The Martin brothers are considered “the most inventive and idiosyncratic potters” of their day as well as “the first dedicated studio potters in post-industrial England.”[i] For close to fifty years, their London-based business produced a variety of objects from organic gourd-shaped vases to wares featuring grotesque anthropomorphic figures.[ii] Typically each work was skillfully made of salt-glazed stoneware and “expertly decorated” in a soft-color palette of greens, browns, grays, and blues. [iii] For inspiration, the Martins looked to various sources. However, there are, without a doubt, clear connections to Japanese art, the natural world, and Medieval and Renaissance Europe. Another common thread among their distinctive body of work is the Martins’ “dark sense of humor and wit,” which is especially present in their menagerie of eccentric sculptural pottery.[iv]
Formation of the Pottery
Martin Brothers pottery was established in 1873 by the oldest sibling Robert Wallace (1843-1923).[v] He would soon be joined by three of his brothers, Charles (1846-1910), Walter (1857-1912), and Edwin (1860-1915).[vi] Each would have their own role in this new enterprise. Robert Wallace was the main sculptor and modeler who was known for his peculiarities and imagination. As far as he was concerned, the rules did not apply to him.[vii] Charles was the business manager and ran the Martin Brother’s shop.[viii] He “[judged] public taste” and dictated “what would sell and not sell.”[ix] Walter was the chemist and the specialist on the wheel. He oversaw the clay mixes, the firings, and the creation of the larger pots in their oeuvre. And lastly, there was the youngest brother Edwin who was the most flexible member of the group. He threw smaller pots on the wheel, was responsible for much of the surface decoration, and also signed most of the pottery.
Robert Wallace was the motivating force behind the formation of Martin Brothers pottery, but earlier in his life he seemed more destined to become an independent artist. As a teenager he worked with the sculptor John Birnie Philip who specialized in Gothic architectural components. This experience was perhaps impactful stylistically, but ultimately, Robert Wallace would turn down the offer of an apprenticeship with the artist. Instead, he was briefly employed by the stonemason and carver William Field, who was working on the Houses of Parliament, and he would eventually land a position with the Pre-Raphaelite sculptor Alexander Munro.[x] Also, during these early years, Robert Wallace took drawing classes at Lambeth School of Art and temporarily worked at Doulton Pottery.[xi] By the late 1860s he had his own studio where he specialized in making terracotta sculpture. It appears, however, that while he engaged in many artistic endeavors, none lasted exceedingly long. In the meantime, two of his brothers, Walter and Edwin, had begun their own careers in art. Both attended classes at Lambeth School of Art and found work at Doulton Pottery. This seems to be what gave Robert Wallace the idea of forming a pottery that utilized each of his brother’s skills.[xii]
The first pottery was set up in Fulham, but after four years the brothers moved to another area of London called Southall.[xiii] A “disused soap-works” with “rural surroundings ” proved to be the perfect site.[xiv] Situated on the canal, it allowed for easy access to the heart of London as well as close proximity to a clay source.[xv] The kiln at Southall was only fired about two times a year due to persistent financial constraints. Nonetheless, a variety of wares were produced here including their popular tobacco jars known as Wally Birds, their expressive face jugs, and a variety of eye-catching vessels decorated with sea creatures or flowers.[xvi] Interestingly, the Martins also created a series that they called marred pots. These were distorted forms or mistakes that occurred while working on the wheel. Instead of throwing these vessels out, the brothers went ahead and fired them. Frequently they were inscribed with a quote from the Book of Jeremiah that says, “And the vessel made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter.”[xvii] During the 1890s Martinware, as it was often called, experienced a surge in popularity. However, during their lifetime, the brothers “never got more than laborer’s wages.”[xviii] Martin Brothers pottery would remain at the Southall site until its closure.
