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Explore the latest news and find out what's on this month
Explore our learning offer for schools, families and community groups
Uncover the rich history of Elmbridge with our latest online exhibitions
Want to discover more about your local area?
Denise and Rosemary Wren’s practices were, at times, radically different from one another. Denise’s vessels and traditional Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) vases took relatively traditional forms. Rosemary’s preferred shapes, on the other hand, were stylistically ‘artistic’, informed not only by nature but also modern sculpture and her education at art school.
For Rosemary, the internal space of her hollow clay animals was just as important as the finished surface. The only openings in the whole construction are the eyes, and this is important for two reasons: not only does it let the steam out when the clay is in the kiln but, as Rosemary said, “it also allows the animal to look out”.
Rosemary Wren
It is in their tactile, hand-made strategies and the marks their works carry, however, that the two potters share common ground. Everyday objects like wooden rulers, butter knives and blunt quills were used by both potters to mark their clay works.
The hands-on approach toward mark-making displays a propensity for experimentation. Unlike artists working in other mediums – such as painters or draughtsmen – potters make very permanent and direct works; this can be seen in Denise’s goblet, pictured further down this page, which displays a hatch of scratches that are bold, beautiful and in-erasable.
Tall jar created by Denise Wren, 1960s.
This tall jar or vase is typical of the work Denise Wren became very well-known for.
Stoneware is a popular material for many studio potters – the clay can be fired once or twice, a characteristic that Denise made the most of.
The glaze on this jar is dense and tactile, opposed to some of the thinner, running glasses Denise used. Some of Denise Wren’s main pottery production was hand-sculpted and thrown earthenware such as this, decorated with slips and glazes for flowers.
The vase was purchased from Rosemary Wren, Denise’s daughter, after a lecture on her mother’s work at Oxshott Village Hall, in 1987.
Goblet pot created by Denise Wren, 1960s.
This goblet shaped pot is known as an Ikebana pot by craftsmen potters.
The clay is decorated by incised horizontal grooves and five criss-cross patterns around the body of the pot. The glaze is of brushed white dolomite and the whole piece is fired by the salt-glaze method resulting in a brown pot, semi-glazed inside with patches of matte grey and white on the outside. On the base is a white paper label with the words “Denise K. Wren, Oxshott Pottery” in black ink. This label was put on the pot when it was exhibited in the Craftsmen Pottery Association Shop.
With the rings of its production clearly visible and scarred by the tools that Denise kept in her studio, this short goblet displays the most drastic marks in Elmbridge Museum’s Wrens pottery collection.
Pottery blue tit made in 1987 by Rosemary Wren and Peter Crotty.
This small blue tit was one of four similar pieces donated to Elmbridge Museum.
The sculpture is approximately life-size, with a matte glaze, coloured blue and yellow. It is one of three pottery birds made in 1987 by Rosemary Wren and Peter Crotty from life drawings of the birds.
The colouration and patterning of the bird is very accurate, but in the mannered form – the softness of the beak and the rounded tail – there is a cartoon-like and playfully animated charm.
Long-tailed tits created in 1987 by Rosemary Wren and Peter Crotty.
These long-tailed tits, produced as a pair and just over life-sized, exhibit Rosemary’s tendency toward more exaggerated and romanticised forms.
All of Rosemary’s animal figures shown here are hollow. The rich detailing on the back of these tits’ tails show her attention to detail. As was Rosemary’s want, the eyes, as deep as they are, seem to peer out as the shapes of the tails curl and dance around each other.
They are two of the four pottery birds made in 1987 by Rosemary Wren & Peter Crotty, from life drawings of the birds.