By Louise Irvine
On July 4th, as America was celebrating its 250th birthday, I was traveling back in time in England through the hidden lanes of rural Somerset to meet Richard and Sally Dennis on the open day of their delightful art pottery. Richard Dennis OBE is renowned as an expert in British art pottery and the publisher of countless reference books, including my own titles. His wife, Sally Tuffin, a famous fashion designer in the Swinging Sixties, exchanged “frocks for pots” and established the Dennis Chinaworks in 1993. Their vision was to create hand-crafted pottery in the Arts and Crafts tradition, and they chose a sunflower as the pottery’s logo to symbolize their ambitious enterprise.
“The business has grown like Topsy. There was nothing planned – there never was anything planned in our lives. It has just been serendipity.” Sally Tuffin
It had been many years since I visited Richard and Sally’s rambling home in a wonderful old Victorian Gothic rectory near Shepton Beauchamp. While researching The Doulton Story exhibition for the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1979, I was a regular visitor to study their incredible collection of Lambeth Stoneware. I also spent days in their cavernous basement, sorting through thousands of Series Ware plates to write books for Royal Doulton collectors. The basement was also home to all the Royal Doulton figures and character jugs, Parian Ware busts, Martin Ware birds, and Moorcroft art pottery, which Richard quietly amassed before they were fully appreciated by collectors so he could publish the first reference books on these subjects.
Richard and Sally were gracious hosts to the American collectors I brought from time to time to visit their home, and I have fond memories of rambles through their gorgeous kitchen garden to see the Doulton fountain by George Tinworth, which is now in a private American collection. Their family living room is still adorned with Richard’s favorite William De Morgan tiles surrounding the fireplace. Most of their Victorian vases have been sold to fellow collectors and replaced with Sally’s designs, which reflect her enthusiasm for the Arts & Crafts Movement and for reviving the work of the “Three Williams” – Morris, De Morgan, and Moorcroft. I was fascinated to see trials of their new Dodo vase inspired by William De Morgan’s Alice in Wonderland tile, just like the one we have at WMODA.
Richard and Sally helped rescue the ailing Moorcroft pottery in 1986, and Sally was their Art Director, guiding them into a new era of success. Following her experience in the couture industry with patternmaking and cutting, she taught a new generation of ceramic designers how to make “outfits for vases” by wrapping colorful designs around the forms, like the fabric of a dress. Sally then worked briefly for the Poole Pottery, where she was commissioned to design the tailfin of a British Airways plane, featuring dolphins and seagulls, before deciding to convert the stables at their home into an art pottery in 1993.
For over 30 years, collectors have flocked to the Dennis Chinaworks, particularly on open days, when they can see a wide range of new and trial designs by Sally, watch wheel-throwing by Rory McLeod, and enjoy painting demonstrations by Theresa Blackmore and Vanessa Thompson. Color is spun onto the earthenware pots, which are further decorated with incising and slip-trailing before glazing.
Sally and Richard’s son, Buchan, has joined the family business and is involved in the day-to-day running of the pottery. He is an artist in his own right, having studied painting at art school, and he creates striking contemporary designs for the Dennis Chinaworks, including vibrant rainbow stripes. The designers, throwers, and decorators each mark and date their work in the traditional way. Sally is proud to have trained around 20 young people, and many have continued to create art pottery, including Heidi Warr, whose work is also exhibited at WMODA.
Richard, now in his late 80s, was in good spirits during this year’s open day as we reminisced about old friends in the “good old days.” They fondly remember Arthur Wiener’s 2012 visit, before the museum was founded, when he became a huge fan of Sally’s pottery. He went on to buy many trial designs and commissioned two special editions of Judaica designs for his friends and family. Richard and Sally were thrilled to see photographs of the many exhibitions we have had at WMODA over the years and learn how prominent the Dennis Chinaworks designs are in the Contemporary Gallery in Hollywood.
Sally’s great love of nature is reflected in many of our museum exhibitions, from jellyfish and crabs in the current Splash! show to butterflies, birds, and flowers in the Seduction of the Flower in Dania Beach. Her iconic sunflowers will star again in our upcoming enchanted garden show. We are constantly reminded of Sally’s fashion background in the Art Deco Gallery, which includes stylish vases and tiles depicting Josephine Baker, the glamorous dancer from the Roaring Twenties.
Sally has always loved the Art Deco era, notably Clarice Cliff’s Bizarre Ware, and decorated her Somerset studio with vivid orange-and-green walls as a backdrop for the pieces Richard found for her at the antiques markets. He also found many of her stylish Goldscheider figures, which inspired another fabulous book from Richard Dennis Publications. Among Sally’s most popular designs at WMODA today are the vases inspired by Gustav Klimt, the Viennese Secessionist, and one of her latest releases is a bejeweled Japanese teapot.
Check out the amazing Dennis Chinaworks collection at WMODA during your next visit.
Read more about the Dennis Chinaworks at WMODA
Anniversary Celebration
Through a Window
Sunflowers for Solidarity
