Wedgwood Pennine

The part dinner service of Wedgwood Pennine you might have seen in last week's auction watch - I ended up buying. I have never taken a close look at this design, and realised when I got it home I was under the misunderstanding that Wedgood Sterling and Wedgwood Pennine were all part of the same design -but they are not. The Sterling design is the same colour but just plain brown with no decoration at all - a bit like Arabia Ruska (but not as stylish) . The Pennine design has that very English "cottagey" feel about it I think. Pennine was produced from 1965-1971.

I found a very good history of this design on the Wedgwood Museum site. Pennine was designed by Eric Owen who:

"Was chief modeller and sculptor for Wedgwood from 1946 to 1967 and a free lance modeller with facilities at Barlaston from 1967 until his death. He was born in the Potteries and was apprentice to a tile factory before joining Minton where he was chief modeller for 25 years. During his time with Wedgwood Owen was responsible for modelling many tableware shapes as well as a number of portrait medallions. He travelled and lectured widely, teaching for a short period at the Royal College of Art and was elected a member of the Society of Industrial Artists in 1957"

Wedgwood Pennine Casserole - I think the casseroles are the standout design of this range with their lovely ribbed lids

Also from the museum website:

"A prototype ‘oven-to-tableware’ had been evolved by the eighteenth century. Referred to as ‘game pie dishes’ such pie crust ware was not at all durable. It was not until well into the twentieth century that a true oven-to-tableware was evolved, thanks to technological advancements within the ceramic industry. The main development took place in the 1960s, with the Pennine range first appearing in 1965. The range of forms comprising the ware were designed and modelled by Eric Owen, with the shape actually being known as Cotswold. The term Pennine is the name given to these Cotswold shapes when decorated with an amber glaze. The range was also available in a pale-green vitrified glaze, which was sold under the Cambrian name. Oven-to-tableware proved to be one of the major innovations of the time, and soon was to be seen in most households. This popular range is often recognised and remembered from people’s childhoods"