Gordon Mitchell Forsyth (1879–1952) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

ceramic designer and fine artist and art education innovator.

Biography

Born in

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...

, he attended the Gray's School of Art, in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

. Moving in 1903 to

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

, he became art director of the tileworks Minton Hollins & Co, where he began a career which "spanned over forty years and left an indelible mark on the ceramic industry of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

.". In 1906 he moved to take the same position at Pilkington's Tile & Pottery Company near

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He returned to Pilkington's after service in the First World War. However, in 1920 he became Superintendent of Art Instruction in Stoke-on-Trent, a role which involved responsibility for several art schools. Forsyth was the tutor of a number of notable students at the

Burslem School of Art Burslem School of Art was an art school in the centre of the town of Burslem in the Potteries district of England. Students from the school played an important role in the local pottery industry. Pottery was made on the site of the school from th ...

including

Susie Cooper Susan Vera Cooper OBE (29 October 1902 – 28 July 1995) was a prolific English ceramic designer working in the Stoke-on-Trent pottery industries from the 1920s to the 1980s. Life and work Born in Burslem, Staffordshire, she was the youngest of ...

, Glyn Colledge, Clarice Cliff,

Charlotte Rhead Charlotte Rhead (19 October 1885 in Burslem – 6 November 1947) was an English ceramics designer active in the 1920s and the 1930s in the Potteries area of Staffordshire. Charlotte Rhead was born into an artistic family. Her father Fred ...

, Arthur Berry, and Mabel Leigh. At that time, Forsyth was described as a "pottery designer, educator and writer...and one of the main spokespersons on industrial pottery design." And the pivotal role he played in British ceramic design has inspired some to call him "the magus of the mid-twentieth century pottery industry."

Stained glass

Forsyth is best known for his work in ceramics, particularly

lustreware Lustreware or lusterware (respectively the spellings for British English and American English) is a type of pottery or porcelain with a Metal, metallic glaze that gives the effect of iridescence. It is produced by metallic Oxide, oxides in an Cer ...

. However, he did work in other media, notably

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

: he designed stained glass windows for St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church in Burslem in the late 1920s. Forsyth's daughter Moira (1905–91), who also worked on the decoration of the church, had a successful career as a glass designer.Sussex parish churches, re Moira & Gordon Forsyth

Published works

* Gordon Mitchell Forsyth,

Joseph William Mellor Joseph William Mellor (1868–1938) was an English chemist and an authority on ceramics who grew up in New Zealand. Early life Joseph William Mellor was born in Lindley, Huddersfield, England, in 1869. He moved to New Zealand with his family i ...

& H. J. Plant, ''Introduction to Sympsium on Art,'' Stoke-on-Trent: Webberley, 1921 * Gordon Mitchell Forsyth, ''Art in the Pottery Industry,'' no date * Gordon Mitchell Forsyth, ''The Art and Craft of the Potter,'' London: Chapman & Hall, 1934 * Gordon Mitchell Forsyth, M. P. Bisson, F. Jefferson Graham, W. Hartley, ''Pottery, Clay Modelling, and Plaster Casting,'' Sir I. Pitman & Sons Ltd. (in two volumes), 1935 * Gordon Mitchell Forsyth, ''20th Century Ceramics: an International Survey of the Best Work Produced by Modern Craftsmen, Artists and Manufacturers,'' The Studio Ltd, 1936

External links

''Stoke-on-Trent Museums: Gordon Forsyth''
*
''Examples of Gordon Forsyth's works at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery''

''Examples of Gordon Forsyth's works at the Victoria & Albert Museum''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forsyth, Gordon Scottish ceramicists Scottish designers Alumni of Gray's School of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art People from Fraserburgh Scottish stained glass artists and manufacturers 1952 deaths 1879 births Catholic decorative artists

Biography

Stained glass

Published works

See also

External links

References