1930s and 40s Melrose Ware and Hoffman Brick & Tile ceramics

Melrose Ware pottery was produced by the Hoffman Brick and Tile Company, which was founded in 1862 in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. The company was originally a brick and tile manufacturer, but it began producing pottery in the 1930s during the Great Depression.

Melrose Ware pottery was strongly influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, which emphasized the value of traditional craftsmanship and the beauty of handcrafted objects. This movement was characterized by a departure from mass production and a return to skilled artisanal work.

They produced a range of pottery items, including vases, jugs, bowls, and tiles and more... the pottery was known for its distinctive blue and green glazes and its Australiana motifs, which often featured gum leaves, gum nuts, and other native flora and fauna. The pottery was crafted using various techniques, including hand-painting, sgraffito (a technique where designs are incised into the clay surface), and slip trailing (applying liquid clay to create raised designs). These items were sought after for their artistic value and unique aesthetic. The pottery was popular with both Australian and international buyers, and it helped to keep the Hoffman Brick and Tile Company afloat during the Depression.

Melrose Ware pottery was produced from 1931 to 1942. After World War II, the Hoffman Brick and Tile Company shifted its focus back to brick and tile production, and the pottery was discontinued. less...

About 1932 the Hoffman Brick Company in Melbourne expanded its interests and took over a small art-pottery and began to market a range of commercial art-pottery that employed Australian floral and faunal motifs.

This ware was called ‘Mel-rose Australian Ware' and although moulded and thus capable of being economically mass-produced it had some of the qualities of more expensive handmade pottery. Usually coloured green, a fresh clean colour that enjoyed a lasting vogue in the 1930s after the drab browns and ochres of the Depression, some examples exist which have white, pink, grey blue or other more... coloured glazes. Gum leaves are the usual motif employed on Mel-rose Australian Ware. Possums, kangaroos, koalas and fish are some of the animals employed as decorative motifs on bowls jugs, vases and bookends.

Mel-rose Australian Ware continued in production until about 1940, when the escalation of war efforts and privation made the production of goods impossible. less...