarity of the Boyd and Cook ramekins makes me wonder who influenced who at this time. These have no chips cracks or crazing and have a matt monocolour glaze. In 1965, Guy gave up pottery for a full-time career as a sculptor, and began exhibiting at the Australian galleries. Guy Boyd married Phyllis Nairn with whom he had seven children, some of whom have also gone on to become sculptors, writers and artists. He died in 1988. Please be aware when you see the name on the base. In 1946, while Guy was studying at the East Sydney Technical College, he worked at night with Norma Flegg in her basement pottery in Cremorne. They originally used the name “Guy Boyd” incised on the base, but in 1948, they began using the name “Martin Boyd” after Norma’s husband Leonard joined the company. Guy returned to Victoria in 1950 and the company in Sydney continued to use the name until it ceased production in 1964. His Melbourne pottery operated from 1952.) The Sydney pottery developed their own high quality glazes and at its height, employed up to eighty people. They also used a variety of other names as they produced pottery for department stores and commemorative wares.

Arthur Boyd / John Perceval

Arthur Boyd and John Perceval at work at "Open Country" 1945 Photo Copyright Commonwealth Government

Designer	Arthur Boyd
Maker	John Perceval
Marks	Incised AMB to base
Description	Banded scored slipware, pink exterior and green interior. Solid stem handle with pinched end. Green colour to pinched end.
Condition	Good condition with slight overcooking to interior glaze. There is slight exterior crazing consistent with age.
Number
Production Date	Late 1940s, early 1950s
Width	93mm
Depth	57mm
Length (with handle)	140mm
Weight	145gm
Volume	250ml
Acquisition	Mordialloc Antiques

There is so much information available today about the Boyd family and their artistic legacy that I won't repeat too much here. These three AMB (Arthur Merric Boyd) ramekins are crudely glazed and made like much of their output. Their apperance shows them to most likely be very early examples of the work of Arthur Boyd and John Perceval. They are glazed in classic John Perceval colours of green and pink. The hand made stem handles with pinched ends are, as usual roughly made. The glaze interior is patchy and the exterior is scored, but this is how Boyd and Perceval made and sold their earliest work. There is slight exterior crazing consistent with age.

Merric Boyd, sometimes described as the father of art pottery in Australia, having held the first exhibition of his work in Melbourne in 1912. He had his pots fired in Hoffman Pottery kilns from1926 after he burned out his own. He is also thought to have modelled some decorations for use in the Mel-rose line.

The Boyd’s are probably Australia's most famous and prolific artistic family over several generations.The pottery named "Open Country"was located at the corner of Wahroonga and Weeroona Roads Murrumbeena and the output sold through their shop at 500 Neerim Road, Murrumbeena, just a short walk from "Open Country". If you go looking for the spot, it is now a pile of cream brick 1960s flats. The Boyd home was at 3-5 Calloola Avenue, Oakleigh after they sold the pottery following Arthur's death. Eventually, a lot of the pottery was made at Neerim Road.

Probably the best known was Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd (1920-1999), painter, and potter who married Yvonne Lennie, painter, one of their children was Guy Martin a Beckett Boyd (1923-1988), also later famous as a sculptor, he married Phyllis Emma Nairn.

John de Burgh Perceval 1923-2000. Better known as one of Australia's leading painters,Perceval enlisted in the army in 1941 where he met Arthur Boyd and after his discharge he moved into the Boyd family home. He married Arthur’s younger sister Mary in 1944 and with others helped to establish “Arthur Merric Boyd (AMB) Pottery”. Sadly, his later life was marred by health problems.

The following is edited from the Australian Pottery Blogs.

See the original athttp://australianpottery.wordpress.com/

Painting and pottery was closely intertwined in the Boyd family. Doris was a talented painter and decorated some of her husband’s pots. Their children learnt to make and decorate pottery at their parents’ knees and were able to use this skill as a way of making a living while they explored other areas of interest such as painting and sculpture. They married other artists and drew them into the family tradition. The second-world war interrupted their lives but also led them to new artistic associations.

Merric’s father Arthur Merric Boyd (1862-1940) was a painter, not a potter, but his name lives on in the Arthur Merric Boyd (AMB) Pottery set up by his grandson Arthur, John Perceval and Peter Herbst at Murrumbeena in 1944. (Actually, they bought Hatton Beck’s pottery when the Becks moved to Brisbane.) Arthur left Australia for England in 1958 and went on to become one of Australia’s most significant painters, but pieces with various AMB marks continued to be made until 1962.

Similarly, Merric’s younger brother Martin (1893-1972) was a writer not a potter, but his name lives on in the Sydney-based Martin Boyd Pottery set up by Guy with partners Norma and Leonard Flegg in 1946. Guy was training as a sculptor at the East Sydney Technical College (ESTC) after the war and needed an interim source of income. He returned to Melbourne in 1951 but the Fleggs continued to operate the Martin Boyd Pottery as a successful venture until slow sales caused in part by overseas imports put it out of business in 1963. Ford (p. 43) records the year of Guy’s return to Melbourne as 1955. In fact, he transferred his interest in the pottery to Leonard’s brother Ronald in 1951. On his return to Melbourne, he set up a new pottery, the Guy Boyd Pottery, in 1952. He and his wife operated this until 1964, when he sold it to devote himself full-time to sculpture.

Guy’s brother David worked with him as a thrower in Sydney in the start-up post-war years. This is where he met Hermia, an art student at ESTC experimenting with decoration at the pottery in her spare time. They lived and worked in Australia, England and France before closing their last pottery in Murrumbeena in 1968 to concentrate on other interests – David on painting and Hermia on etching and sculpture. Their work was marketed as art pottery through exhibitions rather than stores. In 1960 they were guest exhibitors at the Potters’ Cottage in Warrandyte where it was reported that great interest was shown in the new techniques they had developed during their overseas travels and prices ranged as high as fifty guineas.

The majority of e-Bay listings are from the Martin Boyd Pottery that has its own strong following. Ramekins abound and no wonder, because it was the pottery’s most popular production line and nearly a million were made. Ramekins were also a mainstay of the Guy Boyd and AMB Potteries. This form was simple to throw and decorate. The handle also lends aplomb, particularly when incorporated seamlessly into the form and decoration.

Obviously the Army did not form the best impression of Arthur.  I'm glad he didn't let this slow him down later.

Nixon Pottery

Designer	Nixon Pottery, Sydney NSW.
Maker	Nixon Pottery 6a Mable Street Hurstville
Marks	Incised “Nixon” to unglazed base
Description	Heart shaped thin sided slipware bowl with clear gloss overglaze. One piece moulded handle cast as part of bowl.
Decoration	Hand painted marine grasses to exterior sides and handle. Stylized fish painted to interior bottom of bowl. One ramekin has a plain exterior with a light blue interior overpainted with a wildflower motif.
Condition	Good condition. Very well made No chips or cracks. Some crazing consistent with age to overglaze.
Number
Production Date
Width	110mm
Depth	37mm
Length (with handle)	160mm
Weight	140gm
Volume	250ml
Acquisition

These notes were modified from the Powerhouse Museum notes.

These slipware ramekins were made in the 1950s and 1960s by the small company, Nixon Pottery 6a Mabel Street Hurstville, Sydney, New South Wales. It was one of dozens of small potteries operating in Sydney after the Second World War. Its main rival, was the Martin Boyd Pottery, the most significant pottery in Sydney at this time and was responsible for wares decorated with Aboriginal-style motifs. These Nixon ramekins feature similar decorations - hand painted in a stylized manner and probably representing Aboriginal motifs.

