Muriel Lanchester
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28 October 1901
Puppeteer
Muriel Lanchester | |
|---|---|
 Muriel Lanchester, from a 1939 newspaper article | |
| Born | Gertrude Muriel Bell 28 October 1901 Whalley Range, Manchester, England |
| Died | 11 October 1992 (aged 90) Malvern, Worcestershire, England |
| Other names | Gertrude M Lanchester |
| Occupations | Ceramicist Puppeteer |
| Spouse | Waldo Lanchester |
| Relatives | Elsa Lanchester, (Sister-in-Law) Edith Lanchester (Mother-in-Law) |
Muriel Lanchester (28 October 1902 - 11 October 1992) was a British ceramicist and co-founder of the puppet theatre company, the Lanchester Marionettes. Lanchester and her husband, Waldo were the first British people to appear on French television, as part of the World's Fair in Paris in 1937.[1] George Bernard Shaw’s final play, Shakes versus Shav, was written for the Lanchester Marionettes in 1949.[2]
Gertrude Muriel Bell was born to parents Thomas Pool Bell (1845-1920) and Gertrude Ann, née Reston (1872-1958). By 1911 she had moved to Cheshire and by 1921 she was living in Colwyn Bay. She moved to Malvern in 1932 to establish a ceramics studio. In 1934 she met puppeteer Waldo Lanchester (1897-1978) while he was looking for a site to set up his puppet theatre for the Malvern Festival. They married in London in July 1935 and lived at Foley House, Malvern[3] until 1951 when they moved to Stratford-upon-Avon. After retiring in 1969 they moved to Wilmcote.[4] After Waldo died she returned to Malvern and lived at the Davenham Retirement Home until her death.[5]
Ceramicist
Lanchester became interested in pottery after visiting an exhibition in Canada in 1927. Upon her return to England, she attended the Royal College of Art in Kensington, subsequently becoming a “star pupil”[6] of the “father of British studio pottery”,[7] Bernard Leach, working at Leach Pottery from 1930 to 1931.[8] While there she taught Leach's son, David, how to throw pots.[9] In 1932, she established St. Anne's Pottery at St. Ann's Well, Malvern,[10] making utility stoneware articles.[11] The pottery was in a converted 600-year-old stable that had once housed a kiln used by monks in the 15th century.[12][13] She lectured at the Malvern School of Art and took on occasional apprentices,[14] including May Davis (1914-1995).[15]
In 1935 she exhibited her wares at the Red Rose Guild of Artworkers’ exhibition in Manchester, which, at the time, ranked of “first importance in the minds of all craft workers”.[16] By 1940 she was using one of the large rooms in Foley House, the home she shared with Waldo, as a pottery studio and shop.[17]
