Martin brothers spoon warmer

The firm of Martin Brother was founded by Robert Wallace Martin in 1873 and are famed for some of the most imaginative and unusual designs in the history of ceramics. As child, Wallace had a short-lived education and felt a compulsion to earn is way and to improve his status in life. In his youth he was surrounded by a city steeped in the gothic revival architecture of George Gilbert Scott, A.W.N. Pugin and their circle which no doubt influenced his precocious talent as a draughtsman, as well as an interest in architecture and sculpture. This skill was nurtured by a family friend, the stonemason and sculptor, John Birnie Philip and took him from office boy to artist. A happy meeting of art and industry brought Wallace to work for stonemasons and sculptor and eventually he enlisted in the Lambeth School of Art, whose alumni included workers from the local industries including architects and potteries. Form this crucible of creativity and practical manufacturing know-how emerged several figures who would become leading ceramicists. Wallace was sculptor who absorbed the influences around him but also craved independence of thought, work and style so it is almost inevitable that he would found a business in which he would be joined by his siblings who would bring their own particular talents. In 1877 having moved from Fulham to the suburb of Southall the brothers founded a works which produced wares which showed the influences of history, portraiture, nature but most famously the fantastical whimsy of characterful bird jars and grotesque monsters.