Homemaker

Enid Sneeney, the ceramic designer of the infamous Homemaker range (plate shown above) has died at 79. She was one of the first women to be trained at the Spode Copeland design studio before joining Ridgeway, where she designed the Homemaker range. Its launch saw it deemed as too avant garde for the market (typical Britain!) and it did not go into production. She left Stoke-on-Trent to be married soon after and it was only when she saw the range in her local Woolworths in Plymouth that she realised it had finally been a success. It remained in production until 1970. Alas, it remains the highlight of her career, as, after she married she sought work in menial jobs in her new south west home. A sad tale. The range is still as popular as ever with it being highly sought after in the collectables and vintage markets – so let's hope her name will live on. Read the full Guardian obit here.