Agnete Hoy - Work

Work

In 1939, Agnete and her mother left Denmark on holiday to visit her brothers who had returned to England a few years earlier to work. With the onset of war, they were unexpectedly exiled in England and Agnete went to Liverpool to be near her younger brother, Eric, who was working in the food canning industry. Unable to find suitable employment there, she decided to join her other brother Svend, who lived and worked in the heart of the pottery manufacturing area of Stoke-on-Trent and look for a pottery based job there. She gained a job with Bullers Ltd. in Milton as head of the studio. This factory produced porcelain insulators for the electricity industry and had historically run a small design studio. Agnete set about consolidating and expanding this unique industrial studio and began by producing ideas for ‘oven to tableware’, something that was virtually unheard of at that time.

Many of her pots were experimental in nature and with no specific brief or restraint on her ideas, some one-off ceramics were produced, as well as designs for mass production. It was Bullers' intention to sell these wares to Heals in London and so when there were enough prototypes ready, Agnete herself went to see the Heals buyers. They liked the pots but immediately asked her to produce a range of porcelain animal models in similar colours, explaining that there was a market for such items in the USA.

As the confidence of the directors at Bullers increased she was allowed to choose assistants for the studio. The first one to arrive on the recommendation of Gordon Forsyth in 1943 was James Rushton, 15 years old, who was employed in the first place to be modeller and caster. Later they were joined by Elsie Forrester and Hilda Hind, both described as decorators. The team grew to 10 and included Harold Thomas whom Agnete considered to be the best ‘thrower’ in Stoke-on-Trent. As soon as the workers had ‘proved’ their ability, she encouraged them to develop their own styles. Over the years Agnete invited influential studio potters such as Bernard Leach and his son, Michael and Rosemary Wren to visit. The input of visitors added to the general artistic and intellectual atmosphere within the studio.

In 1952, Agnete returned to London to be with her husband Harry Bohrer where she took a job with the Royal Doulton Lambeth Studio. The Lambeth Studio had been in existence for over 80 years, though output had been minimal since the advent of WW2. In the aftermath of the 1951 Festival of Britain, managers at Doulton's had decided to revive the production of decorative wares, and under Hoy's direction, the studio would be run along similar lines to Bullers, although little of the work was ever mass-produced, except for the Coronation pieces outlined below. Indeed, many of Hoy's pots were probably unique, a throwback to the earliest days of the Lambeth studio (i.e. the early 1870s) where again, virtually all the output was on a one-off basis, largely produced at the artist's whims. Agnete brought her own style to Lambeth, principally by developing a cream stoneware base and glossy translucent glazes that resembled earthenware more than stoneware. Her decorative techniques varied from painted flower, bird and fruit motifs, to more geometrically decorated pieces, with incised or (rarely) slip-trailed designs. Pieces produced in this period either have her full signature to the base or her monogram in the form of conjoined initials AH. That said, there are plenty of pieces from this period which are clearly by her, but for some reason are unsigned. Her chief assistant at Lambeth was Helen Walters (later Helen Swain).

In 1953, Agnete was asked to produce a range of decorative ware to commemorate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Among the items she produced were a 3-handled loving cup and a tankard, produced in editions of 100 and 500 respectively. Perhaps one of her best known pieces from this period is the cat, Pushkin, which was modelled after her own cat – Alexander Pushkin. Only 12 models were made, each with subtly differing decoration.

By 1956, Doulton had made the decision to consolidate their business in Stoke-on-Trent and closed the Lambeth Studio, which caused Agnete to set up a workshop in her home in Acton. She bought a reasonable size electric kiln and acquired an industrial wheel, similar to the kind she had used at Bullers and Doulton.

Teaching at art colleges in and around London meant that she could use their firing facilities as well as her own. During the late 1950s Agnete, along with many fellow potters, was actively involved in the establishment of the Craftsmen's Potters Association (CPA). It was here and at many other prestigious exhibitions and venues around Britain that her work was shown.