Wedgwood’s Month Plates and the Work of Helen Miles

In the late Victorian period one of the most prolific English contemporary illustrators was artist Kate Greenaway. Her naive drawings of children and young women in an early, bucolic, idealized England proved to be a popular inspiration for artists throughout the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s. 

Kate Greenaway Sports Day

The Wedgwood pottery clearly believed there to be a market for work appealing to this audience. Their majolica line of Kate Greenaway ceramics in dessert sets, wall pockets, cane stands and tableware proved to be clever, colorful, beautiful and very profitable.

Wedgwood Kate Greenaway majolica jardiniere

Wedgwood majolica Kate Greenaway plate

Wedgwood majolica Kate Greenaway umbrella stand

Wedgwood majolica Kate Greenaway platter

In the late 1870's Wedgwood hired illustrator Helen Jane Arundel Miles, born 1840 (fl.1860-93) to create drawings in the Kate Greenaway style for their tiles. Helen Miles created a good number of series for Wedgwood. These included among them images for a series based on characters from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her series in the Kate Greenaway style was called Old English. These images were also used on plates. Here are some images from the Shakespeare series:

Wedgwood trasferware Peasblossom tile c. 1878

Wedgwood transferware Bottom tile c. 1878

Wedgwood transferware Moth plate

Wedgwood transferware Moth tile c. 1878

Helen Miles was a rarity in Victorian England. Educated in South Kensington she was a professional woman, an illustrator whose work was widely exhibited. She created post cards and greeting cards, illuminated Bibles, storybooks and coloring books for children. Her work appeared in periodicals such as Once A Week, a magazine showcase for contemporary artists. Her work had a charming simplicity that lent itself to a variety of media including print and pottery.

Helen Miles illustrated storybook

She also did anatomical illustrations which show her talent for rendering.

The Farnese Hercules, Pen and ink drawing, 

by H.J. Arundel Miles, 1862

The Farnese Hercules, Pen and ink drawing, 

by H.J. Arundel Miles, 1862

The series Old English, or Months as it was sometimes called, was created for tiles, but like the Shakespeare pattern it was soon adapted to plates as well. The plates used established transferware border designs for their base and shapes like Wedgwood majolica's open border Key pattern as the canvas for her drawings. The tile illustrations were sometimes surrounded by the Bellflower pattern with a one inch border making for an   8" tile or superimposed in the round central area of the majolica plates with their original square border intact. Some designs were monochromatic but many were hand colored. Most tiles were made in the 6” size.

Wedgwood Helen Miles January tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles January plate 

withWedgwood’s Mekado border

Wedgwood Helen Miles January majolica plate 

with Wedgwood’s Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles February tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles February majolica plate

with Wedgwood’s Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles March tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles March majolica plate 

with Wedgwood’s Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles March flow blue plate

 with Wedgwood’s Ferrera border

Wedgwood Helen Miles April majolica plate

with Wedgwood’s Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles April tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles May tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles May majolica plate

with Wedgwood’s Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles May plate with 

Wedgwood’s Florentine border

Wedgwood Helen Miles June tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles 8" June tile with Bellflower border

Wedgwood flow blue June plate 

with Wedgwood’s Ferrera border

Wedgwood Helen Miles July tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles July plate

 with Wedgwood’s Florentine border

Wedgwood Helen Miles August tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles 8" August tile with Bellflower border

Wedgwood Helen Miles majolica August plate

Wedgwood Helen Miles September tile, 6"

Wedgwood majolica Helen Miles September plate

with Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles October tile, 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles October majolica plate

with Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles November tile, 6"

Wedgwood majolica Helen Miles November plate

with Wedgwood's Key border

Wedgwood Helen Miles December tile. 6"

Wedgwood Helen Miles December 8" tile with Bellflower border

Wedgwood Helen Miles December plate 

with Mekado border

There are also hollowware pieces that have the same designs. These usually have different months on the opposite side.

Wedgwood Helen Miles transferware vase 

with Mekado border

Wedgwood Helen Miles transferware slop pot 

with Mekado border

Wedgwood Helen Miles transferware August compote 

with Mekado border

Wedgwood transferware Helen Miles decorated vases

 with Mekado border and gold trim

Wedgwood Helen Miles teapot

Both the Midsummer Night's Dream tiles and the Months tiles and plates are rare. The majolica plates of Months are particularly difficult to find. Helen Miles' work in other media is also difficult to track down because much of her work is not signed or attributed. Unlike Kate Greenaway there is no established market today for Miles' work. Prices for her things are variable. 

For many years Helen Miles’ work was attributed to Kate Greenaway herself or to Wedgwood artist Thomas Allen. Not until recently has she received some of the credit she deserves, but unless an established appreciation develops for her work she is just another female artist whose unsung talent is relegated to anonymity.