Ashworth Art Pottery 1909-1914, Lustrosa & Estrellla ranges

Ashworth Art Pottery 1909-1914

Lustrosa & Estrellla ranges  

Ashworth art pottery was only produced for a very short period between 1909 and the start of WW1 in 1914. Glaze experiments supposedly took a year before production began and based on the output I have seen, those experiments continued until production stopped. Information is very scarce as are the items themselves. We do know that Ashworth was part of Ashworth G L & Bros Ltd the makers of Masons Ironstone. We do know that involved in the production was an Austrian chemist Dr L Basch and the owners son a keen chemical potter John V Goddard. We do know there is a connection to Reginald Wells/Coldrum pottery in Chelsea based on some dated items I have seen that say " 1910 Ashworth made for Coldrum". The ranges did get exhibited and are reported to have been well received. Lustrosa ware was described as Kaleidoscopic with quaint shapes and Estrella ware was described as having an " infinite variety of colour effects, some of the pieces bear a striking resemblance to the much prized Chinese vases in rouge flambe, sang de boeuf and peach bloom" by the Pottery Gazette. How you tell the difference I am not sure though as all the examples I have seen just say Ashworth (although I know marked items exist).

Everything else is up in the air. We don't really know if was ever seriously sold or produced outside of exhibitions "several items were reportedly sold at the International exhibition in Brussels 1910 and Turin 1911". We don't know how many people were involved in making it other than the two recorded. It is of course pretty scarce so it could have been simply those two people. Quality is up with the best of that era and current prices hover around similar producers like Ashby guild, Pilkington and the lower end Ruskin. Further information would be very welcome if anyone has it as this thread will double what is available to read online outside of old auctions.

A group I bought in Mallams Oxford May 2014, the blue bowl is a Coldrum example. All have new homes now.

First of two almost identical large fat vases I have bought. They stand 27cm  and 25 cm tall I assume that one shrunk in the kilm.





The second smaller vase (25cm)

The following images I don't own. If anyone wants to claim copyright we will of course delete. I thought it important to show a couple from old auctions that give a larger insight into the range in particular the base of a Ashworth Coldrum vase (first two images are from Mallams 2014, the Coldrum Ebay 2014)