BIOGRAPHY
PAGE 2
When Keith Murray joined Wedgwood he was asked to assist with the design of a dinner service which Tom Wedgwood had already begun. Specifically, he was to help with the design of some vegetable tureens. The shape of this dinner service was named 'Annular'. These days many people make the mistake of assuming that it was Murray himself who designed the Annular ware. Understandable, when you see the similarity of other pieces that Murray did design. That said, the tureens Murray helped design to complement the set were modelled and put into production later in 1932.
Murray, who was now working for Wedgwood for three months per year, designed many new designs which included tableware, vases, bowls and jugs etc. The then works manager, Norman Wilson, had been developing many new glazes which Murray was to use on his designs. Keith Murrays wares were first shown with these new glazes at the British Art in Relation to the Home Exhibition in London in 1933. At the Exhibition of New Wedgood Shapes held at John Lewis' in Oxford Street London, 124 of Murray's designs were on show. Included with the production wares were also a number of unique hand made art wares.
The shows were a success and combined with the glassware that he was designing for the Stevens & Williams company, Murray quickly became one of Europe's pioneering designers of international importance. Many major exhibitions were now showing his work including Milan 1933, London 1935 and Paris 1937. At the Royal Academy exhibition in 1935 Wedgwood took more orders than any other trade stand.
Although best known for his simple, unadorned shapes, Keith Murray's designs for Wedgwood went on to include surface patterns. These patterns included: Lotus, Weeping Willow (also called Green Tree), Iris, Pink Flower and Pink & Red Pimpernel. Some of these were applied to bone china and others to earthenware. Also, two border designs, Radio and Lotus were used for the same wares.
In 1946, Murray was asked to produce a brand new table service for Wedgwood. This was named the Commonwealth service and was used as a basic body shape that could carry a variety of Wedgwood patterns or remain attractive as an undecorated tableware.
Perhaps Murray's biggest commission for Wedgwood was for the design of the new factory at Barlaston. Murray and his partner, Charles White, designed the factory and production workshops, while an independent architect, Louis de Soissons, designed a model village and the general layout of the estate.
Work began on the new building in 1938 with the first section being completed in 1940, one year into the second world war. Sadly, due to the restrictions imposed during the war, important changes had to be made which would alter the look of Wedgwoods new building. Murray's original plans were for a modernist white facade, for the building. These had to be replaced with ordinary red brick.
Keith Murray retired from Wedgwood in 1948 so that he could now go back into working as an architect. He had set up an architectural practice during the 1940's with his partners, 'Ramsay & White (and later Ward' and with the war now over and and architects in demand, Murray's business was becoming increasingly busy. The practice specialised in commercial and industrial buildings as well as airports, one of which being the Hong Kong airport which was designed in the 1950's.
Keith Murray retired from the practice in 1967 and died in May 1981 aged 89.
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