William Harper - A Short Biography

William Harper, A short Biography

Picture right - William Harper presents David with a Cockatoo figure. One of his many designs.

William Harper only worked for Wade for a period of nine years, from 1953 until 1962 but during that relatively short period he produced some of the most sort after pieces to ever come out of the Stoke on Trent factories.

Joining Wade in 1953 was perfect timing for the Iris Carryer project of the new Whimsies. It was Bill who modelled all of the first ten sets, fifty figures in all which were to lift Wade out of the post war recession and put them on the road to success for the next thirty years or so.

In 1946 Bill left the Royal Air Force where he had served during the war years and returned home to Newcastle under Lyme where he was accepted as a full time student at the Burslem School of Art on a three year course.  He took as his main subject oil painting with pottery as a secondary subject.

From the Burslem Art School, Bill became a teacher at Thisley Hough Girls School in Penhull where he stayed for one year.  He then deciding that he would like to try his hand at designing and modelling pottery figures and it was at George Wade and Son in Burslem that he was taken on in 1953.

Over the next nine years Bill’s output at Wade was prolific. Many of the most sort after Wade collectables today came from his inspired modelling during this period.  A list of some of his most interesting pieces appears at the end of this article.

William Harper also worked later for W.H. Bossons of Congleton, producers of wall ornaments of a very fine quality in plaster.  After that he ‘settled down’ with Royal Doulton for the next twenty-nine years and designed around 450 pieces until he decided to retire in 2000 at the age of seventy-seven.

The great contribution of William Harper to ceramics and the collectors market is incalculable, and as you run your eyes down the list of the pieces he modelled over the past fifty years, it reads like a wish list for collectors.  Many are now works of art and way out of the reach of most collectors.

Picture above (William Harper with his very exclusive Wade Collection)

I feel privileged to have known Bill and in the past I often visited him at his home where we had many interesting conversations.  He would reminise over his past working in the potteries telling us stories of how he would develop a new piece at his home studio, then presenting it to various potteries, Wade being one of them, only to be disappointed when it never made it to the production stage. 

Bill also wrote to me a number of letters over the years and was always enthusiastic and helpful with my questions.  He was a unique, rather shy and introspective man but very generous, who made an outstanding contribution to British pottery history, and I feel lucky to have a selection of his exquisite little works of art in my varied collection.

It is a shame that video recordings were not so easy during that time but we did make some old cassette style recordings of our visits. A real piece of history. 

Here are some of the pieces Bill designed

10 Sets of whimsies (50 models in total)

Hat Box Series – (Disney animals 26 in total)

Blow Up Disney figures (10 in all)

Drum Box Series (5 produced, animal band)

Noddy Series (4 in all)

TV Pets (10 in series)

Minikins (12 different)

Elephant Train (5 pieces)

Noddy Money Box with Big Ears 

Lizard Ash Tray

Flying Birds (wall ornaments)

Exotic Fish (wall ornaments)

Yatch models

Jumbo Jim

Pink Elephants

Dustbin Cat (novelty figures)

Piano Cat

Bernie & Poo

Jonah and the Whale

Animal Families (rabbits)

Motor Cycle on Tray

Pogo Figures

Airline Pilot (BA)

Irish Song Figures (11 in all)

Irish Leprechauns

Fairy Candle Holder

Sea Horses

Some of the items that were never produced but designed by Bill Harper 

Chamois - Baby Cham

Girl on a Scooter

Flook and Boy

Chaucer Figures from Canterbury Tales

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A Christmas greeting from 'Bill'

One of many received over the years. ​