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 Miles to create drawings in the Kate Greenaway style for their tiles.
Helen Jane Arundel Miles was born in London in 1840 (d.1919). Her father was Commander Alfred Miles R.N. and an amateur artist and her mother was poet Sibella Elizabeth Miles. She displayed a talent for art in childhood and at the age of 16 entered South Kensington School before going to Lambeth School of Art. She was a working book, magazine and newspaper illustrator who contributed designs to Doulton Art Pottery before doing work for Wedgwood in the 1870s.
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 majolica Helen Miles pitcher Wedgwood transferware Bottom tile c. 1878
Helen Miles Wedgwood tiled planter Midsummer Night's Dream series Wedgwood transferware Moth plate
Wedgwood transferware Moth tile c. 1878
Helen Miles was a rarity in Victorian England. She was a professional woman whose work was widely exhibited. She created post cards and greeting cards, illuminated Bibles, storybooks and coloring books for children working frequently with author Sybella Crowley-Boevey. 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 Sunday Reading for the Young
Maid Marjory, illustrated by Helen Miles Drawing from The Old Old Story, illustrations by Helen Miles 1866
Drawing from The Old Old Story, illustrations by Helen Miles 1866
Isabel Clare from the book The Quiver, Vol. 1, 1864-65 illustration by Helen Miles
A eMusical Party from the book Leisure Hour, 1866, illustration by Helen Miles
Solomon the Wise Man from Sunday Magazine 1868, illustration by Helen Miles
Pilgrim to the Great Exhibition of 1851, watercolor by Helen Miles, 1854
She also did anatomical illustrations and portraits 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
Helen J. Miles, watercolor portrait of Frances Jane Miles, the wife of her brother Frederick
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 vase using the Helen Miles December design
Wedgwood Helen Miles teapot using the March design
Months tiles on stove
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.
Reproductions
The Helen Miles Months series is currently being reproduced both in full color and in blue and white. The easiest way to tell the reproductions from the antique tiles is by the reverse. The antique tiles are thick and heavy and have a ridged surface on the reverse. They often have remnants of plaster or glue on the reverse because these are usually salvaged from old construction. The modern tiles are thin and smooth on the reverse. For more on modern reproduction tiles see
this post.Reproduction May tile
Antique January tile
Reproduction May tile
