an original wife of bath by rye pottery for canterbury cathedral designed by gordon davies ( 1926 - 2007 ) and made in the early 1970's.
height ... 190mm
in the 1970's canterbury cathedral approached sculptor and painter gordon davies to work with rye pottery to produce a souvenir that would depict a character from chaucers canterbury tales. the result was the hand made and hand coloured wife of bath which was intended to be a one off piece for the cathedral gift shop. the original design for the wife of bath was only hand painted in cobalt blue and white. in the early1980's , her colours were changed to a medievel palette of blue, terracotta, brown and green when the range was expanded to include other characters from the tales.
gordon davies (1926- 2007) Painter, muralist, worker in many other media, designer and teacher, born in London. After Army sevice in World War II Davies studied at Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, 1948, and Royal College of Art, 1950–3. Taught drawing part-time at Canterbury College of Art. In 1962 assisted his friend John Ward with murals at Challock Church, Kent, and went on to complete others for Braxted Park, Essex, the Chateau Segonne in Bordeaux, the Chandos Memorial Chapel, Whitchurch, and elsewhere. Work regularly appeared at RA Summer Exhibition from early 1950s. Had solo shows at Wye College, 1967, Waterhouse Gallery, 1973, from 1977 at King Street Gallery and in 1993 at Sally Hunter Fine Art. Had a retrospective at Royal Museum and Art Gallery, Canterbury, in 1990. ( biography courtesy of artuk )
