Fellows Auctioneers Ltd

Charles and Nell Vyse were studio potters, renowned for their highly collectable colourful figures and experimentation with Chinese glazes.

Generations of Charles’ family were employed in Staffordshire’s pottery industry. At fourteen, Charles was apprenticed to Doulton as a modeller and designer. During his training, Henry Doulton recognised his talents and soon after Charles was admitted to the Hanley Art School. He subsequently won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art.

Nell, born Sarah W.B Edwards, had agitated for the Suffragette cause during her teenage years and was an active Communist. A trained singer, fluent in French and German and a specialist in ceramic chemistry, her expertise was comparatively wide-ranging.

Vyse Ceramic Production

Charles and Nell married in 1911. They subsequently established a pottery studio at Cheyne Walk in Chelsea in 1919. Here, they produced figurines of vendors typically seen on London streets, coveted by both a roster of celebrated actors and musicians. Owing to the popularity of the figurines, the Vyse’s were able to expand their business and employ a number of staff to assist production.

The Vyse’s neighbour, George Eumorfopoulos, was a noted collector of Chinese Sung pottery, as well as Korean and Persian pieces. Charles and Nell's careful study of these works inspired them to create similar pieces, for a contemporary, Western market.

Nell’s linguistic skills meant that she could decipher 19th-century labelling on imported Chinese ceramics, allowing Charles to reproduce several Chinese glazes. The Vyses are acclaimed for their revival of chün and tenmoku glazes, and their works were sold at Walker’s Gallery on New Bond Street.

After Cheyne Walk

The destruction of Cheyne Walk studio during the Blitz coincided with the ending of Charles and Nell’s relationship.

Charles began teaching at Farnham School of Art. After the war, he resumed production of character figurines, assisted by student Barbara Waller. Annual Exhibitions of his works at Walker’s Gallery continued from 1950, up until Charles’ 1963 retirement.

Nell devoted herself to her political career and was a Communist Party candidate for St Michael’s Ward in Southwark in 1960. She was a veteran campaigner for housing tenants and advocated for pensioners.

Like many women artists in proximity to male, artistic production, Nell’s accomplishments are undeniably shadowed by critical attention to her husband’s. A full account of the extent of her contributions to the Vyse partnership and diverse talents is yet to be published.