Ada Louise Powell, née Lessore (14 April 1865 – 30 September 1956), was a British designer. Her illustrious family included her grandfather Émile Lessore, a free hand designer for

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...

, and her sister Thérèse Lessore. Her father, Jules Lessore, also decorated pottery but was primarily a marine painter, he had exhibitions at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

and

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

. Powell studied calligraphy at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. "She became highly skilled and well known, illuminating some of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

’ incomplete work, and extending her interests to decorative designs and the painting of furniture for Ernest Grimson". Ada's artistic interests were therefore very much encouraged by her family and she had many roots to the pottery company Wedgwood. Moreover, her sister, Thérèse Lessore, was a painter and founder member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

and then also designed for Wedgwood in the 1920s and her brother Frederick was a portrait sculptor who opened the

Beaux Arts Gallery Beaux Arts Gallery was a gallery at 1 Bruton Place, London, England. It was known as a preeminent center for promoting avant-garde art until its closure in 1965. Founded and operated by portrait sculptor Frederick Lessore in 1923, the gallery wa ...

. She married

Alfred Hoare Powell Alfred Hoare Powell (1865–1960) was an English Arts and Crafts architect, and designer and painter of pottery. Career Alfred Powell was born in Reading, Berkshire, on 14 April 1865, the son of Thomas Edward Powell by Emma Corrie. He wa ...

on Thursday, 6 September 1906 who then became her artistic partner within her career also.

Career

After her marriage to Powell the couple pursued a career with

together after setting up their studio in 1907 at 20 Red Lion Square in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Wedgwood sought to offer a new product range which, after its success, lead to the couple receiving money towards a studio to work, two assistants in London and a studio in the Wedgwood factory. Their brief was to developed the art wares within the company. Their progressive style was sought by the company to mass-produce works which coincided with the arts and crafts movement. Some of their work was jointly signed however a lot of her work was individual as she preferred calligraphic and heraldic motifs. The couple were well known in the field of the arts and exhibited in many events such as: Arts and Crafts Exhibition at

Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry' ...

, 1906; Hampstead Exhibition, 1914; Decorative Arts of Great Britain and Ireland Exhibition at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, 1914; the

Paris Exhibition Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 1925 as well as yearly in their studio. Powell suggested the reintroduction of classic eighteenth century designs into a new Wedgwood collection hosted in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, which led to a lot of external approval and proved to be a commercial success, with the ''Staffordshire Sentinel'' commenting on their 'fresh style of decorated pottery'. The patterns included; 'Vine', 'Oak Leaf', and 'Crimped Ribbon and Wreath' and were sold to famous retailers such as Dunbar Hay and

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

. Most of her designs were hand painted and a lot of her patterns were derived from nature in a

calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...

fashion. Some of her designs were extremely complex and required modification by the art director at the time but were critically acclaimed by many.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Ada Louise People from Southwick, West Sussex 1865 births 1956 deaths English calligraphers Women calligraphers Wedgwood pottery