We have been incredibly fortunate to have been gifted some very special Compton Pottery objects, by someone with a very special connection to Watts Gallery. The objects were donated by Helen Stapleton, the grand daughter of Maurice Royle Saywell (1907-90). Saywell was appreciated at Compton Pottery in 1920, aged 14, noted for his skill in production throwing. In fact, he can actually be seen handling a Compton pot in the bottom-left corner of one of the photographs in our archive. After the death of Mary Watts, he was one of the first directors of the Potters Art Guild (incorporated in 1936).

The flower girls

The “flower girls” are rare figures from the Compton Pottery, and hitherto unknown examples of this form coloured. The first examples to enter the Watts Gallery collection, both figures are exquisitely detailed with the stems of the flowers twisting around their bodies and petals blooming behind their heads. The marks on the base of Rose identifies her as from the Potters Arts Guild (1904-1936). Iris has “HN” scratched into the base, suggesting she was made by Harold Neal, potter, (1890-1941).

The flower pot

Queen Mary’s Doll House (now in the Royal Collection) was built 1921-24 by Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944), with gardens designed by Gertude Jekyll (1843-1932). The Compton Pottery produced the pots for the Dolls House’s garden, making in miniature, versions of pots already in production. The pot now in the collection of the Watts Gallery is a miniature version of the Oblong Compton Italian Box. The moulds for the pots were meant to be destroyed after the commission but many of the potters made additional copies in case of damage or to take home to their families. Maurice Royle Saywell would have just started his apprenticeship when the commission was taking place.

Objects gifted in memory of Sheila Stapleton, 2025.