John Walsh Walsh Floral
Products
Reviewer's Comments
From Eric,
Many thanks for the copy of your February Newsletter. Imagine my reaction when I first set eyes on U-330. It is always a bit risky making an attribution from a photograph and without seeing the item, but I think there is a near certainty that this piece is Walsh.
Following on from the recent emails between Norma and myself I have now extracted from my files, copies of my tracings from the original Registered Designs held in our National Archives at Kew, London.
These designs were frequently schematic and final manufactured products would sometimes vary in configuration and detail but the basic design was always kept accurate.
I had some difficulty scanning these documents in to my computer whilst obtaining a clear image. That is the reason the files are so large. I hope this has not caused any problems for you. The RD images are being sent under 2 separate emails.
I have extracted the Pottery Gazette reports from my photocopies of the originals. The print on the originals is so small it would not scan with degree of clarity. If you so wish I will photocopy the full page photocopies I have and send them to you by "snail mail".
If you have the U-330 Fairy Lamp in your possession or have access to it, look very carefully within the leaves to see if you can find RD 155744 or RD 172125. Walsh were very clever at concealing these numbers but the majority (not all) of registered pieces were marked with the RD number. If you have successfully run my DVD, look at the chapter on Palm Trees. This is a good example of the marking RD100004
This particular design was based on the popular Victorian rose called Gloire de Dijon. These rose is still available from some of our specialist Garden Retailers. I bought one small bush but not having green fingers I'm afraid it didn't survive more than a couple of years.
I think it is highly probable that Walsh used this particular style of rose flower holder in other non-registered designs but I have always found it difficult to prove. Your Fairy Lamp is the first clearly identifiable piece of its kind to appear and may well be used as a future benchmark.
I am still in the process of examining the various other images sent to me by Norma and hope to give my considered opinion with the next few days.