Vintage CARLTON WARE Green Floral Vegetable Strainer Bowl & Serving Plate

Size: Bottom Plate: Approx 9" x 7.75" Top Plate: Approx 8.5" x 7.25"

Carlton Ware concentrated on the decorative giftware end of the domestic pottery market throughout most of its career. Its earliest works included typical decals and hand-painted tableware in a range of mostly floral patterns as well as items inspired by Wedgwood and other respected potters. During the early 1900s, they became a supplier of "crested ware" for the tourist market.

During the 1920s the company introduced new methods of production where the decal and hand-painting work was applied to high-glaze substrates. Amongst the first of these were a series of designs inspired by the artwork discovered in Tutankhamun's tomb, which can be fairly said to represent the beginning of the Art Deco pottery movement. Other popular designs included stylized dragons, birds, and a series of Oriental-inspired patterns of which New Mikado and Chinoiserie were the most popular. Mottled, mostly pale blue lustre-ware was also sold under the separate "Armand" brand. The famous script "Carlton Ware" trademark was introduced in 1928. At the more mundane end of the market, Carlton Ware introduced the first "Oven to Table" ware in 1929.

During the late 1930s, Carlton Ware introduced a new series of table-ware, with boldly embossed floral and foliage patterns such as fox-glove and anemone. This series continued in unbroken production into the 1960s, although later designs were progressively simplified to reduce the high cost of hand-painting.

The availably of new techniques using automated high-temperature kilns allowed improved high-luster tableware in the "Royale" brand to be introduced in 1949, and this continued to be produced into the early 1970s.

By the 1970s, the need to pass on increasing fuel and labor costs seriously affected Carlton Ware's ability to continue producing elaborate hand-painted items, and changing tastes dictated the introduction of more modern shapes and patterns. The company then concentrated on novelty items such as "Walking Ware" designed by potter Roger Michell and advertising ware, especially aimed at the liquor trade, until its demise.