{"id":16665,"date":"2022-11-09T18:33:27","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T17:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homesandantiques.com\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2022-11-11T15:23:29","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T14:23:29","slug":"meet-the-maker-deborah-sears-of-isis-ceramics","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/meet-the-maker-deborah-sears-of-isis-ceramics\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the Maker: Deborah Sears of Isis Ceramics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Homes & Antiques\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 09 November 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Creativity starts early at the farmyard workshop of Isis Ceramics in Oxfordshire. From 7.30am the small band of painters and potters begins to arrive at the converted sheep shed to take full advantage of the natural light that streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows. Nipping over from the neighbouring farmhouse, owner and artist Deborah Sears unlocks the doors and puts the kettle on, ready for a new day of making the hand-painted, tin-glazed earthenware that has become her trademark.<\/p>\n

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In the adjoining showroom Deborah\u2019s genteel range of ceramics<\/a> is reminiscent of another age. Dishes have scalloped and fluted edges; there are sturdy rectangular and octagonal platters, quirky three-handled posset pots, chunky tureens, generous teacups, dainty coffee cans and delicate flower bricks. All are decorated with whimsical scenes of sailing boats, prancing horses or grand old houses, in a palette of blue, oxblood, sage green and manganese plum.<\/p>\n

As you might expect, Deborah\u2019s charming designs are rooted firmly in the past. She takes her inspiration from English Delftware \u2013 a type of hand-decorated pottery that originated in Delft, Holland, to rival Chinese blue and white porcelain \u2013 that was made from around 1620 to 1760 in London, Bristol and Liverpool. Original pieces are so special that they can fetch eye-watering prices. A marriage dish made at the Pickleherring Pottery in Southwark in 1650, discovered by the Antiques Roadshow\u2019s John Sandon, recently sold for \u00a354,000 at a Bonhams auction.<\/p>\n

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Deborah discovered English Delftware inadvertently in the early 1980s. \u2018I was an American art student who had come to London to study and work. My grandmother sent me money to buy a turkey for Thanksgiving and I needed something to put it on,\u2019 she recalls. She headed for Woolworths to buy a white plate but on her way she passed a charity shop where a blue and white platter caught her eye. \u2018I loved the decoration on it and it only cost 50p, so I bought it.\u2019<\/p>\n

A distinguished dish<\/h3>\n

She thought nothing more of the provenance of her plate until a couple of Thanksgiving turkeys later (the second bird was so hefty it caused a crack to appear in the plate), when she was visiting the V&A. \u2018I walked into a ceramics<\/a> gallery and did a double take \u2013 there was my plate\u2019s twin, labelled Liverpool Delftware and dated 1620.\u2019<\/p>\n

The remarkable discovery that her bargain platter was in fact an antique treasure and part of a wider craft tradition set Deborah on a quest to collect more pieces. \u2018Part of the fascination,\u2019 she says, \u2018is that each painter has a different style \u2013 you can feel the energy of the person behind it. Pigments can\u2019t be wiped off from the glaze, so the decoration has spontaneity of line.\u2019\nHer interest didn\u2019t wane and a few years later, by then working as a graphic artist and living in Oxford with her husband Roger and two children, she decided to make some Delft-style tiles for her new kitchen. They were such a success that the kitchen company placed an order and in 1988, after a batch of Deborah\u2019s Delft plates and bowls had been snapped up by the General Trading Company, Isis Ceramics was officially born.<\/p>\n

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From acorn to small oak, the pottery now has six staff, including four painters and a pottery technician. It makes a selection of signature ranges designed by Deborah such as \u2018English Garden\u2019, \u2018Musical Monkeys\u2019, \u2018Nautical\u2019 and \u2018Exotic Animal\u2019, and also offers a bespoke service to create personalised services, special pots and platters. Tailor-made ceramics<\/a> are becoming increasingly popular and one set that will probably go down in history was created in 2006 for the Hon. Simon Howard, who lives with his family at Castle Howard in Yorkshire. \u2018It was his 50th birthday present from all his family and friends,\u2019 explains Deborah. \u2018There are 30 different place settings, with seven pieces per setting, plus serving dishes \u2013 300 pieces in all, depicting the house and estate. I went up there for two days to sketch and take photographs. A service such as this is a historical document for a family, with allusions that only they will appreciate.\u2019\nAnother recent coup was the creation of large ginger jars for sale at the Prince of Wales\u2019 newly opened Highgrove shop in Tetbury. \u2018I visited Highgrove four times to sketch the wildflower meadow as it changed through the seasons.\u2019<\/p>\n

All in a day\u2019s work<\/h3>\n

Deborah\u2019s way of working is methodical. She sketches and photographs subjects and draws out designs on paper before transferring them using pencil onto a blank ceramic. Once the design is right she hand-paints it onto a ceramic body, moulded in the workshop, to create a template for her painters to follow. Sitting at her desk, serenely painting, with views over the sheep pastures outside, is her favourite task.<\/p>\n

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As with English Delftware of old, the painters work on pieces that have been biscuit-fired and dipped in opaque tin glaze. The painting is highly skilled and remarkably quick. \u2018It\u2019s all about touch \u2013 I can always tell who has decorated a piece,\u2019 says Deborah. \u2018When you\u2019re painting you feel the weight of the stroke like a sound. It\u2019s a rhythmic thing and you have to paint at speed to make the brush stroke look good.\u2019\nIn technique there is little difference between Deborah\u2019s modern-day Delftware and that made 300 years ago. She explains: \u2018We can\u2019t use lead in the glaze, so the colours are slightly different, but as a result our pieces don\u2019t chip as much.\u2019 She has also widened the palette of colours to include sepia, scarlet and cherry, and saffron yellow.<\/p>\n

Deborah used to spend half her time in the studio, but now darts between developing designs and working on special projects. One recent challenge was to make a replica of an early English Delft wine bottle dated 1643-45, for an owner who sold it at auction (it made an incredible \u00a352,580 \u2013 see above). \u2018It bears the cipher of Queen Henrietta Maria, King Charles I\u2019s wife, but is actually a second, a result of the kiln over-firing. The speckling effect has run and the image has blurred, so I had to try to make it go wrong!\u2019 she smiles. \u2018It was an organic process, but then every piece of English Delftware I\u2019ve ever seen has its idiosyncrasies \u2013 that\u2019s why I love it.\u2019<\/p>\n

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COLLECTING ISIS CERAMICS<\/h3>\n

Roadshow<\/em> expert Eric Knowles has long been an admirer of Isis<\/p>\n

Eric Knowles first came across Isis ceramics in an interiors shop in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. \u2018I looked in the window and initially thought, what great English Delft. It was so sympathetic and very like the Delft made around the 1750s. When the shop owner told me that the pieces were modern and made in Oxford, I made a mental note.\u2019<\/p>\n

Some years later in a shop in nearby Chesham he discovered an early English Delft wine bottle, with the moniker of Queen Henrietta Maria, which eventually sold for \u00a352,580 at Bonhams. \u2018The owner was reluctant to part with it, but I suggested he had a replica made by Deborah Sears, which he did.\u2019<\/p>\n

Will Isis pieces have staying power? \u2018Quality will out,\u2019 says Eric. \u2018What Isis does, it does very well. The style of decoration is instantly pleasing and I love the fact that it\u2019s entirely spontaneous \u2013 Deborah\u2019s painters have to do it first time around. The na\u00efve decoration is part of their charm and in step with earlier 18th-century pieces.\u2019<\/p>\n

FEATURE: Caroline Wheater\nPHOTOGRAPHS: Lydia Evans<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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