While some of these domestic wares were made from thrown clay, many were moulded or slipcast and were usually decorated with mix-and-match colours and painted designs. The most popular forms of domestic ware included coffee sets, ramekin sets, dinner sets, and ashtrays and savoury dishes shaped like boomerangs. With restrictions on imports continuing after the war, these items proved immensely popular in Australia and featured in home-living journals, like 'Australian Home Beautiful'. Arising from this trend was an overseas market for Australian wares. It appears that Nixon, like many other makers, did not need to advertize as it sold direct to stores. It was these stores that advertized as required.

They were made by Dallas Raymond Nixon who operated Nixons Art Productions in the early 1950s.  In 1954, he and his wife Betty incorporated as "Jemba Potteries Pty Ltd", a short lived, ill fated venture that closed after less than a year.

Sylha

These dishes from the early 1950s are not ramekins as are represented by some sellers on internet auction sites. They are what was known as Hors d’Oeuvres dishes and were part of a set of five dishes that nestled in a low-sided wicker basket or a metal frame that rotated in the centre of a table. Expensive for their time, they are relatively uncommon and should be purchased if you see them. They are still an ideal retro addition to any entertainer’s home but should not be called ramekins.

SYLHA was originally three people; Sylvia Halpern, Artek (Artur) Halpern, and Artur’s brother Stanislaw.

Sylvia Pauline Halpern (nee Black), was born in Kobe Japan on the 25^th March 1918 and came to Australia in the late 1930s.  Artek (Artur) (1908-1976) arrived in Fremantle Australia aboard the “Asturias” on the 6^th March 1947. His brother Stanislaw born Zolichev Poland (1919-1969) having arrived in Fremantle before the war aboard the “Otranto” on the 15^th of August 1939.  The brothers were the sons of Eisig Halpern, engineer, and his wife Berta, née Gutt.  Having lost their family property during the Nazi occupation, the Halpern family subsequently filed for compensation along with other family members Leon and Edward Halpern for land in Lvov , then in Poland, now in the Ukraine, taken over by the authorities.  With the fall of the Iron Curtain, I wonder if they got it back?  Artur worked for RCA in South Melbourne for a time.

Sylha stands for Sylvia Halpern, the name given to their output by Artur.  Confusion may arise over Sylvia and Artur.  She was actually married to Stanislaw on the 28^th August 1943 in Melbourne, years before Artur arrived.  She and Stanislaw were later divorced after having a daughter who predeceased them.  It was Artur and Sylvia who both made pottery using this brand. The Sylha Ceramics Studio was run by Artur and Sylvia and was originally located in the backyard at 1 Murrumbeena Parade, Murrumbeena before moving to Natalia Avenue, South Oakleigh in 1950 and then to Warrandyte in 1958 where Artur helped to found the Potters Cottage.  In South Oakleigh they employed two Italian potters and working with them, he learnt the skills of mould-making and slip-casting. Artur learned a lot from one of them, Costantino Bacchini (b: 9 September 1921) who arrived in Melbourne in 1952 under the Australian Italian Migration Agreement.  West-Australian potter Mike Kusnik also worked there in 1959. 

Artur had qualified as an Engineer in Czechoslovakia and in 1950, built the electric kiln they used.  Artur and Sylvia later moved to Dingley Dell, Warrandyte and joined the Potters Cottage (in 1961).  Sylvia Pauline Black had studied at RMIT under Klytie Pate and John Barnard Knight in 1944-45, and then later taught Artur and his brother, her former husband Stanislaw. Artur, an engineer built their first kiln (electric) and used Sylha as his brand. Several kilns were later built and in a relatively short time Artur and Sylvia was earning a full time living as potters, although it appears that Sylvia was the major partner with Arthur the marketing person.  Not one to do things by halves, Artur imported great quantities of glaze colours from England and Germany as these were unavailable in Australia at the time.

Like most makers of the day, their sales were made through department stores to whom they sold direct. Artur sold mainly through the Primrose Pottery Shop in Melbourne (see the post for them). Most makers did not advertise, leaving that up to the stores that sold their ramekins.  Sylvia signed hers “Sylvia Halpern”, not to be confused Stanislaw who signed his pieces “shalpern”. The family tradition continues with daughter Deborah also taking up pottery after being “apprenticed” to   Artur.

