Edward Lycett (1833 – 1910) was a British Ceramicist. He was born in Newcastle under Lyme. He was professionally active in New York.
Biography
He was apprenticed at an early age to Copeland and Garrett, Stoke-on-Trent, under Thomas Battam. In 1852, he worked in the London decorating shop of Thomas Battam, where he painted copies of Greek bases in the British Museum.
In 1861, he settled in New York and opened a decorating workshop on Greene Street, where about 40 people eventually worked. At first, he painted earthenware vases produced by Williamsburg Terra Cotta, Long Island, and painted imported blank Sevres and Haviland china. Known for his raised goldwork and rich over- and underglaze dark blue, he was adept at rendering realistic images of fish, birds, fruits, and vegetables.
In 1865, commissioned by John Vogt, he painted the monogrammed china service (of another designer) of Abraham Lincoln. His firm produced painted washbasins and porcelain panels incorporated into furniture.
Architect Richard Morris Hunt commissioned Lycett to decorate large enameled-iron panels for the 1871—73 Van Rensselaer Building in New York.
In the late 1860s, Lycett added classrooms to his workshop, offering women’s pottery-painting lessons. Lycett left his son William in charge of the workshop while he taught china painting at the Saint Louis School of Design in 1877 and Cincinnati. The studio at this time was called Warrin and Lycett.
In 1879, with John Bennett, he set up a china-painting workshop at 4 Great Jones Street. The partnership was dissolved in 1882.
1884—90, Lycett was artistic director at the Faience Manufacturing Co, Brooklyn, experimenting with fine-grade white porcelain and producing iridescent metallic glazes on Persian lusterware.
In 1890, he retired to Atlanta, Georgia, to assist his son William, who had set up a china-painting workshop there in 1883.
Exhibitions
His work for Copeland and Garret was included in the 1851 London ‘Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations.’ He showed several pieces in the 1878 Cincinnati Women’s Art Museum Association exhibition.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL