Born in 1922, Colin Haxby was a British potter and ceramic designer who produced wares under his own name and for other companies.
An early design of his is Thistledown on Vogue which he did for Simpsons Potteries Ltd, Cobridge in 1955. The following year, he created the Central Park range for T G Green.
In 1966, he co-founded the company, Wallace and Haxby Limited with fellow designer, Robin Wallace (who designed Blue Pansy for T G Green). The same year, the stunning numeral and ABC mugs were created (both shown above).
In 1982, the company became Haxby Ceramics. The organisation was located in a former school in Metfield, a small village in Suffolk on the border with Norfolk. He remained a director of the company until 1999.
Over his career, he had collaborations with many other artists and potteries. In 1958, he worked with Wedgwood on a porcelain teapot in the Whirls pattern. He teamed up with Terry Frost in 1978 on a colourful, limited edition series of chargers and jug (some shown above). There was a mug designed (probably in the 1970s) by David Gentleman for the David Mellor shop in James Street Covent Garden and produced by Haxby Ceramics. He designed the Haxby honey pot for Habitat in the 1980s. He produced a cylindrical vase decorate with a Beachy Head design by Jeffrey Camp for the Royal Academy of Arts.
In 1969, he designed & produced commemorativeware for the investiture of the Prince of Wales and again in 1981 for the royal wedding of Charles & Diana.
The names of some of his designs include Blumen, Bracken, Cymbal, and, two of my favourites of his, Avena (bottom-left of the montage, above) and Grille which have bone china bodies with gold gilt decoration.
You can often find examples of his work to buy on Etsy and eBay.
Image credits:
20th Century Forum | Twistberry | VADS
