The Art Of China Flowers

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31543, 4 December 1967, Page 3

The Art Of China Flowers

(By fi

KATE WHARTON

' of the

•‘Sunday Telegraph”)

LONDON. Outside traffic boomed, roared, and jostled, its busy way along. But inside a factory in Stoke-on-Trent, a town in the English Midlands famous for its pottery, the; atmosphere was amazingly quiet and serene considering that well over 40 women were kitting working at long benches.

Surrounded by flowers of all kinds at all stages of composition from the tiniest whorls of petals to large finished bouquets, Mrs Agnes Hancock, who has been supervisor of the flower-making department at Royal Adderley Floral Ware for the last 34 years, spoke of the skill that goes into the making of the bone china flower groups. There are, she explained, oter 400 different shapes involved in making up the various bowls arid formations. Each petal and leaf Is made separately by hand and carefully joined together. Then each item is painted, again by hand, with attention to detail. Thinking of all the shades in a carnation or rose, it is not difficult to respect the artistry of these quiet women so silently absorbed In their work. Because each flower petal is formed individually, without the use of moulds, by the hands of a woman modeller, each piece becomes an original. Although the items follow a pattern, no two pieces will ever be exactly alike. As Mrs Hancock said with justifiable pride, “Each one is a personal creation, hand-made and hand-painted.” After painting, .the colours are fused with the glaze at high temperature, ensuring that they retain their original brightness indefinitely. How long does it take to train someone in this highly skilled work and what sort of talents do they need at the outset?

Mr G. W. Cliff, general manager, explained that they looked for girls with some artistic talent, considerable powers of concentration, and a happy 'disposition. If a girl had not a happy disposition, he said, and other executives agreed with him, it showed in the flowers. When a trainee first starts she learns how to handle clay and mould it into various shapes. She then learns to

make a rose petal and once that art is mastered she is shown how to make the complete flower. Everything begins with the rose! A trainee must perfect this part before making any other flower. After this basic training, which usually lasts six months, she is then ready to learn all the other flowers. A painter will take double this time before she, too, is considered to have completed her basic training. Many of the women I spoke to had their own favourite flowers. One liked daisies (at that moment she was making, she told me, 27 dozen daisies a day), • -another preferred crocuses, another pansies. “They are more interesting than roses,” she said. More than 75- per cent of Royal Adderley Floral Ware is exported, mainly to Canada, the United States, Australia, and Europe. Each country has its own

likes. France, for Instance, is extraordinarily keen on bird models, buying up to 70 per cent of the factory’s total output, and it also stipulates a preponderance of violet shades in the flower pieces it buys. America has lately “fallen” for a new Mothers’ Day present consisting of a bowl of white carnations resting on a base of green leaves. Australia buys a floral comport bowl from which the top

flower can be removed turning the piece into a candlestick. The photograph shows one of the women at work decorating a set pieee.