Octagonal bowl with mother-of-pearl lustre exterior, orange lustre interior with butterflies c.1914-1920
Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881-1945) is best known for her Fairyland Lustre wares, lavishly-decorated pieces which depicted fantastical scenes of her own imagination.
Daisy grew up in a middle-class family and was art trained. She was introduced to Major Cecil Wedgwood (1863-1916), director of the Wedgwood factory and became an apprentice painter, but soon earned a salaried staff position.
In 1914, she developed a new style by combining the techniques of underglaze mottling, overglaze graining, and iridescence together with fanciful designs outlined in gilt.
This octagonal bowl on display concluded the First Ten Lustre Ranges. In this range, Daisy used the ‘Butterfly’ pattern on a mother-of-pearl lustre exterior and an interior of orange lustre with mottled underglaze crimson. The Butterfly range was produced from 1914 to 1929.
The end of the 1920s saw a stylistic change towards the monotone and plain as well as the beginnings of economic depression. The taste for Lustre, both Ordinary and Fairyland, faded and Daisy’s career ended in 1931, and the Lustre Ranges’ production was ultimately cancelled in 1941.
