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.