Finding and Buying Walking Ware Pottery
Walking Ware is designed by Lustre Pottery. It is popularly collectible and although the value of some pieces has risen substantially, others can still be purchased relatively cheaply on Ebay. The most popular search categories are Walking Ware, Carltonware and Lustre
Pottery.
As there have been occasions of ‘passing off’ and due to the number of designs, patterns and colours within the Walking Ware range, it can sometimes be difficult for the newer collector to differentiate the real from the fake.
Designed in 1973 the Walking Teaset was originally handmade in earthenware by Roger Michell and decorated by his partner, Danka Napiorkowska in their own studio in Yorkshire. Signed Lustre and dated on the base of the feet, these versions are extremely rare although occasional sightings have been known.
Its immense popularity during the ninteen-seventies led to the development of a jointly owned backstamp with Carltonwarewho manufactured the designs in their thousands for the next 13 years. These versions are the most likely to appear on Ebay and are usually found in the Carltonware or Carlton Ware category.
In 1986,an expansion in the free-trade market produced massive problems for the pottery industry and Carltonware closed down while Lustre Pottery moved to Cornwall where they made some final pieces from the left over moulds. These versions have appeared on Ebay on occasion and are signed Lustre on the base only.
The Price Kensington factory in Stoke-on-Trent continued to make some of the Walking Ware but it was not marked and neither was the decoration on these pots stipulated by Danka. It was the only factory however to gain Roger’s permission to continue small-scale production of Lustre’s Walking Ware designs. They are often mistaken for Carltonware Lustre Pottery versions. These unmarked versions can be difficult to differentiate from those that may have been illegally made from original moulds.
It is now known that some unmarked versions were made by Rising Hawk just after they were established in 1976. The feet on these versions are small and much more handmade looking than the Carltonware versions. In1998, Lustre Pottery produced 2 limited edition walking teapots, the cross legs and the knobby. These studio designs were entirely new and each one was carefully numbered and signed on the base of the feet RSM
Further reading:
Walkingware.co.uk/
