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Below,
two common pottery
marks from Hoffman
wares. Many more marks
are documented in The
Potteries of Brunswick
by Gregory Hill (ISBN
0 9577065 2 9).
There
is an active community
campaign to conserve
for public use the
former Hoffman
Brickworks site.
Click
here to go to
the campaign Web site.
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At
the end of the
nineteenth century,
there were more than a
half-dozen potteries
operating in the
Melbourne inner suburb
of Brunswick. The
Hoffman Brick, Tile
and Pottery
Company
(1862-1990), was the
largest of these—the
largest in Victoria,
in fact. It
occupied more than 70
acres, with a private
rail system and as
many as 20 kilns whose
tall stacks poured
smoke day and night. A
few decades later,
about the only
conspicuous sign of
the former existence
of the Brunswick
potteries was the
large number of deep
holes—the old clay
pits—ready to serve
as rubbish tips for
the new age of
disposable containers.
Click
here to see an
aerial view of the
major Brunswick
potteries taken around
1920.
The
Hoffman works were
started for the
purpose of brickmaking,
but by 1900 were
producing a large
range of architectural
and garden ornaments
as well as Bristol
ware crocks,
cannisters, bottles
and jars for
commercial and
domestic use. The
production of domestic
wares was finally
phased out in 1960.
Around 1930 Hoffman
introduced the
colourful and
commercially
successful line of
decorative pottery
called ‘Mel-rose
Australian Ware ’.
This development
followed Hoffman’s
discovery of a new
source of high-quality
clay in Gippsland (southeastern
Victoria). Early
pieces were
wheel-thrown, but as
the newer practice of
slip-casting (pouring
a runny clay mixture
into a plaster mould,
then drying, removing,
decorating and firing
the piece) was
mastered, the firm’s
capacity to meet the
growing demand for
Australian plant and
animal decor was
greatly increased.
These wares were sold
by leading department
stores like Myer and
Mutual.
The
distinctive Mel-rose
glaze combinations are
said to have been the
intellectual property
of Francis
Manallack, an
expert in all facets
of pottery-manufacture
but especially
glaze-making. He spent
many years in the
employ of Cornwell’s
pottery (also in
Brunswick), worked for
a time as a chemist
for the Melbourne
Glassworks, and taught
classes at the
Brunswick Technical
school. He contributed
his glazing expertise
not only to the
Mel-rose line, but
also to McHugh
Brothers art
ware, leaving his mark
several times over in
the history of
Australian pottery.
The
history of the Hoffman
pottery works has been
thoroughly documented
in The Potteries of
Brunswick by
Gregory Hill (ISBN 0
9577065 2 9).
One
of the interesting
details highlighted by
the book is the number
of artist potters who
came to Hoffman for
knowledge and
experience. Merric
Boyd, sometimes
described as the
father of art pottery
in Australia, had his
pots fired in Hoffman
kilns in the early
1930s after he burned
out his own. He is
also thought to have
modelled some
decorations for use in
the Mel-rose line.
Allan Lowe, William
Ricketts, John Barnard
Knight and Klytie Pate
are other studio
pottery artists who
were associated with
Hoffman’s at one
time or another.
David Dee, one of the
founding partners of Premier
Potteries in 1929
(makers of the Remued
artwares), had
previously earned a
reputation as an
expert thrower at the
Hoffman works.
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