Pauline Coyle
John Clappison was born on 27 June 1937 in a room above the family butcher’s shop on Anlaby Road, (the shop was demolished when the Great Thornton Estate was built). He was an only child and he remembers playing with other children in the area during the Blitz. At 13 he attended Hull High School for Arts and Crafts (now the Avenues Adult Education Centre). This was built in 1888 and designed by John Bilson, a prominent local architect, in the Flemish Renaissance style. John started school there on 26 April 1950. His family had moved to Hornsea when he was twelve so attending school involved a long journey.
He travelled along the old Hull to Hornsea railway line to the Botanic Gardens station. There were some rules at the Art School. "When I decided to adopt a rather Bohemian style of dress and went to school in shorts, yellow socks and brothel-creepers, the headmaster noticed. After looking me up and down he said, ‘Don’t come to school in these again Clappison.’ I may have gone a little too far that time.'”
At the end of his three years at the Art School, John was one of three students who were recommended for places at the Hull Regional College of Art and Design in Anlaby Road, Hull (not far from his father’s old shop). John’s Pottery tutor there was George Shepherd. George lived in Park Avenue and John remembered visiting him there; “George was a very talented potter and a wonderful friend, his help was invaluable to me in later years.” Whilst he was a student at the College, John designed pieces for Hornsea Pottery including Studio Slipware, Bon-bon dishes and the Honeymoon and Elegance ranges. Elegance was very popular and is
still admired by today’s collectors as an outstanding illustration of 1950s styling (see image above). Hornsea Pottery sponsored John’s year at the Royal College of Art in London, specialising in Industrial Design and Ceramics. After gaining the Faculty of Design Certificate in Ceramics, John was appointed as Hornsea Pottery’s Chief Designer in 1958. A studio was specially built on the Pottery site and when this was fully instituted, John refined and originated a whole range of designs for tableware, novelties and gift wares that would take the company to the vanguard of British Design. Although John worked for the Pottery until 1987, he did have a break from ceramics during the 1970s when he worked as a designer for Ravenhead glass. Whilst there he produced many popular glass designs such as the Barmasters ranges of glasses and Whitefire, Olympiad and Topaz. Many of the pieces John designed for Hornsea Pottery have won expert acclaim, especially his Home Décor range, which has been likened to some of the most advanced work in Studio Ceramics. Several innovative items of tableware and decorative pieces were produced, reflecting contemporary designs. The 1950s hand-decorated Slipware, 1960s Studio vases, and the 1970s Muramics and are still enthusiastically collected. When John finally left Hornsea he took up a post as Chief Shape Designer for Royal Doulton. Whilst there he designed many tableware ranges, nine of which went into full production. After retirement, John started to plan and produce his own ceramics which have an enthusiastic following amongst enlightened collectors. Many experts in design and ceramics such as Andrew Casey and Wayne Hemingway have praised the work John produced during his time at Hornsea Pottery and his designs are often cited as the epitome of post-war industrial ceramic design.
Pauline lives in the Avenues. She produced Hornsea Pottery's newsletter for many years, and has written John’s official biography “Gone to Pot, the Life and Work of John Clappison”, published in 2007. http://www.hornsea-pottery.co.uk
