Art Nouveau and Liberty Pewter
By David Langridge

Short lived it may have been, but there is no doubt that the art form known as Art Nouveau swept across from the continent in a grand manner. The vibrant curling, twisting swirling designs were taken up by many other areas but in particular they were responsible for giving a new lease of life to the dying pewter industry. The height of popularity was reached about 1900 and Liberty's of London were highly impressed by WMF of Germany, the largest producer at that time. WMF’s designs relied heavily on the female figure and folds of clothing, also J.P.Kayser and Son, mark "Kayserzinn" whose designer was Hugo Leven. Other top quality marks to look for are "Orivit", of Hubert Schmitz, "Osiris", of Walter Scherf, "Orion", "Urania" and "Solkets", the last being a mark used by Haseler.

Germany was the largest producer of pewter around 1900 and exported large quantities around the world. Scandinavia also produced high quality pewterware, the foremost designers being Georg Jensen and Just Andersen. Liberty's started to import the products from the continent and followed this in 1903 by marketing their own "Tudric" range of pewter, which, although remaining faithful to Art Nouveau, differed quite considerablly in style from that which they had been importing. This range of pewter was beautifully made for Liberty's by the Birmingham firm of W.H.Haseler, having been designed for the most part by Rex Silver and Archibald Knox.

The fact that an item is by Liberty and marked "Tudric", however, is no guarantee that it is by either of these two gifted and sought after designers. Research has to be undertaken to make a definite attribution. Their designs included those for tea sets, mirrors, boxes and clocks and vases. Liberty's continued to make pewter until 1938. All Liberty pewterware is highly collectable but the most sought after pieces are the earlier ones. These can be identified by the figure zero followed by no more than three others. During the period of Art Nouveau the quality of metal and workmanship generally was very high, probably as high as it had ever been It is a relatively new field for the pewter collector but previous devotee collectors of the Art Nouveau styles have made sure that the legacy which has been left to us is highly prized and much sought after.

Photograph shows some pieces by Liberty's. From left to right: Back row: Barrel mug, biscuit barrel, truncated cone mug. Centre row: Bachelor teapot, napkin ring, beaker. Front row: Sugar bowl, candlestick, creamer.