Porcelain figurine by Anne Harriet Fish (Sefton) - FISH - at the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

Figurine by FISH (Anne Harriet Fish [Sefton]), English/American, 1920s

(See her drawings: Introduction and 1, 2, 3)

I mentioned on the first FISH page that her drawings were cutesy; I find this figurine and the three others I've seen I find over-the-top-cutesy. The drawings have an edge lacking in the porcelain that I've seen, including this one.

Don **** kindly sent me the photo and e-mail below (September 2000), which I repeat from the first FISH page:

Hi, Harry:

I am a collector of Fulper art pottery, made in Flemington, NJ from 1909 to about 1935. I am in the midst of writing one book on Fulper, and have ideas for a second.

Around the time of the First World War porcelain doll heads were no longer available from Germany, and so Fulper, among others, made some. This was a new clay body for them; the regular line of pottery was made from stoneware clay.

After the war, the market for the Fulper heads dried up, but Fulper still had the know-how for porcelain production. So, they introduced a line of ceramic novelties made from porcelain which don't even vaguely resemble their art ware line.

Among others, they hired Anne Harriet Fish (Sefton) to do some design work for them. As you can see from the attached photos, if you like her drawings, you will like her figurals [I disagree!]. I would estimate that these items were produced around 1921-1925. They sell in the low hundreds of dollar now.

I think that's about all I know on this subject.

Don

He later sent some biographical information:

Anne Harriet Fish (Sefton)

Anna Harriet Sefton

was born in Bristol, England

1880-1942

1890-1964

She worked in oil, watercolor and was an illustrator who was active in London, Sussex and St. Ives, Cornwall. She married Walter Sefton in 1918. She did illustrations for Vanity Fair and later Vogue around 1920. She did the cover for Vanity Fair in April, 1917.

As you can see sources don't agree on her first name, nor her birth and death dates (I believe the latter pair look more reasonable). If you find out anything more about her, would you let me know of your discovery, please. Send to donh@localnet.com

See her drawings: Introduction and 1, 2, 3

See drawings by the father of modern American medical illustration, Max Brödel, of Johns Hopkins.

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