William Ruscoe
Born 20 June 1904
Died 11 September 1990
Active: 1926 - 1975
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, potter, teacher
Born at Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Son of William Ruscoe, potter. After studying art at Stoke-on-Trent under Gordon M. Forsyth he worked as an assistant at Burslem School of Art (1938-42), serving as instructor in the practical side of pottery at the Royal College of Art (1939-40). He then became master-in-charge at Stoke School of Art (1942-44). He married Olga Stanley Harris and the couple moved to Devon, where Ruscoe took up a post as lecturer in the College of Art, Exeter, until his retirement. He is remembered for his rolled clay figures and inventive glazes. Stoke City Art Gallery holds a number of these figures that were produced at Burslem. Ruscoe's work is also represented in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.
Exhibitions of Ruscoe's work include: Exhibition of Figurines, New York, 1937; Exhibition of Drawings, Paintings, Sculpture and Craft Work by members of the Exeter School of Art Staff, at the the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Exeter, 27 June–29 July 1950; Ceramics (one-man show) at the Civic Centre, Plymouth, 1964; Stafford Art Gallery and Museum: Paintings and Ceramics (one-man show), 1966; 'William Ruscoe' (a retrospective marking his retirement from the College of Art), at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery, Exeter, 16 April–17 May 1969. Between the late 1940s and mid-1970s Ruscoe published several books on pottery technique, including 'Sculpture for the Potter', Academy Editions, London, 1975.
The biographical details given in this account of Ruscoe's life and work, including the list of exhibitions, are based on information compiled by John Adamson for the website about his father, the illustrator and cartoonist, George Worsley Adamson http://georgewadamson.com/ and from Haggar (1947). There are photographs of Ruscoe's work and of him teaching at: http://www.thepotteries.org/people/ruscoe_william.htm (both sites accessed on 21 June 2013).
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
The Blue Madonna
1934 (Presumed)
Nativity
1934 (Presumed)
A Bench in the Park
1934 (Presumed)
The Offenders
1934 (Presumed)
The Wooing
1934 (Presumed)
Pottery figures
1936 (Presumed)
Mother and Child
1938 (Presumed)
The Mermaid
1940 (Presumed)
Mother and Child
1940 (Presumed)
Eve
1943 (Presumed)
Niad
1943 (Presumed)
Zebra
1943 (Presumed)
Madonna
1944 (Presumed)
Laughing Babe
1944 (Presumed)
Head of a Child
1944 (Presumed)
Locations
Address 111 Buckmaster Avenue Newcastle | View on map
1934 (Presumed)
Address The Ness Birchy Barton Hill Exeter | View on map
1946 (Presumed)
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at Exhibition 20 by the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, 1946
'Zebra'
Exhibited at Society of Staffordshire Artists. First Annual Exhibition (The Museum, Pall Mall, Hanley), 1934
'A Bench in the Park'
Exhibited at Society of Staffordshire Artists. Third Annual Exhibition (The Museum, Pall Mall, Hanley), 1936
Multiple works
Exhibited at Society of Staffordshire Artists. Second Annual Exhibition (The Museum, Pall Mall, Hanley), 1935
7 November 1935 - 7 December 1935
Exhibited five pottery figures: 'The Conjurer', 'Mary Mary', 'The Pup', 'Shore Leave', 'Mask' and 'Gee gee', p. 7 (119-122, 124); and a pottery plaque 'Mask', p. 7 (123).
Exhibited at Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1938
October 1938 - November 1938
In addition to 'Mother and Child', Ruscoe exhibited 6 stoneware vessels two pots and a pottery dish, p. 7 (164-73).
Exhibited at Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1940
February 1940
Exhibited two sculptures and seven vessels and vases, p. 6 (86-89, 92-94).
Exhibited at Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1941
April 1941 - May 1941
Exhibited fourteen stoneware and porcelain vessels, vases and pots, p. 6 (86-100).
Exhibited at Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1942
March 1942
Exhibited six pieces of stoneware and porcelain: 'Head of Mrs O. Ruscoe', 'Mother and Child', 'Bull', 'Antelope', four 'Pots', seven 'Bowls' and an 'Ash Tray', pp. 6-7 (112-27).
Exhibited at Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1943
March 1943
Exhibited three figures (listed separately in this database); five stoneware pots, p. 10 (165-69); five porcelain pots, p. 10 (171-75); and an earthenware bowl, p. 10 (176).
Exhibited at Tenth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1944
March 1944
Exhibited three sculptures (listed separately in this database), five stoneware pots, p. 10 (129-33), and a porcelain dish and bowl, p. 10 (134-35).
Selection committee member of Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists (City of Stoke on Trent Museums and Art Gallery, Hanley), 1942
March 1942
Institutional and Business Connections
Honorary treasurer of Society of Staffordshire Artists
1940 (Presumed) - 1944 (Presumed)
From 1943 listed as 'Treasurer'.
Member of Society of Staffordshire Artists
1942 (Presumed)
Member of selection committee.
Studied at Burslem School of Art
1926 (Probable)
See Haggar (1947), unpaged.
Teacher of modeling at Burslem School of Art
1938 (Presumed) - 1939 (Presumed)
Listed as tutor of modelling, design and glazing and firing at Burslem School of Art, and as teacher of modelling design in the Junior Art Department of the school [see 'Schools of Art Prospectus' (1938-39), p. 5].
Sources
A Century of Art Education in the Potteries. With notes on the Artists, 1953 Local Studies
1953 (Circa)
p. 48.
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2011
RG14PN16556 RG78PN1023 RD361 SD2 ED8 SN159
City of Stoke-on-Trent Schools of Art Prospectus, 1938-1939
12 September 1938
p. 5.
Eighth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1942
March 1942
p. 1 and p. 6.
Fifth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1938
October 1938
p. 7.
Ninth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1943
March 1943
p. 1 and p. 10.
Seventh Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1941
April 1941
p. 1 and p. 6.
Sixth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1940
February 1940
p. 1 and p. 6.
Society of Staffordshire Artists. First Annual Exhibition, 27 October 1934
27 October 1934
p. 6.
Society of Staffordshire Artists. Second Annual Exhibition, 1935
7 November 1935
p. 7.
Society of Staffordshire Artists. Third Annual Exhibition, 1936
2 December 1936
p. 7.
Tenth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Staffordshire Artists, 1944
March 1944
p. 1 and p. 10.
Citing this record
'William Ruscoe', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib4_1219311989, accessed 04 Jun 2023]
