Lot 61: William Staite Murray (British, 1881-1962) Bowl,

William Staite Murray (British, 1881-1962) Bowl, Yeoman Pottery, abstract Vorticist design, circa 1915-1919 incised 'YEOMAN W.S.M.' (to the base) 14.5cm diameter, 5cm high. Provenance: The Margot Coatts Collection; A. W. Coysh Collection. Illustrated: Malcolm Haslam, William Staite Murray, Crafts Council, 1984, p.74, illustration 2. These two bowls are rare examples of William Staite Murray's early work at the Yeoman Pottery, and he noted at a later date that 'experiments of that time in abstract painting and abstract sculpture interested me', which can clearly be seen in these works. Alongside the Vorticist artist Cuthbert Fraser Hamilton, Murray set up the Yeoman Pottery in 1915 and it would continue until just after the end of the war in 1919. The work produced by these artist-potters at the pottery shows how closely they were associated with the artistic avant-garde of the period. The slightly more muted colours of Lot 61, and its heavily abstract figural composition shows an assimmulation to the Vorticist movement, and possibly the influence of David Bomberg's work of this period. Lot 62, stronger in colour and conforming more to cubist elements perhaps shows influences of the work of artists such as Edward Wadsworth.