Palin Thorley

In his early thirties, Thorley was named Director of Design at the New Chelsea Factory. He used watercolor and pencil to work through his designs in the sketchbook displayed here. Many of his creations were relatively traditional in form and decoration, such as the teacup with the pink rose and the weeping willow image that he copied from a book on Chinese porcelain. But he experimented also with more contemporary designs like the Art Nouveau-inspired pattern on the tea cup seen here with its corresponding watercolor sketch.