Voysey’s tile design for J.C. Edwards, Ruabon

A paper exploring C F A Voysey's working relationship with the Welsh brick and tile manufacturer J C Edwards of Ruabon. A ‘Demon’ teapot stand based on a well-known wallpaper design by Voysey was made by J C Edwards in the late c.19 and is well-known in tile collecting circles. However, it was unknown if the design had been plagiarised by the company (the design was reproduced in the influential The Studio magazine) or if it had been commissioned from Voysey. During research for this paper three previously unrecorded Voysey tile designs for Edwards were discovered, all fully attributable to Voysey based as they were on fully documented wallpaper and textile designs. Voysey was apt to sell the same design to manufacturers working in other media, for example, it is not uncommon to find a design for wallpaper later sold as a furnishing fabric. It was therefore almost certain that Voysey had been commissioned by J C Edwards to provide them with a variety of tile designs shortly before he gained an exclusive tile design contract with the Manchester based Pilkington’s Tiles. The dated textile designs that form the basis of the tile designs provide a specific time frame in relation to his activities as a nascent ceramic designer. The paper also seeks to place Voysey in context with William de Morgan and Lewis F Day, the leading tile designers of the day.