Brannam Vase

This vase was made during the 1880s by Charles H Brannam, who worked at the Litchdon Pottery in Barnstaple, North Devon.
The Litchdon Pottery was established by Charles’ father, Thomas, in 1847. Charles was born in 1855 and worked at the pottery from the age of 12. His father provided some training, although Charles later studied at the Literary and Scientific Institute, receiving the Queen’s Prize for Drawing in 1870, and also attended the Barnstaple School of Art. Charles was drawn to ceramics, educating himself in their theory and practice.
Under Thomas, the output of Litchdon consisted of mostly ‘peasant’ pottery. This included items such as pitchers and pans, which featured only simplistic decoration. Charles, having studied the ceramics housed in London’s museums, persuaded his father to experiment with art pottery. From 1881 he took over the business, recruiting highly skilled designers to help reinvigorate production standards. Traditional local styles continued to be favored, especially with sgraffito decoration.
Under the management of Charles, the Litchdon Pottery enjoyed rising success. Charles expanded production into a line of art wares which at first were sold through Howell & James, London. Liberty's also commissioned an exclusive range from the pottery.
Considerable publicity was brought to the pottery in 1885, when an order was received from Queen Victoria. This was followed by patronage from other members of the Royal family and crowned heads for Europe. Charles was now able to register the name ‘Royal Barum Ware’ for his art pottery, ‘Barum’ being the Roman name for Barnstaple. A London outlet was established and wares continued to be produced well into the twentieth century.
By the 1890s, Charles decorative repertoire included sgraffito, trailed slip (liquid clay), carved and applied ornament and deep-coloured glazes, especially blue and green. Art pottery design of this period was often a synthesis of Japanese, Persian and Classical motifs.
The earthenware body of this vase features sgraffito decoration in the form of stylised birds and plants. North Devon ceramics are notable for their use of sgraffito decoration. Meaning ‘to scratch’ in Italian, this process involved carving into an outer layer of coloured slip to reveal the clay body beneath. In this way, a design could be incised onto the surface of the ceramic. On this vase a yellow glaze was then added on top. The maker’s mark ‘CH Brannam / Barum / n. Devon’ was also incised into the base of the vase.