Denise Wren

Denise Wren (née Tuckfield; 7 January 1891 – 1979) was an Australian-born British studio potter and craftsperson. Wren was one of the first female studio potters in Britain. She studied and taught with the Kingston School of Art, Knox Guild and Camberwell College of Arts. Wren and her family subsequently set up the Oxshott Pottery and wrote on the subjects of ceramics, textiles and making.

Biography Denise Tuckfield was born in Lake View, Albany, Western Australia on 7 January 1891. Her family, including her sister Winnifred and two brothers, moved to East Molesey, Surrey, England in 1900. In 1915, Denise Tuckfield married Henry Wren (d. 1947). Their daughter, Rosemary Wren (b. 1922) also worked in ceramics. Wren moved to Hittisleigh, Devon in 1978 and died there in 1979.

Ceramic art career

Kingston School of Art and the Knox Guild From 1907 to 1912 Tuckfield attended Kingston School of Art where she studied under Archibald Knox. Here, she learned to throw pots on the wheel from Mr. Mercer, an employee at the local Norbiton Potteries and Brickworks. He also fired her ceramics in his kiln,

In 1912, following criticism of his teaching methods, Archibald Knox quit Kingston School of Art. Together with other students from their design class, sisters Denise and Winifred Broun-Morrison joined Knox in protest to co-found the Knox Guild of Design and Craft.

The Oxshott Pottery at Potter's Croft After her marriage to Henry Wren in 1915, the couple built their own house to Denise Wren's design: Potter's Croft, a workspace and home at Oxshott in Surrey. Here, they set up the Oxshott Pottery which produced brightly glazed functional earthenware products such as bowls, dishes and vases which they sold at agricultural and horticultural shows during the interwar period. They taught a summer school and wrote books on pottery. Wren also taught evening classes at Teddington School of Art. Wren pioneered designs for small scale kilns, which she sold by mail order to aspiring amateur potters, both in the UK and abroad. The pottery moved to Hittisleigh, Devon in 1978, a year before Wren's death. Wren also used commercially produced glazes, though often in an experimental way.

Textile designs From the late 1930s, Denise Wren began to design textiles to compensate for dwindling sales of pottery at Oxshott. Under the name of the Knox Guild, she took a stand at the British Industries Fair in 1937. This enabled her to make contact with some Manchester based textile printers like Grafton's, Simpson and Godlee, Tootals and Whitworth and Mitchell. Wren also became a member of the National Register of Industrial Art Designers. Wren, Denise; Wren, Henry (1930). Handcraft pottery, for workshop and school. London: s.n. Wren, Denise; Wren, Henry (1932). Pottery, the finger-built methodes. London: s.n. Wren, Denise; Wren, Rosemary (1952). Pottery making; making pots and building and firing small kilns. London: Pitman.

Solo exhibitions

Denise Wren: Hope for Beauty (2017-2018) Kingston Museum

Group exhibitions With the Knox Guild:

[Titles Unknown] (1914, 1919-1935) Kingston Museum Art Gallery, with live pottery demonstrations

Other exhibitions:

More British Potters (1972) Kettle's Yard, Cambridge. Organised by Henry Rothschild and Primavera.