WILLIAM DE MORGAN (1839-1917) CHARGER, CIRCA 1890

lustre-glazed earthenware, on a J.H. Davis blank, impressed J.H. DAVIS (Dimensions: 30cm diameter) (30cm diameter) Provenance: From the collection of Arthur Halcrow Verstage Footnote: Note: The impressed mark J.H. Davis on this piece was the mark used by the potter John Heath Davis (active 1875–91) of Hanley, Staffordshire. De Morgan frequently purchased blanks from commercial potteries in Staffordshire to decorate and fire himself. Arthur Halcrow Verstage (1875-1969) was an architect who spent much of his career in the public sector. He was a student at the Royal Academy School of Architecture in the 1900s and was elected as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1902. By 1903 he was a student and assistant at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (later known as the Central School of Art and Design) in London where William Lethaby was principal and a great influence on him. He then oversaw the design of the new school in Southampton Row from 1905-8. From here he became an architect for London County Council and was involved with many London societies, and as a founding member of the Kelmscott Fellowship, a forerunner to The William Morris Society. His large and varied collection was a reflection of his wide interest in the arts. His archive was purchased by The William Morris Society in 2005.