Know-How: The Wheatsheaf on Banbury

The Royal Oak	The Cricketers

From Marilyn on 12th December 2006:

Some collectors emailed this question to Hazle Ceramics who forwarded it to me:

"Recently we have acquired a piece called The Wheatsheaf which is on the mould of The Tea Shop with Roses but also has the telephone box. The piece does not have initials of painter on the back but unusually has what could be Hazle Boyles signature in the position at the base where the later pieces just show Hazle. Any news that you could supply regarding the piece would be most helpful."

Hazle Boyles' signature was on the front of all ceramics until 1st January 1993 when it was changed to Hazle. In early pieces the signature could be quite faint - which may be what the collectors were referring to with “what could be Hazle Boyles signature”.

The Banbury model was one of the original pieces to be issued in 1990, primarily as Teashop & Telephone. Teashop & Roses was suggested by Lesley of Roding Arts and ran from 1991-1999. Occasionally pieces have been painted as Teashop, Telephone & Roses - and one is above in the Streetscene header of this website.

There were no dedicated pubs until 1991, so the Banbury was sometimes painted as one. I am presuming that The Wheatsheaf is a pub name - and one that I haven’t come across before. The Royal Oak, above left, is an example from this era bearing a faint Hazle Boyles signature. As seen here, early pubs on the model generally had no telephone or roses. The Cricketers, above right, is named after a pub near Harvey Weston in Cobham, Surrey and was probably exclusive to them. It is a later painting with a Hazle signature and roses. (The difference in size between the two will be due to different clay and shrinkage rates.)

Although The Wheatsheaf is a rarer name, Teashop & Telephone is still current and the Banbury model is one of the two most prolific Hazle buildings ever - along with Bath Chemist. This is likely to affect the future secondary value.

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