Kamm Collection
In the Kamm Collection there is a rare Martin Brothers grotesque figural teapot made in 1896. Beginning in the 1870s the pottery had begun producing grotesques. These works, which displayed Robert Wallace’s carving and modeling skills, could resemble wild mythic beasts or Gothic gargoyles. This example is no different. At first glance, this scaly looking creature appears to be crouched down on all four legs ready to pounce. However, after closer examination, the intimidation dissipates. The beast’s kind eyes and smiling mouth change the response. Robert Wallace shaped the figure’s raised head and open mouth into the teapot’s spout, a looping tail is the handle, and a round lid is located on the top of its back. The vessel, which is made of salt-glazed stoneware, is a rich brown with tan sections peeking through the surface. Dark linear marks cover the creature adding texture and emphasis.
Grotesques have been utilized throughout the history of art. The earliest examples can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, but there were resurgences in Medieval Europe, the Renaissance, the Baroque period, and finally, the Victorian era.[xix] Essentially, grotesques were a “comically distorted motif with mixed human, animal, or plant elements” that could “[elicit] a dual response, [of] both amusement and discomfort.”[xx] It is believed that the interest in these forms ultimately came from Robert Wallace’s early exposure to Gothic inspired architecture or maybe from his experiences in Munro’s studio.
In truth a combination of sources might have ignited the Martin brother’s ingenuity. In literature, the work of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll could have been influential. Lear published his whimsical limericks in A Book of Nonsense in 1846 which was followed by three new volumes in the 1870s. Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland came out in 1865, which was trailed by Through the Looking Glass in 1871. Connections can certainly be drawn between these imaginative works and the Martin brother’s “silly menagerie” of monstrous creatures.[xxi] Another important book to mention is Thomas Wright’s A History of Caricature and Grotesque (1865).[xxii] Wright, in his text, says that artists of the Middle Ages gave their grotesques “a vulgar, mirthful ugliness, which makes you laugh instead of shudder.”[xxiii] Did these descriptions inspire Robert Wallace? Some scholars believe that “several [of Wright’s illustrations] have a striking resemblance to Robert Wallace’s grotesques.”[xxiv] Furthermore, associations have been made with the cartoonist Ernest Griset. He created animals with human-like qualities that would often “wryly [comment] on the debate over evolution.”[xxv] The Martin brother’s work was directly compared to Griest’s imagery in the publication Art Journal in 1883. The writer stated that “[Robert Wallace’s] birds and reptiles are modeled in clay in much of the same spirit.”[xxvi]
There were also some major developments in science that should be considered. The Martin brothers’ grotesques were created following the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and The Descent of Man (1871). Robert Wallace, a devout fundamentalist Christian, might not have believed that evolution was possible, but the concept was out there and being discussed. And lastly, the 1881 opening of the Natural History Museum in London cannot be overlooked. The museum’s extensive galleries were filled with a multitude of species, “both real and speculative” that certainly might have left an impression.[xxvii]
In the end, what truly inspired the Martin brother’s creativity can remain a mystery. Their grotesque figural works, like the example in the Kamm Collection, delight and capture your imagination. The writer William Cosmo Monkhouse probably best described their pottery. In 1882 he wrote in the Magazine of Art, “There is something so whimsically human in these fancies, they are so impossible and absurd yet so funny and attractive that they remind us of nothing so much as the good old nursery rhymes. They are nonsense indeed, but good nonsense, which is even more difficult to carve than to write…We have a hundred young sculptors who will model you a Venus or an Adonis as soon as look at you; but who save Mr. Martin could give you a Boojum or a Snark in the round?”[xxviii]
Further Reading/Viewing:
Clark, Garth. The Artful Teapot. London: Thames & Hudson, 2001.
Haslam, Malcolm. The Martin Brothers Potters. London, England: Richard Dennis, 1978.
Rose, Peter. “The Grotesque Ceramic Sculpture of Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923).” The Journal of the Decorative Arts Society 1890-1940. no. 3. 1979. pp. 40-54.
Notes: