From:Williamson Art Gallery and Museum

Name/TitleDella Robbia Spoon Warmer

About this objectA Della Robbia red earthenware spoon warmer in the shape of an open-mouthed fish. It is slip-coated with sgraffito and hand-painted decoration in green for the scales and blue decoration to the fins and tail.

It was designed and made by Cassandra Annie Walker and Emily Margaret Wood. Walker was a mainstay artist working for the pottery for the majority of its existence. She gained a reputation as being an elite member of the pottery for her painting techniques and artistic designs, even being called on for special commissions. She was also a regular exhibitor at the Walker Art Gallery's Autumn Exhibitions and frequently attended art classes at the Liverpool College for Applied Art and the Art Sheds. The closing of the pottery heavily impacted her finances, later emigrating to Canada in 1908, where she spent the remainder of her life. In her personal life she was described as being free-spirited and also had suffragist sympathies.

Emily Margaret Wood was a ceramicist, journalist and naturalist. She spent her childhood in India which inspired her love for botany, which she continued in her prolific work for the Liverpool Naturalists Field Club, of which she became secretary. She started at the pottery in the Architect's Department but also dealt in domestic wares and vases. She is best known for her extensive collection of botanical illustrations and was a talented watercolourist. She supported her elderly mother after her parents' separation which meant taking multiple jobs as a journalist, potter, colourist and nature study teacher. This led to an untimely death in 1907 from exhaustion after a bout of enterocolitis.

This piece combines Wood's love of the natural world with Walker's skill in creating intricate detail with the scales. It also demonstrates a more collaborative approach to pottery making, which is in tune with William Morris' Arts and Crafts ideals. 

MakerDella Robbia Pottery (active 1894-1906)

Maker Rolemanufacturer

MakerWalker, Cassandra Annie (1875-1936)

Maker Roledesigner & maker

MakerWood, Emily Margaret (1865-1907)

Maker Roledesigner & maker

Date Made1900

Period20th century

Place MadeBirkenhead, England

Style and IconographyArts and Crafts

Inscription and MarksIncised 'DR' pottery mark with boat design and number 76 to base, dated 1900.
Incised signature 'C.A.W.' to base.
Painted signature 'EMW' to base.

Techniqueearthenware

Measurementslength: 31cm
height: 14cm
width: 16cm

Subject and Association Keywordsspoon

Subject and Association Keywordssgraffito

Subject and Association Keywordsfish

Credit LineGiven by R. S. Marsden, 1912.

Object Typespoon warmer

Object numberBIKGM.55

Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved