Erection date: 1878
{A plinth at the lower right carries Tinworth's monogram}:
GT
Vauxhall History gives: "Doulton worked closely with the renowned Lambeth School of Art and several well-known artists worked for the firm, including George Tinworth, the Barlow sisters, Arthur B Barlow, Mark Marshall, Frank A Butler, John Broad and W Rowe."
Other than the man in the background this is a sculpture of high relief showing six figures. English Buildings identifies Henry Doulton (seated towards the right); Hannah Barlow (the only woman, seated at the left); George Tinworth (centre, holding the pot) leaving three unnamed figures: the man carrying the board of pots is probably an anonymous worker; the other two may be, anonymous, customers.
Site: Henry Doulton's pottery (1 memorial)
SE1, 26 Black Prince Road
Built 1878-9 by R. Stark Wilkinson (1843–1936) as the Doulton Lambeth Pottery. Closed in 1956. The Listing confirms that it covers the whole block, not just this extravagant corner which was probably the showrooms so this was the entrance for the customers. This 1895 map (where Black Prince Road is 'Broad Street') shows that the pottery used to occupy buildings to the north and south as well; only this block remains.
Isn't Victorian pride and confidence amazing? Barlow had joined the company only 7 years, Tinworth only 11 years, before this building was erected. Yet Doulton was self-assured enough to include not just his own portrait but theirs as well at the entrance to the building. Most modern companies occupy anonymous buildings with branding that can be rapidly removed and replaced, and certainly does not identify any of the individuals involved.
The sculpture is in the tympanum above the entrance door. See French Protestant Church - Soho Square for another lovely tympanum.
2024: We came across an architectural drawing by "R. Stark Wilkinson" captioned "Messrs. Doulton & Co.'s Factory on The Albert Embankment, Lambeth. Messrs. Waring and Nicholson, and Mr J. Stark Wilkinson Architects." From The Builder, 1879. However, though the style of the building in the drawing matches that of the building on the street, we cannot reconcile it as being the same building. Perhaps this was an early, rejected, design.
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