Royal Worcester Artists

Kitty Blake

Kitty Blake worked at the Royal Worcester factory for 48 years from 1905 until 1953. She specialised in flowers and small fruits.

She also created several designs featuring blackberries and buttercups.

Kitty blake had previously spent time at James Hadleys factory in Diglis road and her Hadley style rendering of bunches of blackberries have become the Kitty Blake signature pieces, which are mouth-wateringly real and much sought after by collectors.

Like so many other famous ceramic painters, Kitty Blake seems to have come from an artistically talented family, her brother Edward worked for the Locke factory as a painter of Pheasants.

Kitty was seen as a team player with a good sense of humour and Kitty Blake became very popular at the Royal Worcester factory.

She was considered to be a bit of a live wire in her younger days and if the male painters of the time, had their terrible seven apprentices, then the female painters had their Saucy Six who would terrorise any male staff that upset them.

Kitty Blake was a leading light in this group and they made their presence felt both inside and outside the Worcester factory.

Kitty Blake was a driving force at the factory throughout her long stay. Times were hard for much of it and she would spend her spare time making advertising posters for events held at the Royal Worcester works.

She is said to have had that common touch and was never seen without her red lipstick and cigarette.

Reginald (Harry) Austin (1890-1955)

Born in Worcester in 1890, Harry Austin trained as an artist from an early age and won many medals for the drawings he produced in his younger years. He is believed to have started at the Royal Worcester factory, with his younger brother Walter, in 1910.

Harry Austin became a highly skilled and wide ranging artist, producing stunning studies of birds including a particular series of Australian birds for export market, fruit subjects, plants and flowers. He was also responsible for the newer versions of the old worcester Fancy Birds on the blue scale grounds.

In the 1920s, hard times came to quality porcelain market and a great many painters had to find ways to boost their meagre earnings. Harry turned to producing watercolours, of the same style that he painted at the factory, on canvas, card, paper or plywood. He then touted them around the local inns and cafes.

In 1930, during the great depression Harry austin left the worcester factory to concentrate on the freelance design work with his brother.

In 1931, after limited success with his freelance work he became resident designer for Paragon China.

While at paragon Harry produced a design featuring love birds with flowers, for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, to commemorate the birth of her daughter Princess Margeret. However, unhappy with life in the potteries harry eventually returned to worcester, but not the worcester factory, to continue his freelance design work.

Reginald (Harry) Austin died In 1955

Richard Sebright

Richard Sebright is possibly the most highly regarded fruit painter of all time. He worked at the Royal Worcester factory painting fruit for a total of fifty six years and during all of that time was never to make what you might call a decent living at it.

Worcester fruit porcelain for sale

Worcester painters were paid piecemeal, that is, the more they produced the more they earned, but Richard Sebright was so painstaking in his work, so determined that each piece he did would be the best that he would produce, that he was never able to work fast enough to earn as much as many of the others.

It is said that he was a very religious man who never married.

His religion and work were all that mattered to him and the level of his earnings was considered to be of only minor importance.

He was considered to be the best living painter of fruit by his fellow fruit painters.

William Hawkins

William Hawkins was the foreman of the mens painting room throughout most of the 1920s

William Hawkins retired in 1928.

He is one of the most respected painters to have worked at Royal Worcester.

He is not renowned for his fruit paintings, although he was certainly more than competent.

His real love and his best work was in portrait and figural subjects.