Most of the objects found in Thorley’s studio were completely hand-painted-- evidence of his impressive artistic abilities. Sometimes he designed the pattern right on the piece and other times he worked it out on paper before applying it to the vessel. 1951 and 1952 were busy years for Thorley. Despite a backlog of unfilled orders, he took the time to develop about fifty different floral designs for plates. He painted each design on paper then on glazed blanks, two of which are seen here with their matching paintings. Before he was able to fire the plates again to adhere his painted decoration, he wrapped each plate in newspaper. For some reason, he never finished the project and stacks of wrapped plates were found in his studio after his death.

Most of the objects found in Thorley’s studio were completely hand-painted-- evidence of his impressive artistic abilities. Sometimes he designed the pattern right on the piece and other times he worked it out on paper before applying it to the vessel. 1951 and 1952 were busy years for Thorley. Despite a backlog of unfilled orders, he took the time to develop about fifty different floral designs for plates. He painted each design on paper then on glazed blanks, two of which are seen here with their matching paintings on the next two pages. Before he was able to fire the plates again to adhere his painted decoration, he wrapped each plate in newspaper. For some reason, he never finished the project and stacks of wrapped plates were found in his studio after his death.