Ceramic Atists

The Martin Brothers'

Ceramic Artists

Although always appreciated, the grotesque, humorous, characterful or even just bizarre stoneware birds of the ceramic artists continue to attract high prices at auction and highlight the experimental British art pottery movement at the end of the nineteenth century.

The Martin Brothers' early work shows both the influence of other local potteries including Doulton and C J C Bailey - with whom Robert Wallace Martin had connections - and also the wider influence of Japanese art and design seen from reproductions in journals and books.





The Doulton studio pottery department bears closest comparison, with the work of Hannah and Florence Barlow, Mark V Marshall and George 'Mouseman' Tinworth all sharing characteristics that probably inspired and were in turn inspired by the Martin brothers.

Ceramic Artists

As well as being influenced by the Far East, designers in Britain in the late nineteenth century were fascinated by natural history   and the grotesque seen both in Darwin's Theories of Natural Selection and John Tenniel's Jabberwocky illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass published in 1871.




Wise old owl




The Martin Brothers' production of sculptural figures developed from their stoneware clock-cases and wall brackets of the 1870s.







These figures often masquerade as griffins or eagles and, as on the Nettle fold clock, are both functional and provide support for the coat of arms.



The earliest birds are dated 1879 and a series of simple birds were produced in the early 1880s.







These were quickly refined as the brothers became more proficient in potting and firing. In 1882, in an article for The Magazine of Art, the birds were complimented for their 'knowing character' in holding 'the weed of wisdom' and, ever since, they have been classed as tobacco jars.

Ceramic Artists

This is technically incorrect as they are not air tight, the major prerequisite of a tobacco jar. In the absence of any other apparent use, this belief has remained and you might see them sold as such.






The birds have an individual and often semi-human characteristic that is a strong determinant of value at auction.




With this character added, the birds are unlike any definitive species of bird, and this is some¬times accentuated with balding head feathers found on a series of 'monk' birds.










 This would develop into discernable wigs of judges and barristers birds. Often, the same creature was modelled in a differing pose or certain characteristics were passed on to their other creations.

Ceramic Artists

A record sale

The brothers produced a series of birds based on owls, including a large punch bowl dated 1893 that holds the auction record for a Martin Brothers bird (£47,300 in 1985), and a series of free-standing birds in the early 1900s.







By the 1890s, the brothers were able to produce larger birds (over one foot high) with finely carved detailing and more complicated postures including forward-looking open beaks and outstretched wings.





The finest birds appear to date from the 1893-1895 period and, in 1896, they produced character birds of politicians Gladstone and Disraeli that were purchased from the brothers by the Rt. Hon. Sir Edward Clarke Q.C.





Although these were undoubtedly the high point of production, the brothers continued to produce a variety of birds and also developed groups of two and three birds mounted on a communal base.

Ceramic Artists

Between 1901 and 1906, Robert Wallace Martin produced a grotesque fountain that he hoped to exhibit at the Royal Academy.







It took up most of his productive energy and, although fired in 1906, was probably never truly finished.




The creative period for the brothers really ended with the outbreak of World War I but, by this stage, a large and variable legacy had been left to a growing band of collectors.

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