James Broadhurst & Sons

Fenton

1897 

1984

Kathie Winkle began her pottery career at Shorter and Son, Stoke-on-Trent, where she was trained as a paintress. 

She joined James Broadhurst & Sons Ltd., Portland Pottery, Fenton around 1950, initially as a paintress, but by 1958 she was producing her own designs. She soon became responsible for all Broadhurst’s pattern designs from then until the mid 1970s. The removal of post-war restrictions on the designers created a demand for new styles of kitchenware and Broadhursts were able to use Kathie Winkle’s ideas to meet this new market.

All designs from the late 1950s were printed on the ware by semi-automatic rubber stamping machines. The designs comprised two parts - an outline in black created by the stamping process with bright colours then hand painted in the spaces before the wares were glazed. The new geometric patterns were a clear departure from the more usual floral motifs found on tablewares.

During her time as a designer Kathie Winkle produced over 100 patterns. The shapes of the ware did not change. Simple forms proved a more suitable background for frequent pattern changes. It was also much cheaper to change the surface pattern rather than the shape of the pot and so a standard shape range was used. In addition, only a small number of colours, usually three or less, were used on each piece to reduce the cost of production. The fewer the strokes of a paintress’s pencil (brush), the better.

During the 1950s and 1960s it was particularly fashionable to create a co-ordinated interior design. Ceramics, textiles and wallpaper often matched. For a short period there were some boxed sets of ‘Kathie Winkle’ designs on pottery, complete with matching table linen.

However, as machine decorating techniques began to take over from hand painting in the mid 1970s, Kathie Winkle stopped designing and her patterns were slowly being phased out, although older designs continued in production. In 1978 she became a quality control manageress within the company. She retired in 1992.

Her name appears on the backstamp from 1964 and became the registered trademark for Broadhursts’ wares. It was also used from then on any pre-Winkle designs which were re-issued. This backstamp was used until around 1978 when she changed role within the company.

Stoke-on-Trent museums