Large Art Deco Wedgwood Mug by Keith Murray, c. 1935

A large, faceted mug by one of Britain’s most influential Art Deco designers, Keith Murray for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. This is a rarer design in a soft champagne colour with a very fine crackle glaze. The base is signed Keith Murray with the Wedgwood mark both printed and impressed. Another example can be seen in the V&A (item no. O346848, accession date 1935).

The mug is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks. There is a small area of minor discolouration on the inside base.

Keith Murray (5 July 1892 – 1981) was one of the most influential designers of glass, ceramics and metal ware in inter-war Britain. Born in New Zealand-born, he moved to England aged 14 and trained and worked as an architect until lack of commissions in the lean years of the late 1920s forced him to consider an alternative career. Influenced by modern Swedish glass, he worked for Stevens and Williams as a freelance designer from 1932 until the outbreak of war. In 1932, Murray was invited to visit the Wedgwood pottery, which had been experiencing a slump. Murray’s elegant, minimalist designs and experimental glazes appealed to a new generation and he went on to design for Wedgwood throughout the 1930s and 40s.