The five founding members of the Warrandyte Potters Cottage, from 1958 were Reg Preston, Phyllis Dunn, Artur Halpern, Gus McLaren and Charles Wilton; three other members joining in 1961 were Sylvia Halpern, Elsa Ardern and Kate Janeba. The only founding member who was not a potter was the architect John Hipwell who acted as the group's President. 

Potters Cottage was officially opened in 1958 by Dame Mabel Brookes, wife of the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brookes.  It was a small miner’s cottage in Research Road near the Warrandyte Bridge. It was then known as “Moonlight Cottage”, because the gold miner who built it in the 1890s worked in the Caledonia Gold Mine by day, and built his cottage by moonlight. By 1969 the Potters Cottage Co-op had built a restaurant where people were able to have their meals served on and in the pottery that was made by local craftspeople.

The co-operative was established for the purpose of making and selling handmade Australian pottery. The potters produced beautiful, functional studio pottery with attention to shape, decoration and glaze, bringing traditional craft together with modern. Whilst they shared certain principles in their work, the distinctive style and individuality of each artist is strongly evident. Their shared idealistic belief that modern, handmade pottery could enhance the quality of contemporary life was central to their philosophy.  The Co-op built a pottery school where people could learn to make their own pottery.

A group of students from this pottery school went on to form their own co-op, Stonehouse Potters in 1972, which is still flourishing. As well as the significant numbers of potters in the region, the Pottery Expo in Warrandyte each autumn highlights this important artistic tradition.

Stanislaw deserves his own story, but not here because he didn’t make ramekins.  Look him up, he is one of the great underrated artists of Australia.

Vlasta

Designer	Josef & Vlasta Cap
Maker	Vlasta
Marks	“Vlasta” incised to base
Description	Glazed mould cast slipware bowl with tab handle similar to “Studio Anna” Harlequin colour with gloss glaze, slight speckling to interior
Condition	Good. No cracks, chips or crazing. Slight wear to foot with colour partly rubbed off footring
Number
Production Date	1950s-1960s
Width	110mm
Depth	47mm
Length (with handle)	135mm
Weight	175gm
Volume	250ml
Acquisition

Here is something for my Slovakian readers. (Yes, I know they are now two countries) The Cap family were part of the great post-war migration from eastern Europe. They arrived in Melbourne from Czechoslovakia in 1951. Josef, born 23 July 1923; his wife Vlasta, born 15 October 1922 and son Miloslav born 9 July 1949.  Josef had trained and worked as a sculptor and ceramic artist for 5 years before being arrested by the Gestapo and put into a camp.  Josef had a school friend who was accused of being a British spy.  In those days, that was enough.  After they released Josef, he re-established his career between 1944 and 1948, Josef and wife Vlasta applied to come to Australia.  Her maiden name was Kratchovil. (Yes, the Ellis Kratchovil) 

Following the war, Josef fell foul of the new communist regime and had to leave the country. Josef had a heart condition and under normal circumstances would have been rejected, but because he was decribed as an expert ceramic worker, he was accepted.  They  came to Australia in 1951 and started a small pottery at 19a Bank Street South Melbourne, Victoria to capitalize on the desperate post-war shortage of homewares and the upcoming Olympic Games in Melbourne 1956. 

The old building is long gone and the site now is used as a car parking garage.  They named their wares “Vlasta” after Mrs Cap, but that name is based on one of the amazons of Czech mythology. The name Vlasta is a girls name. The origin is Slavic with the meaning(s) depending on Gender/Origin being Slavic- Powerful Princess or Glorious Chief. It is the feminine form of Vladyslav.  Vlasta died in Heidelberg, Victoria in 1972 aged 40.

Josef Cap (1950)

Vlasta Cap (1950)

Miloslav (1950)